2008 United States presidential election in Vermont

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

2008 United States presidential election in Vermont

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Nominee Barack Obama John McCain Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Arizona Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 219,262 98,974 Percentage 67.46% 30.45%

County Results Municipality Results Obama   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% McCain   50–60%   60–70%

President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 4, 2008, concurrent with the federal election in all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Vermont was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with 67.46%, to Republican John McCain's 30.45%, a Democratic victory margin of 37.01%.

Obama carried every county by more than 60% of the vote with the exception of Essex County, which he won with 56%. He also broke 70% in 3 counties. A very liberal Northeastern state, Vermont was the second most Democratic state in the nation, weighing in as a whopping 30% more Democratic than the national average in the 2008 election. Obama's landslide win in Vermont outperformed Lyndon Johnson's 1964 Democratic landslide in the state, making the results of 2008 the strongest Democratic victory in Vermont's history.

Vermont was one of three states, along with Obama's home state of Illinois and Biden's home state of Delaware, where his 2008 presidential performance outperformed Franklin Delano Roosevelt in all four of his runs and Lyndon Johnson in his landslide 1964 victory.

To date, this is the last time that the town of Maidstone voted Democratic and the last time that the town of Stratton voted Republican.

Primaries

• 2008 Vermont Democratic presidential primary
• 2008 Vermont Republican presidential primary

Campaign

Predictions

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

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

Polling

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Vermont

Obama won every single pre-election poll, and each with a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 59% to 35%. ^[14]

Fundraising

Obama raised a total of $2,071,271 in the state. McCain raised $206,395. ^[15]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign spent any money on advertising in Vermont. ^[16] Neither campaign visited the state. ^[17]

Analysis

Vermont was once the quintessential Yankee Republican state. It identified with the newly formed GOP in 1856 and remained in the Republican fold for over 130 years. From 1856 to 1988, it only voted for a Democrat once, in Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide of 1964. Vermont and Maine were the only states that Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't carry in any of his four elections.

However, the brand of Republicanism practiced in Vermont has historically been a moderate one. Coupled with an influx of more liberal newcomers from out of state, this made Vermont considerably friendlier to Democrats as the national GOP moved further to the right. After narrowly supporting George H. W. Bush in 1988, Vermont gave Bill Clinton a 16-point margin in 1992. Republicans have not seriously contested the state since then, and Vermont is now reckoned as part of a bloc of solidly blue states spanning most of the Northeast.

The 2008 race kept this tradition going. Obama won with 67% of the vote to McCain's 30%. The state was called for Obama almost as soon as the polls closed, and was the first state called for Obama. Obama was the first Democrat to get over 70% of the vote in any Vermont county since 1964, and the first for either party since 1972.

Vermont was Obama's second-best state and his best in the contiguous 48 states; only topped by the staggering 71% he received in Hawaii, the state where he was born. The Obama-Biden ticket won every county in the state, including several northeastern counties which had a history of voting Republican. ^[18] Obama also performed better than John Kerry in every county. ^[18] As a measure of how Republican Vermont once was, George W. Bush was at the time the only Republican to win the White House without carrying Vermont.

Results

2008 United States presidential election in Vermont
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	219,262	67.46%	3
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	98,974	30.45%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	Matt Gonzalez	3,339	1.03%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	1,067	0.33%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	Darrell Castle	500	0.15%	0
	Others*	Others		1,904	0.59%	0
Totals				325,046	100.00%	3
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						66.7%

• Others include Cynthia McKinney, Green; Róger Calero, Socialist Workers; Gloria La Riva, Socialism and Liberation; and Brian Moore, Liberty Union. ^[19]

By county

County	Barack Obama Democratic		John McCain Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Addison	13,202	68.62%	5,667	29.46%	369	1.92%	7,535	39.16%	19,238
Bennington	12,524	65.47%	6,133	32.06%	472	2.47%	6,391	33.41%	19,129
Caledonia	8,900	60.43%	5,472	37.15%	356	2.42%	3,428	23.28%	14,728
Chittenden	59,611	71.44%	22,237	26.65%	1,592	1.91%	37,374	44.79%	83,440
Essex	1,733	55.89%	1,284	41.41%	84	2.70%	449	14.48%	3,101
Franklin	13,179	61.41%	7,853	36.59%	428	2.00%	5,326	24.82%	21,460
Grand Isle	2,694	63.11%	1,490	34.90%	85	1.99%	1,204	28.21%	4,269
Lamoille	8,914	70.37%	3,515	27.75%	239	1.88%	5,399	42.62%	12,668
Orange	9,799	64.56%	5,047	33.25%	333	2.19%	4,752	31.31%	15,179
Orleans	7,998	62.63%	4,482	35.10%	291	2.27%	3,516	27.53%	12,771
Rutland	19,355	61.22%	11,584	36.64%	678	2.14%	7,771	24.58%	31,617
Washington	22,324	69.33%	9,129	28.35%	747	2.32%	13,195	40.98%	32,200
Windham	17,585	73.02%	5,997	24.90%	499	2.08%	11,588	48.12%	24,081
Windsor	21,444	68.81%	9,084	29.15%	637	2.04%	12,360	39.66%	31,165
Totals	219,262	67.46%	98,974	30.45%	6,810	2.09%	120,288	37.01%	325,046

County Flips:

Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican

Republican   Hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Essex (largest town: Lunenburg)

By congressional district

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district, called the at-large district because it covers the entire state, is thus equivalent to the statewide election results.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
At-large	30.45%	67.46%	Peter Welch

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Vermont, as they do in every state, cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Vermont is allocated three electors because it has 1 congressional district and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 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 3 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. ^[20] 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 elected at large as members of the Electoral College from the state. All three were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden: ^[21]

1. Claire Ayer
2. Euan Bear
3. Kevin Christie

See also

• United States presidential elections in Vermont

References

1. "D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries". January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
2. "Presidential". May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
3. "Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - Track the Electoral College vote predictions". April 22, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
4. "Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily". electoral-vote.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
5. Based on Takeaway
6. "POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com". www.politico.com. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
7. "RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map". Archived from the original on June 5, 2008.
8. "CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
9. Nagourney, Adam; Zeleny, Jeff; Carter, Shan (November 4, 2008). "The Electoral Map: Key States". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
10. "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN. October 31, 2008. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
11. "Winning The Electoral College". Fox News. April 27, 2010.
12. "roadto270". hosted.ap.org. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
13. "Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports". www.rasmussenreports.com. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
14. "Election 2008 Polls". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
15. "Presidential Campaign Finance". Archived from the original on March 24, 2009.
16. "Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
17. "Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
18. "CHAPTER 13: Toward the 21st Century". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
19. "Our Campaigns - VT US President Race - Nov 04, 2008". ourcampaigns.com. 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
20. "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
21. "Elections | Home | Vermont Secretary of State". vermont-elections.org. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2016.

External links

• General election results
• Democratic primary
• Republican primary
• Liberty Union primary