2008 United States presidential election in Georgia

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

The 2008 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 4, 2008. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

2008 United States presidential election in Georgia

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
Turnout	51.8%^[1] 5 pp
Nominee John McCain Barack Obama Party Republican Democratic Home state Arizona Illinois Running mate Sarah Palin Joe Biden Electoral vote 15 0 Popular vote 2,048,759 1,844,123 Percentage 52.10% 46.90%
County Results Congressional District Results Precinct Results McCain   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90-100% Obama   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90-100% Tie/No Data
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

Georgia was won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 5.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, 15 of 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. It is situated in the Deep South, entrenched in the Bible Belt (the city of Atlanta being an exception). By 2008 it was considered a Republican stronghold, not having been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992, and having given double-digit victories to George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. McCain was able to keep Georgia in the GOP column in 2008 despite the large African American turnout that helped keep his margin of victory within single digits.

In this election, Georgia voted 12.48% to the right of the nation at-large.^[2]

With its 15 electoral votes, Georgia was the second-largest prize for McCain in 2008, behind only Texas. As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Chattahoochee County voted Democratic.

Primaries

• Georgia Democratic primary, 2008
• Georgia Republican primary, 2008

Campaign

An ambitious Barack Obama targeted Georgia as a potential state he could flip from red to blue, albeit as a relatively long-shot target. Democrats hoped libertarian candidate Bob Barr – whose home state was Georgia – might take away votes for John McCain and play the role of a spoiler. In the early months, Obama bought ads and even appeared in person to campaign in the state.^[3]

However, polling consistently showed McCain with a double-digit lead.^[4] Over the summer, Obama's campaign stumbled, and the Illinois senator even fell behind McCain for a short while in September. In light of these difficulties, the Democratic campaign started shifting resources to North Carolina, which they regarded as more competitive.^[5] Obama stopped advertising in the state and moved away staff, although he retained a large volunteer force. As the campaign neared the end, Obama jumped to a national lead, helped by the September financial crisis, but remained behind in Georgia polling.

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^[6]	Likely R
Cook Political Report^[7]	Toss-up
The Takeaway^[8]	Lean R
Electoral-vote.com^[9]	Lean R
Washington Post^[10]	Lean R
Politico^[11]	Solid R
RealClearPolitics^[12]	Toss-up
FiveThirtyEight^[10]	Lean R
CQ Politics^[13]	Lean R
The New York Times^[14]	Lean R
CNN^[15]	Lean R
NPR^[10]	Lean R
MSNBC^[10]	Lean R
Fox News^[16]	Likely R
Associated Press^[17]	Likely R
Rasmussen Reports^[18]	Safe R

Polling

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

McCain won almost every pre-election poll. The final 3 poll average gave the Republican the lead with 50% to 47%.^[19]

Fundraising

McCain raised $4,835,902. Obama raised $8,568,716.^[20]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent over $4,105,888. McCain and his interest groups spent just $49,507.^[21] Both McCain and Obama visited Atlanta once.^[22]

Analysis

In terms of the margin, McCain won a quite narrow victory, capturing 52.23% of the popular vote to Democrat Barack Obama's 47.02% popular vote. This margin was significantly lower than that in 2004 when George W. Bush carried this state by a 17% margin, winning 58% of the popular vote to John Kerry's 41%. Obama won huge victories in the two most populous counties, DeKalb County and Fulton County which contains the state capital and largest city of Atlanta, which contributed to his popular vote percentage. He also made significant inroads in Atlanta's normally heavily Republican suburbs. For instance, Obama lost Cobb County by nine points compared to Kerry's 25-point loss. Obama lost Gwinnett County by 11 points compared to a 33-point loss for Kerry. Aside from native son Jimmy Carter sweeping every county in the state in 1976, a Democrat hadn't won either county since 1960, and would not do so until Hillary Clinton in 2016. However, McCain piled up the votes in the more rural northern and southeastern parts of the state (well over 70% in some cases) which gave him the edge and ultimate win. These two areas were among the first regions of Georgia to turn Republican; the old-line Southern Democrats in these areas began splitting their tickets as early as the 1950s, and some areas of north Georgia are among the few ancestrally Republican areas of the South.

