New York was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 26.9% margin of victory. Obama took 62.88% of the vote to McCain's 36.03%. At the time this was the highest Democratic vote share in New York State since 1964, although Obama would outperform his 2008 showing in New York just four years later in 2012. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Located in the Northeast, a region of the country that is trending heavily towards the Democrats, elections in the Empire State are dominated by the presence of the heavily populated, heavily diverse, liberal bastion of New York City where Democrats are always favored to win. Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Montgomery County since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Obama won all but one pre-election poll. Since September 15, Obama won each poll with a double-digit margin of victory and each with at least 55% of the vote. He won the final Marist poll with a 36-point spread. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 63% to 31%.[14]
Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $12,582,856 in the state. Barack Obama raised $58,161,743.[15]
Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $1,148,016. McCain and his interest groups spent just $7,310.[16] The Republican visited the state 11 times and the Democratic ticket visited the state 4 times.[17]
Analysis
Voting taking place in a New York City polling station
New York was once reckoned as a powerful swing state with a slight Democratic lean. However, the last time the state went Republican was for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Michael Dukakis narrowly won it against George H. W. Bush in 1988, but the state has not been seriously contested since then. It is now considered an uncontested blue state, and was heavily favored to vote for Obama by a significant margin.
Elections in the Empire State are dominated by the presence of New York City, a Democratic stronghold for more than a century and a half. It is made up mostly of white liberals as well as ethnic and religious minorities—all voting blocs that strongly vote Democratic. Obama won Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx by margins of 5-to-1 or more and carried Queens by a 3-to-1 margin. The only borough McCain carried was Staten Island, traditionally the most conservative area of the city. Obama's combined million-vote margin in the Five Boroughs would have been enough by itself to carry the state.
However, Obama also dominated heavily Democratic Western New York, including Buffalo and Rochester, and the Capital District (Albany, Schenectady and Troy), as well as the increasingly Democratic Long Island and Syracuse areas. Even when New York was considered a swing state, a Republican had to carry Long Island and do reasonably well in either Western New York, the Capital District or Syracuse to make up for the massive Democratic margins in New York City. Obama also won a number of traditionally Republican-leaning counties in Upstate New York and became the first Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson to win an outright majority of votes in the Upstate (although Democratic candidates had been consistently winning pluralities of the vote since 1992). Barack Obama dominated in fiercely Democratic New York City, taking 2,074,159 votes to John McCain's 524,787, giving Obama a 79.29% - 20.06% landslide victory citywide. Excluding the votes of New York City, Obama still would have carried New York State, but by a smaller margin. Obama would have received 2,730,786 votes to McCain's 2,227,984, giving Obama a 55.06% - 44.93% victory.
At the same time, Democrats in New York picked up three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. In the 13th district, which consists of Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, Democrats picked up an open seat that was vacated by former Republican Vito Fossella who resigned after he was arrested for getting a DUI. Democrat Michael McMahon solidly defeated Republican Robert Staniere by a two-to-one margin, 60.79-33.26%. His victory made the city's delegation entirely Democratic for the first time in over 70 years. In the 25th district, centered around Syracuse, Democrat Dan Maffei handily defeated Republican Dale Sweetland 55% to 42% for the open seat vacated by Republican Jim Walsh. In New York's 29th congressional district, which includes Canandaigua, Democrat Eric Massa narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Randy Kuhl by 1.7 points. This reduced the Republicans to only three of the state's 29 seats in the House—the fewest the GOP has ever won in an election. At the state level, Democrats picked up a seat in the New York State Assembly and two seats in the New York State Senate which gave Democrats control of the Senate and ultimately both chambers of the New York Legislature for the first time since 1965. This gave the Democrats complete control of New York's state government for the first time since 1936.
Results
2008 United States presidential election in New York
Barack Obama swept 26 of the state's 29 congressional districts in New York, including two districts held by Republicans. John McCain carried 3 districts, including two district that simultaneously elected Democrats.
