2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

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.

2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →

Nominee Barack Obama John McCain Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Arizona Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin Electoral vote 12 0 Popular vote 1,904,098 1,108,854 Percentage 61.80% 35.99%

County Results Municipality Results Precinct Results Obama   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90-100% McCain   40–50%   50–60%

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

Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama won the state by a 25.8% margin of victory: slightly better than John Kerry's 25.2% margin in 2004. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations forecast that Obama would win Massachusetts, or otherwise considered it to be a safe blue state. Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960, and has maintained extremely large Democratic margins since 1996. No Republican presidential nominee has won a single county in the state, nor obtained more than 40% of the vote, since George H. W. Bush in 1988.^[1][2] In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama captured the state's 12 electoral votes winning 61.80% of the popular vote to Republican John McCain's 35.99%. Massachusetts was also 1 of only 6 states in which neither Obama nor McCain won during the primary season.

Primaries

Democratic

See also: Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 Super Tuesday Democratic Party presidential primaries § Massachusetts, and Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

2008 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary

← 2004 February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05) 2012 →

Candidate Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Party Democratic Democratic Home state New York Illinois Delegate count 55 38 Popular vote 705,185 511,680 Percentage 56.01% 40.64%

The Massachusetts Democratic primary took place 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. 26 other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

Polls indicated that Clinton was leading Barack Obama in the days leading up to the contest in Massachusetts.^[3]

Hillary Rodham Clinton won a convincing victory in Massachusetts over Barack Obama due to a number of factors. According to exit polls, 85% of voters in the Massachusetts Democratic Primary were Caucasians and they opted for Clinton by a margin of 58–40% compared to the 6% of African American voters who backed Obama by a margin of 66–29. Hispanics/Latinos, which comprised 5% of the total voters, backed Clinton by a margin of 56–36%. 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%. As for educational attainment levels, Clinton won all categories except those with postgraduate degrees who backed Obama by a margin of 51–47%. Among self-identified Democrats in the primary, which made up 65% of the total electorate, they went for Clinton by a 58–41 margin while Independents, which comprised a healthy 33% of the electorate, also went for Clinton by a 54–42 margin. She also won all ideological groups. Clinton also won most 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^[4] 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.

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			%		—

Republican

See also: 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries

2008 Massachusetts Republican presidential primary

← 2004 February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05) 2012 →

Candidate Mitt Romney John McCain Party Republican Republican Home state Massachusetts Arizona Delegate count 21 17 Popular vote 255,892 204,779 Percentage 51.92% 41.68%

The Massachusetts Republican Primary took place on February 5, 2008, with 40 national delegates.^[5] Polls indicated that former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney was leading rival John McCain;^[6] Romney ended up defeating McCain by roughly 10% of the vote.

Official Results^[7]

Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mitt Romney	255,892	51.12%	21
John McCain	204,779	40.91%	17
Mike Huckabee	19,103	3.82%	0
Ron Paul	13,251	2.65%	0
Rudy Giuliani*	2,707	0.54%	0
Fred Thompson*	916	0.18%	0
Duncan Hunter*	258	0.05%	0
All Others	1,685	0.34%	0
Uncommitted	1,959	0.39%	0
Total	500,550	100%	38

<tnowiki>*</tnowiki> Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary

Green-Rainbow

See also: 2008 Green Party presidential primaries

2008 Massachusetts Green-Rainbow presidential primary

← 2004 February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05) 2012 →

Candidate Ralph Nader Cynthia McKinney Party Green Green Home state District of Columbia Georgia Delegate count 32 0 Popular vote 744 474 Percentage 39.91% 25.43%

Town results of the Massachusetts Green presidential primaries, 2008:      Nader      McKinney      Swift      Ball      Mesplay      Brown      No Votes

The Massachusetts Green-Rainbow primary took place on February 5. Six candidates appeared on the ballot. Ralph Nader won, despite not running for the nomination of the party.

Massachusetts Green-Rainbow presidential primary, February 5, 2008^[8][9]

Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
Ralph Nader	744	39.91%	32
Cynthia McKinney	474	25.43%	-
Kat Swift	60	3.22%	-
Jared Ball	42	2.25%	-
Kent Mesplay	39	2.09%	-
Elaine Brown	38	2.04%	-
Others	273	25.1%	-
No preference	194	10.41%	-
Blank votes (not tallied)	77	n/a	n/a
Total	1,941	100%	32

Working Families Party

The Working Families Party did not have any candidates run in its presidential primary.^[10]

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^[11]	Likely D
Cook Political Report^[12]	Solid D
The Takeaway^[13]	Solid D
Electoral-vote.com^[14]	Solid D
Washington Post^[15]	Solid D
Politico^[16]	Solid D
RealClearPolitics^[17]	Solid D
FiveThirtyEight^[15]	Solid D
CQ Politics^[18]	Solid D
The New York Times^[19]	Solid D
CNN^[20]	Safe D
NPR^[15]	Solid D
MSNBC^[15]	Solid D
Fox News^[21]	Likely D
Associated Press^[22]	Likely D
Rasmussen Reports^[23]	Safe D