The large African American turnout was widely attributed to the narrow margin by which McCain carried the state. However, Obama was unable to improve his percentage amongst white voters.^[23] According to exit polls, 77% of white voters supported the Republican candidate - the same as in 2004. This effectively eliminated Obama's chances of winning the state.

Of the several independent and third-party candidates who ran for president in 2008, two were from Georgia: former Republican Representative Bob Barr running on the Libertarian Party (who placed third overall in the popular vote in Georgia), and former Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney running on the Green Party.

During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss was held below 50% of the popular vote in a contentious U.S. Senate race against Democrat Jim Martin and Libertarian Allen Buckley. Abiding by Georgia law, this led to a runoff election in December between Chambliss and Martin. Chambliss brought in 2008 vice presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to campaign for him and rally the base of the GOP. Former President Bill Clinton campaigned on behalf of Martin. Turnout was lower than in the general election and African Americans didn't turn out as large as they did in November for Obama, all factors that led up to Chambliss's victory. The incumbent was reelected with 57.44% of the vote while Martin received 42.56%.

During the 2008 U.S. House elections, incumbent Democratic Representatives Jim Marshall (GA-8) and John Barrow (GA-12), each of whom was narrowly re-elected by 1% or less in 2006 despite the pro-Democratic political environment that year, were both re-elected by unexpectedly wide margins despite efforts by Republicans to win both of the districts. At the state level, during the same election, Republicans picked up four seats in the Georgia House of Representatives.

Results

United States presidential election in Georgia, 2008^[24]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	2,048,759	52.10%	15
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	1,844,123	46.90%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	28,731	0.73%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins		6,998	0.18%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin (write-in)	Darrell Castle	1,404	0.04%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader (write-in)	Matt Gonzalez	1,165	0.03%	0
	Independent	Ron Paul (write-in)		695	0.02%	0
	Green	Cynthia McKinney (write-in)	Rosa Clemente	250	0.01%	0
	Socialist Workers	James Harris (write-in)	Alyson Kennedy	24	0.00%	0
	Constitution	Michael Peroutka* (write-in)	n/a	23	0.00%	0
	HeartQuake '08	Jonathan Allen (write-in)	Jeffrey Stath	9	0.00%	0
	Independent	Frank Moore (write-in)	Susan Block	6	0.00%	0
	Write-in	David C. Byrne	n/a	4	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Brian R. Brown	n/a	2	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Bryan A. Schivera	n/a	2	0.00%	0
Totals				3,932,193	100.00%	15
Voter turnout						75.7%

(*Peroutka was not the Constitution Party's nominee in 2008.)

