2008 United States presidential election in 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
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, 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, Biden, nearly matched that percentage 12 years later, with a slight reduction in margin of defeat.

As of 2020, this is the last time that Crawford County went 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[1] Likely R
Cook Political Report[2] Solid R
The Takeaway[3] Solid R
Electoral-vote.com[4] Solid R
Washington Post[5] Solid R
Politico[6] Solid R
RealClearPolitics[7] Solid R
FiveThirtyEight[5] Solid R
CQ Politics[8] Solid R
The New York Times[9] Solid R
CNN[10] Safe R
NPR[5] Solid R
MSNBC[5] Solid R
Fox News[11] Likely R
Associated Press[12] Likely R
Rasmussen Reports[13] Safe R

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.[14]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $1,219,074 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,548,322.[15]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $62,108. McCain and his interest groups spent $13,693.[16] Neither campaign visited the state.[17]

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 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. 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.

As of the 2020 presidential election, 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[18]
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 by county

County[19] John McCain
Republican		 Barack Obama
Democratic		 Ralph Nader
Independent		 Bob Barr
Libertarian		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  % #  % #  %
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
Totals699,65556.48%514,76541.55%10,5270.85%6,7060.54%7,2200.58%184,89014.93%1,238,873
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Results by congressional district

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

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

See also

References

  1. ↑ "D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries". January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Presidential". May 5, 2015. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - Track the Electoral College vote predictions". April 22, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily". electoral-vote.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Based on Takeaway
  6. ↑ "POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com". www.politico.com. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ "RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map". Archived from the original on June 5, 2008.
  8. ↑ "CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  9. ↑ Nagourney, Adam; Zeleny, Jeff; Carter, Shan (November 4, 2008). "The Electoral Map: Key States". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  10. ↑ "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN. October 31, 2008. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Winning The Electoral College". Fox News. April 27, 2010.
  12. ↑ "roadto270". hosted.ap.org. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports™". www.rasmussenreports.com. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  14. ↑ Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
  15. ↑ "Presidential Campaign Finance". Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  19. ↑ "KS US President Race, November 04, 2008". Our Campaigns.
  20. ↑ "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
  21. ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2008 Presidential Electors
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