United States presidential election in Iowa, 2008: Information from Answers.com

Main article: United States presidential election, 2008

United States presidential election in Iowa, 2008
‹ 2004 2012 ›
November 4, 2008


Nominee	Barack Obama	John McCain
Party	Democratic	Republican
Home state	Illinois	Arizona
Running mate	Joe Biden	Sarah Palin
Electoral vote	7	0
Popular vote	828,940	682,379
Percentage	53.93%	44.39%


County Results
Incumbent President George W. Bush Republican President-elect Barack Obama Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 4, 2008 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 7 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Iowa was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 9.5% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. In 2004 Republican George W. Bush very narrowly won the state in his reelection bid. A Midwestern state where agriculture plays a critical role in the daily lives of its citizens, Iowa is nevertheless an independent state. However, due to Obama's victory in the Iowa caucuses and Bush's unpopularity, Obama was able to perform better here than Kerry and Gore did.

1 Caucuses
2 Campaign
3 Analysis
4 Results
5 Results breakdown
- 5.1 By county
- 5.2 By congressional District
6 Electors
7 References
8 See also

Caucuses

Campaign

Predictions

Federal government
Elections in Iowa

Presidential Elections 2000 · 2004 · 2008
Iowa caucuses Democratic: 1976 · 1992 · 2000 · 2004 · 2008 Republican: 2000 · 2008 Ames Straw Poll
United States Senate Elections 2002 · 2004 · 2008 · 2010
United States House Elections 2006 · 2008 · 2010

State government
Gubernatorial Elections 2002 · 2006 · 2010
Iowa Senate Elections 2006 · 2008 · 2010
Iowa House Elections 2006 · 2008 · 2010
Iowa Special Elections 2009
This box: view • talk • edit

There were 17 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election. Here are there last predictions before election day:

D.C. Political Report: Democrat^[1]
Cook Political Report: Leaning Democrat^[2]
Takeaway: Leaning Obama^[3]
Election Projection: Solid Obama^[4]
Electoral-vote.com: Strong Democrat^[5]
Washington Post: Solid Obama^[6]
Politico: Solid Obama^[7]
Real Clear Politics: Solid Obama^[8]
FiveThirtyEight.com: Solid Obama^[9]
CQ Politics: Safe Democrat^[10]
New York Times: Leaning Democrat^[11]
CNN: Safe Democrat^[12]
NPR: Solid Obama^[13]
MSNBC: Leaning Obama^[14]
Fox News: Democrat^[15]
Associated Press: Democrat^[16]
Rasmussen Reports: Safe Democrat^[17]

Polling

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

Obama won every single pre-election poll taken in the state. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 39%.^[18]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $680,641 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,250,696.^[19]

Advertising and visits

Obama and his interest groups spent $15,334,065. McCain and his interest groups spent $5,817,988.^[20] The Republican ticket visited the state 9 times. The Democrat ticket visited the state 4 times.^[21]

Analysis

Despite its closeness in recent elections, Iowa was not in close contention in the 2008 election. During primary season, Barack Obama had campaigned extensively in the state and won a substantial victory that established him as the Democratic front-runner and ultimately propelled him to victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton. In contrast, John McCain did not campaign at all in Iowa and ended up placing fourth in the Iowa Republican Caucus. Moreover, John McCain's stand against Congressional ethanol subsidies proved unpopular in a state that had a large corn crop; conversely, Barack Obama supported these subsidies. Polls consistently gave Barack Obama a double-digit lead in the state.

On Election Day, Obama won by a 9.54-point margin. The reliably Republican western part of the state turned out for John McCain, but more populated Eastern Iowa, which traditionally votes Democratic, gave Obama an edge. Every county in the state, except for Clarke County in Western Iowa, voted more Democratic than in Election 2004.

At the same time, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin was reelected with 62.66% of the vote over Republican Christopher Reed, a businessman, who received 37.26%. At the state level, Democrats expanded their leads in the Iowa state legislature, picking up four seats in the Iowa House of Representatives and two seats in the Iowa Senate.

