United States presidential election in Illinois, 2008
Encyclopedia
The 2008 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 4, 2008 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election
. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President
and Vice President
.
Illinois
, the home state of Barack Obama
, who won state with a 25.1% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. One of the most reliably blue states in the nation, the Land of Lincoln has not voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1988
when George H.W. Bush carried the state. In 2008, continuing that trend, it appeared that a generic Democratic presidential nominee could have easily won Illinois. Thus, it came as no surprise that Barack Obama
, who represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate
, won Illinois in 2008 over Republican John McCain
in a landslide victory, clinching near 62% of the total vote.
poll). The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 60% to 35%.
was reckoned as a Republican-leaning swing state. It voted Republican in every election from 1952 to 1988, save for 1960 and 1964. However, since 1992
, the Democrats have won the state by fairly comfortable margins, and it is now reckoned as the most solidly Democratic state in the Midwest.
The blue trend in the Land of Lincoln in presidential elections can be largely attributed to Cook County
, home to Chicago
, which makes up about 41.2% of the state's total population. Democrats also do very well in the Illinois portions of the Quad Cities
and St. Louis areas. Additionally, the historically Republican collar counties
near Chicago--DuPage
, Lake
, McHenry
, Kane
, and Will
--have become friendlier to Democrats at the national level.
Barack Obama
, the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois at the time of the election, carried the state handily, defeating John McCain
of Arizona by a margin of 1.38 million votes. Obama carried his home county, Cook County, with roughly 76 percent of the vote. He also swept the collar counties, with DuPage, Kendall, Lake and Will giving him double-digit margins. Notably, DuPage and McHenry hadn't supported a Democrat for president since 1948. Obama also did very well in several rural counties that historically voted Republican. McCain did, however, win several of the more rural counties in Southern Illinois. It was not nearly enough, however, to put a serious dent in Obama's 25-point margin in the state.
During the same election, senior U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat, was reelected to the U.S. Senate
with 67.84% of the vote over Republican Dr. Steve Sauerberg who received 28.53%. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the Illinois House of Representatives
.
and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 21 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 21 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 21 were pledged to Barack Obama
and Joe Biden
:
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
.
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, the home state of 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 state with a 25.1% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. One of the most reliably blue states in the nation, the Land of Lincoln has not voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1988
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
when George H.W. Bush carried the state. In 2008, continuing that trend, it appeared that a generic Democratic presidential nominee could have easily won Illinois. Thus, it came as no surprise that 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 represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, won Illinois in 2008 over Republican John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
in a landslide victory, clinching near 62% of the total vote.
Predictions
There were 17 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election. Here are there last predictions before election day:- D.C. Political Report: Democrat
- Cook Political ReportCook Political ReportThe Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, Governor's offices and the American Presidency. The Cook Political Report is led by a staff of five...
: Solid Democrat - Takeaway: Solid Obama
- Election Projection: Solid Obama
- Electoral-vote.comElectoral-vote.comElectoral-Vote.com is the website of computer scientist Andrew S. Tanenbaum. The site's primary content is poll analysis to project the outcome of U.S. elections. The site also includes commentary on related news stories. Well known for its color-coded electoral map of the United States, the...
: Strong Democrat - Washington Post: Solid Obama
- PoliticoPolitico (newspaper)The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
: Solid Obama - Real Clear Politics: Solid Obama
- FiveThirtyEight.comFiveThirtyEight.comFiveThirtyEight is a polling aggregation website with a blog created by Nate Silver. Sometimes colloquially referred to as 538 dot com or just 538, the website takes its name from the number of electors in the United States electoral college...
: Solid Obama - CQ Politics: Safe Democrat
- New York Times: Solid Democrat
- CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
: Safe Democrat - NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
: Solid Obama - MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
: Solid Obama - Fox News: Democrat
- Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
: Democrat - Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports is an American media company that publishes and distributes information based on public opinion polling. Founded by pollster Scott Rasmussen in 2003, the company updates daily indexes including the President's job approval rating, and provides public opinion data, analysis, and...