Polling

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

Very early on the election polls were tight,^[24] with McCain even leading by 5 in one poll on January 21 and a tie in a poll on March 16, but Obama won every poll after March 18. He won each by a double-digit margin since August 8. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 56% to 36%.^[25]

Fundraising

John McCain raised $4,072,206 in the state. Barack Obama raised $24,358,264.^[26]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $46,839 while the Republican ticket spent nothing.^[27] Neither campaign visited the state.^[28]

Analysis

In terms of voting in presidential elections, Massachusetts is one of the most heavily Democratic states in the nation. Massachusetts is ethnically diverse, highly educated, and less religious. The Bay State has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1960 except for Ronald Reagan's landslide victories of 1980 and 1984. In 1972, only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia voted for Democratic U.S. Senator George McGovern as Republican Richard M. Nixon won reelection.

Barack Obama won the state's 12 electoral votes with 61.80% of the vote to John McCain's 35.99%. This is slightly higher than Kerry's victory in 2004. Despite that, 4 counties in the state trended away from the Democratic party: Bristol, Plymouth, Norfolk, and Worcester.

Both of Massachusetts's U.S. Senators and all 10 of its U.S. Representatives were Democrats, and Democrats held supermajorities in the Massachusetts Legislature. At the same time in 2008, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry was reelected with 65.86% of the vote over Republican Jeff Beatty's 30.93% as were all of the state's delegates in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and one seat in the Massachusetts Senate.

Results

2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	1,904,098	61.80%	12
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	1,108,854	35.99%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	Matt Gonzalez	28,841	0.94%	0
	Independent	Others (Write-In)		14,483	0.47%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	13,189	0.43%	0
	Green-Rainbow	Cynthia McKinney	Rosa Clemente	6,550	0.21%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	Darrell Castle	4,971	0.16%	0
Totals				3,080,985	100.00%	12
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						62.1%

Results by County

County	Barack Obama Democratic		John McCain Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Barnstable	74,264	56.11%	55,694	42.08%	2,395	1.81%	18,570	14.03%	132,353
Berkshire	49,558	74.94%	14,876	22.50%	1,696	2.56%	34,682	52.44%	66,130
Bristol	146,861	60.41%	90,531	37.24%	5,728	2.36%	56,330	23.17%	243,120
Dukes	7,913	74.98%	2,442	23.14%	198	1.88%	5,471	51.84%	10,553
Essex	208,976	59.12%	137,129	38.80%	7,357	2.08%	71,847	20.32%	353,462
Franklin	27,919	72.46%	9,545	24.77%	1,065	2.76%	18,374	47.69%	38,529
Hampden	121,454	61.43%	71,350	36.09%	4,916	2.49%	50,104	25.34%	197,720
Hampshire	56,869	71.47%	20,618	25.91%	2,083	2.62%	36,251	45.56%	79,570
Middlesex	464,484	63.98%	245,766	33.85%	15,781	2.17%	218,718	30.13%	726,031
Nantucket	4,073	67.30%	1,863	30.78%	116	1.92%	2,210	36.52%	6,052
Norfolk	200,675	58.18%	136,841	39.67%	7,400	2.15%	63,834	18.51%	344,916
Plymouth	131,817	52.77%	112,904	45.19%	5,096	2.04%	18,913	7.58%	249,817
Suffolk	207,128	76.94%	57,194	21.24%	4,900	1.82%	149,934	55.70%	269,222
Worcester	202,107	55.59%	152,101	41.83%	9,386	2.58%	50,006	13.76%	363,594
Totals	1,904,098	61.80%	1,108,854	35.99%	68,117	2.21%	795,244	25.81%	3,081,069

Results by Congressional district

Barack Obama swept all 10 congressional districts in Massachusetts.

District	Representative re-elected	McCain	Obama
1	John Olver (D)	33.54%	64.17%
2	Richard Neal (D)	38.88%	59.04%
3	Jim McGovern (D)	39.39%	58.74%
4	Barney Frank (D)	34.67%	63.66%
5	Niki Tsongas (D)	39.41%	58.92%
6	John F. Tierney (D)	40.71%	57.65%
7	Ed Markey (D)	33.34%	64.96%
8	Mike Capuano (D)	13.74%	85.58%
9	Stephen Lynch (D)	38.50%	60.37%
10	William Delahunt (D)	43.60%	54.87%

