 | This article'stone or style may not reflect theencyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia'sguide to writing better articles for suggestions.(August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 64.04%[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 County results Congressional district results Precinct results
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the2008 United States presidential election. Voters in Kentucky chose eight representatives to theElectoral College, or electors, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Kentucky was won by Republican nomineeJohn McCain by a 16.22% margin of victory with 57.40% of the vote. Prior to the election, all sixteen news organizations handicapping the election considered it a state McCain would win, or otherwise ared state.Hillary Clinton had led McCain in hypothetical polls of the state during the Democratic primaries, but onceBarack Obama secured the Democratic nomination Kentucky was reclassified as safe for the GOP. Obama did, however, improve onJohn Kerry's performance by two points. This was the first time since1960 that Kentucky did not vote for the winning candidate in a presidential election.
This was the first time ever thatFloyd County orKnott County voted for the Republican candidate, and the first time since1908 thatBreathitt County voted for the Republican candidate. Obama became the first Democrat ever to win the presidency without carrying numerous historically Democratic counties in the state, primarily in theEastern Coalfield,Bluegrass, andJackson Purchase regions. As of2024, this remains the last time that a Democratic presidential nominee has won over 40% of the vote in Kentucky, and the last election in whichRowan County,Hancock County,Menifee County,Wolfe County, orHenderson County voted for the Democratic candidate.
Sixteen news organizations made state-by-state predictions of the election. Their last predictions before election day were:
| Source | Ranking |
|---|---|
| D.C. Political Report[2] | Likely R |
| Cook Political Report[3] | Solid R |
| The Takeaway[4] | Solid R |
| Electoral-vote.com[5] | Solid R |
| Washington Post[6] | Solid R |
| Politico[7] | Solid R |
| RealClearPolitics[8] | Solid R |
| FiveThirtyEight[6] | Solid R |
| CQ Politics[9] | Solid R |
| The New York Times[10] | Solid R |
| CNN[11] | Safe R |
| NPR[6] | Solid R |
| MSNBC[6] | Solid R |
| Fox News[12] | Likely R |
| Associated Press[13] | Likely R |
| Rasmussen Reports[14] | Safe R |
McCain won every pre-election poll against Obama, almost all of them by a double-digit margin and with at least 49% of the vote. The final three polls averaged McCain leading 56% to 41%.[15]
John McCain raised a total of $1,220,017. Barack Obama raised $2,394,198.[16]
Obama spent $183,738, while a conservative interest group spent just $212.[17] Each ticket visited the state once.[18]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Since 1964, Kentucky has only gone Democratic three times--Jimmy Carter in1976 andBill Clinton in1992 and1996, both of whom were White Southerners, whereas Obama was an African American "big-city liberal" fromChicago. (Similar socio-cultural dynamics existed in other Southern andAppalachian states with a large ancestral Democratic base, such asTennessee,West Virginia, andArkansas.)
In the 2008 primary, exit polls conducted found that 30 percent of Clinton supporters opted not to vote for Obama in the general election, 40% would vote McCain and the rest would support Obama in the general election. Several counties in the southeastern part of the state swung Republican and went to McCain as solidly Democratic Floyd and Knott counties voted Republican for the first time ever, and Breathitt County voted Republican for the first time since 1908. Obama decided to not spend campaign funds on Kentucky and instead went to more viable battleground states like North Carolina and Indiana instead. McCain won Kentucky by a margin of 16.22 points on election day and performed slightly worse than George Bush in 2004. Obama improved upon Kerry's performance in big cities and urban areas while McCain improved upon Bush in rural areas. Kentucky was the first state called for either candidate.
At the same time, incumbent RepublicanU.S. SenatorMitch McConnell, who also served asSenate Minority Leader at the time, was just narrowlyreelected with 52.97% of the vote to DemocratBruce Lunsford's 47.03%. Republicans also held onto an open seat vacated by Ron Lewis inKentucky's 2nd Congressional District. At the state level, however, Democrats picked up two seats in theKentucky House of Representatives.