Results

United States presidential election in Iowa, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama	828,940	53.93%	7
	Republican	John McCain	682,379	44.39%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	8,014	0.52%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	4,590	0.30%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	4,445	0.29%	0
	Green	Cynthia McKinney	1,423	0.09%	0
	Socialist Workers	Roger Calero	292	0.02%	0
	Socialist Party USA	Brian Moore	182	0.01%	0
	Party for Socialism and Liberation	Gloria La Riva	121	0.01%	0
Invalid or blank votes			13,882	0.01%
Totals			1,544,268	97.89%^[22]	7

Results breakdown

By county

County	Obama	Votes	McCain	Votes	Others	Votes
Adair	47.5%	1,924	50.8%	2,060	1.7%	69
Adams	50.2%	1,118	46.9%	1,046	2.9%	64
Allamakee	56.1%	3,971	41.9%	2,965	2.0%	140
Appanoose	48.1%	2,970	49.9%	3,086	2.0%	123
Audubon	50.1%	1,739	47.1%	1,634	2.7%	95
Benton	51.3%	7,058	46.8%	6,447	1.9%	264
Black Hawk	60.2%	39,184	37.9%	24,662	1.9%	1,214
Boone	52.5%	7,356	44.9%	6,293	2.6%	362
Bremer	53.8%	6,940	44.5%	5,741	1.8%	227
Buchanan	58.4%	6,050	40.0%	4,139	1.6%	165
Buena Vista	47.9%	4,075	49.7%	4,223	2.4%	203
Butler	46.7%	3,364	51.4%	3,700	1.9%	140
Calhoun	44.7%	2,341	52.4%	2,741	2.9%	151
Carroll	50.5%	5,302	46.9%	4,922	2.6%	270
Cass	43.3%	3,211	54.0%	4,006	2.6%	195
Cedar	53.8%	5,221	44.2%	4,289	2.1%	202
Cerro Gordo	59.3%	14,405	38.6%	9,375	2.1%	513
Cherokee	45.4%	2,890	53.0%	3,372	1.7%	106
Chickasaw	59.1%	3,923	38.5%	2,557	2.4%	161
Clarke	49.8%	2,218	47.5%	2,118	2.7%	119
Clay	46.5%	3,925	51.6%	4,355	1.9%	162
Clayton	57.8%	5,195	40.6%	3,651	1.6%	144
Clinton	60.4%	15,018	37.5%	9,324	2.1%	533
Crawford	51.0%	3,715	45.9%	3,345	3.2%	230
Dallas	46.2%	15,149	51.8%	16,954	2.0%	656
Davis	44.0%	1,680	53.1%	2,029	2.9%	109
Decatur	48.4%	1,986	49.2%	2,020	2.4%	100
Delaware	52.2%	4,649	46.2%	4,113	1.6%	141
Des Moines	60.2%	12,462	37.3%	7,721	2.5%	510
Dickinson	46.5%	4,625	51.9%	5,162	1.6%	155
Dubuque	59.3%	28,611	38.7%	18,651	2.1%	993
Emmet	50.6%	2,570	46.7%	2,373	2.7%	135
Fayette	57.1%	5,908	40.7%	4,205	2.2%	227
Floyd	59.0%	4,822	37.3%	3,051	3.7%	304
Franklin	49.4%	2,575	48.0%	2,501	2.5%	132
Fremont	46.9%	1,848	50.5%	1,989	2.6%	104
Greene	48.8%	2,371	48.4%	2,349	2.8%	138
Grundy	40.5%	2,790	57.3%	3,945	2.2%	155
Guthrie	44.8%	2,625	52.5%	3,074	2.7%	159
Hamilton	49.3%	4,018	48.0%	3,913	2.6%	213
Hancock	46.9%	2,805	50.4%	3,016	2.7%	162