By county

County	John McCain Republican		Barack Obama Democratic		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Appling	5,085	72.62%	1,846	26.36%	71	1.02%	3,239	46.26%	7,002
Atkinson	1,941	66.77%	938	32.27%	28	0.96%	1,003	34.50%	2,907
Bacon	3,089	78.36%	817	20.73%	36	0.92%	2,272	57.63%	3,942
Baker	828	49.02%	846	50.09%	71	1.02%	-18	-1.07%	1,689
Baldwin	7,823	47.23%	8,587	51.84%	154	0.93%	-764	-4.61%	16,564
Banks	5,120	81.93%	1,027	16.43%	102	1.63%	4,093	65.50%	6,249
Barrow	17,625	71.55%	6,657	27.02%	351	1.43%	10,968	44.53%	24,633
Bartow	25,976	71.81%	9,662	26.71%	537	1.48%	16,314	45.10%	36,175
Ben Hill	3,417	56.46%	2,590	42.80%	45	0.74%	827	13.66%	6,052
Berrien	4,901	75.95%	1,471	22.80%	81	1.26%	3,430	53.15%	6,453
Bibb	27,037	40.69%	38,987	58.67%	424	0.64%	-11,950	-17.98%	66,448
Bleckley	3,657	71.93%	1,380	27.14%	47	0.93%	2,277	44.79%	5,084
Brantley	5,080	80.79%	1,119	17.80%	89	1.41%	3,961	62.99%	6,288
Brooks	3,507	56.52%	2,669	43.01%	29	0.47%	838	13.51%	6,205
Bryan	9,112	70.82%	3,636	28.26%	119	0.92%	5,476	42.56%	12,867
Bulloch	14,174	59.12%	9,586	39.98%	216	0.90%	4,588	19.14%	23,976
Burke	4,344	45.08%	5,233	54.30%	60	0.63%	-889	-9.22%	9,637
Butts	5,947	65.32%	3,065	33.67%	92	1.01%	2,882	31.65%	9,104
Calhoun	862	38.97%	1,342	60.67%	8	0.37%	-480	-21.70%	2,212
Camden	10,502	61.39%	6,482	37.89%	124	0.73%	4,020	23.50%	17,108
Candler	2,286	64.91%	1,209	34.33%	27	0.77%	1,077	30.58%	3,522
Carroll	28,661	65.76%	14,334	32.89%	588	1.34%	14,327	32.87%	43,583
Catoosa	18,218	74.04%	6,025	24.49%	362	1.46%	12,193	49.55%	24,605
Charlton	2,466	66.70%	1,197	32.38%	34	0.92%	1,269	34.32%	3,697
Chatham	46,829	42.40%	62,755	56.82%	858	0.77%	-15,926	-14.42%	110,442
Chattahoochee	811	48.97%	830	50.12%	15	0.90%	-19	-1.15%	1,656
Chattooga	5,572	66.83%	2,596	31.14%	169	2.03%	2,976	35.69%	8,337
Cherokee	70,279	74.79%	22,350	23.78%	1,344	1.43%	47,929	51.01%	93,973
Clarke	15,333	33.58%	29,591	64.80%	742	1.62%	-14,258	-31.22%	45,666
Clay	558	38.75%	879	61.04%	3	0.21%	-321	-22.29%	1,440
Clayton	16,506	16.59%	82,527	82.93%	481	0.48%	-66,021	-66.34%	99,514
Clinch	1,678	62.10%	989	36.60%	35	1.29%	689	25.50%	2,702
Cobb	170,957	54.08%	141,216	44.67%	3,951	1.25%	29,741	9.41%	316,124
Coffee	8,872	64.49%	4,811	34.97%	75	0.54%	4,061	29.52%	13,758
Colquitt	9,185	68.27%	4,139	30.76%	130	0.97%	5,046	37.51%	13,454
Columbia	39,322	70.89%	15,703	28.31%	441	0.80%	23,619	42.58%	55,466
Cook	3,782	64.00%	2,075	35.12%	52	0.88%	1,707	28.88%	5,909
Coweta	37,571	70.05%	15,521	28.94%	543	1.01%	22,050	41.11%	53,635
Crawford	3,358	63.99%	1,832	34.91%	58	1.11%	1,526	29.08%	5,248
Crisp	4,424	58.56%	3,085	40.84%	45	0.60%	1,339	17.72%	7,554
Dade	4,703	73.01%	1,612	25.02%	127	1.97%	3,091	47.99%	6,442
Dawson	8,242	82.54%	1,632	16.34%	112	1.12%	6,610	66.20%	9,986
Decatur	5,890	56.72%	4,424	42.60%	71	0.68%	1,466	14.12%	10,385
DeKalb	65,581	20.31%	254,594	78.86%	2,671	0.83%	-189,013	-58.55%	322,846
Dodge	5,543	67.40%	2,595	31.55%	86	1.04%	2,948	35.85%	8,224
Dooly	1,991	47.85%	2,138	51.38%	32	0.77%	-147	-3.53%	4,161
Dougherty	12,547	32.27%	26,135	67.21%	204	0.53%	-13,588	-34.94%	38,886
Douglas	26,812	48.58%	27,825	50.41%	560	1.02%	-1,013	-1.83%	55,197
Early	2,711	50.74%	2,603	48.72%	29	0.54%	108	2.02%	5,343
Echols	981	82.58%	201	16.92%	6	0.50%	780	65.66%	1,188
Effingham	15,230	74.87%	4,936	24.27%	175	0.86%	10,294	50.60%	20,341
Elbert	4,868	58.43%	3,366	40.40%	98	1.18%	1,502	18.03%	8,332
