2008 United States presidential election in Delaware

Primaries

Democratic primary

Main article: 2008 Delaware Democratic presidential primary

The Democratic Primary was held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 15 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Delaware's subdivisions was awarded those subdivisions' delegates, totaling 10. Another 5 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 15 delegates represented Delaware at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. 8 other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.

Polls

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 Super Tuesday Democratic Party presidential primaries#Delaware

Results

Analysis

Barack Obama's win in the Delaware Democratic Primary can be traced to a number of factors. According to the exit polls, 64% of voters in the Delaware Democratic Primary were Caucasian and they favored Clinton by a margin of 56-40 compared to the 28% of African American voters who backed Obama by a margin of 86–9. Obama won all age groups except senior citizens ages 65 and over who strongly backed Clinton by a margin of 56–38. Obama also won middle class and more affluent voters making over $30,000 while Clinton won lower middle class and less affluent voters making less than $30,000. Obama also won higher-educated voters (college graduates 60–35; postgraduate studies 66–32) while high school graduates backed Clinton 51–44; both candidates evenly split voters who had some college and/or an associate degree 47-47. Registered Democrats favored Obama 54-42 while Independents also backed him by a margin of 50–44; he also won all ideological groups. Regarding religion, Obama won all major denominations except Roman Catholics who backed Clinton with a 60–35 margin – Obama won Protestants 51–47, other Christians 71–24, and atheists/agnostics 60–35.

Obama performed best in New Castle County, the most populous and urban part of the state which contains Wilmington as well as several African Americans, which he won by a 56.49-39.69 margin of victory. He also narrowly won neighboring Kent County to the south, which contains the state capital of Dover, with 51.76% of the vote. Clinton won Sussex County in Southern Delaware, the more rural and conservative part of the state, with 52.73% of the vote.

Republican primary

Main article: 2008 Delaware Republican presidential primary

The Republican primary was held on February 5 (Super Tuesday). A total of 18 delegates were selected. The Delaware Republican Party rallied behind John McCain, and was the declared winner of the primary election after successfully taking all 3 Delaware counties. McCain was followed by Mitt Romney in second and then by Mike Huckabee in third.

Candidates

• Mike Huckabee
• John McCain
• Ron Paul
• Mitt Romney

Candidates Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Fred Thompson, and Tom Tancredo had dropped out of the presidential race before the Delaware primary.

Results

*Candidate withdrew before primary

Campaign

Predictions

There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:

Polling

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election#Delaware

Obama won every single pre-election poll taken in the state, and each one by a double-digit margin of victory. He won the last poll by a 30-point margin.

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $340,736. Barack Obama raised $1,010,740.

Advertising and visits

No advertising was spent by either campaign. Delaware native Joe Biden campaigned here 6 times.

Results

By county

Democratic Republican ]]

;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Kent (largest city: Dover)

By congressional district

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district is called the at-large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Delaware cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Delaware is allocated 3 electors because it has one congressional district and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of three electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all three 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 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 capitals.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 3 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:

1. James Johnson
2. Ted Kaufman
3. Harriet Smith Windsor

References

References

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2. (2008-02-02). "A Super Guide for Super Tuesday". [[CNN]].
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21. (2008-12-03). "Official General Election Results". State of Delaware.
22. "Electoral College". [[California Secretary of State]].
23. [https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008-certificates/ascertainment-delaware-01.html Delaware Certificate of Ascertainment, page 1 of 2.]. National Archives and Records Administration.