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2008 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia

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FieldValue
election_name2008 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
countryDistrict of Columbia
typepresidential
previous_election2004 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
previous_year2004
next_election2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
next_year2012
election_dateNovember 4, 2008
image_sizex200px
image1Obama portrait crop.jpg
nominee1**Barack Obama**
party1Democratic Party (United States)
home_state1Illinois
running_mate1**Joe Biden**
electoral_vote1**3**
popular_vote1**245,800**
percentage1**92.46%**
image2John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg
nominee2John McCain
party2Republican Party (United States)
home_state2Arizona
running_mate2Sarah Palin
electoral_vote20
popular_vote217,367
percentage26.53%
map_image
map_size250px
titlePresident
before_electionGeorge W. Bush
before_partyRepublican Party (United States)
after_electionBarack Obama
after_partyDemocratic Party (United States)

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

Obama

The 2008 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. In D.C., voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Prior to the election, the nation's capital was considered to be a certain lock for Obama. Washington D.C. is fiercely Democratic and has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election by large margins since 1964 when the District gained the right to electoral representation through the 23rd amendment.

The District of Columbia went to Democrat Barack Obama by a margin of 210,403 votes out of 225,224 votes cast, about 92% of the total vote. As of 2024, this remains the largest share of the popular vote ever won by any candidate in the District of Columbia since it was granted electoral votes in 1961. This was larger than John Kerry's in 2004, when he won the District with about 89% of the vote.

Obama received the largest vote share for a major party nominee in any jurisdiction since Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 United States presidential election in Mississippi.

Primaries

Campaign

Predictions

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

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

Results

2008 United States presidential election in the District of ColumbiaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
**Democratic****Barack Obama****Joe Biden****245,800****92.46%****3**
RepublicanJohn McCainSarah Palin17,3676.53%0
IndependentRalph NaderMatt Gonzalez9580.36%0
GreenCynthia McKinneyRosa Clemente5900.22%0
*N/A*Write-insN/A1,1380.43%0
**Totals****265,853****100.00%****3**
Voter turnout53.51%—

Bob Barr was certified as a write-in in the District of Columbia, but votes for him were not counted. Litigation is ongoing to have the votes counted.

By Ward

WardBarack ObamaJohn McCainVarious CandidatesMarginTotal Votes Cast#%#%#%#%Total244,40092.46%17,2776.53%2,6801.01%227,12385.93%264,357
Ward 128,97793.39%1,5995.15%4531.46%27,37888.24%31,029
Ward 224,86585.88%3,61912.50%4681.62%21,24673.38%28,952
Ward 330,49182.79%5,73715.58%6031.64%24,75467.21%36,831
Ward 434,72095.40%1,3953.83%2800.76%33,32591.57%36,395
Ward 533,25996.74%8872.58%2330.68%32,37294.16%34,379
Ward 631,03188.64%3,51810.05%4571.31%27,51378.59%35,006
Ward 733,66398.72%3120.91%1250.36%33,35197.81%34,100
Ward 827,39499.02%2100.76%610.22%27,18498.26%27,665

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of D.C. cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. D.C. is allocated three electors. 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 capitols.

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

  • Muriel Bowser
  • Jerry S. Cooper
  • Vincent C. Gray

References

References

  1. "CNN Election Center 2008 - District of Columbia Results".
  2. "Electoral-vote.com".
  3. (2009-01-01). "D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries.".
  4. (2015-05-05). "Presidential".
  5. (2009-04-22). "Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - Track the Electoral College vote predictions".
  6. "Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily".
  7. Based on Takeaway
  8. "POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com".
  9. "RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map".
  10. "CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008".
  11. (2008-11-04). "The Electoral Map: Key States". The New York Times.
  12. (2008-10-31). "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN.
  13. (April 27, 2010). "Winning The Electoral College". Fox News.
  14. "roadto270".
  15. "Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports".
  16. "District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics". DC Board of Elections and Ethics.
  17. "D.C. Board of Elections: Write-ins too much bother to count". Ballot Access News.
  18. "Our Campaigns - DC US President Race - Nov 04, 2008".
  19. "Electoral College". [[California Secretary of State]].
  20. [https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008-certificates/ascertainment-district-of-columbia-01.html District of Columbia Certificate of Ascertainment, page 1 of 2.]. National Archives and Records Administration.
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