2008 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary

2008 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary
← KS MN →
	Primary results by county ; Clinton: 50–60% 60–70%; Obama: 40–50% 50–60%

Last updated August 08, 2023

The 2008 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary was held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 93 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Massachusetts's 10 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 61. Another 32 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Hillary Clinton. The 93 delegates represented Massachusetts at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Twenty-six other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well. Hillary Clinton won despite Obama receiving endorsements from both senators, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, and the Governor Deval Patrick.

Polls

Polls indicated that Hillary Clinton was leading Barack Obama in the days leading up to the contest in Massachusetts.^[1] Clinton won every pre-election poll except one, and of those she won, Clinton won all but one of them by double digits.

Results

2008 Massachusetts Democratic Presidential Primary Results
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton	705,185	56.01%	55
	Democratic	Barack Obama	511,680	40.64%	38
	Democratic	John Edwards	20,101	1.60%	0
	Democratic	Uncommitted	8,041	0.64%	0
	Democratic	Write-ins	3,279	0.26%	0
	Democratic	Joe Biden	3,216	0.26%	0
	Democratic	Dennis Kucinich	2,992	0.24%	0
	Democratic	Bill Richardson	1,846	0.15%	0
	Democratic	Mike Gravel	1,463	0.12%	0
	Democratic	Christopher Dodd	1,120	0.09%	0
Totals			1,258,923	100.00%	93
Voter turnout			%		—

Analysis

Hillary Clinton won a convincing victory in Massachusetts over Barack Obama due to a number of factors. According to exit polls, 85 percent of voters in the Massachusetts Democratic Primary were Caucasians and they opted for Clinton by a margin of 58-40 percent compared to the 6 percent of African American voters who backed Obama by a margin of 66-29. Hispanics/Latinos, which comprised 5 percent of the total voters, backed Clinton by a margin of 56-36 percent. Clinton narrowly won the youth vote (those ages 18–29) by a margin of 49-48 and tied the vote among voters ages 30–44; she also won all voters over the age of 45 by a margin of 60.5-38. Pertaining to socioeconomic class, Clinton won all levels of family income except highly affluent voters making $200,000 or more a year, as they backed Obama by a narrow margin of 53-47 percent. As for educational attainment levels, Clinton won all categories except those with postgraduate degrees who backed Obama by a margin of 51-47 percent. Among self-identified Democrats in the primary, which made up 65 percent of the total electorate, they went for Clinton by a 58-41 margin while Independents, which comprised a healthy 33 percent of the electorate, also went for Clinton by a 54-42 margin. She also won all ideological groups. Clinton also won all major religious denominations – Protestants 53-46; Roman Catholics 64-33; other Christians 51-47; and other religions 49-46. Obama won Jews by a margin of 52-48 as well as atheists/agnostics by a margin of 53-45.

Clinton performed extremely well statewide, carrying a majority of counties and sweeping most of the major urban areas and cities. Obama won Boston by fewer than 10,000 votes, while Clinton won other urban and conservative towns^[2] such as Springfield and Worcester.

Obama had picked up major endorsements from the Massachusetts Democratic establishment prior to Super Tuesday. Both U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry threw their support behind Obama, along with Governor Deval Patrick. Clinton also picked up a number of top-tier endorsements from Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Salvatore DiMasi along with U.S. Representatives Richard Neal and Barney Frank, one of the three openly gay members of the U.S. Congress.

Related Research Articles

The 2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary on January 8, 2008 was the first primary in the United States in 2008. Its purpose was to determine the number of delegates from New Hampshire that would represent a certain candidate at the National Convention. In a primary, members of a political party—in this case, the Democratic Party—will select the candidates to a subsequent election. Since 1920, New Hampshire has always hosted the first primaries in the entire nation. The Democratic Party's primary occurred on the same day as the Republican primary.

The 2008 Alabama Democratic presidential primary was held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 52 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Alabama's seven congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 34. Another 18 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 52 delegates represented Alabama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Eight other delegates were chosen on March 1, 2008, during an Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting. Those eight delegates attended the National Convention as officially unpledged.

The 2008 Delaware Democratic presidential primary was held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 15 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Delaware's subdivisions was awarded those subdivisions' delegates, totaling 10. Another five delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 15 delegates represented Delaware at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Eight other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 153 delegates at stake. Each of Illinois's 19 congressional districts was proportionally allocated to candidates who had received 15% or more of the vote in that district, totaling 100. Another 53 delegates were also proportionally allocated to candidates who had received 15% or more of the vote statewide. The 153 delegates represented Illinois at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Thirty-two other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Georgia Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 87 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Georgia's 13 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 57. Another 30 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 87 delegates represented Georgia at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Sixteen other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Missouri Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 72 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Missouri's nine congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, which totaled 47. Another 25 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 72 delegates represented Missouri at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Sixteen other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Connecticut Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 48 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Connecticut's five congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 31. Another 17 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 48 delegates represented Connecticut at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Twelve other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Arizona Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 56 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Arizona's eight congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, which totaled 37. Another 19 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Hillary Clinton. The 56 delegates represented Arizona at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Eleven other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention.

The 2008 Louisiana Democratic presidential primary took place on February 9, 2008, and had 56 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Louisiana's seven congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 37. Another 29 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 56 delegates represented Louisiana at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Ten other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Maryland Democratic presidential primary took place on February 12, 2008. Nicknamed the "Potomac Primary" or the "Chesapeake Primary" because the District of Columbia and Virginia also held their primaries that day, a total of 70 delegates were up for grabs in Maryland. The winner in each of Maryland's eight congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 46. Another 24 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 70 delegates represented Maryland at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Twenty-nine other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary took place on February 19, 2008. 74 pledged delegates were at stake. The 2008 Hawaii Democratic presidential caucuses took place the same day.

The 2008 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary took place on March 11, 2008, with 33 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Mississippi's four congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 22. Another 11 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 33 delegates represented Mississippi at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Seven other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Indiana Democratic presidential primary took place on May 6, 2008. It was an open primary with 72 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Indiana's nine congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 47. Another 25 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Hillary Clinton. The 72 delegates represented Indiana at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Twelve other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary took place May 20, 2008, and had 51 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Kentucky's six congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 34. Another 17 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Hillary Clinton. The 51 delegates represented Kentucky at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Nine other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

The 2008 Montana Democratic presidential primary took place on June 3, 2008, with 16 delegates at stake. Along with South Dakota, it was one of the last two elections in the 2008 Democratic Party Presidential Primary. The winner in Montana's at-large congressional district was awarded all of that district's delegates, which totaled 10. Another six delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 16 delegates represented Montana at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Eight other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention.

The 2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place, as in all 50 states and D.C., as part of the 2008 United States presidential election of November 4, 2008. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who, in turn, voted for the office of president and vice president.

The 2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania was part of the 2008 United States presidential election, which took place on November 4, 2008, throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The 2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The 2016 Georgia Democratic presidential primary took place on March 1 in the U.S. state of Georgia as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The primary was an open one.

The 2016 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary took place on March 1 in the U.S. state of Massachusetts as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

References

↑ "Massachusetts Democratic Primary". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
↑ Phillips, Frank; Viser, Matt (2008-02-06). "Decisive victories in Mass". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-02-06.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Massachusetts Democratic Primary". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 2008-02-04.

[2] Phillips, Frank; Viser, Matt (2008-02-06). "Decisive victories in Mass". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-02-06.

[1]

[2]

v t e (← 2004) 2008 Democratic presidential primaries (2012 →)
Results Polling Convention superdelegates
States	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Other	American Samoa District of Columbia Democrats Abroad Guam Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands