United States presidential election in Kansas, 2008

United States presidential election in Kansas, 2008
Kansas
November 4, 2008
 
Nominee John McCain Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Arizona Illinois
Running mate Sarah Palin Joe Biden
Electoral vote 6 0
Popular vote 699,655 514,765
Percentage 56.48% 41.55%

County Results
  Obama—60-70%
  Obama—<50%
  McCain—<50%
  McCain—50-60%
  McCain—60-70%
  McCain—70-80%
  McCain—80-90%
President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Kansas 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 6 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Kansas was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 14.9% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. He won all but three counties and one congressional district in the state.

Caucuses

Campaign

Predictions

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

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

Polling

McCain won every pre-election poll. Since March 16, McCain won each poll with a double digit margin and at least 47% of the vote.[15]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $1,219,074 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,548,322.[16]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $62,108. McCain and his interest groups spent $13,693.[17] Neither campaign visited the state.[18]

Analysis

Kansas has always been a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, voting for GOP nominees in all but seven elections since statehood. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry the Sunflower State was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide election in 1964. A combination of rural counties embedded with deep pockets of evangelical Christianity/socially conservative residents and suburban, fiscally conservative residents in Johnson County and Sedgwick County, Kansas nearly always votes Republican. Although the state did receive attention from Barack Obama, whose mother was born in Kansas, it wasn't enough to overcome the deeply planted GOP roots in the state. John McCain carried Kansas by a comfortable 15-percent margin of victory. McCain's margin of victory in Kansas, however, was less than that of George W. Bush who carried the state in 2004 with 62% of the vote over John Kerry's 36.62% showing in the state - a 10-point swing to the Democrats in 2008.

Obama only won three counties - Crawford (home to Pittsburg), Douglas (home to Lawrence), and Wyandotte (home to Kansas City). The first two were home to large college populations, while Wyandotte had a significant African-American population. He did, however, succeed in winning 41 percent of the state's popular vote. Only two other Democrats have cracked the 40 percent barrier in the state since Johnson's 1964 landslide (Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Michael Dukakis in 1988).

To highlight its status as a reliably red state, former State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, a Republican, ousted incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Nancy Boyda to win back Kansas's 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jenkins received 50.80% of the vote to Boyda's 45.97%. At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts was reelected with 60.06% of the vote over former Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Slattery. Republicans also made gains in the Kansas Senate, picking up one seat.

Results

United States presidential election in Kansas, 2008[19]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 699,655 56.48% 6
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 514,765 41.55% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 10,527 0.85% 0
Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 6,706 0.54% 0
Reform Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 4,148 0.33% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 3,037 0.24% 0
Green Cynthia McKinney (write-in) Rosa Clemente 35 0.00% 0
Totals 1,238,873 100.00% 6
Voter turnout (Voting age population) 60.8%

Results breakdown

By county

COUNTY Obama# Obama% McCain# McCain%
ALLEN 2,189 37.39% 3,552 60.67%
ANDERSON 1,175 32.40% 2,362 65.14%
ATCHISON 3,241 45.07% 3,791 52.72%
BARBER 598 24.29% 1,833 74.45%
BARTON 3,027 27.38% 7,802 70.56%
BOURBON 2,394 35.30% 4,240 62.53%
BROWN 1,317 30.10% 2,985 68.21%
BUTLER 9,159 32.86% 18,155 65.13%
CHASE 383 27.67% 976 70.52%
CHAUTAUQUA 401 21.65% 1,418 76.57%
CHEROKEE 3,594 37.19% 5,886 60.90%
CHEYENNE 323 21.56% 1,148 76.64%
CLARK 245 21.14% 897 77.39%
CLAY 1,009 24.89% 2,998 73.95%
CLOUD 1,233 27.70% 3,121 70.12%
COFFEY 1,121 26.49% 3,054 72.16%
COMANCHE 194 19.92% 765 78.54%
COWLEY 5,012 36.35% 8,492 61.59%
CRAWFORD 7,957 49.50% 7,735 48.12%
DECATUR 343 22.16% 1,189 76.81%
DICKINSON 2,422 27.95% 6,081 70.16%
DONIPHAN 1,115 31.29% 2,372 66.55%
DOUGLAS 34,398 64.42% 17,929 33.58%
EDWARDS 333 24.54% 995 73.32%
ELK 363 25.31% 1,042 72.66%
ELLIS 4,010 32.22% 8,207 65.94%
ELLSWORTH 851 28.97% 2,021 68.79%
FINNEY 3,275 31.63% 6,926 66.89%
FORD 2,991 33.74% 5,730 64.64%
FRANKLIN 4,433 37.76% 7,079 60.30%
GEARY 3,491 43.13% 4,492 55.50%
GOVE 261 18.41% 1,136 80.11%
GRAHAM 325 22.84% 1,060 74.49%
GRANT 635 23.86% 1,995 74.97%
GRAY 436 20.58% 1,643 77.54%
GREELEY 151 20.27% 591 79.33%
GREENWOOD 622 27.29% 1,619 71.04%
HAMILTON 233 21.26% 844 77.01%
HARPER 736 26.32% 1,999 71.49%
HARVEY 6,318 40.47% 9,006 57.68%
HASKELL 278 17.71% 1,277 81.34%
HODGEMAN 211 19.25% 865 78.92%
JACKSON 2,308 36.91% 3,811 60.95%
JEFFERSON 3,542 39.58% 5,220 58.32%
JEWELL 313 19.76% 1,231 77.71%
JOHNSON 127,091 44.84% 152,627 53.85%
KEARNY 309 20.85% 1,159 78.21%
KINGMAN 963 26.28% 2,603 71.04%
KIOWA 200 17.62% 912 80.35%
LABETTE 3,839 42.51% 5,001 55.38%
LANE 193 18.79% 814 79.26%
LEAVENWORTH 13,255 43.33% 16,791 54.89%
LINCOLN 347 21.88% 1,204 75.91%
LINN 1,425 30.86% 3,086 66.84%
LOGAN 225 15.63% 1,187 82.43%
LYON 5,924 45.88% 6,698 51.88%
MARION 1,801 29.72% 4,159 68.64%
MARSHALL 1,784 35.42% 3,157 62.69%
MCPHERSON 4,218 31.51% 8,937 66.76%
MEADE 357 18.49% 1,540 79.75%
MIAMI 5,742 37.97% 9,382 62.03%
MITCHELL 701 21.89% 2,440 76.18%
MONTGOMERY 4,338 31.19% 9,309 66.94%
MORRIS 907 31.93% 1,875 66.00%
MORTON 229 16.33% 1,153 82.24%
NEMAHA 1,432 26.72% 3,817 71.23%
NEOSHO 2,563 35.64% 4,473 62.19%
NESS 289 18.95% 1,207 79.15%
NORTON 497 20.58% 1,878 77.76%
OSAGE 2,534 33.59% 4,820 63.89%
OSBORNE 403 20.88% 1,490 77.20%
OTTAWA 704 22.81% 2,323 75.28%
PAWNEE 882 30.64% 1,946 67.59%
PHILLIPS 525 19.69% 2,105 78.93%
POTTAWATOMIE 2,599 26.42% 6,929 70.44%
PRATT 1,294 30.88% 2,822 67.35%
RAWLINS 273 17.62% 1,247 80.50%
RENO 9,916 37.40% 16,112 60.77%
REPUBLIC 640 23.96% 1,978 74.05%
RICE 1,163 28.92% 2,780 69.14%
RILEY 10,495 45.64% 12,111 52.66%
ROOKS 468 18.08% 2,068 79.91%
RUSH 504 28.30% 1,225 68.78%
RUSSELL 736 22.35% 2,509 76.19%
SALINE 8,186 35.92% 14,165 62.16%
SCOTT 321 14.73% 1,823 83.66%
SEDGWICK 82,337 42.72% 106,849 55.44%
SEWARD 1,493 27.98% 3,791 71.05%
SHAWNEE 41,235 48.99% 41,476 49.27%
SHERIDAN 254 18.46% 1,108 80.52%
SHERMAN 688 25.44% 1,959 72.45%
SMITH 446 20.24% 1,719 77.99%
STAFFORD 542 26.13% 1,495 72.08%
STANTON 188 22.73% 628 75.94%
STEVENS 283 13.31% 1,815 85.33%
SUMNER 3,353 32.44% 6,737 65.17%
THOMAS 787 21.43% 2,837 77.24%
TREGO 420 25.13% 1,225 73.31%
WABAUNSEE 1,036 29.42% 2,395 68.02%
WALLACE 96 11.94% 690 85.82%
WASHINGTON 659 22.11% 2,248 75.44%
WICHITA 163 16.00% 840 82.43%
WILSON 1,170 28.39% 2,850 69.16%
WOODSON 512 32.02% 1,055 65.98%
WYANDOTTE 39,865 69.73% 16,506 28.87%

By congressional district

John McCain carried three of the state’s four congressional districts, all held by Republicans.

District McCain Obama Representative
1st 68.60% 29.61% Jerry Moran
2nd 54.87% 43.20% Nancy Boyda (110th Congress)
Lynn Jenkins (111th Congress)
3rd 48.01% 50.59% Dennis Moore
4th 58.38% 39.72% Todd Tiahrt

Electors

Technically the voters of Kansas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kansas is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 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 6 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.[20] 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 6 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:[21]

  1. Tom Arpke
  2. Jeff Colyer
  3. David Kensinger
  4. Kris Kobach
  5. Mike Pompeo
  6. Helen Van Etten

References

  1. ↑ D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries
  2. ↑ Presidential | The Cook Political Report
  3. ↑ Adnaan (2008-09-20). "Track the Electoral College vote predictions". The Takeaway. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  4. ↑ Election Projection: 2008 Elections - Polls, Projections, Results
  5. ↑ Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily
  6. 1 2 3 4 Based on Takeaway
  7. ↑ POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com
  8. ↑ RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map
  9. ↑ CQ Politics | CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008
  10. ↑ "Electoral College Map". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Winning the Electoral College". Fox News. April 27, 2010.
  13. ↑ roadto270
  14. ↑ Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports™
  15. ↑ Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
  16. ↑ Presidential Campaign Finance
  17. ↑ "Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  19. ↑ "Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  20. ↑ "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  21. ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2008 Presidential Electors

See also

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