2008 United States presidential election in Utah

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2008 United States presidential election in Utah
Flag of Utah (1922-2011).svg
  2004 November 4, 2008 2012  
  John McCain 2009 Official.jpg Obama portrait crop.jpg
Nominee John McCain Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Arizona Illinois
Running mate Sarah Palin Joe Biden
Electoral vote50
Popular vote596,030327,670
Percentage62.24%34.22%

Utah Presidential Election Results 2008.svg
County Results

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 4, 2008. It was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Utah was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 28.02% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Highlighting its status as a GOP bastion, Utah gave McCain one of his largest victories over Democrat Barack Obama, a near two-to-one margin. Obama did, however, manage to carry three counties, and he greatly improved on John Kerry's performance in 2004.

Primaries

Campaign

Predictions

There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:

SourceRanking
D.C. Political Report [1] Likely R
Cook Political Report [2] Solid R
The Takeaway [3] Solid R
Electoral-vote.com [4] Solid R
Washington Post [5] Solid R
Politico [6] Solid R
RealClearPolitics [7] Solid R
FiveThirtyEight [5] Solid R
CQ Politics [8] Solid R
The New York Times [9] Solid R
CNN [10] Safe R
NPR [5] Solid R
MSNBC [5] Solid R
Fox News [11] Likely R
Associated Press [12] Likely R
Rasmussen Reports [13] Safe R

Polling

McCain won every pre-election poll conducted in this state, each with a double-digit margin and with at least 55% of the vote. The final three-poll average showed McCain leading 59% to 31%. [14]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $1,165,621 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,121,563. [15]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $297,645. McCain spent just $250. [16] Neither campaign visited the state. [17]

Analysis

Utah is a heavily Republican state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide in 1964, and even then the state voted considerably to the right of the nation. Johnson is also the last Democrat to manage even 40 percent of Utah's popular vote. The majority of the state's population is Mormon and highly conservative, especially on social issues. Utah gave George W. Bush his largest margin of victory in 2004 over John Kerry, as Bush received over 71 percent to Kerry's 26 percent and carried every county in the state. [18]

With 62.15 percent of the popular vote, Utah proved to be McCain's third strongest state in the 2008 election after Oklahoma and neighboring Wyoming. [19]

Although McCain easily won Utah in 2008, Obama did very well for a Democrat in this Republican stronghold. Obama was able to reduce McCain's margin of victory by narrowly winning Salt Lake County, the state's most populous county that contains the state capital of Salt Lake City, by a mere 296 votes–the first time a Democrat had carried that county since 1964. Obama also carried Summit and Grand counties, both of which have significantly lower Mormon populations than the rest of the state. [20] [21] [22] Nonetheless, Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Carbon County since Woodrow Wilson in 1912.

This election was the Democratic presidential nominee's best showing in Utah since 1968. [23] In substantially Native American and non-Mormon – but historically heavily Republican – San Juan County, Obama's performance was the best by a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.

During the same election, popular incumbent Republican Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. was reelected to a second term in a massive landslide victory, taking in 77.74 percent of the vote over Democrat Bob Springmeyer's 19.65 percent and Libertarian Dell Schanze's 2.62 percent. At the state level, however, Democrats did manage to pick up two seats in the Utah House of Representatives.

Results

2008 United States presidential election in Utah
PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 596,03062.24%5
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 327,67034.22%0
Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle12,0121.25%0
Peace and Freedom Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 8,4160.88%0
Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 6,9660.73%0
Write-insWrite-ins5,2240.55%0
Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 9820.10%0
OthersOthers2900.03%0
Totals957,590100.00%5
Voter turnout (Voting age population)55.5%

