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2008 United States presidential election in Kansas

none

Field	Value
election_name	2008 United States presidential election in Kansas
country	Kansas
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	2004 United States presidential election in Kansas
previous_year	2004
next_election	2012 United States presidential election in Kansas
next_year	2012
election_date	November 4, 2008
image_size	x200px
image1	John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg
nominee1	John McCain
party1	Republican Party (United States)
home_state1	Arizona
running_mate1	Sarah Palin
electoral_vote1	6
popular_vote1	699,655
percentage1	56.48%
image2	Obama portrait crop.jpg
nominee2	Barack Obama
party2	Democratic Party (United States)
home_state2	Illinois
running_mate2	Joe Biden
electoral_vote2	0
popular_vote2	514,765
percentage2	41.55%
map_image	{{Switcher
title	President
before_election	George W. Bush
before_party	Republican Party (United States)
after_election	Barack Obama
after_party	Democratic Party (United States)

| [[File:Kansas Presidential Election Results 2008.svg|310px]] | County results | [[File:2008 United States presidential election in Kansas by congressional district.svg|310px]] | Congressional district results | [[File:Kansas 2008.svg|310px]] | Precinct results McCain Obama The 2008 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose six 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. Obama still performed significantly better than Kerry, and his 41.55% of the vote remains the highest for a Democrat in the 21st century, although his running mate Joe Biden nearly matched that percentage 12 years later, with a slight reduction in margin of defeat.

As of 2024, this is the last time that Crawford County voted for the Democratic candidate in a presidential election.

Caucuses

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

Polling

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

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.

Fundraising

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

Advertising and visits

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

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 Kansas was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide in 1964. 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% of the state's popular vote. The other Democrats to have cracked the 40 percent barrier in the state since Johnson's 1964 landslide are Jimmy Carter in 1976, Michael Dukakis in 1988, Joe Biden in 2020, and Kamala Harris in 2024.

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.

, this is the last election in which Crawford County voted for the Democratic candidate. Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Atchison County since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Results

2008 United States presidential election in Kansas	Party	Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage
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
Green	Cynthia McKinney (write-in)	Rosa Clemente	35	0.00%	0
Write-in votes	36	0.00%	0
Totals	1,238,873	100.00%	6
Voter turnout (Voting age population)	60.8%

