2008 United States presidential election in California

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

2008 United States presidential election in California

November 4, 2008

Nominee Barack Obama John McCain Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Arizona Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin Electoral vote 55 0 Popular vote 8,274,473 5,011,781 Percentage 61.01% 36.95%

County 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 California took place on November 4, 2008, in California as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any of the 50 states, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 24.1% margin of victory. No Republican has carried the state in a presidential election since George H. W. Bush in 1988.

As of the 2016 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic candidate carried Trinity and Butte counties in a presidential election.

Primaries

• For other parties, see California state elections, February 2008.

On February 5, 2008, presidential primaries were held by all parties with ballot access in the state.

Democratic

2008 California Democratic primary

February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05)

Candidate Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Home state New York Illinois Delegate count 204 166 Popular vote 2,608,184 2,186,662 Percentage 51.47% 43.16%

Election results by county

The 2008 California Democratic presidential primary took place on February 5, 2008, also known as Super Tuesday. California was dubbed the "Big Enchilada" by the media because it offers the most delegates out of any other delegation. Hillary Clinton won the primary.

Process

In the primary, 370 of California's 441 delegates to the Democratic National Convention were selected. The remaining delegates were superdelegates not obligated to vote for any candidate at the convention. Of these delegates, 241 were awarded at the congressional district level, and the remaining 129 were awarded to the statewide winner. Candidates were required to receive at least 15% of either the district or statewide vote to receive any delegates. Registered Democrats and Decline to State voters were eligible to vote.

Number of delegates	Congressional districts
3	20, 47
4	2, 3, 11, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52
5	1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33, 35, 36, 37, 50, 53
6	6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 30

Polls

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the Super Tuesday Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008 § California

The latest six polls were averaged (only counting the latest Zogby poll).

Candidate	Mean of polls released in February 2008	Median of polls released in February 2008	RCP average
Hillary Clinton	42.8%	40.5%	44.2%
Barack Obama	40.3%	40.4%	41.6%

Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

2008 California Democratic presidential primary
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
Hillary Clinton	2,608,184	51.47%	204
Barack Obama	2,186,662	43.16%	166
John Edwards	193,617	3.82%	0
Dennis Kucinich	24,126	0.48%	0
Bill Richardson	19,939	0.39%	0
Joe Biden	18,261	0.36%	0
Mike Gravel	8,184	0.16%	0
Christopher Dodd	8,005	0.16%	0
Willie Carter (write-in)	4	0.00%	0
Eric Hinzman (write-in)	4	0.00%	0
Phil Epstein (write-in)	3	0.00%	0
Brian Calef (write-in)	2	0.00%	0
David Frey (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Joseph McAndrew (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Keith Judd (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Julius Mogyorossy (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Totals	5,066,993	100.00%	370
Voter turnout[A]	—		—

Republican

2008 California Republican primary

February 5, 2008

Candidate John McCain Mitt Romney Mike Huckabee Party Republican Republican Republican Home state Arizona Massachusetts Arkansas Popular vote 1,238,988 1,013,471 340,669 Percentage 42.25% 34.56% 11.62%

Election results by county

The 2008 California Republican primary was held on February 5, 2008, with a total of 173 national delegates at stake.

Process

The delegates represented California at the Republican National Convention. There were three delegates to every congressional district and fourteen bonus delegates. The winner in each of the 53 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates. The statewide winner was awarded 11 of the 14 bonus delegates, with the 3 remaining delegates assigned to party leaders. Voting in the primary was restricted to registered Republican voters.

Polls

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008 § California

Early polls showed Rudy Giuliani in the lead. Polls taken closer to the primary either showed Mitt Romney or John McCain as the favored candidate.

Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

California Republican presidential primary, 2008
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
John McCain	1,238,988	42.25%	155
Mitt Romney	1,013,471	34.56%	15
Mike Huckabee	340,669	11.62%	0
Rudy Giuliani	128,681	4.39%	0
Ron Paul	125,365	4.27%	0
Fred Thompson	50,275	1.71%	0
Duncan Hunter	14,021	0.48%	0
Alan Keyes	11,742	0.40%	0
John Cox	3,219	0.11%	0
Tom Tancredo	3,884	0.13%	0
Sam Brownback	2,486	0.08%	0
Karen Irish (write-in)	6	0.00%	0
Michael Shaw (write-in)	2	0.00%	0
Edward Marshall (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Joel Neuberg (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Robert Brickell (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Brian Calef (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
David Frey (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Walter Rothnie (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
John Sutherland (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Uncommitted delegates	3
Totals	2,932,811	100.00%	173
Voter turnout	56.08%		—

American Independent Party

The American Independent Party held its primary February 5, 2008

2008 California AIP presidential primary
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Don J. Grundmann	16,603	36.08%
Dianne Beall Templin	15,302	33.25%
Mad Max Riekse	14,099	30.64%
David Andrew Larson (write-in)	18	0.04%
Totals	46,022	100.00%

Green Party

The Green Party held its primary February 5, 2008.

2008 California Green Party presidential primary
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
Ralph Nader	21,726	60.61%	-
Cynthia McKinney	9,534	26.60%	-
Elaine Brown	1,598	4.46%	-
Kat Swift	1,084	3.02%	-
Kent Mesplay	727	2.03%	-
Jesse Johnson	619	1.73%	-
Jared Ball	556	1.55%	-
Totals	35,844	100.00%	168

Libertarian

The Libertarian Party held its primary February 5, 2008.

2008 California Libertarian Party presidential primary
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Christine Smith	4,241	25.16%
Steve Kubby	2,876	17.06%
Wayne Allen Root	2,360	14.00%
Bob Jackson	1,486	8.81%
Barry Hess	891	5.29%
George Phillies	852	5.05%
Michael P. Jingozian	774	4.19%
Robert Milnes	721	4.28%
Daniel Imperato	707	4.19%
John Finan	706	4.19%
Dave Hollist	678	4.02%
Alden Link	565	3.35%
Leon L. Ray (write-in)	1	0.01%
Totals	16,858	100.00%

Peace and Freedom

The Peace and Freedom Party held its primary February 5, 2008.

2008 California Peace and Freedom Party presidential primary
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Ralph Nader	2,620	40.66%
Cynthia McKinney	1,385	21.49
Gloria La Riva	1,292	20.05%
Brian P. Moore	335	5.51%
John Crockford	346	5.37%
Stewart A. Alexander	340	5.28%
Stanley Hetz	106	1.64%
Totals	6,444	100.00%

Predictions

Name	Prediction
Associated Press	Democratic
CNN	Safe Democratic
The Cook Political Report	Solid Democratic
CQ Politics	Safe Democratic
D.C. Political Report	Democratic
Electoral-vote.com	Strong Democratic
Fox News	Democratic
The New York Times	Solid Democratic
Politico	Solid Obama
Real Clear Politics	Solid Obama
Rasmussen Reports	Safe Democratic
The Takeaway	Solid Obama

Polling

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

Obama won most opinion polls taken prior to the election. In the final three polls he averaged 59%, while McCain averaged 34%; which is close to the results on election day.

Fundraising

Obama raised a total of $124,325,459 from the state. McCain raised a total of $26,802,024.

Advertising and visits

The Obama campaign spent almost $5,570,641. The McCain campaign spent $1,885,142. Obama visited the state six times. McCain visited the state eight times.

Analysis

California was once a Republican stronghold, supporting Republican candidates in every election from 1952 through 1988, except in 1964. However, since the 1990s, California has become a reliably Democratic state with a highly diverse ethnic population (mostly Latino) and liberal bastions such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County. The last time the state was won by a Republican candidate was in 1988 by George H. W. Bush.

Obama won by a historic margin, with 61.01% of the votes. The last time the margin was higher in the state was in 1936 when Franklin D. Roosevelt won with 66.95% of the vote.

In San Francisco and Alameda County (which includes Oakland and Berkeley), four out of five voters backed the Democratic candidate. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Obama won every county by a three to two margin or greater. In Los Angeles County, Obama won almost 70% of the votes. His combined margin in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County would have been more than enough to carry the state.