: Safe Democrat
Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll, and each by a double digit margin and with at least 52% (with the exception of an ARGARG
-Computing:* Argument, specifically Parameter , in computer science, the input for a subroutine-Culture:* Aragonese language , a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon*...
poll). The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 60% to 35%.
Advertising and visits
Obama spent $23,319. McCain and interest groups spent $52,865. The Democratic ticket visited the state 13 times. McCain's ticket visited the state twice.Analysis
For most of the second half of the 20th century, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
was reckoned as a Republican-leaning swing state. It voted Republican in every election from 1952 to 1988, save for 1960 and 1964. However, since 1992
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
, the Democrats have won the state by fairly comfortable margins, and it is now reckoned as the most solidly Democratic state in the Midwest.
The blue trend in the Land of Lincoln in presidential elections can be largely attributed to Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, home to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which makes up about 41.2% of the state's total population. Democrats also do very well in the Illinois portions of the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
and St. Louis areas. Additionally, the historically Republican collar counties
Collar counties
The collar counties are the five counties of Illinois that border on Chicago's Cook County. The collar counties are tied to Chicago economically, but, like many suburban areas in the United States, have very different political leanings than does the core city...
near Chicago--DuPage
DuPage County, Illinois
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 916,924, White Americans made up 77.9% of Dupage County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 70.5% of the population. Black Americans made up 4.6% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.3% of Dupage County's population...
, Lake
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
, McHenry
McHenry County, Illinois
McHenry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 308,760, which is an increase of 18.7% from 260,077 in 2000. Its county seat is Woodstock. This county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest county, in...
, Kane
Kane County, Illinois
Kane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 515,269, which is an increase of 27.5% from 404,119 in 2000. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora.- Geography :...
, and Will
Will County, Illinois
As of the census of 2000, there were 502,266 people, 167,542 households, and 131,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 600 people per square mile . There were 175,524 housing units at an average density of 210 per square mile...
--have become friendlier to Democrats at the national level.
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...
, the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois at the time of the election, carried the state handily, defeating John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
of Arizona by a margin of 1.38 million votes. Obama carried his home county, Cook County, with roughly 76 percent of the vote. He also swept the collar counties, with DuPage, Kendall, Lake and Will giving him double-digit margins. Notably, DuPage and McHenry hadn't supported a Democrat for president since 1948. Obama also did very well in several rural counties that historically voted Republican. McCain did, however, win several of the more rural counties in Southern Illinois. It was not nearly enough, however, to put a serious dent in Obama's 25-point margin in the state.
During the same election, senior U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat, was reelected to the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
with 67.84% of the vote over Republican Dr. Steve Sauerberg who received 28.53%. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...
.
