2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky

2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
Turnout64.04%Decrease
 
Nominee John McCain Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Arizona Illinois
Running mate Sarah Palin Joe Biden
Electoral vote 8 0
Popular vote 1,048,462 751,985
Percentage 57.37% 41.15%


President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

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

Kentucky was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 16.22% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. In the primaries, Hillary Clinton slightly defeated McCain in hypothetical polls for the Bluegrass State. Once Barack Obama secured the Democratic nomination, Kentucky was reclassified as safe for the GOP. In the end, Kentucky voted for McCain with 57.40% of the vote. Obama did, however, improve on John Kerry's performance by two points. This was the first time since 1960 that Kentucky did not vote for the winning candidate in a presidential election.

This was the first time ever that Floyd and Knott Counties voted for the Republican candidate, as well as the first time since 1908 that Breathitt County voted for the Republican candidate. As such, Obama became the first Democrat to ever win the presidency without carrying numerous historically Democratic counties, primarily in the Eastern Coalfield and Jackson Purchase regions. As of 2020, this remains the last time that a Democratic presidential nominee has won over 40% of the vote in Kentucky.

Primaries

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 Likely R
Cook Political Report Solid R
The Takeaway Solid R
Electoral-vote.com Solid R
Washington Post Solid R
Politico Solid R
RealClearPolitics Solid R
FiveThirtyEight Solid R
CQ Politics Solid R
The New York Times Solid R
CNN Safe R
NPR Solid R
MSNBC Solid R
Fox News Likely R
Associated Press Likely R
Rasmussen Reports Safe R

Polling

McCain won every pre-election poll, almost all of them by a double-digit margin and with at least 49% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 56% to 41%.

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $1,220,017. Barack Obama raised $2,394,198.

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $183,738 while a conservative interest groups spent just $212. Each ticket visited the state once.

Analysis

Since 1964, Kentucky has only gone Democratic three times--Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, both of whom were White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASPs) from the South, whereas Obama was an African American "big-city liberal" from Chicago. (Similar socio-cultural dynamics existed in other Southern and Appalachian states with a large ancestral Democratic base, such as Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas.)

In the 2008 primary, exits polls conducted found that 30 percent of Clinton supporters opted not to vote for Obama in the general election, 40% would vote McCain and the rest would support Obama in the general election. Several counties in the southeastern part of the state swung Republican and went to McCain as solidly Democratic Floyd and Knott counties voted Republican for the first time ever, and Breathitt County voted Republican for the first time since 1908. Obama decided to not spend campaign funds on Kentucky and instead went to more viable battleground states like North Carolina and Indiana instead. McCain won Kentucky by a margin of 16.22 points on election day and performed slightly worse than George Bush in 2004. Obama improved upon Kerry's performance in big cities and urban areas while McCain improved upon Bush in rural areas. Kentucky was the first state called for either candidate.

At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, who also served as Senate Minority Leader at the time, was just narrowly reelected with 52.97% of the vote to Democrat Bruce Lunsford's 47.03%. Republicans also held onto an open seat vacated by Ron Lewis in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District. At the state level, however, Democrats picked up two seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Rowan County, Hancock County, Menifee County, Wolfe County, and Henderson County voted for the Democratic candidate.

Results

United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2008
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 1,048,462 57.40% 8
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 751,985 41.17% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 15,378 0.84% 0
Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 5,989 0.33% 0
Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 4,694 0.26% 0
Totals 1,826,508 100.00% 8
Voter turnout (Voting age population) 57.5%

By county

County John McCain
Republican
Barack Obama
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total
# % # % # % # %
Adair 5,512 75.53% 1,668 22.86% 118 1.61% 3,844 52.67% 7,298
Allen 5,258 71.15% 2,024 27.39% 108 1.46% 3,234 43.76% 7,390
Anderson 6,885 65.25% 3,462 32.81% 205 1.94% 3,423 32.44% 10,552
Ballard 2,537 62.49% 1,427 35.15% 96 2.36% 1,110 27.34% 4,060
Barren 11,133 66.24% 5,434 32.33% 240 1.43% 5,699 33.91% 16,807
Bath 2,234 49.17% 2,210 48.65% 99 2.18% 24 0.52% 4,543
Bell 6,681 69.61% 2,782 28.99% 135 1.41% 3,899 40.62% 9,598
Boone 33,812 66.59% 16,292 32.09% 670 1.32% 17,520 34.50% 50,774
Bourbon 4,820 57.86% 3,385 40.64% 125 1.50% 1,435 17.22% 8,330
Boyd 11,430 55.30% 8,886 42.99% 354 1.71% 2,544 12.31% 20,670
Boyle 7,701 60.95% 4,769 37.74% 165 1.30% 2,932 23.21% 12,635
Bracken 2,066 60.78% 1,241 36.51% 92 2.71% 825 24.27% 3,399
Breathitt 2,671 53.10% 2,205 43.84% 154 3.06% 466 9.26% 5,030
Breckinridge 5,281 61.97% 3,110 36.49% 131 1.54% 2,171 25.48% 8,522
Bullitt 20,102 65.42% 10,177 33.12% 447 1.45% 9,925 32.30% 30,726
Butler 3,696 69.64% 1,555 29.30% 56 1.06% 2,141 40.34% 5,307
Caldwell 3,866 62.36% 2,212 35.68% 121 1.95% 1,654 26.68% 6,199
Calloway 8,991 58.37% 6,165 40.02% 248 1.61% 2,826 18.35% 15,404
Campbell 24,046 59.67% 15,622 38.77% 629 1.56% 8,424 20.90% 40,297
Carlisle 1,699 64.92% 879 33.59% 39 1.49% 820 31.33% 2,617
Carroll 2,032 52.99% 1,716 44.75% 87 2.27% 316 8.24% 3,835
Carter 5,252 53.52% 4,316 43.98% 245 2.50% 936 9.54% 9,813
Casey 4,679 78.55% 1,219 20.46% 59 0.99% 3,460 58.09% 5,957
Christian 13,699 60.14% 8,880 38.98% 199 0.87% 4,819 21.16% 22,778
Clark 9,664 61.84% 5,749 36.79% 215 1.38% 3,915 25.05% 15,628
Clay 5,710 77.54% 1,552 21.08% 102 1.38% 4,158 56.46% 7,364
Clinton 3,366 80.68% 761 18.24% 45 1.08% 2,605 62.44% 4,172
Crittenden 2,604 66.26% 1,254 31.91% 72 1.83% 1,350 34.35% 3,930
Cumberland 2,056 73.51% 697 24.92% 44 1.57% 1,359 48.59% 2,797
Daviess 23,692 54.31% 19,282 44.20% 648 1.49% 4,410 10.11% 43,622
Edmonson 3,562 67.59% 1,652 31.35% 56 1.06% 1,910 36.24% 5,270
Elliott 902 35.86% 1,535 61.03% 78 3.11% -633 -25.17% 2,515
Estill 3,685 69.35% 1,555 29.26% 74 1.39% 2,130 40.09% 5,314
Fayette 59,884 46.91% 66,042 51.74% 1,722 1.36% -6,158 -4.83% 127,648
Fleming 3,432 58.85% 2,279 39.08% 121 2.07% 1,153 19.77% 5,832
Floyd 7,741 49.43% 7,530 48.09% 388 2.48% 211 1.34% 15,659
Franklin 11,911 49.47% 11,767 48.87% 401 1.67% 144 0.60% 24,079
Fulton 1,530 54.16% 1,238 43.82% 57 2.02% 292 10.34% 2,825
Gallatin 1,840 57.63% 1,278 40.03% 75 2.35% 562 17.60% 3,193
Garrard 5,118 70.98% 2,012 27.91% 80 1.11% 3,106 43.07% 7,210
Grant 5,510 62.94% 3,112 35.55% 132 1.50% 2,398 27.39% 8,754
Graves 10,056 62.25% 5,843 36.17% 256 1.58% 4,213 26.08% 16,155
Grayson 6,605 66.70% 3,154 31.85% 144 1.45% 3,451 34.85% 9,903
Green 3,785 74.52% 1,204 23.71% 90 1.77% 2,581 50.81% 5,079
Greenup 8,849 56.01% 6,621 41.91% 328 2.08% 2,228 14.10% 15,798
