2008 Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states/districts won by Democrat Barack Obama, and Red denotes those won by Republican John McCain. Numbers indicate electoral votes won by each candidate.
Democrats picked up net gains of eight Senate seats and 21 seats in the House of Representatives on the back of Obama's coattail effect. They also won a net gain of one gubernatorial seat. The 2006 elections and 2008 elections represented the first time since 1936 that Democrats or any party made substantial gains in Congress in two consecutive elections.[1][2] This would be the last election until 2020 in which the Democrats won the Presidency and unified control of Congress.
This was the first presidential election year since 1964 when the Democratic Party won the White House and had coattails in the Senate and House of Representatives. The major theme during the campaign was the American public's general desire of change and reform from both Washington and the policies of President Bush. The economy and other domestic policies were also dominant issues, especially during the last months of the campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis.
The 33 seats in the United States SenateClass 2 were up for election, plus special Senate elections in Mississippi and Wyoming. The resignation of Mississippi Senator Trent Lott, and the death of Wyoming Senator Craig L. Thomas, both Class 1 senators, meant that both of those states' senate seats were up for election. The Democrats gained 8 seats, while the Republicans did not gain a seat.
Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by 7.2 percentage points,[4] gaining 21 seats. They increased their total number of seats to 257, the largest number of seats held by either party in the House since Democrats lost control of Congress in the 1994 elections.
State races
Partisan control of state governments after the 2008 elections:
The only governorship that changed party hands was in Missouri: Democrat Jay Nixon was elected to replace Blunt, who chose to retire instead of seeking a second term.
The New Hampshire Senate saw the election of the first-ever female majority. This is the first time this has occurred in any chamber of any state legislature in United States history.[6] In New York, the Democrats obtained a trifecta for the first time since 1935, and in Delaware for the first time since 1977.[7]
The Democrats took control of six legislative bodies to the Republicans' four. Democrats took control of the Delaware House of Representatives, for the first time since 1985, the Montana House of Representatives, the Nevada Senate, and the New York State Senate, for the first time since 1966, the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Wisconsin State Assembly. Republicans took control of the Montana Senate; both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly,[8] for the first time since 1870; and the Oklahoma Senate, for the first time in state history. With the Montana Senate and the Montana House of Representatives flipping, this election cycle marked the last time in U.S. history as of 2023 where the upper house and lower house held by different political parties in a state legislature both flipped in the same cycle.
Initiatives and referendums
Vote for same-sex marriage ban by counties:
80–90%
70–80%
60–70%
50–60%
Vote against same-sex marriage ban by counties:
70–80%
60–70%
50–60%
State constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage are passed in three states: Arizona, California, and Florida. The measures in Arizona and California ban same-sex marriage only, while Florida bans both same-sex marriage and civil unions. California is the first state to ban same-sex marriage after having legalized it previously.
References
^Barbara Bradley Hagerty & Deborah Tedford (November 4, 2008). "Democrats Poised For Landslide Wins In House". NPR.
^Matt Bai (June 8, 2010). "Democrat in Chief?". New York Times.
^"Obama wins historic US election". BBC. November 5, 2008.
^"Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 2008" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
^"State legislative elections, 2008". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^"New Hampshire Senate Makes History". ABC News. December 7, 2008.
^"New York - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
^Whitehouse, Ken. "Tennessee Republicans win slim majority in State House". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
Further reading
Barreto, Matt A., et al. ""Should They Dance with the One Who Brung'Em?" Latinos and the 2008 Presidential Election." PS: Political Science & Politics (2009) 41#4 pp: 753-760. online[permanent dead link]
Bligh, Michelle C., and Jeffrey C. Kohles. "The enduring allure of charisma: How Barack Obama won the historic 2008 presidential election." The Leadership Quarterly (2009) 20#3 pp: 483–492. online
Campbell, James E. "An exceptional election: Performance, values, and crisis in the 2008 presidential election." The Forum (2009) Vol. 6. No. 4. online
Crotty, William J. Winning the presidency 2008 (Routledge, 2015).