Results
| United States presidential election in Illinois, 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| 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... |
Joe Biden Joe Biden Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama... |
3,419,348 | 61.88% | 21 | |
| 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... |
John McCain John McCain John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election.... |
Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was... |
2,031,179 | 36.76% | 0 | |
| Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
Ralph Nader Ralph Nader Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government.... |
Matt Gonzalez Matt Gonzalez Matthew Edward Gonzalez is an American politician, lawyer, and activist prominent in San Francisco politics. He currently serves as chief attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender's office.... |
30,948 | 0.56% | 0 | |
| Libertarian Libertarian Party (United States) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration... |
Bob Barr Bob Barr Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr, Jr. is a former federal prosecutorand a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of... |
Wayne Allyn Root Wayne Allyn Root Wayne Allyn Root is an American politician, entrepreneur, television and radio personality, author and political commentator. He was the 2008 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee. In June 2009 Richard Winger wrote he was the front runner for the 2012 Libertarian Presidential nomination... |
19,642 | 0.36% | 0 | |
| Green Green Party (United States) The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties... |
Cynthia McKinney Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States... |
Rosa Clemente Rosa Clemente Rosa Alicia Clemente is a United States community organizer, independent journalist and hip-hop activist. She was the vice presidential running mate of 2008 Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.Clemente was born and raised in South Bronx, New... |
11,838 | 0.21% | 0 | |
| Constitution Constitution Party (United States) The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections... |
Chuck Baldwin Chuck Baldwin Charles Obadiah "Chuck" Baldwin is an American politician and founder-pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. He was the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party for the 2008 U.S. presidential election and had previously been its nominee for U.S. vice president in 2004... |
Darrell Castle Darrell Castle Darrell Castle is an American political figure, activist and attorney from Memphis, Tennessee, and was the vice presidential candidate of the Constitution Party in the 2008 United States presidential election.-Early life and education:... |
8,256 | 0.15% | 0 | |
| Totals | 5,525,480 | 100.00% | 21 | |||
| Voter turnout | 58.1% | |||||
By county
| County | Obama% | Obama# | McCain% | McCain# |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams Adams County, Illinois Adams County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 67,103, which is a decrease of 1.7% from 68,277 in 2000... |
38% | 11,700 | 61% | 18,592 |
| Alexander Alexander County, Illinois Alexander County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 8,238, which is a decrease of 14.1% from 9,590 in 2000. Its county seat is Cairo. Alexander County is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical... |
56% | 2,189 | 43% | 1,692 |
| Bond Bond County, Illinois Bond County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is part of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 17,768, which is an increase of 0.8% from 17,633 in 2000. Its county seat is Greenville, Illinois.... |
48% | 3,832 | 50% | 3,938 |
| Boone | 51% | 11,324 | 47% | 10,396 |
| Brown | 38% | 985 | 60% | 1,541 |
| Bureau Bureau County, Illinois Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 34,978, which is a decrease of 1.5% from 35,503 in 2000. Its county seat is Princeton. Bureau County is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area... |
52% | 8,872 | 46% | 7,902 |
| Calhoun Calhoun County, Illinois Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 5,089, which is an increase of 0.1% from 5,084 in 2000. Its county seat is Hardin. It is part of the Metro-East portion of the St... |
53% | 1,421 | 45% | 1,221 |
| Carroll | 52% | 3,956 | 47% | 3,589 |
| Cass | 50% | 2,690 | 48% | 2,617 |
| Champaign Champaign County, Illinois Champaign County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 201,081, which is an increase of 11.9% from 179,669 in 2000.. It is the 10th most populous county in Illinois... |
58% | 48,351 | 40% | 33,748 |
