Idaho Democratic caucuses, 2008 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

Presidential Caucuses were held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 18 national delegates at stake. For the first time, caucuses were held in all 44 counties, all of them open caucuses organized at the county level rather than the precinct level.

The Idaho Democratic Caucus was overwhelmingly won by Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

, who won 15 of Idaho's 18 delegates, 44 of the 45 county-level caucuses, and the support of 79.54 percent of caucus attendees statewide, his largest margin of victory in any state during the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary season. A handful of caucus attendees pledged to support John Edwards

John Edwards

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...

on the first ballot even though he had dropped out of the race the previous week; this residual support was sufficient to give him a third place finish.

Each of Idaho's 44 counties held its own caucus except for Ada County

Ada County, Idaho

Ada County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 Census, the county had a population of 392,365. The county seat and largest city is Boise, which is also the state capital. Other cities in the county with over 10,000 residents include Meridian, Eagle,...

, which held two: one for the part of the county in the First Congressional District

Idaho's 1st congressional district

Idaho's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Idaho. The district encompasses the western and northern parts of the state and includes the western third of the state capital, Boise, and most of its suburbs, including Nampa, Caldwell, and Meridian...

, and the other for the part of the county in the Second Congressional District

Idaho's 2nd congressional district

Idaho's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Idaho. The district encompasses Eastern Idaho and the Magic Valley region of the state and other outlying areas, as well as a small portion of the Boise Metropolitan Area, including two-thirds of the city of Boise...

. Collectively, both Ada County caucuses (which convened at Qwest Arena

Qwest Arena

CenturyLink Arena Boise is a multi-purpose arena in Boise, Idaho. It holds 5,300 fans for ice hockey and basketball, 5,732 for end-stage concerts, 6,400 for boxing and up to 6,800 for center-stage concerts. It contains 4,508 permanent seats...

in Downtown Boise

Boise, Idaho

Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...

) were notable for the unprecedented mass public participation which made them the largest caucus gathering of Super Tuesday 2008: 3,075 votes were cast by the constituents of the 1st Congressional District and 5,215 votes were cast by those of the 2nd Congressional District for a grand total of 8,290 votes cast at a single venue. Thousands of freshly printed ballots were rushed to those caucusing outside the arena in frigid weather. Much higher than anticipated attendance was also reported at other caucus locations throughout the state. Statewide some 28,000 people caucused, an order of magnitude increase over the approximately 5,000 who had caucused throughout Idaho in 2004.

Process

Since Idaho residents do not make a political party preference when they register to vote, the 2008 Idaho Democratic Caucus was open to all individuals who were or would have been qualified to vote in the general election in Idaho on November 4, 2008, including those who were not registered or who were not yet legally old enough to vote (but were going to be legally old enough to vote at the national election). Caucus attendees were required to sign a pledge that they planned on voting Democratic in the county in which they were caucusing. After signing in, participants either marked their first presidential preference or declared themselves uncommitted.

As in past years, the caucuses employed a 15-percent support threshold at the county level. If a candidate failed to meet that threshold on the first vote, the candidate was eliminated from consideration at the county level. A second vote was then taken with all participants free to declare or re-declare their support for any remaining candidate or for "Uncommitted." In 2008, Barack Obama was the only candidate to meet the threshold requirement on the first vote in several counties, most notably in Ada County. Clinton won the caucus vote only in one county: Lewis County

Lewis County, Idaho

Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. Established in 1911, it was named after the explorer Meriwether Lewis. The population was 3,821 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Nezperce, and Kamiah is the county's largest city.-Geography:...

in the Northern Panhandle of the state.

After the second vote, county caucuses were broken up into groups by candidate support. These groups then selected county delegates and alternates to the Idaho Democratic Party State Convention who were pledged but unbound by the results. The 2008 Idaho Democratic Party State Convention was held June 12–14, 2008, in Garden City

Garden City, Idaho

Garden City is a city in Ada County, Idaho, United States. The population was 10,972 at the 2010 census. Garden City is nearly surrounded by Boise but retains a separate municipal government....

Polls

County Caucuses

Caucus Date: February 5, 2008

Idaho Democratic Presidential Caucus Results – 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...	16,880	79.54%	15
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...	3,652	17.21%	3
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Uncommitted	552	2.60%	0
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	John Edwards John Edwards Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...	137	0.65%	0
Totals			21,221	100.00%	18
Voter turnout			%		—

Primary

On May 27, 2008, a non-binding presidential preference primary was held on the Democratic ticket. The primary had no impact on the Democratic Party delegate selection process. Obama won the primary, but by a considerably smaller margin than his caucus win three months earlier.

Primary Date: May 27, 2008

Idaho Democratic Presidential Primary Results – 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...	23,980	56.03%	0
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...	16,122	37.67%	0
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Uncommitted	1,966	4.59%	0
	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Others	734	1.71%	0
Totals			42,802	100.00%	0
Voter turnout			%		—

Analysis

Idaho, one of the most staunchly Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

states in the nation, is difficult to analyze for Democrats. Barack Obama did, however, make a campaign stop in Idaho before Super Tuesday and told voters that he would not take their guns away. The state delivered a massive three-to-one victory for Obama, his largest victory in the course of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.

Process

Polls

County Caucuses

Primary

Analysis

See also