Emanuel	5,110	61.92%	3,068	37.18%	74	0.90%	2,042	24.74%	8,252
Evans	2,462	63.85%	1,374	35.63%	20	0.52%	1,088	28.22%	3,856
Fannin	7,807	73.35%	2,611	24.53%	225	2.11%	5,196	48.82%	10,643
Fayette	38,501	64.77%	20,313	34.17%	627	1.05%	18,188	30.60%	59,441
Floyd	23,132	67.40%	10,691	31.15%	499	1.46%	12,441	36.25%	34,322
Forsyth	59,166	78.36%	15,406	20.40%	931	1.23%	43,760	57.96%	75,503
Franklin	6,069	74.90%	1,914	23.62%	120	1.48%	4,155	51.28%	8,103
Fulton	130,136	32.08%	272,000	67.06%	3,489	0.86%	-141,864	-34.98%	405,625
Gilmer	8,408	75.17%	2,614	23.37%	164	1.47%	5,794	51.80%	11,186
Glascock	1,202	84.17%	210	14.71%	16	1.12%	992	69.46%	1,428
Glynn	20,479	61.31%	12,676	37.95%	248	0.74%	7,803	23.36%	33,403
Gordon	13,113	74.27%	4,268	24.17%	274	1.55%	8,845	50.10%	17,655
Grady	5,775	61.63%	3,539	37.77%	57	0.61%	2,236	23.86%	9,371
Greene	4,532	57.21%	3,339	42.15%	50	0.63%	1,193	15.06%	7,921
Gwinnett	158,746	54.56%	129,025	44.35%	3,167	1.09%	29,721	10.21%	290,938
Habersham	11,766	79.18%	2,900	19.52%	193	1.29%	8,866	59.66%	14,859
Hall	44,962	74.77%	14,457	24.04%	711	1.19%	30,505	50.73%	60,130
Hancock	795	18.28%	3,535	81.30%	18	0.41%	-2,740	-63.02%	4,348
Haralson	8,658	77.79%	2,248	20.20%	224	2.01%	6,410	57.59%	11,130
Harris	10,648	71.25%	4,184	28.00%	113	0.76%	6,464	43.25%	14,945
Hart	6,537	65.21%	3,365	33.57%	122	1.22%	3,172	31.64%	10,024
Heard	3,133	74.05%	1,042	24.63%	56	1.32%	2,091	49.42%	4,231
Henry	47,157	53.29%	40,567	45.85%	762	0.87%	6,590	7.44%	88,486
Houston	33,392	59.59%	22,094	39.43%	548	0.98%	11,298	20.16%	56,034
Irwin	2,605	67.84%	1,197	31.17%	38	0.99%	1,408	36.67%	3,840
Jackson	17,776	77.23%	4,950	21.51%	290	1.26%	12,826	55.72%	23,016
Jasper	3,916	66.25%	1,935	32.74%	60	1.02%	1,981	33.51%	5,911
Jeff Davis	3,867	73.16%	1,356	25.65%	63	1.20%	2,511	47.51%	5,286
Jefferson	3,061	42.31%	4,149	57.35%	25	0.34%	-1,088	-15.04%	7,235
Jenkins	1,936	56.25%	1,482	43.06%	24	0.70%	454	13.19%	3,442
Johnson	2,426	66.47%	1,198	32.82%	26	0.71%	1,228	33.65%	3,650
Jones	7,782	62.46%	4,572	36.69%	106	0.85%	3,210	25.77%	12,460
Lamar	4,873	63.24%	2,752	35.72%	80	1.04%	2,121	27.52%	7,705
Lanier	1,787	62.05%	1,062	36.88%	31	1.08%	725	25.17%	2,880
Laurens	12,052	60.37%	7,769	38.92%	142	0.71%	4,283	21.45%	19,963
Lee	9,925	75.69%	3,100	23.64%	87	0.67%	6,825	52.05%	13,112
Liberty	5,828	35.54%	10,474	63.87%	98	0.60%	-4,646	-28.33%	16,400
Lincoln	2,731	61.73%	1,650	37.30%	43	0.97%	1,081	24.43%	4,424
Long	2,119	61.24%	1,288	37.23%	53	1.53%	831	24.01%	3,460
Lowndes	21,269	54.19%	17,597	44.83%	384	0.98%	3,672	9.36%	39,250
Lumpkin	8,326	74.95%	2,586	23.28%	196	1.77%	5,740	51.67%	11,108
Macon	1,712	34.35%	3,251	65.23%	21	0.42%	-1,539	-30.88%	4,984
Madison	8,226	72.38%	2,965	26.09%	174	1.53%	5,261	46.29%	11,365
Marion	1,772	55.58%	1,381	43.32%	35	1.10%	391	12.26%	3,188
McDuffie	5,400	57.11%	3,989	42.19%	66	0.70%	1,411	14.92%	9,455
McIntosh	3,282	52.63%	2,905	46.58%	49	0.79%	377	6.05%	6,236
Meriwether	4,982	52.34%	4,465	46.91%	71	0.75%	517	5.43%	9,518
Miller	1,899	69.31%	818	29.85%	23	0.84%	1,081	39.46%	2,740
Mitchell	4,201	51.66%	3,872	47.61%	59	0.72%	329	4.05%	8,132
Monroe	7,933	65.31%	4,106	33.80%	108	0.89%	3,827	31.51%	12,147
Montgomery	2,521	70.16%	1,045	29.08%	27	0.75%	1,476	41.08%	3,593
Morgan	5,987	65.32%	3,091	33.73%	87	0.95%	2,896	31.59%	9,165
Murray	8,180	71.46%	3,026	26.43%	241	2.10%	5,154	45.03%	11,447
Muscogee	29,568	39.87%	44,158	59.54%	436	0.58%	-14,590	-19.67%	74,162