| Christian Christian County, Illinois Christian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 34,800, which is a decrease of 1.6% from 35,372 in 2000... |
46% | 6,912 | 52% | 7,869 |
| Clark | 45% | 3,737 | 53% | 4,406 |
| Clay Clay County, Illinois Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in Clay County. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 13,815, which is a decrease of 5.1% from 14,560 in 2000... |
38% | 2,423 | 61% | 3,924 |
| Clinton Clinton County, Illinois -Demographics: As of the census of 2000, there were 35,535 people, 12,754 households, and 9,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 75 people per square mile . There were 13,805 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile... |
44% | 7,653 | 54% | 9,348 |
| Coles Coles County, Illinois Coles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 53,873, which is an increase of 1.3% from 53,196 in 2000. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University.... |
51% | 11,704 | 48% | 10,962 |
| Cook Cook County, Illinois Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than... |
76% | 1,608,870 | 23% | 482,395 |
| Crawford | 43% | 3,877 | 56% | 5,067 |
| Cumberland | 39% | 2,052 | 59% | 3,155 |
| DeKalb | 58% | 25,765 | 41% | 18,260 |
| DeWitt | 42% | 3,299 | 56% | 4,345 |
| Douglas | 39% | 3,226 | 60% | 5,001 |
| DuPage | 55% | 227,416 | 44% | 182,860 |
| Edgar | 45% | 3,737 | 53% | 4,393 |
| Edwards | 34% | 1,140 | 64% | 2,136 |
| Effingham | 31% | 5,256 | 67% | 11,313 |
| Fayette | 41% | 3,963 | 57% | 5,493 |
| Ford | 35% | 2,226 | 64% | 4,075 |
| Franklin | 48% | 8,873 | 50% | 9,390 |
| Fulton | 60% | 9,722 | 38% | 6,244 |
| Gallatin | 56% | 1,587 | 42% | 1,211 |
| Greene | 45% | 2,617 | 53% | 3,048 |
| Grundy | 49% | 9,134 | 49% | 9,144 |
| Hamilton | 42% | 1,794 | 55% | 2,353 |
| Hancock | 43% | 3,753 | 55% | 4,778 |
| Hardin | 40% | 892 | 59% | 1,330 |
| Henderson | 58% | 2,213 | 40% | 1,540 |
| Henry | 53% | 13,177 | 45% | 11,247 |
| Iroquois | 34% | 4,640 | 64% | 8,686 |
| Jackson | 60% | 15,199 | 38% | 9,665 |
| Jasper | 40% | 2,063 | 58% | 2,963 |
| Jefferson | 44% | 7,460 | 54% | 9,293 |
| Jersey | 48% | 5,036 | 50% | 5,320 |
| JoDaviess | 54% | 6,392 | 44% | 5,163 |
| Johnson | 31% | 1,477 | 67% | 3,138 |
| Kane | 55% | 105,592 | 44% | 84,223 |
| Kankakee | 52% | 24,719 | 47% | 22,508 |
| Kendall | 53% | 23,529 | 46% | 20,675 |
| Knox | 59% | 14,165 | 39% | 9,396 |
| Lake | 56% | 111,051 | 43% | 85,284 |
| LaSalle | 55% | 27,415 | 44% | 21,855 |
| Lawrence | 46% | 3,013 | 52% | 3,401 |
| Lee | 48% | 7,757 | 51% | 8,243 |
| Livingston | 40% | 6,184 | 59% | 9,180 |
| Logan | 41% | 5,245 | 58% | 7,424 |
| Macon | 50% | 25,419 | 49% | 24,901 |
| Macoupin | 54% | 12,071 | 44% | 9,879 |
| Madison | 54% | 68,836 | 45% | 57,059 |
| Marion | 48% | 8,334 | 50% | 8,687 |
| Marshall | 49% | 3,078 | 50% | 3,142 |
| Mason | 52% | 3,540 | 46% | 3,139 |
| Massac | 37% | 2,693 | 61% | 4,371 |
| McDonough | 52% | 6,780 | 46% | 6,047 |
| McHenry | 52% | 71,976 | 47% | 64,595 |
| McLean | 50% | 37,551 | 49% | 36,657 |
| Menard | 42% | 2,704 | 57% | 3,672 |
| Mercer | 55% | 4,885 | 43% | 3,830 |
| Monroe | 44% | 7,943 | 55% | 9,870 |
| Montgomery | 50% | 6,486 | 48% | 6,141 |
| Morgan | 49% | 7,458 | 49% | 7,585 |
| Moultrie | 43% | 2,663 | 55% | 3,466 |
| Ogle | 45% | 11,247 | 53% | 13,131 |
| Peoria | 56% | 44,396 | 42% | 33,018 |
| Perry | 47% | 4,697 | 51% | 5,077 |
| Piatt | 43% | 3,856 | 55% | 4,988 |
| Pike | 40% | 3,021 | 59% | 4,451 |
| Pope | 38% | 842 | 60% | 1,339 |
| Pulaski | 50% | 1,636 | 49% | 1,592 |
| Putnam | 57% | 1,900 | 41% | 1,376 |
| Randolph | 49% | 7,387 | 50% | 7,536 |
| Richland | 42% | 3,177 | 57% | 4,320 |
| Rock Island | 62% | 42,175 | 37% | 25,338 |
| Saline | 44% | 5,082 | 53% | 6,096 |
| Sangamon | 51% | 51,176 | 47% | 46,857 |
| Schuyler | 50% | 1,896 | 48% | 1,830 |
| Scott | 42% | 1,090 | 56% | 1,453 |
| Shelby | 39% | 4,236 | 59% | 6,390 |
| St. Clair | 62% | 77,896 | 37% | 47,005 |
| Stark | 47% | 1,357 | 52% | 1,513 |
| Stephenson | 52% | 11,010 | 46% | 9,686 |
| Tazewell | 46% | 29,335 | 52% | 33,203 |
| Union | 43% | 3,916 | 55% | 4,999 |
| Vermilion | 49% | 16,228 | 49% | 16,046 |
| Wabash | 43% | 2,462 | 56% | 3,252 |
| Warren | 53% | 4,286 | 45% | 3,637 |
| Washington | 42% | 3,338 | 56% | 4,468 |
| Wayne | 32% | 2,545 | 67% | 5,381 |
| White | 44% | 3,315 | 53% | 3,985 |
| Whiteside | 58% | 15,587 | 40% | 10,867 |
| Will | 56% | 154,691 | 43% | 119,049 |
| Williamson | 42% | 12,893 | 56% | 17,351 |
| Winnebago | 55% | 69,903 | 43% | 53,806 |
| Woodford | 36% | 6,969 | 63% | 12,137 |
By congressional district