Jacobson, Gary C. "The 2008 Presidential and Congressional Elections: Anti‐Bush Referendum and Prospects for the Democratic Majority." Political Science Quarterly (2009) 124#1 pp: 1-30.
Panagopoulos, Costas, ed. Strategy, Money and Technology in the 2008 Presidential Election (Routledge, 2014).
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 elections in the United States.
2008, united, states, elections, were, held, tuesday, november, 2008, during, terror, onset, great, recession, democratic, wave, democratic, senator, barack, obama, illinois, defeated, senator, john, mccain, arizona, wide, margin, democrats, bolstered, their, . The 2008 United States elections were held on Tuesday November 4 2008 during the war on terror and the onset of the Great Recession It was a Democratic wave Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona by a wide margin and the Democrats bolstered their majorities in both chambers of Congress This is the first Democratic trifecta in the 21st century and the first since 1995 2008 United States elections 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Presidential election yearElection dayNovember 4Incumbent presidentGeorge W Bush Republican Next Congress111thPresidential electionPartisan controlDemocratic gainPopular vote marginDemocratic 7 2 Electoral voteBarack Obama D 365John McCain R 1732008 Presidential election results map Blue denotes states districts won by Democrat Barack Obama and Red denotes those won by Republican John McCain Numbers indicate electoral votes won by each candidate Senate electionsOverall controlDemocratic holdSeats contested35 of 100 seats 33 seats of Class II 2 special elections Net seat changeDemocratic 82008 Senate election results map Democratic hold Republican hold Democratic gainHouse electionsOverall controlDemocratic holdSeats contestedAll 435 voting seatsPopular vote marginDemocratic 10 6 Net seat changeDemocratic 212008 House election results map Democratic hold Republican hold Democratic gain Republican gainGubernatorial electionsSeats contested13 11 states 2 territories Net seat changeDemocratic 12008 Gubernatorial election results map Democratic hold Republican hold Democratic gain New Progressive gain NonpartisanObama won his party s presidential nomination after defeating Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries With Republican President George W Bush term limited Senator John McCain of Arizona won the Republican nomination in the 2008 Republican primaries Obama won the general election with 52 9 percent of the popular vote and 365 of the 538 electoral votes Democrats picked up net gains of eight Senate seats and 21 seats in the House of Representatives on the back of Obama s coattail effect They also won a net gain of one gubernatorial seat The 2006 elections and 2008 elections represented the first time since 1936 that Democrats or any party made substantial gains in Congress in two consecutive elections 1 2 This would be the last election until 2020 in which the Democrats won the Presidency and unified control of Congress This was the first presidential election year since 1964 when the Democratic Party won the White House and had coattails in the Senate and House of Representatives The major theme during the campaign was the American public s general desire of change and reform from both Washington and the policies of President Bush The economy and other domestic policies were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis Contents 1 Federal races 1 1 President 1 2 United States Senate 1 3 United States House of Representatives 2 State races 2 1 Governors 2 2 State legislatures 2 3 Initiatives and referendums 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksFederal races EditPresident Edit Main article 2008 United States presidential election Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was the Democratic nominee and Senator John McCain of Arizona was the Republican nominee Incumbent President George W Bush was ineligible for re election per the 22nd Amendment which limits a president to two terms and incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney declined to run for the office The 2008 presidential election was the first since 1952 in which neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president was a candidate Senator Obama won the number of electors necessary to be elected president and was inaugurated on January 20 2009 3 United States Senate Edit Main article 2008 United States Senate elections The 33 seats in the United States Senate Class 2 were up for election plus special Senate elections in Mississippi and Wyoming The resignation of Mississippi Senator Trent Lott and the death of Wyoming Senator Craig L Thomas both Class 1 senators meant that both of those states senate seats were up for election The Democrats gained 8 seats while the Republicans did not gain a seat United States House of Representatives Edit Main article 2008 United States House of Representatives elections All seats in the House were up for election including seats of the 435 voting representatives from the states and the 6 non voting delegates from the District of Columbia and five U S territories This marked the first time that the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands selected a delegate to