Newton	20,337	49.03%	20,827	50.21%	318	0.77%	-490	-1.18%	41,482
Oconee	12,120	70.57%	4,825	28.09%	229	1.33%	7,295	42.48%	17,174
Oglethorpe	4,144	64.12%	2,232	34.54%	87	1.35%	1,912	29.58%	6,463
Paulding	39,192	68.67%	17,229	30.19%	655	1.15%	21,963	38.48%	57,076
Peach	5,173	46.20%	5,927	52.94%	96	0.86%	-754	-6.74%	11,196
Pickens	10,004	78.08%	2,595	20.25%	214	1.67%	7,409	57.83%	12,813
Pierce	5,500	80.92%	1,253	18.43%	44	0.65%	4,247	62.49%	6,797
Pike	6,547	79.64%	1,575	19.16%	99	1.21%	4,972	60.48%	8,221
Polk	9,850	69.60%	4,052	28.63%	251	1.77%	5,798	40.97%	14,153
Pulaski	2,553	64.44%	1,377	34.76%	32	0.81%	1,176	29.68%	3,962
Putnam	5,966	65.28%	3,102	33.94%	71	0.78%	2,864	31.34%	9,139
Quitman	509	45.61%	597	53.49%	10	0.90%	-88	-7.88%	1,116
Rabun	5,487	71.89%	2,001	26.22%	145	1.91%	3,486	45.67%	7,633
Randolph	1,370	42.59%	1,833	56.98%	14	0.43%	-463	-14.39%	3,217
Richmond	26,842	33.80%	52,100	65.60%	480	0.60%	-25,258	-31.80%	79,422
Rockdale	16,921	44.78%	20,526	54.32%	337	0.89%	-3,605	-9.54%	37,784
Schley	1,252	72.00%	479	27.54%	8	0.47%	773	44.46%	1,739
Screven	3,423	52.77%	3,024	46.62%	40	0.61%	399	6.15%	6,487
Seminole	2,315	57.77%	1,660	41.43%	32	0.79%	655	16.34%	4,007
Spalding	14,885	58.85%	10,141	40.09%	269	1.06%	4,744	18.76%	25,295
Stephens	7,689	72.87%	2,705	25.63%	158	1.50%	4,984	47.24%	10,552
Stewart	783	37.13%	1,305	61.88%	21	1.00%	-522	-24.75%	2,109
Sumter	5,717	46.65%	6,454	52.66%	84	0.68%	-737	-6.01%	12,255
Talbot	1,301	35.15%	2,369	64.01%	31	0.84%	-1,068	-28.86%	3,701
Taliaferro	339	34.24%	643	64.95%	8	0.81%	-304	-30.71%	990
Tattnall	4,730	70.32%	1,932	28.72%	64	0.95%	2,798	41.60%	6,726
Taylor	2,021	56.34%	1,536	42.82%	30	0.83%	485	13.52%	3,587
Telfair	2,486	56.81%	1,862	42.55%	28	0.64%	624	14.26%	4,376
Terrell	1,890	42.75%	2,501	56.57%	30	0.68%	-611	-13.82%	4,421
Thomas	10,642	57.54%	7,720	41.74%	132	0.71%	2,922	15.80%	18,494
Tift	9,431	66.09%	4,749	33.28%	89	0.62%	4,682	32.81%	14,269
Toombs	6,658	68.61%	2,964	30.54%	82	0.84%	3,694	38.07%	9,704
Towns	4,292	74.46%	1,391	24.13%	81	1.40%	2,901	50.33%	5,764
Treutlen	1,826	61.65%	1,112	37.54%	24	0.81%	714	24.11%	2,962
Troup	15,391	59.04%	10,455	40.11%	222	0.85%	4,936	18.93%	26,068
Turner	2,096	58.94%	1,427	40.13%	33	0.93%	669	18.81%	3,556
Twiggs	2,087	46.15%	2,402	53.12%	33	0.73%	-315	-6.97%	4,522
Union	8,013	74.96%	2,486	23.26%	191	1.78%	5,527	51.70%	10,690
Upson	7,291	63.77%	4,061	35.52%	82	0.71%	3,230	28.25%	11,434
Walker	17,110	72.33%	6,095	25.77%	449	1.89%	11,015	46.56%	23,654
Walton	27,253	75.54%	8,469	23.47%	357	0.98%	18,784	52.07%	36,079
Ware	8,311	66.83%	4,034	32.44%	91	0.73%	4,277	34.39%	12,436
Warren	1,087	40.83%	1,554	58.38%	21	0.79%	-467	-17.55%	2,662
Washington	4,216	47.49%	4,607	51.89%	55	0.62%	-391	-4.40%	8,878
Wayne	7,601	71.88%	2,858	27.03%	116	1.10%	4,743	44.85%	10,575
Webster	588	52.93%	515	46.35%	8	0.72%	73	6.58%	1,111
Wheeler	1,408	63.60%	794	35.86%	12	0.54%	614	27.74%	2,214
White	8,467	78.41%	2,174	20.13%	158	1.46%	6,293	58.28%	10,799
Whitfield	19,230	69.20%	8,167	29.39%	394	1.41%	11,063	39.81%	27,791
Wilcox	2,159	68.24%	978	30.91%	27	0.85%	1,181	37.33%	3,164
Wilkes	2,705	53.46%	2,315	45.75%	40	0.79%	390	7.71%	5,060
Wilkinson	2,349	50.21%	2,298	49.12%	31	0.66%	51	1.09%	4,678
Worth	5,780	68.96%	2,542	30.33%	60	0.71%	3,238	38.63%	8,382
Totals	2,048,759	52.10%	1,844,123	46.90%	39,276	1.00%	204,636	5.20%	3,932,158