Technically the voters of New York cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. New York is allocated 31 electors because it had 29 congressional districts under the 2000 Census and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 31 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 31 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.[18] An elector who votes for someone other than their 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 31 electors were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:[19]
^U. S. Electoral College 2008 Election - Certificates
January 20, 2023
2008, united, states, presidential, election, york, main, article, 2008, united, states, presidential, election, took, place, november, 2008, part, 2008, united, states, presidential, election, voters, chose, representatives, electors, electoral, college, vote. Main article 2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 4 2008 and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election Voters chose 31 representatives or electors to the Electoral College who voted for president and vice president 2008 United States presidential election in New York 2004 November 4 2008 2012 Turnout63 51 1 07 pp Nominee Barack Obama John McCainParty Democratic RepublicanAlliance Working Families Parties ConservativeIndependenceHome state Illinois ArizonaRunning mate Joe Biden Sarah PalinElectoral vote 31 0Popular vote 4 804 945 2 752 771Percentage 62 88 36 03 County ResultsMunicipality ResultsObama 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 McCain 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 Tie President before electionGeorge W BushRepublican Elected President Barack ObamaDemocraticNew York was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 26 9 margin of victory Obama took 62 88 of the vote to McCain s 36 03 At the time this was the highest Democratic vote share in New York State since 1964 although Obama would outperform his 2008 showing in New York just four years later in 2012 Prior to the election all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win or otherwise considered as a safe blue state Located in the Northeast a region of the country that is trending heavily towards the Democrats elections in the Empire State are dominated by the presence of the heavily populated heavily diverse liberal bastion of New York City where Democrats are always favored to win Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Montgomery County since Jimmy Carter in 1976 As of the 2020 presidential election update this is the last election in which Chautauqua County voted for the Democratic candidate Contents 1 Primaries 2 Campaign 2 1 Predictions 2 2 Polling 2 3 Fundraising 2 4 Advertising and visits 3 Analysis 4 Results 4 1 By county 4 1 1 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic 4 2 By congressional district 5 Electors 6 See also 7 ReferencesPrimaries Edit2008 New York Democratic presidential primary 2008 New York Republican presidential primaryCampaign EditPredictions Edit There were 16 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election Here are their last predictions before election day Source RankingD C Political Report 1 Likely DCook Political Report 2 Solid DThe Takeaway 3 Solid DElectoral vote com 4 Solid DWashington Post 5 Solid DPolitico 6 Solid DRealClearPolitics 7 Solid DFiveThirtyEight 5 Solid DCQ Politics 8 Solid DThe New York Times 9 Solid DCNN 10 Safe DNPR 5 Solid DMSNBC 5 Solid DFox News 11 Likely DAssociated Press 12 Likely DRasmussen Reports 13 Safe DPolling Edit Main article Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election New York Obama won all but one pre election poll Since September 15 Obama won each poll with a double digit margin of victory and each with at least 55 of the vote He won the final Marist poll with a 36 point spread The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 63 to 31 14 Fundraising Edit John McCain raised a total of 12 582 856 in the state Barack Obama raised 58 161 743 15 Advertising and visits Edit Obama and his interest groups spent 1 148 016 McCain and his interest groups spent just 7 310 