By county

County	John McCain
Republican	Barack Obama
Democratic	Ralph Nader
Independent	Bob Barr
Libertarian	Various candidates
Other parties	Margin	Total votes cast	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Totals	699,655	56.48%	514,765	41.55%	10,527	0.85%	6,706	0.54%	7,220	0.58%	184,890	14.93%	1,238,873
	Allen		3,552		60.67%		2,189		37.39%		67		1.14%		30		0.51%		17		0.29%		1,363		23.28%		5,855
	Anderson		2,362		65.14%		1,175		32.40%		50		1.38%		24		0.66%		15		0.41%		1,187		32.74%		3,626
	Atchison		3,791		52.72%		3,241		45.07%		99		1.38%		37		0.51%		23		0.32%		550		7.65%		7,191
	Barber		1,833		74.45%		598		24.29%		14		0.57%		9		0.37%		8		0.32%		1,235		50.16%		2,462
	Barton		7,802		70.56%		3,027		27.38%		142		1.28%		52		0.47%		34		0.31%		4,775		43.18%		11,057
	Bourbon		4,240		62.53%		2,394		35.30%		80		1.18%		32		0.47%		35		0.52%		1,846		27.23%		6,781
	Brown		2,985		68.21%		1,317		30.10%		42		0.96%		16		0.37%		16		0.37%		1,668		38.11%		4,376
	Butler		18,155		65.13%		9,159		32.86%		253		0.91%		170		0.61%		136		0.49%		8,996		32.27%		27,873
	Chase		976		70.52%		383		27.67%		12		0.87%		9		0.65%		4		0.29%		593		42.85%		1,384
	Chautauqua		1,418		76.57%		401		21.65%		17		0.92%		8		0.43%		8		0.43%		1,017		54.92%		1,852
	Cherokee		5,886		60.90%		3,594		37.19%		118		1.22%		45		0.47%		22		0.23%		2,292		23.71%		9,665
	Cheyenne		1,148		76.64%		323		21.56%		13		0.87%		7		0.47%		7		0.47%		825		55.08%		1,498
	Clark		897		77.39%		245		21.14%		6		0.52%		2		0.17%		9		0.78%		652		56.25%		1,159
	Clay		2,998		73.95%		1,009		24.89%		28		0.69%		13		0.32%		6		0.15%		1,989		49.06%		4,054
	Cloud		3,121		70.12%		1,233		27.70%		51		1.15%		26		0.58%		20		0.45%		1,888		42.42%		4,451
	Coffey		3,054		72.16%		1,121		26.49%		28		0.66%		19		0.45%		10		0.24%		1,933		45.67%		4,232
	Comanche		765		78.54%		194		19.92%		12		1.23%		1		0.10%		2		0.21%		571		58.62%		974
	Cowley		8,492		61.59%		5,012		36.35%		162		1.18%		72		0.52%		49		0.36%		3,480		25.24%		13,787
	Crawford		7,735		48.12%		7,957		49.50%		227		1.41%		94		0.58%		62		0.39%		-222		-1.38%		16,075
	Decatur		1,189		76.81%		343		22.16%		9		0.58%		3		0.19%		4		0.26%		846		54.65%		1,548
	Dickinson		6,081		70.16%		2,422		27.95%		75		0.87%		60		0.69%		29		0.33%		3,659		42.21%		8,667
	Doniphan		2,372		66.55%		1,115		31.29%		32		0.90%		25		0.70%		20		0.56%		1,257		35.26%		3,564
	Douglas		17,929		33.42%		34,398		64.13%		622		1.16%		307		0.57%		385		0.71%		-16,469		-30.71%		53,641
	Edwards		995		73.32%		333		24.54%		15		1.11%		12		0.88%		2		0.15%		662		48.78%		1,357
	Elk		1,042		72.66%		363		25.31%		10		0.70%		15		1.05%		4		0.28%		679		47.35%		1,434
	Ellis		8,207		65.94%		4,010		32.22%		128		1.03%		63		0.51%		39		0.31%		4,197		33.72%		12,447
	Ellsworth		2,021		68.79%		851		28.97%		39		1.33%		18		0.61%		9		0.31%		1,170		39.82%		2,938
	Finney		6,926		66.89%		3,275		31.63%		78		0.75%		48		0.46%		27		0.26%		3,651		35.26%		10,354
	Ford		5,730		64.64%		2,991		33.74%		57		0.64%		56		0.63%		30		0.34%		2,739		30.90%		8,864
	Franklin		7,079		60.04%		4,433		37.60%		121		1.03%		66		0.56%		92		0.78%		2,646		22.44%		11,791
	Geary		4,492		55.50%		3,491		43.13%		68		0.84%		23		0.28%		20		0.25%		1,001		12.37%		8,094
	Gove		1,136		80.11%		261		18.41%		10		0.71%		3		0.21%		8		0.56%		875		61.70%		1,418
	Graham		1,060		74.49%		325		22.84%		27		1.90%		7		0.49%		4		0.28%		735		51.65%		1,423
	Grant		1,995		74.97%		635		23.86%		12		0.45%		9		0.34%		10		0.38%		1,360		51.11%		2,661
	Gray		1,643		77.54%		436		20.58%		18		0.85%		15		0.71%		7		0.33%		1,207		56.96%		2,119
	Greeley		591		79.33%		151		20.27%		2		0.27%		1		0.13%		0		0.00%		440		59.06%		745
	Greenwood		1,619		71.04%		622		27.29%		16		0.70%		14		0.61%		8		0.35%		997		43.75%		2,279
	Hamilton		844		77.01%		233		21.26%		7		0.64%		8		0.73%		4		0.36%		611		55.75%		1,096
	Harper		1,999		71.49%		736		26.32%		35		1.25%		15		0.54%		11		0.39%		1,263		45.17%		2,796
	Harvey		9,006		57.40%		6,318		40.27%		165		1.05%		77		0.49%		125		0.80%		2,688		17.13%		15,691
	Haskell		1,277		81.34%		278		17.71%		8		0.51%		4		0.25%		3		0.19%		999		63.63%		1,570
	Hodgeman		865		78.92%		211		19.25%		9		0.82%		6		0.55%		5		0.46%		654		59.67%		1,096
	Jackson		3,811		60.95%		2,308		36.91%		83		1.33%		29		0.46%		22		0.35%		1,503		24.04%		6,253
	Jefferson		5,220		58.32%		3,542		39.58%		118		1.32%		54		0.60%		16		0.18%		1,678		18.74%		8,950
	Jewell		1,231		77.71%		313		19.76%		22		1.39%		10		0.63%		8		0.51%		918		57.95%		1,584
	Johnson		152,627		53.70%		127,091		44.72%		1,469		0.52%		1,540		0.54%		1,484		0.52%		25,536		8.98%		284,211
	Kearny		1,159		78.21%		309		20.85%		10		0.67%		3		0.20%		1		0.07%		850		57.36%		1,482
	Kingman		2,603		71.04%		963		26.28%		40		1.09%		35		0.96%		23		0.63%		1,640		44.76%		3,664
	Kiowa		912		80.35%		200		17.62%		16		1.41%		5		0.44%		2		0.18%		712		62.73%		1,135
	Labette		5,001		55.38%		3,839		42.51%		89		0.99%		56		0.62%		46		0.51%		1,162		12.87%		9,031
	Lane		814		79.26%		193		18.79%		8		0.78%		9		0.88%		3		0.29%		621		60.47%		1,027