Results by Municipality

Town/City	Barack Obama Democratic		John McCain Republican		Others		Total Votes County
	%	#	%	#	%	#
Abington	50.6%	4,094	46.5%	3,765	2.9%	238	8,097
Acton	67.8%	7,894	29.9%	3,477	2.3%	264	11,635
Acushnet	57.8%	3,232	37.7%	2,110	4.5%	251	5,593
Adams	74.8%	3,066	21.8%	893	3.4%	140	4,099
Agawam	52.3%	7,595	44.3%	6,428	3.4%	487	14,510
Alford	80.8%	261	17.6%	57	1.5%	5	323
Amesbury	59.6%	5,111	37.6%	3,222	2.8%	238	8,571
Amherst	86.6%	11,198	10.1%	1,307	3.3%	432	12,937
Andover	55.5%	10,177	42.5%	7,798	2.0%	369	18,344
Aquinnah	89.5%	280	8.3%	26	2.2%	7	313
Arlington	72.1%	18,365	25.1%	6,407	2.8%	716	25,488
Ashburnham	52.7%	1,787	43.8%	1,486	3.5%	117	3,390
Ashby	47.0%	885	49.5%	932	3.4%	64	1,881
Ashfield	79.5%	903	17.4%	198	3.1%	35	1,136
Ashland	59.7%	5,060	37.5%	3,184	2.8%	236	8,480
Athol	55.5%	2,647	41.0%	1,956	3.5%	168	4,771
Attleboro	55.1%	10,523	41.9%	8,003	2.9%	559	19,085
Auburn	53.6%	4,794	43.0%	3,849	3.4%	307	8,950
Avon	48.4%	1,173	47.8%	1,159	3.8%	92	2,424
Ayer	55.8%	1,895	41.2%	1,397	3.0%	102	3,394
Barnstable	53.8%	13,559	44.0%	11,084	2.2%	566	25,209
Barre	52.0%	1,409	44.5%	1,205	3.5%	95	2,709
Becket	70.1%	672	26.6%	255	3.3%	32	959
Bedford	60.7%	4,516	36.6%	2,718	2.7%	201	7,435
Belchertown	62.4%	4,829	34.7%	2,683	2.9%	221	7,733
Bellingham	51.9%	4,364	45.0%	3,783	3.2%	266	8,413
Belmont	68.1%	9,404	28.8%	3,982	3.1%	426	13,812
Berkley	48.4%	1,585	47.6%	1,558	4.0%	132	3,275
Berlin	52.6%	870	43.1%	712	4.3%	71	1,653
Bernardston	68.2%	849	28.4%	354	3.4%	42	1,245
Beverly	59.4%	12,247	37.7%	7,780	2.8%	587	20,614
Billerica	49.6%	9,700	47.5%	9,280	2.9%	566	19,546
Blackstone	52.2%	2,229	44.1%	1,885	3.7%	156	4,270
Blandford	48.4%	339	49.1%	344	2.6%	18	701
Bolton	55.2%	1,598	41.9%	1,214	2.9%	83	2,895
Boston	78.6%	185,976	19.3%	45,548	2.1%	5001	236,525
Bourne	49.9%	5,076	47.7%	4,859	2.4%	244	10,179
Boxborough	62.7%	1,798	34.8%	996	2.5%	72	2,866
Boxford	45.9%	2,286	51.9%	2,586	2.2%	109	4,981
Boylston	51.0%	1,352	45.9%	1,215	3.1%	82	2,649
Braintree	49.4%	9,298	47.6%	8,964	3.0%	570	18,832
Brewster	58.5%	3,903	38.0%	2,535	3.4%	229	6,667
Bridgewater	48.6%	5,889	48.4%	5,861	3.0%	360	12,110
Brimfield	48.0%	984	47.8%	979	4.2%	86	2,049
Brockton	69.0%	23,299	28.6%	9,646	2.4%	808	33,753
Brookfield	49.4%	875	46.8%	829	3.7%	66	1,770
Brookline	80.4%	22,484	17.3%	4,842	2.3%	645	27,971
Buckland	72.8%	785	23.1%	249	4.1%	44	1,078
Burlington	53.1%	6,822	44.4%	5,703	2.6%	330	12,855
Cambridge	87.5%	40,876	10.1%	4,697	2.5%	1154	46,727
Canton	53.2%	6,460	44.4%	5,396	2.4%	288	12,144
Carlisle	65.2%	2,116	32.4%	1,053	2.4%	77	3,246
Carver	47.5%	2,937	47.0%	2,901	5.5%	339	6,177
Charlemont	70.0%	486	25.2%	175	4.8%	33	694
Charlton	44.4%	2,883	52.6%	3,411	3.0%	192	6,486
Chatham	53.8%	2,585	44.1%	2,116	2.1%	101	4,802
Chelmsford	52.9%	10,360	44.5%	8,712	2.6%	511	19,583
Chelsea	73.4%	5,926	22.5%	1,820	4.1%	328	8,074
Cheshire	69.5%	1,318	26.8%	508	3.7%	70	1,896
Chester	52.0%	369	43.7%	310	4.2%	30	709
Chesterfield	60.3%	444	36.0%	265	3.7%	27	736
Chicopee	60.4%	14,172	35.2%	8,268	4.4%	1038	23,478
Chilmark	80.5%	597	16.8%	125	2.7%	20	742
Clarksburg	70.2%	635	26.1%	236	3.8%	34	905
Clinton	56.9%	3,701	39.4%	2,563	3.7%	242	6,506
Cohasset	51.5%	2,383	46.6%	2,156	1.9%	90	4,629
Colrain	69.4%	654	26.0%	245	4.7%	44	943
Concord	70.3%	7,435	27.4%	2,903	2.3%	244	10,582
Conway	75.7%	952	21.7%	273	2.6%	33	1,258