 

County Flips:

Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican

Republican   Hold   Gain from Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Webster (largest town: Preston)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Baldwin (largest town: Milledgeville)
• Burke (largest town: Waynesboro)
• Chattahoochee (largest town: Cusseta)
• Douglas (largest town: Douglasville)
• Newton (largest town: Covington)
• Peach (largest town: Fort Valley)
• Rockdale (largest town: Conyers)
• Sumter (largest town: Americus)
• Washington (largest town: Sandersville)

By congressional district

 

Congressional District Results:

McCain   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%

Obama   50-60%   70-80%

John McCain carried 8 of 13 districts in Georgia, including one district held by a Democrat.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
1st	62.81%	36.39%	Jack Kingston
2nd	45.91%	53.55%	Sanford Bishop
3rd	63.87%	35.27%	Lynn Westmoreland
4th	20.65%	78.61%	Hank Johnson
5th	20.01%	79.12%	John Lewis
6th	62.26%	36.56%	Tom Price
7th	59.68%	39.28%	John Linder
8th	56.34%	42.98%	Jim Marshall
9th	75.33%	23.46%	Nathan Deal
10th	61.12%	37.96%	Paul Broun
11th	65.60%	33.12%	Phil Gingrey
12th	45.25%	54.09%	John Barrow
13th	28.38%	70.85%	David Scott

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Georgia cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Georgia is allocated 15 electors because it has 13 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 15 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 15 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.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 15 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:^[25]

1. Esther Clark
2. Dennis Coxwell
3. Norma Edenfield
4. Randy Evans
5. Sue P. Everhart
6. Leigh Ann Gillis
7. Judy Goddard
8. Linda Herren
9. Rufus Montgomery
10. Clint Murphy
11. Sunny Park
12. Alec Poitevint
13. John Sours
14. Allan Vigil
15. John White

References

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10. Based on Takeaway
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