2008 United States presidential election in Ohio

The 2008 United States presidential election in Ohio took place on November 4, 2008, which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 20 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election
2008 United States presidential election in Ohio
November 4, 2008
 
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Arizona
Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin
Electoral vote 20 0
Popular vote 2,940,044 2,677,820
Percentage 51.49% 46.92%
County Results
President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elections in Ohio

Ohio was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 4.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this state as a major swing state and bellwether. Both major party candidates visited the Buckeye State numerous times and campaigned throughout the state extensively trying to sway moderates and independent voters to their side. The polls in Ohio were fairly even throughout the campaign but Obama had a slight lead as Election Day drew closer. In the end, Obama flipped Ohio into the Democratic column.

Primaries
  • 2008 Ohio Republican primary
  • 2008 Ohio Democratic 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

During most of the summer and September, McCain led many state polls and many by 50% of over. Rasmussen had McCain leading with as high as 51% in September.[14] But many voters in the state changed their minds as Obama later gained a steady lead in most polls taken starting in the beginning of October (around the time of the 2008 financial crisis).[15][16]

Fundraising

Obama raised $7,218,801. McCain raised $5,682,839.[17]

Advertising and visits

A major swing state, Obama spent over $28 million to McCain's $24 million.[18] The Republican ticket visited the state 28 times to the Obama ticket's 22 times.[19]

Analysis

Going into Election 2008, both McCain and Obama knew that Ohio was a crucial state. Earlier in the primary season, Ohio had given a major comeback victory to Hillary Rodham Clinton. Both candidates campaigned heavily throughout the state in hopes for winning its 20 electoral votes. As no Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, it was seen in particular as a "must-win" state for McCain. George W. Bush's narrow wins in 2000 (by 3.50% against Al Gore) and 2004 (2.11% against John Kerry) proved critical in Bush's narrow wins nationally.

On Election Day 2008, Obama won the Buckeye State's 20 electoral votes by a margin of 4.59%. Obama's win in heavily populated areas such as Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Franklin County (Columbus), Lucas County (Toledo), Montgomery County (Dayton) and the traditionally Republican Hamilton County (Cincinnati) greatly contributed to his victory in the state.

McCain did best in the Republican base in the center and western regions, composed of relatively rural areas combined with Cincinnati and Columbus' heavily Republican suburbs. In addition, McCain won all but one county in the Appalachian southeast, mirroring the troubles Obama had throughout this region. On the other hand, Obama did best in the Democratic base—Cleveland (where he won almost 70% of the vote), Youngstown and the heavily unionized counties next to Pennsylvania. However, he was unable to significantly improve upon John Kerry's performance in these areas. More surprisingly, the cities of Cincinnati and Columbus gave him strong support. Cincinnati, the only major city that didn't vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt, voted Democratic for the first time since 1964. Columbus, a city shifting to the Democrats, also voted for Obama by a three-to-two margin. In addition, Obama won several northern counties along the shore of Lake Erie that John Kerry had lost in 2004.

As polls closed and results were coming in on Election Night, Republican strategist and adviser Karl Rove joined Brit Hume on Fox News offering analysis. Rove was discussing the impact an Ohio loss would have on McCain's chances of winning the election. "If he loses Ohio," Rove stated of McCain, "he goes from 286, which the Republicans carried in 2004, down to 266, and that puts him below the 270 threshold needed to win the White House. So he'd not only need to sweep the rest of these states which were won by the Republicans in 2004, he'd also need to pick up something as well." In an untimely moment, Hume broke in. "Guess what Karl," Hume interrupted, "I've just received word that the state of Ohio has gone for Barack Obama."[20]

As of the 2016 presidential election, this is the last election in which Lake County, Monroe County, Belmont County, Tuscarawas County, and Jefferson County voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate.[21]

Results
2008 United States presidential election in Ohio
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 2,940,044 51.50% 20
Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 2,677,820 46.91% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 42,337 0.74% 0
Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 19,917 0.35% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 13,682 0.24% 0
Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 12,565 0.22% 0
Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 8,518 0.15% 0
Others Others 6,843 0.12% 0
Totals 5,721,726 100.00% 20
Voter turnout (Voting age population) 67.3%