Cummington	69.5%	376	27.4%	148	3.1%	17	541
Dalton	71.7%	2,559	25.7%	916	2.6%	92	3,567
Danvers	53.8%	7,558	43.4%	6,093	2.8%	399	14,050
Dartmouth	62.1%	10,442	35.0%	5,876	2.9%	492	16,810
Dedham	55.3%	7,108	41.7%	5,361	3.0%	388	12,857
Deerfield	71.5%	2,198	25.6%	786	3.0%	91	3,075
Dennis	54.4%	5,209	42.8%	4,098	2.8%	266	9,573
Dighton	48.1%	1,732	47.8%	1,719	4.1%	147	3,598
Douglas	45.4%	1,962	51.7%	2,235	2.9%	125	4,322
Dover	50.8%	1,741	47.1%	1,614	2.1%	73	3,428
Dracut	48.5%	7,216	48.9%	7,284	2.6%	384	14,884
Dudley	49.9%	2,525	46.7%	2,366	3.4%	174	5,065
Dunstable	49.1%	916	47.8%	892	3.1%	58	1,866
Duxbury	50.5%	4,776	47.4%	4,479	2.1%	195	9,450
East Bridgewater	46.1%	3,332	51.3%	3,706	2.6%	186	7,224
East Brookfield	42.7%	506	55.0%	651	2.3%	27	1,184
East Longmeadow	49.7%	4,296	47.6%	4,109	2.7%	235	8,640
Eastham	61.1%	2,349	36.8%	1,416	2.0%	78	3,843
Easthampton	69.6%	6,214	27.0%	2,410	3.4%	305	8,929
Easton	50.7%	6,111	47.0%	5,667	2.3%	282	12,060
Edgartown	68.4%	1,692	29.1%	719	2.5%	61	2,472
Egremont	77.7%	658	20.1%	170	2.2%	19	847
Erving	70.1%	565	26.8%	216	3.1%	25	806
Essex	55.2%	1,220	42.9%	947	1.9%	42	2,209
Everett	64.2%	8,338	31.9%	4,140	3.9%	505	12,983
Fairhaven	62.3%	5,299	34.3%	2,914	3.5%	295	8,508
Fall River	71.0%	22,591	24.9%	7,933	4.1%	1304	31,828
Falmouth	59.6%	11,725	38.1%	7,503	2.3%	458	19,686
Fitchburg	59.6%	8,596	37.3%	5,378	3.2%	458	14,432
Florida	62.1%	267	34.2%	147	3.7%	16	430
Foxborough	51.4%	4,702	46.1%	4,216	2.5%	231	9,149
Framingham	65.9%	17,839	31.2%	8,464	2.9%	782	27,085
Franklin	52.4%	8,800	44.9%	7,535	2.7%	458	16,793
Freetown	49.7%	2,405	46.1%	2,228	4.2%	205	4,838
Gardner	58.6%	4,936	37.6%	3,171	3.8%	321	8,428
Georgetown	49.7%	2,358	47.9%	2,271	2.5%	117	4,746
Gill	73.1%	672	23.9%	220	2.9%	27	919
Gloucester	63.5%	9,967	32.6%	5,113	3.9%	604	15,684
Goshen	65.8%	403	30.2%	185	3.9%	24	612
Gosnold	65.0%	52	32.5%	26	2.5%	2	80
Grafton	52.3%	4,722	44.9%	4,057	2.7%	248	9,027
Granby	54.9%	1,967	41.9%	1,502	3.2%	115	3,584
Granville	43.3%	381	52.6%	462	4.1%	36	879
Great Barrington	81.5%	3,074	15.2%	574	3.3%	126	3,774
Greenfield	72.9%	6,245	23.2%	1,987	4.0%	339	8,571
Groton	56.2%	3,450	39.7%	2,439	4.0%	248	6,137
Groveland	49.1%	1,898	48.3%	1,867	2.6%	102	3,867
Hadley	68.9%	2,138	28.2%	876	2.9%	89	3,103
Halifax	47.1%	1,928	49.5%	2,026	3.5%	143	4,097
Hamilton	52.7%	2,494	44.8%	2,120	2.4%	114	4,728
Hampden	48.4%	1,450	48.7%	1,457	2.9%	87	2,994
Hancock	62.2%	248	33.1%	132	4.8%	19	399
Hanover	44.1%	3,600	54.0%	4,411	2.0%	161	8,172
Hanson	46.9%	2,571	50.3%	2,758	2.8%	153	5,482
Hardwick	54.8%	776	41.1%	582	4.0%	57	1,415
Harvard	63.2%	2,206	33.2%	1,158	3.6%	125	3,489
Harwich	55.7%	4,538	40.7%	3,314	3.6%	291	8,143
Hatfield	66.2%	1,405	31.0%	658	2.8%	59	2,122
Haverhill	57.3%	15,552	39.8%	10,814	2.8%	772	27,138
Hawley	57.4%	101	36.9%	65	5.7%	10	176
Heath	66.7%	296	30.6%	136	2.7%	12	444
Hingham	52.9%	7,129	45.2%	6,099	1.9%	260	13,488
Hinsdale	65.4%	723	30.0%	332	4.6%	51	1,106
Holbrook	52.6%	2,858	44.0%	2,391	3.4%	182	5,431
Holden	51.2%	5,360	45.9%	4,805	2.9%	300	10,465
Holland	48.8%	654	47.4%	636	3.8%	51	1,341
Holliston	58.4%	4,830	38.9%	3,219	2.7%	221	8,270
Holyoke	71.1%	11,034	25.8%	4,000	3.2%	489	15,523
Hopedale	54.4%	1,847	42.8%	1,451	2.8%	96	3,394
Hopkinton	53.1%	4,455	44.7%	3,753	2.2%	186	8,394
Hubbardston	46.5%	1,188	49.8%	1,272	3.8%	96	2,556
Hudson	57.4%	5,639	38.9%	3,826	3.7%	361	9,826