Hardin	49.1%	4,393	48.2%	4,315	2.8%	248
Harrison	46.5%	3,555	51.2%	3,909	2.3%	173
Henry	46.1%	4,349	51.2%	4,822	2.7%	255
Howard	62.2%	2,941	36.4%	1,722	1.4%	66
Humboldt	42.1%	2,160	56.4%	2,895	1.6%	81
Ida	41.0%	1,454	57.4%	2,036	1.6%	57
Iowa	49.1%	4,202	48.9%	4,188	1.9%	166
Jackson	61.3%	6,102	36.9%	3,673	1.8%	182
Jasper	52.4%	10,250	44.9%	8,794	2.7%	522
Jefferson	58.4%	5,070	38.3%	3,324	3.2%	281
Johnson	69.7%	51,027	28.3%	20,732	2.0%	1,472
Jones	54.0%	5,446	43.7%	4,405	2.3%	229
Keokuk	46.9%	2,518	50.5%	2,712	2.5%	136
Kossuth	50.3%	4,625	47.0%	4,329	2.7%	249
Lee	56.6%	9,821	40.7%	7,062	2.7%	469
Linn	59.8%	68,037	38.4%	43,626	1.8%	2,058
Louisa	50.8%	2,523	46.6%	2,314	2.6%	131
Lucas	45.3%	2,029	52.1%	2,330	2.6%	117
Lyon	26.8%	1,675	71.5%	4,471	1.7%	109
Madison	43.8%	3,733	53.7%	4,579	2.5%	217
Mahaska	40.8%	4,464	57.3%	6,271	2.0%	217
Marion	43.4%	7,421	54.1%	9,256	2.6%	438
Marshall	53.4%	10,023	44.1%	8,278	2.5%	464
Mills	40.6%	2,976	57.1%	4,183	2.3%	168
Mitchell	55.1%	3,179	42.8%	2,469	2.0%	118
Monona	47.8%	2,295	50.3%	2,411	1.9%	91
Monroe	46.0%	1,798	51.2%	2,000	2.8%	111
Montgomery	44.0%	2,326	54.6%	2,887	1.4%	76
Muscatine	56.8%	10,920	41.2%	7,929	2.0%	387
O'Brien	31.8%	2,338	66.5%	4,894	1.7%	122
Osceola	33.0%	1,037	64.5%	2,027	2.6%	81
Page	39.3%	2,900	59.0%	4,351	1.6%	119
Palo Alto	50.0%	2,428	47.2%	2,294	2.8%	136
Plymouth	37.0%	4,629	62.0%	7,765	1.0%	121
Pocahontas	44.5%	1,800	52.9%	2,138	2.6%	107
Polk	56.1%	120,984	41.6%	89,668	2.4%	5,099
Pottawattamie	48.0%	20,436	49.9%	21,237	2.1%	907
Poweshiek	55.0%	5,519	43.3%	4,340	1.7%	174
Ringgold	46.0%	1,236	52.1%	1,401	1.9%	52
Sac	44.6%	2,256	53.5%	2,705	1.9%	95
Scott	56.6%	48,927	42.1%	36,365	1.3%	1,086
Shelby	44.3%	2,863	54.0%	3,488	1.7%	112
Sioux	18.2%	3,030	80.9%	13,490	1.0%	159
Story	56.8%	26,548	40.7%	18,995	2.5%	1,179
Tama	55.0%	4,899	42.9%	3,820	2.1%	185
Taylor	44.5%	1,347	53.1%	1,607	2.5%	75
Union	50.3%	3,000	46.6%	2,781	3.1%	183
Van Buren	42.5%	1,546	54.6%	1,986	3.0%	108
Wapello	54.9%	8,820	41.4%	6,663	3.7%	592
Warren	49.4%	12,299	48.7%	12,144	1.9%	469
Washington	48.6%	5,170	49.3%	5,247	2.1%	225
Wayne	45.5%	1,357	52.5%	1,565	2.0%	59
Webster	53.0%	9,917	44.6%	8,337	2.4%	454
Winnebago	53.2%	3,254	44.6%	2,730	2.3%	138
Winneshiek	60.1%	6,829	37.6%	4,273	2.3%	265
Woodbury	49.1%	21,983	49.6%	22,219	1.4%	613
Worth	59.9%	2,567	37.6%	1,612	2.4%	103
Wright	48.5%	3,102	50.0%	3,198	1.5%	95

