United States presidential election in the District of Columbia, 2008
Encyclopedia
The 2008 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia 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 3 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President
and Vice President
.
The District of Columbia went to Democrat Barack Obama
by a margin of 210,403 votes out of 225,224 votes cast, about 92 percentage points of the total vote. Obama's margin was wider than John Kerry
's in 2004
, when Kerry won the District of Columbia by a margin of about 80 percentage points. D.C. has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election by large margins since 1964
.
Bob Barr
was certified as a write-in
in the District of Columbia, but votes for him weren't counted. Litigation is ongoing to have the votes counted.
.
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 3 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 3 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...
.
The District of Columbia went to Democrat 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...
by a margin of 210,403 votes out of 225,224 votes cast, about 92 percentage points of the total vote. Obama's margin was wider than John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's in 2004
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, when Kerry won the District of Columbia by a margin of about 80 percentage points. D.C. has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election by large margins since 1964
United States presidential election, 1964
The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's...
.
Primaries
- District of Columbia Democratic primary, 2008District of Columbia Democratic primary, 2008The District of Columbia Democratic Presidential Primary took place on February 12, 2008, nicknamed the "Potomac Primary" because Maryland and Virginia, which border the Potomac River, also held Democratic primaries that day...
- District of Columbia Republican primary, 2008District of Columbia Republican primary, 2008The 2008 District of Columbia Republican primary took place on February 12, 2008. Virginia and Maryland both held primaries on the same day, so the day's elections were collectively called "the Potomac primary"...
Results
| United States presidential election in the District of Columbia, 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... |
245,800 | 92.46% | 3 | |
| 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... |
17,367 | 6.53% | 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.... |
958 | 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... |
590 | 0.22% | 0 | |
| Totals | 265,853 | 100.00% | 3 | |||
| Voter turnout | 53.51% | — | ||||
Bob Barr
Bob Barr presidential campaign, 2008
The Bob Barr presidential campaign of 2008 began when the former Republican Congressman of Georgia announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination on May 12, 2008 after months of grassroots draft efforts...
was certified as a write-in
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
in the District of Columbia, but votes for him weren't counted. Litigation is ongoing to have the votes counted.
Results Breakdown
Each candidate's best result is shown in bold.| Ward | 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... |
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.... |
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.... |
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... |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward 1 | 93.39% | 28,977 | 5.15% | 1,599 | 0.52% | 161 | 0.42% | 131 |
| Ward 2 | 85.88% | 24,865 | 12.50% | 3,619 | 0.62% | 180 | 0.20% | 57 |
| Ward 3 | 82.79% | 30,491 | 15.58% | 5,737 | 0.62% | 229 | 0.22% | 81 |
| Ward 4 | 95.40% | 34,720 | 3.83% | 1,395 | 0.26% | 96 | 0.24% | 88 |
| Ward 5 | 96.74% | 33,259 | 2.58% | 887 | 0.22% | 76 | 0.23% | 79 |
| Ward 6 | 88.64% | 31,031 | 10.05% | 3,518 | 0.45% | 156 | 0.23% | 82 |
| Ward 7 | 98.72% | 33,663 | 0.91% | 312 | 0.11% | 39 | 0.14% | 48 |
| Ward 8 | 99.02% | 27,394 | 0.76% | 210 | 0.07% | 20 | 0.08% | |
Electors
Technically the voters of D.C. cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. D.C. is allocated 3 electors. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 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 3 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 electorFaithless 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 3 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...
:
- Muriel BowserMuriel BowserMuriel Bowser is a Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 4.-Early life:...
- Jerry S. Cooper
- Vincent C. GrayVincent C. GrayVincent C. Gray is an American politician who is currently serving as the seventh Mayor of the District of Columbia. Prior to his inauguration as mayor in January 2011, Gray served as Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, and as Councilmember for Ward 7...