Favorite son Barack Obama won 16 of the state’s 19 congressional districts, including all districts held by Democrats and four districts held by Republicans.| District | McCain | Obama | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12.93% | 86.53% | Bobby Rush Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district is located principally on the South Side of Chicago. It is a minority-majority district and has a higher percentage of African Americans than any other congressional district in... |
|
| 9.86% | 89.68% | Jesse Jackson Jr. | |
| 35.08% | 63.60% | Dan Lipinski Dan Lipinski Daniel William Lipinski is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district includes much of the southwest side of Chicago, along with such suburbs as Oak Lawn and Brookfield.... |
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| 13.22% | 85.44% | Luis Gutierrez Luis Gutiérrez Luis Vicente Gutiérrez is an American politician and the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. Gutiérrez was the first Latino to be elected to Congress from the Midwest. From 1986 until his election to Congress he served as a member of the Chicago City Council representing the 26th ward... |
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| 26.22% | 72.82% | Rahm Emanuel Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama... (110th Congress 110th United States Congress The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of... ) |
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| Mike Quigley (111th Congress 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of... ) |
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| 42.76% | 55.91% | Peter Roskam Peter Roskam Peter James Roskam is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party and Chief Deputy Whip in the 112th Congress, ranking fourth among house Republican leaders; also served in the Illinois Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives.-Early life,... |
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| 11.57% | 87.77% | Danny K. Davis Danny K. Davis For other persons named Danny Davis, please see Daniel Davis .Daniel K. Davis is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:... |
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| 42.86% | 55.74% | Melissa Bean Melissa Bean Melissa Luburich Bean is a former U.S. Representative for the who served from 2005 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:... |
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| 26.43% | 72.34% | Jan Schakowsky Jan Schakowsky Janice D. "Jan" Schakowsky is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party.The district includes many of Chicago's northern suburbs, including Evanston, Skokie, Wilmette, Park Ridge, Des Plaines and Rosemont... |
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| 38.13% | 60.92% | Mark Kirk Mark Kirk Mark Steven Kirk is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Kirk was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 10th congressional district.... |
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| 45.14% | 53.32% | Jerry Weller Jerry Weller Gerald C. "Jerry" Weller is an American politician who was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing .- Early life:... (110th Congress 110th United States Congress The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of... ) |
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| Debbie Halvorson Debbie Halvorson Deborah L. "Debbie" Halvorson is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party... (111th Congress 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of... ) |
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| 42.89% | 55.49% | Jerry Costello Jerry Costello Jerry Francis Costello is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1988. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the dean of Illinois's 21-member Congressional delegation. The 12th district includes the St. Louis area suburb cities and stretches to deep Southern Illinois.-Early life,... |
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| 44.60% | 54.21% | Judy Biggert Judy Biggert Judith Borg "Judy" Biggert is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. She is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:... |
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| 43.77% | 54.83% | Dennis Hastert Dennis Hastert John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history... (110th Congress 110th United States Congress The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of... ) |
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| Bill Foster Bill Foster (Illinois politician) George William "Bill" Foster is a physicist and businessman, and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2008 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:... (111th Congress 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of... ) |