Obama also made considerable headway in historically Republican areas of the state. Fresno County, for example, a heavily populated county in the Central Valley, went from giving Bush a 16% margin to a 1% margin for Obama. San Diego County moved from a six-percent margin for Bush to a 10-point margin for Obama—only the second time since World War II that a Democrat has carried this military-dominated county. San Bernardino and Riverside went from double-digit Republican victories to narrow Democratic wins. Ventura County also moved from Republican to Democratic. Orange County, historically one of the most Republican suburban counties in the nation, went from a 21-point margin for Bush to only a 2.5-point margin for McCain.

Voter turnout was also fairly higher in the election. The 79% turnout of registered voters was the highest since the 1976 presidential election.

Despite the Democratic landslide in California, during the same election, a ballot proposition to ban same-sex marriage narrowly passed. A number of counties that had voted for Obama voted yes for it, as it was supported by Hispanics and African Americans. Even though Obama considered marriage to be between a man and a woman at the time, he opposed the "divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution... the U.S. Constitution or those of other states". Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's Republican governor and a supporter of McCain, opposed the proposition, though McCain supported it.

Results

The following are official results from the California Secretary of State.

2008 United States presidential election in California
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Hussein Obama	Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.	8,274,473	61.01%	55
	Republican	John Sidney McCain	Sarah Louise Palin	5,011,781	36.95%	0
	Peace and Freedom	Ralph Nader	Matt Gonzalez	108,381	0.80%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	67,582	0.50%	0
	American Independent	Alan Keyes	Brian Rohrbough	40,673	0.30%	0
	Green	Cynthia McKinney	Rosa Clemente	38,774	0.29%	0
	Independent	Ron Paul (write-in)	Gail Lightfoot	17,006	0.13%	0
	Independent	Chuck Baldwin (write-in)	Darrell Castle	3,145	0.02%	0
	Independent	James Harris (write-in)	Alyson Kennedy	49	0.00%	0
	Independent	Frank Moore (write-in)	Susan Block	36	0.00%	0
Valid votes				13,561,900	98.68%	—
Invalid or blank votes				181,277	1.32%	—
Totals				13,743,177	100.00%	55
Voter turnout				79.42%		—

By county

The results below are primarily compiled from the final reports available from the Secretary of State. The "others" category also includes write-in votes.