Results by county
County Barack Hussein Obama
Democratic		 John Sidney McCain III
Republican		 Ralph Nader[22]
Independent		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 4,170 36.62% 6,914 60.71% 131 1.15% 173 1.52% -2,744 -24.10% 11,388
Allen 19,521 38.84% 29,941 59.57% 362 0.72% 439 0.87% -10,420 -20.73% 50,263
Ashland 9,300 36.95% 15,158 60.23% 225 0.89% 485 1.93% -5,858 -23.28% 25,168
Ashtabula 25,027 55.77% 18,949 42.23% 456 1.02% 442 0.98% 6,078 13.54% 44,874
Athens 20,722 66.63% 9,742 31.33% 263 0.85% 371 1.19% 10,980 35.31% 31,098
Auglaize 6,727 28.64% 16,395 69.81% 169 0.72% 195 0.83% -9,668 -41.16% 23,486
Belmont 16,302 50.30% 15,422 47.58% 402 1.24% 285 0.88% 880 2.72% 32,411
Brown 7,503 37.30% 12,192 60.62% 220 1.09% 198 0.98% -4,689 -23.31% 20,113
Butler 66,030 38.00% 105,340 60.62% 1,039 0.60% 1,367 0.79% -39,310 -22.62% 173,776
Carroll 6,423 46.03% 7,097 50.86% 213 1.53% 220 1.58% -674 -4.83% 13,953
Champaign 7,385 39.10% 11,141 58.99% 196 1.04% 165 0.87% -3,756 -19.89% 18,887
Clark 31,958 47.86% 33,634 50.37% 661 0.99% 517 0.77% -1,676 -2.51% 66,770
Clermont 31,611 33.11% 62,559 65.52% 599 0.63% 711 0.74% -30,948 -32.41% 95,480
Clinton 6,558 33.97% 12,410 64.28% 197 1.02% 141 0.73% -5,852 -30.31% 19,306
Columbiana 21,882 45.13% 25,585 52.77% 545 1.12% 475 0.98% -3,703 -7.64% 48,487
Coshocton 7,689 45.60% 8,675 51.44% 221 1.31% 278 1.65% -986 -5.85% 16,863
Crawford 8,288 39.14% 12,316 58.17% 242 1.14% 327 1.54% -4,028 -19.02% 21,173
Cuyahoga 458,204 68.89% 199,864 30.05% 3,616 0.54% 3,433 0.52% 258,340 38.84% 665,117
Darke 7,964 30.88% 17,290 67.03% 273 1.06% 266 1.03% -9,326 -36.16% 25,793
Defiance 8,399 43.75% 10,407 54.21% 154 0.80% 237 1.23% -2,008 -10.46% 19,197
Delaware 36,653 39.66% 54,778 59.27% 359 0.39% 629 0.68% -18,125 -19.61% 92,419
Erie 23,148 56.14% 17,432 42.28% 349 0.85% 300 0.73% 5,716 13.86% 41,229
Fairfield 29,250 40.66% 41,580 57.79% 493 0.69% 623 0.87% -12,330 -17.14% 71,946
Fayette 4,401 37.63% 7,102 60.73% 103 0.88% 88 0.75% -2,701 -23.10% 11,694
Franklin 334,684 59.73% 218,478 38.99% 2,993 0.53% 4,136 0.74% 116,206 20.74% 560,291
Fulton 9,900 45.06% 11,689 53.20% 167 0.76% 217 0.99% -1,789 -8.14% 21,973
Gallia 4,777 35.87% 8,247 61.92% 132 0.99% 162 1.22% -3,470 -26.05% 13,318
Geauga 21,250 41.58% 29,096 56.94% 379 0.74% 377 0.74% -7,846 -15.35% 51,102
Greene 33,540 40.12% 48,936 58.54% 510 0.61% 603 0.72% -15,396 -18.42% 83,589
Guernsey 7,625 44.01% 9,197 53.09% 228 1.32% 275 1.59% -1,572 -9.07% 17,325
Hamilton 224,644 52.97% 195,107 46.01% 1,903 0.45% 2,431 0.57% 29,537 6.96% 424,085
Hancock 13,870 37.61% 22,420 60.79% 309 0.84% 282 0.76% -8,550 -23.18% 36,881
Hardin 5,013 38.23% 7,749 59.09% 139 1.06% 213 1.62% -2,736 -20.86% 13,114
Harrison 3,683 47.30% 3,872 49.72% 104 1.34% 128 1.64% -189 -2.43% 7,787
Henry 6,320 42.59% 8,239 55.52% 115 0.77% 166 1.12% -1,919 -12.93% 14,840
Highland 6,857 35.74% 11,908 62.06% 204 1.06% 219 1.14% -5,051 -26.32% 19,188
Hocking 6,231 48.32% 6,326 49.06% 154 1.19% 184 1.43% -95 -0.74% 12,895
Holmes 3,141 28.26% 7,720 69.47% 113 1.02% 139 1.25% -4,579 -41.20% 11,113
Huron 12,076 47.21% 12,884 50.36% 212 0.83% 410 1.60% -808 -3.16% 25,582
Jackson 5,397 38.57% 8,219 58.74% 179 1.28% 198 1.41% -2,822 -20.17% 13,993
Jefferson 17,635 49.07% 17,559 48.86% 395 1.10% 350 0.97% 76 0.21% 35,939
Knox 11,014 39.01% 16,640 58.94% 233 0.83% 344 1.22% -5,626 -19.93% 28,231
Lake 60,155 49.58% 59,142 48.74% 1,086 0.90% 952 0.78% 1,013 0.83% 121,335