Hancock 1,928 46.53% 2,135 51.52% 81 1.95% -207 -4.99% 4,144
Hardin 23,896 59.75% 15,650 39.13% 444 1.11% 8,246 20.62% 39,990
Harlan 7,165 72.27% 2,586 26.08% 163 1.64% 4,579 46.19% 9,914
Harrison 4,520 59.55% 2,916 38.42% 154 2.03% 1,604 21.13% 7,590
Hart 4,397 64.49% 2,290 33.59% 131 1.92% 2,107 30.90% 6,818
Henderson 9,523 47.95% 10,049 50.60% 289 1.46% -526 -2.65% 19,861
Henry 4,081 58.98% 2,725 39.38% 113 1.63% 1,356 19.60% 6,919
Hickman 1,406 62.49% 812 36.09% 32 1.42% 594 26.40% 2,250
Hopkins 11,916 61.59% 7,104 36.72% 328 1.70% 4,812 24.87% 19,348
Jackson 4,407 84.36% 743 14.22% 74 1.42% 3,664 70.14% 5,224
Jefferson 153,957 43.38% 196,435 55.34% 4,544 1.28% -42,478 -11.96% 354,936
Jessamine 13,711 67.83% 6,236 30.85% 267 1.32% 7,475 36.98% 20,214
Johnson 5,948 69.84% 2,407 28.26% 162 1.90% 3,541 41.58% 8,517
Kenton 40,714 59.69% 26,480 38.82% 1,019 1.49% 14,234 20.87% 68,213
Knott 3,070 52.75% 2,612 44.88% 138 2.37% 458 7.87% 5,820
Knox 8,150 71.56% 3,074 26.99% 165 1.61% 5,076 44.57% 11,389
LaRue 4,153 67.22% 1,913 30.96% 112 1.81% 2,240 36.26% 6,178
Laurel 17,660 78.49% 4,618 20.52% 222 0.99% 13,042 57.97% 22,500
Lawrence 3,503 62.01% 2,036 36.04% 110 1.95% 1,467 25.97% 5,649
Lee 1,978 71.33% 752 27.12% 43 1.55% 1,226 44.21% 2,773
Leslie 3,574 81.28% 766 17.42% 57 1.30% 2,808 63.86% 4,397
Letcher 5,367 65.17% 2,623 31.85% 245 2.98% 2,744 33.32% 8,235
Lewis 3,213 67.06% 1,510 31.52% 68 1.42% 1,703 35.54% 4,791
Lincoln 6,273 68.55% 2,752 30.07% 126 1.38% 3,521 38.48% 9,151
Livingston 2,890 62.92% 1,622 35.31% 81 1.77% 1,268 27.61% 4,593
Logan 6,925 63.59% 3,811 35.00% 154 1.41% 3,114 28.59% 10,890
Lyon 2,220 57.59% 1,577 40.91% 58 1.50% 643 16.68% 3,855
McCracken 19,043 61.92% 11,285 36.69% 426 1.39% 7,758 25.23% 30,754
McCreary 4,078 75.42% 1,258 23.27% 71 1.33% 2,820 52.15% 5,407
McLean 2,386 53.96% 1,963 44.39% 73 1.65% 423 9.57% 4,422
Madison 19,694 60.53% 12,392 38.09% 451 1.38% 7,302 22.44% 32,537
Magoffin 2,434 52.33% 2,105 45.26% 112 2.41% 329 7.07% 4,651
Marion 3,842 50.45% 3,596 47.22% 177 2.32% 246 3.23% 7,615
Marshall 9,512 61.42% 5,683 36.70% 292 1.88% 3,829 24.72% 15,487
Martin 2,824 76.49% 808 21.89% 60 1.62% 2,016 54.60% 3,692
Mason 4,102 57.60% 2,891 40.60% 128 1.80% 1,310 17.00% 7,121
Meade 6,691 59.71% 4,343 38.76% 172 1.53% 2,348 20.95% 11,206
Menifee 1,155 46.40% 1,276 51.27% 58 2.33% -121 -4.87% 2,489
Mercer 6,781 67.41% 3,159 31.40% 120 1.19% 3,622 36.01% 10,060
Metcalfe 2,734 65.11% 1,350 32.15% 115 2.74% 1,384 32.96% 4,199
Monroe 3,537 75.82% 1,067 22.87% 61 1.31% 2,470 52.95% 4,665
Montgomery 5,947 57.56% 4,234 40.98% 150 1.45% 1,713 16.58% 10,331
Morgan 2,396 54.72% 1,879 42.91% 104 2.37% 517 11.81% 4,379
Muhlenberg 6,447 50.02% 6,221 48.27% 221 1.71% 226 1.75% 12,889
Nelson 10,139 55.87% 7,654 42.18% 353 1.95% 2,485 13.69% 18,146
Nicholas 1,634 55.02% 1,272 42.83% 64 2.15% 362 12.19% 2,970
Ohio 5,687 57.22% 4,059 40.84% 192 1.94% 3,844 52.67% 9,938