County	Obama	Votes	McCain	Votes	Others	Votes
San Francisco	84.2%	322,220	13.7%	52,292	2.2%	8,353
Alameda	78.8%	489,106	19.3%	119,555	1.9%	12,368
Marin	78.0%	109,320	20.3%	28,384	1.7%	2,866
Santa Cruz	77.5%	98,745	19.9%	25,244	2.9%	3,747
Sonoma	73.7%	168,888	24.1%	55,127	2.5%	5,817
San Mateo	73.5%	222,826	24.8%	75,057	1.6%	4,965
Mendocino	69.6%	27,843	26.8%	10,721	4.0%	1,620
Santa Clara	69.5%	462,241	28.6%	190,039	1.8%	12,255
Los Angeles	69.2%	2,295,853	28.9%	956,425	1.9%	64,352
Monterey	68.2%	88,453	29.9%	38,797	2.0%	2,533
Contra Costa	68.0%	306,983	30.3%	136,436	2.2%	9,825
Yolo	67.1%	53,488	30.9%	24,592	2.1%	1,669
Napa	65.2%	38,849	32.7%	19,484	2.0%	1,214
Solano	63.5%	102,095	34.9%	56,035	2.1%	3,458
Humboldt	62.3%	39,692	34.1%	21,713	4.0%	2,559
Imperial	62.3%	24,162	36.1%	14,008	1.6%	631
Alpine	61.0%	422	36.4%	252	2.6%	18
San Benito	60.5%	11,917	37.7%	7,425	2.3%	446
Santa Barbara	60.4%	105,614	37.5%	65,585	2.4%	4,208
Sacramento	58.5%	316,506	39.5%	213,583	2.4%	12,770
Lake	58.2%	14,854	38.9%	9,935	3.3%	840
Mono	55.6%	3,093	42.3%	2,354	2.2%	124
Ventura	55.3%	187,601	43.0%	145,853	2.2%	7,587
San Joaquin	54.5%	113,974	43.8%	91,607	2.2%	4,727
San Diego	54.2%	666,581	44.0%	541,032	2.3%	27,890
Merced	53.4%	34,031	45.0%	28,704	2.1%	1,316
San Bernardino	52.1%	315,720	45.8%	277,408	2.2%	13,206
Nevada	51.5%	28,617	46.2%	25,663	2.1%	1,138
San Luis Obispo	51.4%	68,176	46.1%	61,055	2.0%	3,924
Trinity	50.8%	3,233	46.2%	2,940	4.0%	257
Riverside	50.3%	325,017	47.9%	310,041	1.7%	11,216
Fresno	50.3%	136,706	48.2%	131,015	2.1%	5,727
Butte	49.9%	49,013	47.6%	46,706	2.7%	2,606
Stanislaus	49.9%	80,279	48.2%	77,497	2.3%	3,736
Orange	47.7%	549,558	50.2%	579,064	2.2%	25,065
Del Norte	45.4%	4,323	52.2%	4,967	2.4%	231
Inyo	43.9%	3,743	53.1%	4,523	2.9%	243
El Dorado	43.7%	40,529	54.2%	50,314	2.6%	2,466
Placer	43.4%	75,112	54.7%	94,647	2.3%	4,053
Siskiyou	43.3%	9,292	53.7%	11,520	3.5%	752
Plumas	42.8%	4,715	54.8%	6,035	3.1%	343
Mariposa	42.5%	4,100	54.9%	5,298	2.9%	279
Tuolumne	42.5%	11,532	55.2%	14,988	2.3%	631
Madera	42.4%	17,952	55.7%	23,583	2.2%	939
Calaveras	42.2%	9,813	55.1%	12,835	3.3%	773
Kings	42.1%	14,747	56.2%	19,710	1.8%	618
Amador	41.5%	7,813	56.1%	10,561	2.3%	436
Yuba	41.5%	8,866	56.2%	12,007	2.3%	492
Tulare	41.5%	43,634	56.9%	59,765	2.0%	2,126
Sutter	40.8%	13,412	57.5%	18,911	2.1%	698
Kern	40.2%	93,457	57.9%	134,793	1.8%	4,111
Colusa	40.0%	2,569	58.1%	3,733	2.3%	146
Glenn	37.8%	3,734	59.9%	5,910	2.3%	225
Sierra	37.4%	743	58.2%	1,158	4.9%	97
Tehama	36.7%	8,945	60.8%	14,843	3.1%	772
Shasta	36.0%	28,867	61.7%	49,588	2.2%	1,734
Lassen	31.5%	3,586	65.8%	7,483	3.2%	364
Modoc	29.8%	1,313	67.5%	2,981	2.2%	95