Congress Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by 7 2 percentage points 4 gaining 21 seats They increased their total number of seats to 257 the largest number of seats held by either party in the House since Democrats lost control of Congress in the 1994 elections State races Edit Partisan control of state governments after the 2008 elections Democrats maintained trifecta Democrats gained trifecta Republicans maintained trifecta Divided government maintained Divided government established Officially non partisan legislatureGovernors Edit Main article 2008 United States gubernatorial elections Eleven of the fifty United States governors were up for re election as were the governorships of two U S territories Eight incumbent state governors were running for re election while the retirements of Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware Matt Blunt of Missouri and Mike Easley of North Carolina left those gubernatorial positions open The incumbent governors of Puerto Rico Anibal Acevedo Vila and American Samoa Togiola Tulafono were also up for re election The only governorship that changed party hands was in Missouri Democrat Jay Nixon was elected to replace Blunt who chose to retire instead of seeking a second term State legislatures Edit These paragraphs are an excerpt from 2008 United States state legislative elections edit Elections to state legislatures were held on November 4 2008 alongside other elections in which Democrats scored significant gains in a blue wave election Elections were held for 85 legislative chambers with all states but Louisiana Mississippi New Jersey Alabama Maryland and Virginia holding elections in at least one house Michigan and Minnesota held elections for their lower but not upper houses 5 Seven territorial chambers in four territories and the District of Columbia were up The New Hampshire Senate saw the election of the first ever female majority This is the first time this has occurred in any chamber of any state legislature in United States history 6 In New York the Democrats obtained a trifecta for the first time since 1935 and in Delaware for the first time since 1977 7 The Democrats took control of six legislative bodies to the Republicans four Democrats took control of the Delaware House of Representatives for the first time since 1985 the Montana House of Representatives the Nevada Senate and the New York State Senate for the first time since 1966 the Ohio House of Representatives and the Wisconsin State Assembly Republicans took control of the Montana Senate both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly 8 for the first time since 1870 and the Oklahoma Senate for the first time in state history With the Montana Senate and the Montana House of Representatives flipping this election cycle marked the last time in U S history as of 2023 where the upper house and lower house held by different political parties in a state legislature both flipped in the same cycle Initiatives and referendums Edit Vote for same sex marriage ban by counties 80 90 70 80 60 70 50 60 Vote against same sex marriage ban by counties 70 80 60 70 50 60 State constitutional amendments prohibiting same sex marriage are passed in three states Arizona California and Florida The measures in Arizona and California ban same sex marriage only while Florida bans both same sex marriage and civil unions California is the first state to ban same sex marriage after having legalized it previously References Edit Barbara Bradley Hagerty amp Deborah Tedford November 4 2008 Democrats Poised For Landslide Wins In House NPR Matt Bai June 8 2010 Democrat in Chief New York Times Obama wins historic US election BBC November 5 2008 Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4 2008 PDF U S House of Reps Office of the Clerk Retrieved 10 April 2017 State legislative elections 2008 Ballotpedia Retrieved 26 March 2023 New Hampshire Senate Makes History ABC News December 7 2008 New York Election Results 2008 The New York Times www nytimes com Retrieved 2022 04 22 Whitehouse Ken Tennessee Republicans win slim majority in State House Nashville Post Retrieved 2023 02 07 Further reading EditBarreto Matt A et al Should They Dance with the One Who Brung Em Latinos and the 2008 Presidential Election PS Political Science amp Politics 2009 41 4 pp 753 760 online permanent dead link Bligh Michelle C and Jeffrey C Kohles The enduring allure of charisma How Barack Obama won the historic 2008 presidential election The Leadership Quarterly 2009 20 3 pp 483 492 online Campbell James E An exceptional election Performance values and crisis in the 2008 presidential election The Forum 2009 Vol 6 No 4 online Crotty William J Winning the presidency 2008 Routledge 2015 Jacobson Gary C The 2008 Presidential and Congressional Elections Anti Bush Referendum and Prospects for the Democratic Majority Political Science Quarterly 2009 124 1 pp 1 30 online Panagopoulos Costas ed Strategy Money and Technology in the 2008 Presidential Election Routledge 2014 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 elections in the United States United States Election 2008 Web Archive from the U S Library of Congress Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2008 United States elections amp oldid 1168503325, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
