2008 West Virginia gubernatorial election

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2008 West Virginia gubernatorial election
Flag of West Virginia.svg
  2004 November 4, 2008 2011 (special)  
  Joe Manchin official portrait 112th Congress.jpg Russ Weeks.jpg
Nominee Joe Manchin Russ Weeks
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote492,697181,612
Percentage69.8%25.7%

2008 West Virginia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Manchin:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Governor before election

Joe Manchin
Democratic

Elected Governor

Joe Manchin
Democratic

The 2008 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Governor Joe Manchin III was the Democratic nominee, challenged by Republican nominee Russ Weeks and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson. Manchin won every county in the state and was reelected by the largest margin for any gubernatorial candidate in West Virginia's history. Manchin won by over 44%, even as Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, lost the state to John McCain in the presidential election. As of 2024, this is the last time that Doddridge County has voted for a Democratic candidate for statewide office.

Contents

Party primaries

Democratic Party

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Joe Manchin (incumbent) 264,775 74.62
Democratic Mel Kessler90,07425.38
Total votes354,849 100.00

Republican Party

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Russ Weeks 81,019 100.00
Total votes81,019 100.00

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [2] Safe DOctober 16, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report [3] Safe DNovember 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball [4] Safe DNovember 3, 2008
Real Clear Politics [5] Safe DNovember 4, 2008

Polling

Poll SourceDates administeredJoe
Manchin (D)
Russ
Weeks (R)
Rasmussen Reports [6] October 20, 200871%21%
Public Policy Polling [7] October 30, 200869%27%

Results

West Virginia gubernatorial election, 2008 [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Joe Manchin (incumbent) 492,697 69.81% +6.30%
Republican Russ Weeks 181,61225.73%−8.27%
Mountain Jesse Johnson 31,4864.46%+1.99%
Margin of victory311,08544.08%+14.57%
Total votes705,795 100%
Democratic hold Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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References

  1. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "2008 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  3. "2008 Gubernatorial Ratings". Gubernatorial Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  4. "THE LAST LAST WORD The Crystal Ball's Final Projections for the 2008 Election". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 3, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  5. "2008 West Virginia Governor Race". RealClearPolitics. November 4, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  6. Rasmussen Reports
  7. Public Policy Polling Archived 2009-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  8. http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/historyresource/Documents/General%2008%20All%20offices.pdf [ dead link ]