Lawrence 11,262 41.41% 15,415 56.69% 282 1.04% 235 0.86% -4,153 -15.27% 27,194
Licking 33,896 41.19% 46,886 56.98% 685 0.83% 816 0.99% -12,990 -15.79% 82,283
Logan 7,936 35.72% 13,848 62.33% 208 0.94% 225 1.01% -5,912 -26.61% 22,217
Lorain 85,276 58.07% 59,068 40.22% 1,273 0.87% 1,242 0.85% 26,208 17.85% 146,859
Lucas 142,852 64.98% 73,706 33.53% 1,488 0.68% 1,785 0.81% 69,146 31.45% 219,831
Madison 6,532 37.43% 10,603 60.76% 142 0.81% 174 1.00% -4,071 -23.33% 17,451
Mahoning 79,173 62.24% 45,319 35.63% 1,300 1.02% 1,411 1.11% 33,854 26.61% 127,203
Marion 12,870 44.35% 15,454 53.26% 301 1.04% 392 1.35% -2,584 -8.91% 29,017
Medina 40,924 45.24% 48,189 53.28% 638 0.71% 700 0.77% -7,265 -8.03% 90,451
Meigs 4,094 39.54% 6,015 58.09% 111 1.07% 134 1.29% -1,921 -18.55% 10,354
Mercer 5,853 27.52% 15,100 70.99% 127 0.60% 191 0.90% -9,247 -43.47% 21,271
Miami 18,372 34.79% 33,417 63.28% 426 0.81% 592 1.12% -15,045 -28.49% 52,807
Monroe 3,705 53.07% 3,066 43.91% 116 1.66% 95 1.36% 639 9.15% 6,982
Montgomery 145,997 52.48% 128,679 46.25% 1,734 0.62% 1,801 0.65% 17,318 6.22% 278,211
Morgan 2,966 44.88% 3,440 52.06% 106 1.60% 96 1.45% -474 -7.17% 6,608
Morrow 6,177 37.11% 10,067 60.49% 179 1.08% 220 1.32% -3,890 -23.37% 16,643
Muskingum 17,730 45.38% 20,549 52.59% 364 0.93% 428 1.10% -2,819 -7.22% 39,071
Noble 2,474 40.08% 3,450 55.90% 141 2.28% 107 1.73% -976 -15.81% 6,172
Ottawa 12,049 52.23% 10,618 46.03% 194 0.84% 208 0.90% 1,431 6.20% 23,069
Paulding 4,165 42.63% 5,317 54.43% 127 1.30% 160 1.64% -1,152 -11.79% 9,769
Perry 7,261 47.14% 7,721 50.12% 206 1.34% 216 1.40% -460 -2.99% 15,404
Pickaway 9,077 38.26% 14,228 59.97% 210 0.89% 211 0.89% -5,151 -21.71% 23,726
Pike 6,033 48.24% 6,162 49.27% 143 1.14% 168 1.34% -129 -1.03% 12,506
Portage 41,856 53.52% 34,822 44.53% 664 0.85% 864 1.10% 7,034 8.99% 78,206
Preble 6,999 33.33% 13,562 64.57% 227 1.08% 214 1.02% -6,563 -31.25% 21,002
Putnam 5,281 28.27% 13,072 69.98% 163 0.87% 164 0.88% -7,791 -41.71% 18,680
Richland 25,727 42.09% 34,034 55.68% 579 0.95% 782 1.28% -8,307 -13.59% 61,122
Ross 14,455 45.40% 16,759 52.64% 289 0.91% 337 1.06% -2,304 -7.24% 31,840
Sandusky 15,601 51.36% 14,190 46.72% 300 0.99% 282 0.93% 1,411 4.65% 30,373
Scioto 14,926 45.83% 16,994 52.18% 348 1.07% 303 0.93% -2,068 -6.35% 32,571
Seneca 13,087 47.68% 13,823 50.36% 289 1.05% 250 0.91% -736 -2.68% 27,449
Shelby 7,317 30.92% 15,924 67.28% 230 0.97% 197 0.83% -8,607 -36.37% 23,668
Stark 96,990 51.72% 86,743 46.25% 1,784 0.95% 2,028 1.08% 10,247 5.46% 187,545
Summit 155,105 57.65% 110,499 41.07% 1,758 0.65% 1,697 0.63% 44,606 16.58% 269,059
Trumbull 64,145 60.00% 40,164 37.57% 1,285 1.20% 1,317 1.23% 23,981 22.43% 106,911
Tuscarawas 21,498 50.05% 20,454 47.62% 465 1.08% 533 1.24% 1,044 2.43% 42,950
Union 8,761 35.15% 15,744 63.16% 173 0.69% 250 1.00% -6,983 -28.01% 24,928
Van Wert 5,178 35.34% 9,168 62.57% 139 0.95% 167 1.14% -3,990 -27.23% 14,652
Vinton 2,463 43.62% 3,021 53.51% 94 1.66% 68 1.20% -558 -9.88% 5,646
Warren 33,398 31.44% 71,691 67.50% 488 0.46% 639 0.60% -38,293 -36.05% 106,216
Washington 12,368 41.32% 17,019 56.86% 285 0.95% 260 0.87% -4,651 -15.54% 29,932
Wayne 21,712 41.64% 29,342 56.27% 433 0.83% 655 1.26% -7,630 -14.63% 52,142
Williams 8,174 44.43% 9,880 53.70% 153 0.83% 190 1.03% -1,706 -9.27% 18,397
Wood 34,285 52.73% 29,648 45.60% 513 0.79% 577 0.89% 4,637 7.13% 65,023
Wyandot 4,461 40.64% 6,270 57.12% 134 1.22% 112 1.02% -1,809 -16.48% 10,977
Totals2,933,38851.48%2,674,49146.94%42,3370.74%47,6440.84%258,8974.54%5,697,860