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| 50.43% | 47.82% | Timothy V. Johnson Timothy V. Johnson Timothy Vincent "Tim" Johnson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life and education:... |
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| 45.52% | 52.78% | Donald Manzullo | |
| 42.15% | 56.39% | Philip Hare | |
| 50.03% | 48.32% | Ray LaHood Ray LaHood Raymond H. "Ray" LaHood is a Republican politician from Illinois who is currently the United States Secretary of Transportation, having served since 2009. Previously, he represented the Illinois's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven terms .-Early life and... (110th Congress 110th United States Congress The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of... ) |
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| Aaron Schock Aaron Schock Aaron Schock is the United States Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Peoria and includes part of Springfield. At the age of , Schock is currently the youngest U.S. representative and the first member of the U.S. Congress born... (111th Congress 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of... ) |
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| 54.25% | 43.98% | John Shimkus John Shimkus John Mondy Shimkus is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party.... |
Electors
Technically the voters of Illinois cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Illinois is allocated 21 electors because it has 19 congressional districtsIllinois's congressional districts
Illinois has nineteen congressional districts, however, for the 113th Congress it will only have 18. Before statehood, it was represented by a non-voting delegate.-List of districts:CurrentHistorical...
and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 21 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 21 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
Faithless elector
In United States presidential elections, a faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College who does not vote for the candidate they have pledged to vote for...
.
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 21 were pledged to 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...
and Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
:
- Constance A. HowardConstance A. HowardConstance A. Howard is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 34th District since her election in 1994. She took office in January 1995...
- Carrie AustinCarrie AustinCarrie Austin is alderman of the 34th ward of the City of Chicago.As a member of the Chicago City Council, she serves on six committees: Budget and Government operations; Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities; Finance; Health; Housing and Real Estate; and Zoning.In 2008 Austin was...
- Shirley R. Madigan
- Ricardo Munoz
- James DeLeoJames DeLeoJames A. DeLeo was a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 10th district since 1992, and is an Assistant Majority Leader. Earlier he served in the Illinois House of Representatives. He announced his retirement from the State Senate in 2010, and left office in August 2010....
- Marge Friedman
- Vera Davis
- Nancy Shepardson
- William Marovitz
- Lauren Beth Gash
- Debbie HalvorsonDebbie HalvorsonDeborah L. "Debbie" Halvorson is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party...
- Molly McKenzie
- Julia Kennedy Beckma
- Mark Guethle
- Lynn Foster
- John M. NelsonJohn M. NelsonJohn Mandt Nelson was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.Born in Burke, Wisconsin, Nelson attended the public schools and was graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1892....
- Mary BolandMary Boland-Career:Born Marie Anne Boland in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of William Boland, an actor, and his wife Mary Cecilia Hatton. She had an older sister named Sara....
- Shirley McCombs
- Don JohnstonDon JohnstonThe Honourable Donald James Johnston, PC, OC, QC is a former Canadian politician, lawyer, and was Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development from 1996 to 2006.-Early life:...
- Barbara Flynn CurrieBarbara Flynn CurrieBarbara Flynn Currie is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 25th District since 1979.- Political career :...
- John P. DaleyJohn P. DaleyJohn P. Daley is the 11th Ward Democratic Committeeman in Chicago, Illinois, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners , and the Chair of the Cook County Board Audit and Finance Committee. He has previously served in both the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois House of...