	Leavenworth		16,791		54.89%		13,255		43.33%		263		0.86%		162		0.53%		120		0.39%		3,536		11.56%		30,591
	Lincoln		1,204		75.91%		347		21.88%		22		1.39%		6		0.38%		7		0.44%		857		54.03%		1,586
	Linn		3,086		66.84%		1,425		30.86%		57		1.23%		29		0.63%		20		0.43%		1,661		35.98%		4,617
	Logan		1,187		82.43%		225		15.63%		18		1.25%		5		0.35%		5		0.35%		962		66.80%		1,440
	Lyon		6,698		51.88%		5,924		45.88%		169		1.31%		68		0.53%		52		0.40%		774		6.00%		12,911
	Marion		4,159		68.64%		1,801		29.72%		59		0.97%		23		0.38%		17		0.28%		2,358		38.92%		6,059
	Marshall		3,157		62.69%		1,784		35.42%		54		1.07%		26		0.52%		15		0.30%		1,373		27.27%		5,036
	McPherson		8,937		66.76%		4,218		31.51%		107		0.80%		70		0.52%		54		0.40%		4,719		35.25%		13,386
	Meade		1,540		79.75%		357		18.49%		14		0.73%		12		0.62%		8		0.41%		1,183		61.26%		1,931
	Miami		9,382		61.01%		5,742		37.34%		116		0.75%		68		0.44%		69		0.45%		3,640		23.67%		15,377
	Mitchell		2,440		76.18%		701		21.89%		34		1.06%		16		0.50%		12		0.37%		1,739		54.29%		3,203
	Montgomery		9,309		66.94%		4,338		31.19%		145		1.04%		70		0.50%		45		0.32%		4,971		35.75%		13,907
	Morris		1,875		66.00%		907		31.93%		28		0.99%		16		0.56%		15		0.53%		968		34.07%		2,841
	Morton		1,153		82.24%		229		16.33%		8		0.57%		11		0.78%		1		0.07%		924		65.91%		1,402
	Nemaha		3,817		71.23%		1,432		26.72%		67		1.25%		20		0.37%		23		0.43%		2,385		44.51%		5,359
	Neosho		4,473		62.19%		2,563		35.64%		95		1.32%		31		0.43%		30		0.42%		1,910		26.55%		7,192
	Ness		1,207		79.15%		289		18.95%		21		1.38%		5		0.33%		3		0.20%		918		60.20%		1,525
	Norton		1,878		77.76%		497		20.58%		23		0.95%		13		0.54%		4		0.17%		1,381		57.18%		2,415
	Osage		4,820		63.89%		2,534		33.59%		96		1.27%		59		0.78%		35		0.46%		2,286		30.30%		7,544
	Osborne		1,490		77.20%		403		20.88%		26		1.35%		7		0.36%		4		0.21%		1,087		56.32%		1,930
	Ottawa		2,323		75.28%		704		22.81%		28		0.91%		18		0.58%		13		0.42%		1,619		52.47%		3,086
	Pawnee		1,946		67.59%		882		30.64%		39		1.35%		6		0.21%		6		0.21%		1,064		36.95%		2,879
	Phillips		2,105		78.93%		525		19.69%		29		1.09%		5		0.19%		3		0.11%		1,580		59.24%		2,667
	Pottawatomie		6,929		70.15%		2,599		26.31%		79		0.80%		50		0.51%		220		2.22%		4,330		43.84%		9,877
	Pratt		2,822		67.35%		1,294		30.88%		40		0.95%		24		0.57%		10		0.24%		1,528		36.47%		4,190
	Rawlins		1,247		80.50%		273		17.62%		14		0.90%		8		0.52%		7		0.45%		974		62.88%		1,549
	Reno		16,112		60.57%		9,916		37.28%		232		0.87%		136		0.51%		206		0.78%		6,196		23.29%		26,602
	Republic		1,978		74.05%		640		23.96%		27		1.01%		15		0.56%		11		0.41%		1,338		50.09%		2,671
	Rice		2,780		69.14%		1,163		28.92%		44		1.09%		23		0.57%		11		0.27%		1,617		40.22%		4,021
	Riley		12,111		52.43%		10,495		45.43%		186		0.81%		148		0.64%		160		0.70%		1,616		7.00%		23,100
	Rooks		2,068		79.91%		468		18.08%		31		1.20%		11		0.43%		10		0.39%		1,600		61.83%		2,588
	Rush		1,225		68.78%		504		28.30%		29		1.63%		12		0.67%		11		0.62%		721		40.48%		1,781
	Russell		2,509		76.19%		736		22.35%		23		0.70%		14		0.43%		11		0.33%		1,773		53.84%		3,293
	Saline		14,165		62.16%		8,186		35.92%		187		0.82%		184		0.81%		66		0.29%		5,979		26.24%		22,788
	Scott		1,823		83.66%		321		14.73%		19		0.87%		7		0.32%		9		0.41%		1,502		68.93%		2,179
	Sedgwick		106,849		55.15%		82,337		42.50%		1,589		0.82%		1,231		0.64%		1,724		0.89%		24,512		12.65%		193,730
	Seward		3,791		71.05%		1,493		27.98%		15		0.28%		24		0.45%		13		0.24%		2,298		43.07%		5,336
	Shawnee		41,476		49.05%		41,235		48.77%		823		0.97%		418		0.49%		598		0.70%		241		0.28%		84,550
	Sheridan		1,108		80.52%		254		18.46%		11		0.80%		2		0.15%		1		0.07%		854		62.06%		1,376
	Sherman		1,959		72.45%		688		25.44%		30		1.11%		16		0.59%		11		0.41%		1,271		47.01%		2,704
	Smith		1,719		77.78%		446		20.18%		23		1.04%		10		0.45%		12		0.54%		1,273		57.60%		2,210
	Stafford		1,495		72.08%		542		26.13%		21		1.01%		8		0.39%		8		0.39%		953		45.95%		2,074
	Stanton		628		75.94%		188		22.73%		6		0.73%		3		0.36%		2		0.24%		440		53.21%		827
	Stevens		1,815		85.33%		283		13.31%		9		0.42%		11		0.52%		9		0.42%		1,532		72.02%		2,127
	Sumner		6,737		65.17%		3,353		32.44%		124		1.20%		74		0.72%		49		0.47%		3,384		32.73%		10,337
	Thomas		2,837		77.24%		787		21.43%		29		0.79%		9		0.25%		11		0.30%		2,050		55.81%		3,673
	Trego		1,225		73.31%		420		25.13%		18		1.08%		2		0.12%		6		0.36%		805		48.18%		1,671
	Wabaunsee		2,395		68.02%		1,036		29.42%		36		1.02%		14		0.40%		40		1.14%		1,359		38.60%		3,521
	Wallace		690		85.82%		96		11.94%		8		1.00%		5		0.62%		5		0.62%		594		73.88%		804
	Washington		2,248		75.44%		659		22.11%		30		1.01%		20		0.67%		23		0.77%		1,589		53.33%		2,980
	Wichita		840		82.43%		163		16.00%		8		0.79%		3		0.29%		5		0.49%		677		66.43%		1,019
	Wilson		2,850		69.16%		1,170		28.39%		49		1.19%		20		0.49%		32		0.78%		1,680		40.77%		4,121
	Woodson		1,055		65.98%		512		32.02%		21		1.31%		6		0.38%		5		0.31%		543		33.96%		1,599
	Wyandotte		16,506		28.75%		39,865		69.44%		409		0.71%		190		0.33%		439		0.76%		-23,359		-40.69%		57,409