Oldham 18,997 64.80% 10,000 34.11% 319 1.09% 8,997 30.69% 29,316
Owen 2,969 62.49% 1,694 35.66% 88 1.85% 1,275 26.83% 4,751
Owsley 1,279 75.86% 381 22.60% 26 1.54% 898 53.26% 1,686
Pendleton 3,676 63.36% 2,027 34.94% 99 1.70% 1,649 28.42% 5,802
Perry 6,762 65.18% 3,444 33.20% 169 1.62% 3,318 31.98% 10,375
Pike 12,655 55.89% 9,525 42.07% 463 2.04% 3,130 13.82% 22,643
Powell 2,837 57.06% 2,065 41.53% 70 1.41% 772 15.53% 4,972
Pulaski 19,862 77.09% 5,590 21.70% 314 1.21% 14,272 55.39% 25,766
Robertson 533 52.51% 451 44.43% 31 3.05% 82 8.08% 1,015
Rockcastle 4,757 75.82% 1,410 22.47% 107 1.71% 3,347 53.35% 6,274
Rowan 3,907 47.92% 4,074 49.96% 173 2.12% -167 -2.04% 8,154
Russell 5,779 77.31% 1,569 20.99% 127 1.70% 4,210 56.32% 7,475
Scott 11,782 59.72% 7,712 39.09% 236 1.19% 4,070 20.63% 19,730
Shelby 11,451 61.76% 6,871 37.06% 218 1.18% 4,580 24.70% 18,540
Simpson 4,437 60.71% 2,775 37.97% 97 1.32% 1,662 22.74% 7,309
Spencer 5,378 66.82% 2,519 31.30% 152 1.88% 2,859 35.52% 8,049
Taylor 7,568 69.69% 3,165 29.14% 127 1.17% 4,403 40.55% 10,860
Todd 3,336 67.52% 1,543 31.23% 62 1.25% 1,793 36.29% 4,941
Trigg 4,189 64.18% 2,246 34.41% 92 1.41% 1,943 29.77% 6,527
Trimble 2,239 58.74% 1,484 38.93% 89 2.33% 755 19.81% 3,812
Union 3,120 51.71% 2,804 46.47% 110 1.82% 316 5.24% 6,034
Warren 25,993 58.88% 17,669 40.02% 483 1.10% 8,324 18.86% 44,145
Washington 3,305 62.65% 1,890 35.83% 80 1.52% 1,415 26.82% 5,275
Wayne 4,868 67.65% 2,201 30.59% 127 1.76% 2,667 37.06% 7,196
Webster 3,037 54.82% 2,390 43.14% 113 2.04% 647 11.68% 5,540
Whitley 10,015 73.08% 3,484 25.42% 205 1.50% 6,531 47.66% 13,704
Wolfe 1,408 47.44% 1,493 50.30% 67 2.26% -85 -2.86% 2,968
Woodford 7,130 57.98% 5,027 40.88% 140 1.14% 2,103 17.10% 12,297
Totals 1,048,462 57.37% 751,985 41.15% 27,140 1.49% 296,477 16.22% 1,827,587
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

John McCain carried 5 of the state's 6 congressional districts, including one of the two districts held by a Democrat.

District McCain Obama Representative
1st 61.85% 36.60% Ed Whitfield
2nd 60.54% 38.03% Ron Lewis (110th Congress)
Brett Guthrie (111th Congress)
3rd 43.36% 55.66% John Yarmuth
4th 60.41% 37.96% Geoff Davis
5th 67.01% 31.24% Hal Rogers
6th 55.41% 43.22% Ben Chandler

Electors

Technically the voters of Kentucky cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kentucky is allocated 8 electors because it has 6 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 8 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 8 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 8 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:

  1. James Henry Snider
  2. Walter A. Baker
  3. Edna M. Fulkerson
  4. Amy B. Towles
  5. Nancy Mitchell
  6. Don Ball
  7. Robert Gable
  8. Elizabeth G. Thomas

This page was last updated at 2023-11-16 11:41 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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