16 The Republican visited the state 11 times and the Democratic ticket visited the state 4 times 17 Analysis Edit Voting taking place in a New York City polling station New York was once reckoned as a powerful swing state with a slight Democratic lean However the last time the state went Republican was for Ronald Reagan in 1984 Michael Dukakis narrowly won it against George H W Bush in 1988 but the state has not been seriously contested since then It is now considered an uncontested blue state and was heavily favored to vote for Obama by a significant margin Elections in the Empire State are dominated by the presence of New York City a Democratic stronghold for more than a century and a half It is made up mostly of white liberals as well as ethnic and religious minorities all voting blocs that strongly vote Democratic Obama won Manhattan Brooklyn and the Bronx by margins of 5 to 1 or more and carried Queens by a 3 to 1 margin The only borough McCain carried was Staten Island traditionally the most conservative area of the city Obama s combined million vote margin in the Five Boroughs would have been enough by itself to carry the state However Obama also dominated heavily Democratic Western New York including Buffalo and Rochester and the Capital District Albany Schenectady and Troy as well as the increasingly Democratic Long Island and Syracuse areas Even when New York was considered a swing state a Republican had to carry Long Island and do reasonably well in either Western New York the Capital District or Syracuse to make up for the massive Democratic margins in New York City Obama also won a number of traditionally Republican leaning counties in Upstate New York and became the first Democrat since Lyndon B Johnson to win an outright majority of votes in the Upstate although Democratic candidates had been consistently winning pluralities of the vote since 1992 Barack Obama dominated in fiercely Democratic New York City taking 2 074 159 votes to John McCain s 524 787 giving Obama a 79 29 20 06 landslide victory citywide Excluding the votes of New York City Obama still would have carried New York State but by a smaller margin Obama would have received 2 730 786 votes to McCain s 2 227 984 giving Obama a 55 06 44 93 victory Voters lined up outside a polling station in Hell s Kitchen Manhattan At the same time Democrats in New York picked up three seats in the U S House of Representatives in 2008 In the 13th district which consists of Staten Island and part of Brooklyn Democrats picked up an open seat that was vacated by former Republican Vito Fossella who resigned after he was arrested for getting a DUI Democrat Michael McMahon solidly defeated Republican Robert Staniere by a two to one margin 60 79 33 26 His victory made the city s delegation entirely Democratic for the first time in over 70 years In the 25th district centered around Syracuse Democrat Dan Maffei handily defeated Republican Dale Sweetland 55 to 42 for the open seat vacated by Republican Jim Walsh In New York s 29th congressional district which includes Canandaigua Democrat Eric Massa narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Randy Kuhl by 1 7 points This reduced the Republicans to only three of the state s 29 seats in the House the fewest the GOP has ever won in an election At the state level Democrats picked up a seat in the New York State Assembly and two seats in the New York State Senate which gave Democrats control of the Senate and ultimately both chambers of the New York Legislature for the first time since 1965 This gave the Democrats complete control of New York s state government for the first time since 1936 Results Edit2008 United States presidential election in New YorkParty Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votesDemocratic Barack Obama 4 645 332 60 80 Working Families Barack Obama 159 613 2 09 Total Barack Obama Joe Biden 4 804 945 62 88 31Republican John McCain 2 418 323 31 65 Conservative John McCain 170 475 2 23 Independence John McCain 163 973 2 15 Total John McCain Sarah Palin 2 752 771 36 03 0Populist Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 41 249 0 54 0Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 19 596 0 26 0Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 12 801 0 17 0Socialist Workers James Harris Alyson Kennedy 3 615 0 05 0Write ins Write ins 3 272 0 04 0Socialism and Liberation Gloria La Riva Eugene Puryear 1 639 0 02 0Constitution Write in Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 646 0 01 0Independent Write in Ron Paul 341 gt 0 01 0America s Independent Write in Alan Keyes Brian Rohrbough 35 gt 0 01 0Socialist Equality Write in Jerry White Bill Van Auken 18 gt 0 01 0Socialist Write in Brian Moore Stewart Alexander 10 gt 0 01 0Independent Write In Lanakila Washington 3 gt 0 01 0Heartquake 08 Write In Jonathan E Allen 1 gt 0 01 0Independent Write In Michael Skok 1 gt 0 01 0Totals 7 640 943 100 00 31Voter turnout Voting age population 52 1 By county Edit County Obama Obama McCain McCain Others Others Bronx 88 7 338 261 10 9 41 683 0 4 1 378New York Manhattan 85 6 572 370 13 5 89 949 0 9 5 576Kings Brooklyn 79 4 603 525 20 0 151 872 0 6 4 451Queens 75 1 480 692 24 3 155 221 0 6 4 076Tompkins 70 1 29 826 28 0 11 927 1 9 799Albany 63 8 93 937 34 4 50 586 1 9 2 743Westchester 63 4 261 810 35 8 147 824 0 8 3 410Ulster 60 7 52 539 37 6 32 527 1 7 1 476Clinton 60 6 20 216 37 7 12 579 1 6 542Franklin 60 3 10 571 38 1 6 676 1 6 273Onondaga 59 3 129 317 38 9 84 972 1 8 3 950Monroe 58 2 207 225 40 5 144 153 1 3 4 781Erie 58 0 256 299 40 5 178 815 1 6 6 871St Lawrence 57 4 23 706 41 0 16 956 1 6 664Essex 55 9 10 390 42 6 7 913 1 6 292Columbia 55 9 17 556 42 4 13 337 1 7 540Schenectady 55 3 38 611 42 6 29 758 2 1 1 473Cortland 54 1 11 861 44 2 9 678 1 7 381Sullivan 54 0 16 850 44 6 13 900 1 4 433Nassau 53 8 342 067 45 4 288 758 0 7 4 657Rensselaer 53 7 39 753 44 4 32 840 1 9 1 393Dutchess 53 7 71 060 45 1 59 628 1 2 1 614Cayuga 53 3 18 128 44 8 15 243 1 9 651Broome 53 1 47 204 45 1 40 077 1 8 1 556Rockland 52 6 69 543 46 7 61 752 0 7 910Suffolk 52 5 346 379 46 5 306 815 0 9 6 209Otsego 52 0 13 570 46 0 12 026 2 0 525Orange 51 5 78 326 47 4 72 042 1 1 1 614Saratoga 50 9 56 645 47 5 52 855 1 7 1 887Warren 50 5 16 281 47 8 15 429 1 7 535Seneca 50 3 7 422 47 7 7 038 1 9 281Oswego 50 2 24 777 47 8 23 571 2 0 1 001Niagara 49 7 47 303 48 6 46 348 1 7 1 621Chautauqua 49 5 29 129 48 6 28 579 1 9 1 074Washington 49 5 12 741 48 7 12 533 1 8 456Madison 49 3 14 692 48 4 14 434 2 3 676Ontario 49 2 25 103 49 3 25 171 1 5 746Chemung 48 8 18 888 50 0 19 364 1 1 443Chenango 48 4 10 100 49 6 10 337 2 0 410Richmond Staten Island 47 6 79 311 51 7 86 062 0 7 1 205Yates 47 6 4 890 51 3 5 269 1 2 121Jefferson 46 7 18 166 52 0 20 219 1 3 500Delaware 46 4 9 462 51 6 10 524 2 0 403Oneida 46 1 43 506 52 2 49 256 1 7 1 603Putnam 45 7 21 613 53 2 25 145 1 0 486Schuyler 45 7 3 933 52 8 4 542 1 5 125Livingston 45 3 13 655 53 2 16 030 1 5 464Montgomery 45 0 9 080 53 1 10 711 1 9 384Lewis 44 8 4 986 53 6 5 969 1 6 183Herkimer 44 5 12 094 53 8 14 619 1 7 471Fulton 44 4 9 695 53 7 11 709 1 9 420Wayne 44 3 18 184 54 2 22 239 1 5 622Greene 44 1 9 850 54 0 12 059 1 9 426Tioga 44 0 10 172 54 2 12 536 1 8 423Cattaraugus 43 9 14 307 54 5 17 770 1 7 540Schoharie 41 7 6 009 56 0 8 071 2 2 322Steuben 40 9 17 148 57 7 24 203 1 3 560Genesee 40 0 10 762 58 4 15 705 1 5 406Orleans 39 9 6 614 58 5 9 708 1 6 262Allegany 38 1 7 016 59 8 11 013 2 0 377Wyoming 36 1 6 379 62 3 10 998 1 6 290Hamilton 35 9 1 225 62 8 2 141 1 3 45Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Edit Dutchess County Seat Poughkeepsie Orange County Seat Goshen Rockland County Seat New City Saratoga County Seat Ballston Spa Cayuga County Seat Auburn Chautauqua County Seat Mayville Cortland County Seat Cortland Essex County Seat Elizabethtown Otsego County Seat Cooperstown Seneca County Seat Waterloo Sullivan County Seat Monticello Oswego County Seat Waterloo Washington County Seat Hudson Falls Madison County Seat Wampsville Warren County Seat Queensbury By congressional district Edit Barack Obama swept 26 of the state s 29 congressional districts in New York including two districts held by Republicans John McCain carried 3 districts including two district that simultaneously elected Democrats District McCain Obama Representative1st 