Results by county

CountyJohn McCain
Republican
Barack Obama
Democratic
Charles Baldwin [24]
Constitution
Ralph Nader [24]
Peace and Freedom
Bob Barr [24]
Libertarian
Various candidates [24]
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %# %# %
Beaver 1,90275.54%54221.53%301.19%210.83%120.48%110.44%1,36054.01%2,518
Box Elder 15,22879.24%3,31117.23%2211.15%1470.76%1270.66%1830.95%11,91762.01%19,217
Cache 29,12769.48%10,29424.56%1,1532.75%3150.75%3720.89%6611.58%18,83344.92%41,922
Carbon 4,09152.30%3,46844.34%620.79%901.15%480.61%630.81%6237.96%7,822
Daggett 29766.89%13129.50%20.45%81.80%10.23%51.13%16637.39%444
Davis 77,34169.74%30,47727.48%1,1751.06%9560.86%8110.73%1420.13%46,86442.26%110,902
Duchesne 4,68981.24%91115.78%661.14%270.47%370.64%420.73%3,77865.46%5,772
Emery 3,35875.02%97321.74%430.96%390.87%260.58%370.83%2,38553.28%4,476
Garfield 1,71078.37%40518.56%160.73%110.50%110.50%291.32%1,30559.81%2,182
Grand 1,87145.65%2,06750.43%280.68%561.37%300.73%471.05%-196-4.78%4,099
Iron 12,51875.06%3,25819.53%3522.11%1380.83%1630.98%2491.50%9,26055.53%16,678
Juab 2,68373.19%74120.21%1293.52%300.82%280.76%551.50%1,94252.98%3,666
Kane 2,21269.65%85626.95%270.85%310.98%240.76%260.82%1,35642.70%3,176
Millard 3,65377.08%75815.99%2645.57%270.57%340.72%30.06%2,89561.09%4,739
Morgan 3,31179.06%68916.45%1022.44%280.67%290.69%290.69%2,62262.61%4,188
Piute 63579.28%14117.60%131.62%70.87%20.25%30.37%49461.68%801
Rich 83182.36%15415.26%90.89%50.50%50.50%50.50%67767.10%1,009
Salt Lake 176,69248.09%176,98848.17%3,2290.88%3,7681.03%2,5560.70%4,2111.15%-296-0.08%367,444
San Juan 2,63851.42%2,40646.90%450.88%250.49%140.27%20.04%2324.52%5,130
Sanpete 6,66475.06%1,63118.37%3243.65%870.98%540.61%1181.33%5,03356.69%8,878
Sevier 6,39479.35%1,35916.87%1311.63%520.65%530.66%690.85%5,03562.48%8,058
Summit 6,95641.11%9,53256.34%750.44%1260.74%1040.61%1270.75%-2,576-15.23%16,920
Tooele 10,99862.98%5,83033.38%2061.18%1510.86%1370.78%1410.81%5,16829.60%17,463
Uintah 8,44182.84%1,46214.35%1571.54%450.44%370.36%470.46%6,97968.49%10,189
Utah 122,22477.71%29,56718.80%2,8771.83%1,1190.71%1,3110.83%1810.12%92,65758.91%157,279
Wasatch 5,43062.96%2,89233.53%810.94%861.00%300.35%1061.23%2,53829.43%8,625
Washington 37,31174.57%10,82621.64%6281.26%3120.62%4130.83%5451.09%26,48552.93%50,035
Wayne 94070.04%33524.96%100.75%120.89%120.89%332.46%60545.08%1,342
Weber 45,88561.99%25,66634.67%5570.75%6970.94%4850.66%7320.99%20,21927.32%74,022
Totals596,03062.15%327,67034.17%12,0121.25%8,4160.88%6,9660.73%7,9020.82%268,36027.98%958,996
County Flips:
Democratic
Hold
Gain from Republican
Republican
Hold Utah County Flips 2008.svg
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

John McCain swept all 3 of the state's congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.

DistrictMcCainObamaRepresentative
1st 63.62%33.42% Rob Bishop
2nd 57.72%39.55% Jim Matheson
3rd 67.35%29.25% Chris Cannon (110th Congress)
Jason Chaffetz (111th Congress)

Electors

Technically the voters of Utah cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Utah is allocated 5 electors because it has 3 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 5 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. [25] An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 5 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin: [26]

  1. Scott Simpson
  2. Richard Snelgrove
  3. Stan Lockhart
  4. Enid Greene-Mickelesen
  5. Mark Shurtleff

See also

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