2008 United States presidential election in Maine

November 4, 2008
 
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Arizona
Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 421,923 295,273
Percentage 57.71% 40.38%


President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that instead of all of the state's four electors of the Electoral College to vote based upon the statewide results of the voters, two of the individual electors vote based on their congressional district because Maine has two congressional districts. The other two electors vote based upon the statewide results. See below in the section of Electors for more information.

Maine once again displayed its status as a blue state, with Democrat Barack Obama taking the state with 57.71% of the vote and a difference of 126,650 votes. Maine is one of only two states, along with Nebraska, to not allocate its electoral votes via a winner-take-all system; rather, two electoral votes are allocated to the statewide winner and one for the winner in each individual congressional district. Maine at-large and its 1st district has voted Democratic since 1992, and the 2nd district did the same until Donald Trump won it in 2016 and 2020. It is also the only state in New England where a county voted for Republican John McCain, with Piscataquis County giving McCain roughly 50.7% of the vote.

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 D
Cook Political Report[2] Solid D
The Takeaway[3] Solid D
Electoral-vote.com[4] Solid D
Washington Post[5] Solid D
Politico[6] Solid D
RealClearPolitics[7] Solid D
FiveThirtyEight[5] Solid D
CQ Politics[8] Solid D
The New York Times[9] Solid D
CNN[10] Lean D
NPR[5] Solid D
MSNBC[5] Solid D
Fox News[11] Likely D
Associated Press[12] Likely D
Rasmussen Reports[13] Safe D

Polling

Obama won every single pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 55% to 39%.[14]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $465,676 in the state, while Barack Obama raised $2,205,059.[15]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $1,216,060 while McCain and the RNC spent $444,529.[16] The Obama ticket didn't visit the state, but both McCain and Palin visited Maine once.[17]

Analysis

Maine is located in New England, an area that has become a Democratic Party stronghold. It was once a classic Yankee Republican state. It identified with the newly formed GOP in 1856 and stayed in the GOP fold for most of the next 132 years. The GOP carried the state in all but three elections (1912, 1964 and 1968) from 1856 to 1988. Additionally, Maine and Vermont were the only two states that voted against Franklin D. Roosevelt in all four of his campaigns. However, no Republican presidential nominee has carried Maine since George H. W. Bush in 1988, leading many analysts to reckon the state as part of the solid bloc of blue states in the Northeast. While George W. Bush seriously contested the state in 2000 and 2004, polls in 2008 never showed anything but a significant Obama lead.

Ultimately, Obama won the state by a comfortable margin, taking 57.71% of the vote—the highest percentage by a Democrat in Maine since Lyndon B. Johnson carried it as part of his 44-state landslide in 1964, although Bill Clinton in 1996 won with a wider margin when third parties were a factor. As evidence of how Democratic Maine has become, George W. Bush at the time was only the second Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Maine, the first being Richard Nixon in 1968 when Maine Senator Edmund Muskie was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. At the same time, however, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins defeated former Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Allen and won reelection to a third term with 61.33% of the vote. Maine was the only state carried by Obama to elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2008.

The seat in Maine's 1st Congressional District that was vacated by Tom Allen in his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate was retained by Democrat Chellie Pingree. At the state level, Democrats made gains in the Maine Legislature, picking up six seats in the Maine House of Representatives and one seat in the Maine Senate.

Results

Statewide

2008 United States presidential election in Maine
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 421,923 57.71% 4
Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 295,273 40.38% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 10,636 1.45% 0
Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 2,900 0.40% 0
Libertarian Bob Barr (write-in) Wayne Allyn Root (write-in) 251 0.03% 0
Constitution Chuck Baldwin (write-in) Darrell Castle (write-in) 177 0.02% 0
Totals 731,163 100.00% 4
Voter turnout  %

Congressional District

Barack Obama won both of Maine’s two congressional districts.

District McCain Obama Representative
1st 37.69% 60.51% Tom Allen (110th Congress)
Chellie Pingree (111th Congress)
2nd 43.35% 54.61% Mike Michaud

By county

County Barack Obama
Democratic
John McCain
Republican
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  %
Androscoggin 31,017 56.55% 22,671 41.33% 1,162 2.12% 8,346 15.22% 54,850
Aroostook 19,345 53.75% 15,898 44.17% 751 2.09% 3,447 9.58% 35,994
Cumberland 105,218 64.10% 56,186 34.23% 2,747 1.67% 49,032 29.87% 164,151
Franklin 10,113 58.87% 6,627 38.58% 438 2.55% 3,486 20.29% 17,178
Hancock 18,895 58.74% 12,686 39.44% 584 1.82% 6,209 19.30% 32,165
Kennebec 37,238 56.43% 27,482 41.65% 1,266 1.92% 9,756 14.78% 65,986
Knox 13,728 59.74% 8,816 38.36% 436 1.90% 4,912 21.38% 22,980
Lincoln 11,886 55.07% 9,287 43.03% 411 1.90% 2,599 12.04% 21,584
Oxford 17,940 56.68% 12,863 40.64% 847 2.68% 5,077 16.04% 31,650
Penobscot 41,614 51.72% 37,495 46.60% 1,358 1.69% 4,119 5.12% 80,467
Piscataquis 4,430 46.96% 4,785 50.72% 219 2.32% -355 -3.76% 9,434
Sagadahoc 12,152 57.05% 8,721 40.94% 428 2.01% 3,431 16.11% 21,301
Somerset 13,335 51.77% 11,867 46.07% 556 2.16% 1,468 5.70% 25,758
Waldo 11,967 54.77% 9,423 43.13% 460 2.10% 2,544 11.64% 21,850
Washington 8,246 49.51% 8,077 48.50% 331 1.99% 169 1.01% 16,654
York 64,799 59.36% 42,389 38.83% 1,973 1.81% 22,410 20.53% 109,161
Total421,92357.71%295,27340.38%13,9671.91%126,65017.33%731,163
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Electors

Technically the voters of Maine cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maine is allocated 4 electors because it has 2 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 4 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded just 2 of the electoral votes. The other 2 electoral votes are based upon the congressional district results. 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.[18] An elector who votes for someone other than their 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. Since Obama won both congressional districts, all 4 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:[19]

  • Robert O'Brien of Portland, ME. He works in a hardware store and has been active with the Democratic Party since 1984.[20]
  • Jill Duson, of Portland, ME. She's a third term city councilor and a former mayor.[21]
  • Samuel Shapiro of Waterville, ME. He's been a party activist since 1953 and is a former state treasurer.[22]
  • Tracie Reed of Portland, ME. She's a master's candidate in the University of Massachusetts Amherst's architecture program and a political organizer.[23]

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 October 23, 2022.
  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. "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
  19. Central Maine news, sports & weather & breaking news around Waterville | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME
  20. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=219859&ac=%5B%5D
  21. "Jill Duson — The League of Young Voters". Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  22. "Maine Office of the State Treasurer: About Us: Former Treasurers". Archived from the original on December 5, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  23. "Blogger: User Profile: Tracie Reed". Archived from the original on August 6, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
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