Hull	58.9%	3,511	37.9%	2,258	3.3%	194	5,963
Huntington	53.2%	608	42.2%	482	4.6%	53	1,143
Ipswich	56.0%	4,573	41.4%	3,381	2.6%	213	8,167
Kingston	48.7%	3,279	49.0%	3,303	2.3%	154	6,736
Lakeville	42.8%	2,456	53.4%	3,060	3.8%	217	5,733
Lancaster	48.3%	1,775	48.2%	1,770	3.5%	129	3,674
Lanesborough	69.2%	1,164	28.8%	484	2.0%	34	1,682
Lawrence	79.5%	15,632	18.4%	3,624	2.1%	404	19,660
Lee	72.1%	2,192	24.6%	748	3.3%	100	3,040
Leicester	51.1%	2,821	45.4%	2,503	3.5%	194	5,518
Lenox	75.5%	2,305	21.7%	662	2.8%	84	3,051
Leominster	54.8%	10,063	42.0%	7,709	3.2%	580	18,352
Leverett	83.8%	1,053	13.4%	168	2.8%	35	1,256
Lexington	72.3%	12,984	25.6%	4,593	2.1%	385	17,962
Leyden	72.4%	344	23.6%	112	4.0%	19	475
Lincoln	75.1%	2,627	22.6%	791	2.2%	78	3,496
Littleton	57.0%	2,963	40.5%	2,106	2.4%	127	5,196
Longmeadow	57.0%	5,517	40.8%	3,946	2.2%	211	9,674
Lowell	64.7%	20,646	32.6%	10,393	2.7%	866	31,905
Ludlow	56.5%	5,638	40.5%	4,038	3.0%	300	9,976
Lunenburg	50.2%	2,889	47.0%	2,706	2.8%	161	5,756
Lynn	67.7%	20,276	29.1%	8,719	3.2%	961	29,956
Lynnfield	43.2%	3,018	54.6%	3,811	2.2%	155	6,984
Malden	67.2%	13,865	29.5%	6,075	3.3%	688	20,628
Manchester-by-the-Sea	59.8%	2,046	37.7%	1,290	2.5%	85	3,421
Mansfield	51.8%	6,052	44.3%	5,176	3.9%	454	11,682
Marblehead	60.3%	7,513	37.4%	4,659	2.3%	288	12,460
Marion	57.6%	1,804	40.4%	1,266	2.0%	64	3,134
Marlborough	57.2%	9,367	39.8%	6,520	3.1%	500	16,387
Marshfield	49.7%	7,255	48.1%	7,026	2.2%	323	14,604
Mashpee	52.7%	4,297	43.7%	3,564	3.5%	288	8,149
Mattapoisett	53.8%	2,177	42.8%	1,733	3.4%	137	4,047
Maynard	62.5%	3,549	34.7%	1,967	2.8%	158	5,674
Medfield	52.8%	3,848	44.8%	3,264	2.5%	181	7,293
Medford	65.0%	17,598	32.0%	8,655	3.0%	811	27,064
Medway	53.2%	3,736	44.4%	3,122	2.4%	168	7,026
Melrose	59.3%	9,139	37.9%	5,846	2.7%	420	15,405
Mendon	46.6%	1,513	50.5%	1,641	2.9%	94	3,248
Merrimac	53.6%	1,918	43.3%	1,551	3.1%	112	3,581
Methuen	53.4%	11,263	44.1%	9,303	2.6%	543	21,109
Middleborough	45.1%	5,155	51.2%	5,857	3.7%	429	11,441
Middlefield	64.7%	194	32.7%	98	2.7%	8	300
Middleton	45.4%	1,982	51.9%	2,266	2.7%	120	4,368
Milford	57.1%	7,073	40.0%	4,958	2.9%	363	12,394
Millbury	51.6%	3,440	44.9%	2,996	3.5%	233	6,669
Millis	54.1%	2,494	43.3%	1,996	2.6%	118	4,608
Millville	47.4%	733	49.9%	772	2.7%	42	1,547
Milton	60.8%	9,486	36.9%	5,753	2.3%	352	15,591
Monroe	66.7%	40	31.7%	19	1.7%	1	60
Monson	53.7%	2,418	42.9%	1,931	3.4%	151	4,500
Montague	74.4%	3,261	22.1%	967	3.6%	157	4,385
Monterey	79.0%	464	18.6%	109	2.4%	14	587
Montgomery	45.8%	236	49.9%	257	4.3%	22	515
Mount Washington	77.1%	91	17.8%	21	5.1%	6	118
Nahant	58.0%	1,343	38.3%	887	3.6%	84	2,314
Nantucket	67.0%	4,073	30.6%	1,863	2.4%	145	6,081
Natick	62.8%	11,406	33.3%	6,050	3.9%	699	18,155
Needham	65.4%	11,331	32.6%	5,652	2.0%	353	17,336
New Ashford	66.2%	96	27.6%	40	6.2%	9	145
New Bedford	72.5%	24,881	23.9%	8,201	3.6%	1245	34,327
New Braintree	52.2%	289	44.8%	248	3.1%	17	554
New Marlborough	71.7%	601	25.4%	213	2.9%	24	838
New Salem	63.9%	395	30.7%	190	5.3%	33	618
Newbury	53.7%	2,326	43.5%	1,883	2.8%	120	4,329
Newburyport	65.0%	7,118	32.1%	3,517	2.8%	309	10,944
Newton	74.6%	33,360	23.0%	10,283	2.4%	1077	44,720
Norfolk	46.7%	2,508	50.7%	2,723	2.5%	136	5,367
North Adams	76.0%	4,519	20.2%	1,203	3.8%	226	5,948
North Andover	51.6%	7,777	46.1%	6,939	2.3%	346	15,062
North Attleborough	49.7%	7,099	47.0%	6,713	3.3%	471	14,283