47 62 51 44 Tim Bishop2nd 43 09 56 13 Steve Israel3rd 47 27 51 90 Peter T King4th 41 35 57 99 Carolyn McCarthy5th 36 06 63 24 Gary Ackerman6th 10 68 89 03 Gregory W Meeks7th 20 37 79 12 Joseph Crowley8th 25 45 73 70 Jerrold Nadler9th 43 92 55 32 Anthony D Weiner10th 8 70 91 03 Edolphus Towns11th 9 07 90 49 Yvette D Clark12th 13 12 86 17 Nydia Velasquez13th 50 56 48 74 Vito Fossella 110th Congress Michael McMahon 111th Congress 14th 20 92 78 19 Carolyn B Maloney15th 6 17 93 21 Charlie Rangel16th 5 04 94 76 Jose Serrano17th 27 53 71 92 Eliot L Engel18th 37 57 61 66 Nita Lowey19th 48 37 50 65 John Hall20th 47 70 50 70 Kirsten Gillibrand 110th Congress Scott Murphy 111th Congress 21st 40 00 58 14 Paul Tonko22nd 39 31 59 23 Maurice Hinchey23rd 46 59 51 81 John M McHugh24th 47 97 50 33 Mike Arcuri25th 42 62 55 74 James T Walsh 110th Congress Dan Maffei 111th Congress 26th 52 15 46 43 Thomas M Reynolds 110th Congress Christopher Lee 111th Congress 27th 44 03 54 19 Brian Higgins28th 30 29 68 47 Louise Slaughter29th 50 46 48 24 Randy Kuhl 110th Congress Eric Massa 111th Congress Electors EditMain article List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of New York cast their ballots for electors representatives to the Electoral College New York is allocated 31 electors because it had 29 congressional districts under the 2000 Census and 2 senators All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write in votes must submit a list of 31 electors who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 31 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 18 An elector who votes for someone other than their 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 31 electors were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden 19 Velda Jeffrey June O Neill Dennis Mehiel David Paterson Andrew Cuomo Thomas DiNapoli Sheldon Silver Malcolm Smith Maria Luna Robert Master Pamela Green Perkins Helen D Foster Jon Cooper Hakeem Jeffries Richard Fife Deborah Slott Terrence Yang George Arthur George Gresham Alan Van Capelle Inez Dickens Suzy Ballantyne Alan Lubin Bethaida Gonzalez Christine Quinn William Thompson Stuart Applebaum Maritza Davila Ivan Young Barbara J Fiala Frank A BolzSee also EditUnited States presidential elections in New York Presidency of Barack ObamaReferences Edit D C s Political Report The complete source for campaign summaries 2009 01 01 Archived from the original on 2009 01 01 Retrieved 2021 08 23 Presidential 2015 05 05 Archived from the original on 2015 05 05 Retrieved 2021 08 23 Vote 2008 The Takeaway Track the Electoral College vote predictions 2009 04 22 Archived from the original on 2009 04 22 Retrieved 2021 08 23 Electoral vote com President Senate House Updated Daily electoral vote com Retrieved 2021 08 23 a b c d Based on Takeaway POLITICO s 2008 Swing State Map POLITICO com www politico com Retrieved 2016 09 22 RealClearPolitics Electoral Map Archived from the original on 2008 06 05 CQ Presidential Election Maps 2008 CQ Politics Archived from the original on June 14 2009 Retrieved December 20 2009 Nagourney Adam Zeleny Jeff Carter Shan 2008 11 04 The Electoral Map Key States The New York Times Retrieved May 26 2010 October 2008 CNN Political Ticker CNN com Blogs CNN 2008 10 31 Retrieved May 26 2010 Winning The Electoral College Fox News April 27 2010 roadto270 hosted ap org Retrieved 2016 09 22 Election 2008 Electoral College Update Rasmussen Reports www rasmussenreports com Retrieved 2016 09 22 Election 2008 Polls Dave Leip s Atlas of U S Presidential Elections Presidential Campaign Finance Archived from the original on 2009 03 24 Retrieved 2009 08 18 Map Campaign Ad Spending Election Center 2008 from CNN com CNN Retrieved May 26 2010 Map Campaign Candidate Visits Election Center 2008 from CNN com CNN Retrieved May 26 2010 Electoral College California Secretary of State Archived from the original on October 30 2008 Retrieved 2008 11 01 U S Electoral College 2008 Election Certificates Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2008 United States presidential election in New York amp oldid 1131959937, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