Projections based on published official or unofficial county election board results,[23] where available; otherwise, on the unofficial state board of elections results.[24]

By congressional district

Although Barack Obama won the state of Ohio, John McCain carried ten of the state’s eighteen congressional districts, including two districts held by Democratic incumbents and one district that simultaneously elected a Democrat. Obama carried 8 districts, including one district held by a Republican incumbent.

District Obama McCain Representative
1st 54.66% 44.30% Steve Chabot (110th Congress)
Steve Driehaus (111th Congress)
2nd 40.02% 58.61% Jean Schmidt
3rd 47.39% 51.14% Mike Turner
4th 38.16% 59.84% Jim Jordan
5th 45.05% 52.95% Paul E. Gillmor (110th Congress)
Bob Latta (111th Congress)
6th 47.60% 50.30% Charlie Wilson
7th 44.57% 53.80% Dave Hobson (110th Congress)
Steve Austria (111th Congress)
8th 37.87% 60.38% John Boehner
9th 62.26% 36.17% Marcy Kaptur
10th 59.16% 38.98% Dennis Kucinich
11th 84.76% 14.39% Stephanie Tubbs Jones (110th Congress)
Marcia Fudge (111th Congress)
12th 54.15% 44.62% Pat Tiberi
13th 54.15% 44.62% Betty Sutton
14th 49.13% 49.35% Steven LaTourette
15th 53.61% 44.64% Deborah Pryce (110th Congress)
Mary Jo Kilroy (111th Congress)
16th 47.69% 50.32% Ralph Regula (110th Congress)
John Boccieri (111th Congress)
17th 61.84% 36.09% Tim Ryan
18th 44.79% 52.81% Zack Space


Electors

Technically the voters of Ohio cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Ohio is allocated 20 electors because it has 18 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 20 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 20 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.[25] 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 20 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:[26]

  1. Catherine Barrett
  2. Barbara Tuckerman
  3. Wade Kapszukiewicz
  4. Tamela Lee
  5. Renee Cafaro
  6. Victoria Wulsin
  7. Craig Brown
  8. Jimmy Cotner
  9. Janet Carson
  10. Bruce Johnson
  11. Nannette Whaley
  12. Martha Jane Brooks
  13. Eugene Miller
  14. Fran Alberty
  15. Chris Redfern
  16. John Kosty
  17. Kelly Gillis
  18. Charleta Tavares
  19. Michael Todd
  20. Ted Strickland

References
  1. "D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries". Archived from the original on 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  2. Presidential | The Cook Political Report Archived May 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Adnaan (2008-09-20). "Track the Electoral College vote predictions". The Takeaway. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  4. Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily
  5. Based on Takeaway
  6. POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com
  7. RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map
  8. CQ Politics | CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008 Archived October 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Electoral College Map". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  10. "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  11. "Winning the Electoral College". Fox News. 2010-04-27.
  12. roadto270
  13. Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports™
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-14. Retrieved 2009-06-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - Ohio". Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  16. Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
  17. "Presidential Campaign Finance". Archived from the original on 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  18. "Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  19. "Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  20. Danny Shea (4 November 2008). "Fox News Calls Ohio For Obama As Rove Says McCain Needs Ohio To Win". Huffington Post.
  21. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  22. "OH US President November 04, 2008". Our Campaigns.
  23. "County Boards of Elections Directory". Archived from the original on 26 November 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  24. "President / Vice-President : Unofficial Results". Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  25. "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  26. U. S. Electoral College 2008 Election - Certificates

See also
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