North Brookfield	45.5%	1,091	51.0%	1,224	3.5%	83	2,398
North Reading	47.9%	4,056	50.0%	4,233	2.0%	171	8,460
Northampton	82.1%	13,412	14.6%	2,387	3.3%	542	16,341
Northborough	55.4%	4,516	41.7%	3,401	2.8%	232	8,149
Northbridge	47.6%	3,625	49.2%	3,748	3.2%	242	7,615
Northfield	70.4%	1,228	26.5%	463	3.1%	54	1,745
Norton	50.7%	4,542	46.8%	4,194	2.5%	227	8,963
Norwell	46.5%	2,947	51.4%	3,263	2.1%	134	6,344
Norwood	55.1%	7,944	41.8%	6,033	3.1%	440	14,417
Oak Bluffs	71.8%	1,931	26.3%	706	1.9%	51	2,688
Oakham	46.0%	520	49.7%	562	4.2%	48	1,130
Orange	56.2%	1,903	40.3%	1,366	3.5%	118	3,387
Orleans	57.4%	2,677	40.1%	1,870	2.5%	117	4,664
Otis	58.7%	504	37.0%	318	4.3%	37	859
Oxford	49.7%	3,237	47.0%	3,061	3.3%	213	6,511
Palmer	54.4%	3,229	41.8%	2,481	3.8%	226	5,936
Paxton	48.7%	1,263	46.0%	1,194	5.4%	139	2,596
Peabody	56.0%	14,818	40.8%	10,800	3.1%	823	26,441
Pelham	83.9%	753	13.9%	125	2.1%	19	897
Pembroke	48.8%	4,672	48.7%	4,660	2.5%	238	9,570
Pepperell	47.8%	3,029	49.2%	3,116	3.0%	191	6,336
Peru	65.0%	305	31.6%	148	3.4%	16	469
Petersham	56.6%	466	40.2%	331	3.2%	26	823
Phillipston	52.0%	501	44.3%	427	3.7%	36	964
Pittsfield	75.5%	15,665	21.2%	4,404	3.2%	668	20,737
Plainfield	74.4%	294	22.5%	89	3.0%	12	395
Plainville	49.2%	2,114	47.4%	2,036	3.4%	147	4,297
Plymouth	52.3%	15,180	45.2%	13,139	2.5%	722	29,041
Plympton	45.9%	787	51.6%	884	2.5%	42	1,713
Princeton	50.8%	1,138	45.0%	1,008	4.2%	95	2,241
Provincetown	86.9%	2,067	10.8%	256	2.4%	56	2,379
Quincy	57.2%	22,810	39.0%	15,546	3.8%	1509	39,865
Randolph	71.5%	10,424	26.1%	3,811	2.4%	347	14,582
Raynham	47.1%	3,336	49.8%	3,524	3.1%	216	7,076
Reading	55.5%	7,694	42.1%	5,831	2.4%	335	13,860
Rehoboth	50.0%	3,147	46.7%	2,945	3.3%	208	6,300
Revere	58.7%	9,941	36.9%	6,242	4.4%	739	16,922
Richmond	73.8%	720	22.9%	223	3.3%	32	975
Rochester	47.0%	1,467	49.8%	1,555	3.2%	101	3,123
Rockland	49.9%	4,318	46.6%	4,035	3.4%	298	8,651
Rockport	65.9%	3,088	31.4%	1,469	2.7%	128	4,685
Rowe	53.0%	140	39.4%	104	7.6%	20	264
Rowley	48.7%	1,681	49.0%	1,690	2.3%	78	3,449
Royalston	57.4%	399	37.3%	259	5.3%	37	695
Russell	50.1%	409	45.3%	370	4.5%	37	816
Rutland	48.2%	2,027	49.5%	2,081	2.3%	98	4,206
Salem	67.7%	13,080	29.0%	5,601	3.3%	635	19,316
Salisbury	53.8%	2,270	43.2%	1,823	3.1%	129	4,222
Sandisfield	61.2%	274	32.1%	144	6.7%	30	448
Sandwich	49.0%	6,126	47.5%	5,942	3.5%	440	12,508
Saugus	50.1%	6,769	46.8%	6,314	3.1%	421	13,504
Savoy	67.8%	274	27.5%	111	4.7%	19	404
Scituate	52.1%	5,850	45.6%	5,121	2.3%	263	11,234
Seekonk	54.8%	4,067	41.3%	3,061	3.9%	290	7,418
Sharon	65.1%	6,622	31.2%	3,179	3.7%	373	10,174
Sheffield	72.3%	1,378	23.7%	452	3.9%	75	1,905
Shelburne	75.6%	916	20.3%	246	4.1%	50	1,212
Sherborn	59.5%	1,609	38.0%	1,029	2.5%	67	2,705
Shirley	51.2%	1,609	45.2%	1,421	3.6%	114	3,144
Shrewsbury	56.1%	10,000	40.9%	7,296	3.0%	533	17,829
Shutesbury	84.3%	1,038	12.5%	154	3.2%	40	1,232
Somerset	61.8%	6,368	34.3%	3,537	3.9%	398	10,303
Somerville	80.7%	26,665	15.8%	5,215	3.6%	1181	33,061
South Hadley	62.3%	5,671	35.1%	3,199	2.6%	240	9,110
Southampton	55.7%	1,911	41.3%	1,416	2.9%	101	3,428
Southborough	55.8%	3,201	41.5%	2,379	2.7%	152	5,732
Southbridge	63.4%	4,466	33.3%	2,346	3.3%	232	7,044
Southwick	46.3%	2,267	50.4%	2,467	3.3%	160	4,894
Spencer	49.4%	2,799	47.6%	2,697	3.1%	173	5,669
Springfield	75.8%	39,516	21.7%	11,331	2.4%	1274	52,121