County Flips: {{col-begin}}

Democratic Republican ]]

;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Crawford (largest city: Pittsburg)

By congressional district

McCain carried three of the state's four congressional districts.

District	McCain	Representative
68.60%	29.61%	Jerry Moran
54.87%	43.20%	Nancy Boyda ([110th Congress](110th-united-states-congress))
	Lynn Jenkins ([111th Congress](111th-united-states-congress))
48.01%	50.59%	Dennis Moore
58.38%	39.72%	Todd Tiahrt

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential 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. 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:

Tom Arpke
Jeff Colyer
David Kensinger
Kris Kobach
Mike Pompeo
Helen Van Etten

References

(2009-01-01). "D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries.".
(2015-05-05). "Presidential".
(2009-04-22). "Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - Track the Electoral College vote predictions".
"Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily".
Based on Takeaway
"POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com".
"RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map".
"CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008".
(2008-11-04). "The Electoral Map: Key States". The New York Times.
(2008-10-31). "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN.
(April 27, 2010). "Winning The Electoral College". Fox News.
"roadto270".
"Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports".
[http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=20 Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections]
"Presidential Campaign Finance".
"Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN.
"Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN.
"Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
"KS US President Race, November 04, 2008". Our Campaigns.
"Electoral College". [[California Secretary of State]].
[http://www.kssos.org/other/2008_Presidential_Electors.html Kansas Secretary of State - 2008 Presidential Electors]

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