By congressional district

Obama carried 42 congressional districts in California, including all 34 districts held by Democrats and eight districts held by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
1st	31.69%	65.60%	Mike Thompson
2nd	56.10%	41.43%	Wally Herger
3rd	48.81%	49.28%	Dan Lungren
4th	53.98%	43.83%	John Doolittle (110th Congress)
			Tom McClintock (111th Congress)
5th	28.40%	69.62%	Doris Matsui
6th	22.01%	75.95%	Lynn Woolsey
7th	26.43%	71.40%	George Miller
8th	12.38%	85.22%	Nancy Pelosi
9th	9.87%	88.13%	Barbara Lee
10th	33.14%	64.66%	Ellen Tauscher
11th	44.47%	53.79%	Jerry McNerney
12th	23.88%	74.32%	Jackie Speier
13th	23.81%	74.38%	Pete Stark
14th	24.88%	73.11%	Anna Eshoo
15th	29.69%	68.42%	Mike Honda
16th	28.83%	69.55%	Zoe Lofgren
17th	25.78%	72.14%	Sam Farr
18th	38.98%	59.24%	Dennis Cardoza
19th	52.12%	46.03%	George Radanovich
20th	38.70%	59.55%	Jim Costa
21st	56.32%	42.06%	Devin Nunes
22nd	59.67%	38.30%	Kevin McCarthy
23rd	32.31%	65.30%	Lois Capps
24th	47.65%	50.49%	Elton Gallegly
25th	48.34%	49.45%	Howard McKeon
26th	46.96%	51.03%	David Dreier
27th	31.69%	66.12%	Brad Sherman
28th	22.04%	76.16%	Howard Berman
29th	30.37%	67.59%	Adam Schiff
30th	27.90%	70.44%	Henry Waxman
31st	17.83%	79.87%	Xavier Becerra
32nd	29.81%	68.17%	Hilda Solis
33rd	11.69%	86.81%	Diane Watson
34th	23.15%	74.73%	Lucille Roybal-Allard
35th	14.14%	84.37%	Maxine Waters
36th	33.52%	64.39%	Jane Harman
37th	18.70%	79.59%	Laura Richardson
38th	26.62%	71.27%	Grace Napolitano
39th	32.43%	65.48%	Linda Sánchez
40th	51.14%	46.63%	Ed Royce
41st	54.18%	43.66%	Jerry Lewis
42nd	53.19%	44.88%	Gary Miller
43rd	30.09%	67.96%	Joe Baca
44th	48.57%	49.51%	Ken Calvert
45th	46.94%	51.52%	Mary Bono Mack
46th	49.77%	47.94%	Dana Rohrabacher
47th	37.78%	60.14%	Loretta Sanchez
48th	48.55%	49.30%	John B. T. Campbell III
49th	53.01%	45.14%	Darrell Issa
50th	47.08%	51.26%	Brian Bilbray
51st	35.48%	63.11%	Bob Filner
52nd	53.42%	44.98%	Duncan Hunter
53rd	29.87%	68.17%	Susan Davis

Electors

Technically the voters of California cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. California is allocated 55 electors because it has 53 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 55 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate, to the California Secretary of State. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 55 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. 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. In California the 55 electors meet in the State Capitol building in Sacramento to cast their ballots.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from California. All were pledged to and voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

• Jaime Alvarado
• William Ayer
• Joe Baca, Jr.
• Ian Blue
• Roberta Brooks
• Nathan Brostrom
• Mark Cibula
• Robert Conaway
• Ray Cordova
• Lawrence Du Bois
• James Farley
• John Freidenrich
• Mark Friedman
• Bobby Glaser

• Audrey Gordon
• Robert Handy
• Ilene Haber
• Mary Hubert
• Aleita Huguenin
• Richard Hundrieser
• Fred Jackson
• Patrick Kahler
• Mary Keadle
• LeRoy King
• Vinz Koller
• Mark Macarro
• Alma Marquez
• Ana Mascarenas

• Betty McMillion
• Michael McNerney
• Gwen Moore
• Jeremy Nishihara
• Gregory Olzack
• Joe Perez
• Nancy Parrish
• Lou Paulson
• Anthony Rendon
• Frank Salazar
• David Sanchez
• Larry Sheingold
• Lane Sherman
• Stephen Smith

• Juadina Stallings
• Kenneth Sulzer
• Aaruni Thakur
• Norma Torres
• Silissa Uriarte-Smith
• Sid Voorakkara
• Greg Warner
• Karen Waters
• Sanford Weiner
• Gregory Willenborg
• Kelley Willis
• James Yedor
• Christine Young

Failed election reform

Main article: Presidential Election Reform Act

See also: Electoral reform in California

There was a proposed ballot proposition in the state to alter the way the state's electors would be distributed among presidential candidates, but the initiative failed to get onto the ballot.

Notes

^A Turnout information is not available because Decline to State voters were allowed to participate. There were a total of 6,749,406 eligible registered voters registered with the Democratic Party and 3,043,164 who declined to state.

See also

• February 2008 California elections
• November 2008 California elections
• Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: California
• 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries

External links

• Official list of electors for ballot candidates
• Official list of electors for write-in candidates