Sterling	45.8%	2,159	51.4%	2,423	2.8%	132	4,714
Stockbridge	79.6%	998	17.1%	214	3.3%	41	1,253
Stoneham	54.5%	6,625	43.0%	5,231	2.5%	300	12,156
Stoughton	58.0%	7,915	38.8%	5,296	3.1%	425	13,636
Stow	57.6%	2,319	39.6%	1,592	2.8%	113	4,024
Sturbridge	52.6%	2,738	44.6%	2,322	2.8%	148	5,208
Sudbury	63.0%	6,502	35.0%	3,613	2.1%	212	10,327
Sunderland	76.2%	1,433	20.4%	383	3.4%	64	1,880
Sutton	44.8%	2,362	51.9%	2,736	3.3%	176	5,274
Swampscott	62.3%	5,103	34.7%	2,844	3.0%	244	8,191
Swansea	57.1%	4,887	39.8%	3,408	3.1%	268	8,563
Taunton	58.3%	13,243	38.2%	8,677	3.6%	812	22,732
Templeton	50.9%	1,909	45.3%	1,701	3.8%	142	3,752
Tewksbury	48.4%	7,628	48.8%	7,683	2.8%	435	15,746
Tisbury	75.0%	1,830	22.2%	541	2.8%	69	2,440
Tolland	46.4%	128	50.0%	138	3.6%	10	276
Topsfield	47.3%	1,824	47.6%	1,837	5.1%	198	3,859
Townsend	46.0%	2,326	50.8%	2,572	3.2%	162	5,060
Truro	73.0%	1,056	24.4%	353	2.6%	37	1,446
Tyngsborough	48.0%	2,955	50.1%	3,085	2.0%	121	6,161
Tyringham	69.3%	194	28.2%	79	2.5%	7	280
Upton	50.2%	2,077	46.6%	1,927	3.2%	131	4,135
Uxbridge	48.1%	3,476	48.8%	3,532	3.1%	226	7,234
Wakefield	54.4%	7,743	42.9%	6,118	2.7%	385	14,246
Wales	52.6%	537	43.7%	446	3.6%	37	1,020
Walpole	48.3%	6,600	49.2%	6,712	2.5%	343	13,655
Waltham	62.6%	15,276	34.3%	8,383	3.1%	746	24,405
Ware	56.0%	2,552	40.0%	1,821	4.0%	182	4,555
Wareham	56.8%	6,199	40.3%	4,398	2.9%	317	10,914
Warren	50.5%	1,184	45.3%	1,062	4.1%	97	2,343
Warwick	72.4%	328	24.3%	110	3.3%	15	453
Washington	73.5%	258	23.4%	82	3.1%	11	351
Watertown	71.1%	11,520	26.2%	4,249	2.7%	431	16,200
Wayland	67.2%	5,488	30.3%	2,476	2.5%	204	8,168
Webster	51.6%	3,461	44.4%	2,975	4.0%	269	6,705
Wellesley	63.7%	9,270	33.6%	4,885	2.8%	405	14,560
Wellfleet	70.0%	1,550	27.0%	597	3.0%	66	2,213
Wendell	83.5%	474	12.1%	69	4.4%	25	568
Wenham	50.4%	1,182	47.2%	1,108	2.3%	55	2,345
West Boylston	50.3%	2,019	47.1%	1,891	2.6%	104	4,014
West Bridgewater	42.6%	1,701	54.2%	2,163	3.2%	128	3,992
West Brookfield	49.7%	1,010	46.0%	936	4.3%	87	2,033
West Newbury	54.4%	1,508	43.4%	1,202	2.2%	62	2,772
West Springfield	54.9%	6,751	41.7%	5,128	3.3%	410	12,289
West Stockbridge	79.7%	720	16.8%	152	3.4%	31	903
West Tisbury	81.7%	1,531	16.0%	299	2.3%	44	1,874
Westborough	58.6%	5,308	38.6%	3,496	2.9%	259	9,063
Westfield	52.6%	9,304	43.9%	7,762	3.5%	622	17,688
Westford	54.0%	6,795	43.7%	5,501	2.3%	286	12,582
Westhampton	61.1%	681	37.2%	414	1.7%	19	1,114
Westminster	49.8%	2,144	46.3%	1,992	3.9%	166	4,302
Weston	60.0%	3,902	37.6%	2,446	2.4%	155	6,503
Westport	61.3%	5,319	35.6%	3,087	3.0%	264	8,670
Westwood	52.0%	4,564	45.4%	3,985	2.6%	226	8,775
Weymouth	52.7%	14,727	44.2%	12,358	3.0%	845	27,930
Whately	66.4%	660	29.2%	290	4.4%	44	994
Whitman	48.3%	3,504	48.7%	3,531	3.0%	214	7,249
Wilbraham	49.3%	4,230	47.3%	4,062	3.4%	292	8,584
Williamsburg	77.0%	1,309	19.5%	331	3.5%	60	1,700
Williamstown	79.1%	2,957	18.9%	707	2.0%	74	3,738
Wilmington	48.3%	5,812	49.2%	5,923	2.5%	307	12,042
Winchendon	53.1%	2,294	43.2%	1,866	3.8%	163	4,323
Winchester	59.0%	7,381	38.7%	4,846	2.2%	281	12,508
Windsor	71.5%	398	25.5%	142	3.1%	17	557
Winthrop	57.7%	5,284	39.2%	3,584	3.1%	284	9,152
Woburn	53.2%	10,237	44.0%	8,466	2.7%	526	19,229
Worcester	66.9%	41,352	29.9%	18,474	3.2%	1982	61,808
Worthington	67.3%	510	29.3%	222	3.4%	26	758
Wrentham	47.2%	2,911	49.8%	3,073	3.0%	187	6,171
Yarmouth	53.4%	7,547	43.8%	6,187	2.9%	405	14,139