By congressional District

Barack Obama carried four out of the state’s five congressional districts, including one district held by a Republican.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
1st	40.72%	58.24%	Bruce Braley
2nd	38.57%	60.18%	David Loebsack
3rd	44.66%	54.03%	Leonard Boswell
4th	45.53%	53.11%	Tom Latham
5th	54.60%	44.25%	Steve King

Electors

Main article: List of United States presidential electors, 2008

Technically the voters of Iowa cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Iowa is allocated 7 electors because it has 5 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 7 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 7 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.^[23] 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 7 pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:

Elwood Thompson
Slayton Thompson
Kathleen O'Leary
Jon Heitland
Dennis Ryan
Joe Judge
Audrey Linville

References

^ http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/Predictions.html
^ http://www.cookpolitical.com/presidential#belowMap
^ Adnaan (2008-09-20). "Track the Electoral College vote predictions". The Takeaway. http://vote2008.thetakeaway.org/2008/09/20/track-the-electoral-college-vote-predictions/. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
^ http://www.electionprojection.com/2008elections/president08.shtml
^ http://electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Dec31.html
^ Based on Takeaway
^ http://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html
^ http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=5
^ Based on Takeaway
^ http://innovation.cq.com/prezMap08/
^ http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/whos-ahead/key-states/map.html?scp=1&sq=electoral%20college%20map&st=cse
^ http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/
^ Based on Takeaway
^ Based on Takeaway
^ http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/winning-the-electoral-college/
^ http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/campaign_plus/roadto270/
^ http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/election_2008_electoral_college_update
^ http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=19
^ http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=IA&cand_id=P00000001
^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/
^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/candidate.visits/
^ Total percent is not 100% due to rounding of individual percentages.
^ "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_ec.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

"2008 General Election Official Canvass Summary". State of Iowa. http://www.sos.state.ia.us/pdfs/elections/2008/OfficialCanvass2008General.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-20.

Nominee: Barack Obama (campaign, positions)
VP nominee: Joe Biden (positions)
Candidates: Evan Bayh (campaign) • Joe Biden (campaign) • Hillary Rodham Clinton (campaign) • Chris Dodd (campaign) • John Edwards (campaign) • Mike Gravel (campaign) • Dennis Kucinich (campaign) • Dal LaMagna • Bill Richardson (campaign) • Tom Vilsack (campaign)

Republican Party
Convention • Primary polls •
General polls • Debates • Primaries •
Primary results

Nominee: John McCain (campaign, positions)
VP nominee: Sarah Palin (positions)
Candidates: Sam Brownback • Hugh Cort • John Cox • Dan Gilbert • Jim Gilmore (campaign) • Rudy Giuliani (campaign) • Mike Huckabee (campaign) • Duncan Hunter (campaign) • Alan Keyes (campaign) • Ray McKinney • Ron Paul (campaign) • Mitt Romney (campaign) • Tom Tancredo (campaign) • Fred Thompson (campaign) • Tommy Thompson (campaign)

Draft movements

Democratic Party: Al Gore • Mark Warner (movement) • Republican Party: Newt Gingrich • Condoleezza Rice (movement) • Independent: Michael Bloomberg (movement)

v • d • e Third-Party and independent candidates

America's Independent Party	Nominee: Alan Keyes (campaign) VP Nominee: Brian Rohrbough

Boston Tea Party	Nominee: Charles Jay VP Nominee: Thomas Knapp

Constitution Party Convention	Nominee: Chuck Baldwin (campaign) VP Nominee: Darrell Castle Candidates: Daniel Imperato • Alan Keyes (campaign)

Green Party Convention	Nominee: Cynthia McKinney (campaign, positions) VP Nominee: Rosa Clemente Candidates: Elaine Brown • Jesse Johnson • Kent Mesplay • Kat Swift

Libertarian Party Convention	Nominee: Bob Barr (campaign, positions) VP Nominee: Wayne Allyn Root Candidates: Mike Gravel (campaign) • Daniel Imperato • Steve Kubby • George Phillies • Wayne Allyn Root • Mary Ruwart • Doug Stanhope

Peace and Freedom Party	Nominee: Ralph Nader (campaign) VP Nominee: Matt Gonzalez

Prohibition Party	Nominee: Gene Amondson VP Nominee: Leroy Pletten Candidates: Earl Dodge

Reform Party	Nominee: Ted Weill VP Nominee:Frank McEnulty

Socialism and Liberation Party	Nominee: Gloria La Riva VP Nominee: Eugene Puryear

Socialist Party	Nominee:Brian Moore (campaign) VP Nominee: Stewart Alexander Candidates: Eric Chester

Socialist Workers Party	Nominee: Róger Calero · Alternate nominee: James Harris VP Nominee: Alyson Kennedy

Independents	John Taylor Bowles • Jonathon Sharkey

Other 2008 elections: House • Senate • Gubernatorial

v • d • e State results of the United States presidential election, 2008

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

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United States presidential election in Iowa, 2008

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