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Massachusetts cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Massachusetts is allocated 12 electors because it has 10 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 12 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 12 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.^[29] 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 the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 12 were pledged to Obama and Biden:^[30]

1. Brenda Brathwaite
2. Mary Ann Dube
3. Patricia Marcus
4. Faye Morrison
5. Carol Pacheco
6. Corinne Wingard
7. John Brissette
8. Raymond Jordan
9. Joe Kaplan
10. Melvin Poindexter
11. Samuel Poulten
12. Jason Whittet

See also

• United States presidential elections in Massachusetts
• 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

References

1. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
2. [1] 2008-06-18 at the Wayback Machine[2] 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Massachusetts Democratic Primary". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
4. Phillips, Frank; Viser, Matt (February 6, 2008). "Decisive victories in Mass". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
5. "Massachusetts Republican Delegation 2008". The Green Papers. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
6. "RESULTS: Massachusetts". CNN. February 5, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
7. "Massachusetts 2008 Presidential Primary Results - Republican Party". Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. February 5, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
8. Giese, Chuck (June 20, 2008). "The Green Party's Internal Democracy Problem: Presidential Politics". www.dissedentvoice.org. Dissident Voice. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
9. "2008 President Green-rainbow Primary". Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Government of Massachusetts. February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
10. "PD43+ » Search Elections". PD43+. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
11. . January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
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