| United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | John McCain | Sarah Palin | 1,048,462 | 57.40% | 8 | |
| Democratic | Barack Obama | Joe Biden | 751,985 | 41.17% | 0 | |
| Independent | Ralph Nader | Matt Gonzalez | 15,378 | 0.84% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Bob Barr | Wayne Allyn Root | 5,989 | 0.33% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Chuck Baldwin | Darrell Castle | 4,694 | 0.26% | 0 | |
| Totals | 1,826,508 | 100.00% | 8 | |||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 57.5% | |||||
| County | John McCain Republican | Barack Obama Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adair | 5,512 | 75.53% | 1,668 | 22.86% | 118 | 1.61% | 3,844 | 52.67% | 7,298 |
| Allen | 5,258 | 71.15% | 2,024 | 27.39% | 108 | 1.46% | 3,234 | 43.76% | 7,390 |
| Anderson | 6,885 | 65.25% | 3,462 | 32.81% | 205 | 1.94% | 3,423 | 32.44% | 10,552 |
| Ballard | 2,537 | 62.49% | 1,427 | 35.15% | 96 | 2.36% | 1,110 | 27.34% | 4,060 |
| Barren | 11,133 | 66.24% | 5,434 | 32.33% | 240 | 1.43% | 5,699 | 33.91% | 16,807 |
| Bath | 2,234 | 49.17% | 2,210 | 48.65% | 99 | 2.18% | 24 | 0.52% | 4,543 |
| Bell | 6,681 | 69.61% | 2,782 | 28.99% | 135 | 1.41% | 3,899 | 40.62% | 9,598 |
| Boone | 33,812 | 66.59% | 16,292 | 32.09% | 670 | 1.32% | 17,520 | 34.50% | 50,774 |
| Bourbon | 4,820 | 57.86% | 3,385 | 40.64% | 125 | 1.50% | 1,435 | 17.22% | 8,330 |
| Boyd | 11,430 | 55.30% | 8,886 | 42.99% | 354 | 1.71% | 2,544 | 12.31% | 20,670 |
| Boyle | 7,701 | 60.95% | 4,769 | 37.74% | 165 | 1.30% | 2,932 | 23.21% | 12,635 |
| Bracken | 2,066 | 60.78% | 1,241 | 36.51% | 92 | 2.71% | 825 | 24.27% | 3,399 |
| Breathitt | 2,671 | 53.10% | 2,205 | 43.84% | 154 | 3.06% | 466 | 9.26% | 5,030 |
| Breckinridge | 5,281 | 61.97% | 3,110 | 36.49% | 131 | 1.54% | 2,171 | 25.48% | 8,522 |
| Bullitt | 20,102 | 65.42% | 10,177 | 33.12% | 447 | 1.45% | 9,925 | 32.30% | 30,726 |
| Butler | 3,696 | 69.64% | 1,555 | 29.30% | 56 | 1.06% | 2,141 | 40.34% | 5,307 |
| Caldwell | 3,866 | 62.36% | 2,212 | 35.68% | 121 | 1.95% | 1,654 | 26.68% | 6,199 |
| Calloway | 8,991 | 58.37% | 6,165 | 40.02% | 248 | 1.61% | 2,826 | 18.35% | 15,404 |
| Campbell | 24,046 | 59.67% | 15,622 | 38.77% | 629 | 1.56% | 8,424 | 20.90% | 40,297 |
| Carlisle | 1,699 | 64.92% | 879 | 33.59% | 39 | 1.49% | 820 | 31.33% | 2,617 |
| Carroll | 2,032 | 52.99% | 1,716 | 44.75% | 87 | 2.27% | 316 | 8.24% | 3,835 |
| Carter | 5,252 | 53.52% | 4,316 | 43.98% | 245 | 2.50% | 936 | 9.54% | 9,813 |
| Casey | 4,679 | 78.55% | 1,219 | 20.46% | 59 | 0.99% | 3,460 | 58.09% | 5,957 |
| Christian | 13,699 | 60.14% | 8,880 | 38.98% | 199 | 0.87% | 4,819 | 21.16% | 22,778 |
| Clark | 9,664 | 61.84% | 5,749 | 36.79% | 215 | 1.38% | 3,915 | 25.05% | 15,628 |
| Clay | 5,710 | 77.54% | 1,552 | 21.08% | 102 | 1.38% | 4,158 | 56.46% | 7,364 |
| Clinton | 3,366 | 80.68% | 761 | 18.24% | 45 | 1.08% | 2,605 | 62.44% | 4,172 |
| Crittenden | 2,604 | 66.26% | 1,254 | 31.91% | 72 | 1.83% | 1,350 | 34.35% | 3,930 |
| Cumberland | 2,056 | 73.51% | 697 | 24.92% | 44 | 1.57% | 1,359 | 48.59% | 2,797 |
| Daviess | 23,692 | 54.31% | 19,282 | 44.20% | 648 | 1.49% | 4,410 | 10.11% | 43,622 |
| Edmonson | 3,562 | 67.59% | 1,652 | 31.35% | 56 | 1.06% | 1,910 | 36.24% | 5,270 |
| Elliott | 902 | 35.86% | 1,535 | 61.03% | 78 | 3.11% | -633 | -25.17% | 2,515 |
| Estill | 3,685 | 69.35% | 1,555 | 29.26% | 74 | 1.39% | 2,130 | 40.09% | 5,314 |
| Fayette | 59,884 | 46.91% | 66,042 | 51.74% | 1,722 | 1.36% | -6,158 | -4.83% | 127,648 |
| Fleming | 3,432 | 58.85% | 2,279 | 39.08% | 121 | 2.07% | 1,153 | 19.77% | 5,832 |
| Floyd | 7,741 | 49.43% | 7,530 | 48.09% | 388 | 2.48% | 211 | 1.34% | 15,659 |
| Franklin | 11,911 | 49.47% | 11,767 | 48.87% | 401 | 1.67% | 144 | 0.60% | 24,079 |
| Fulton | 1,530 | 54.16% | 1,238 | 43.82% | 57 | 2.02% | 292 | 10.34% | 2,825 |
| Gallatin | 1,840 | 57.63% | 1,278 | 40.03% | 75 | 2.35% | 562 | 17.60% | 3,193 |
| Garrard | 5,118 | 70.98% | 2,012 | 27.91% | 80 | 1.11% | 3,106 | 43.07% | 7,210 |
| Grant | 5,510 | 62.94% | 3,112 | 35.55% | 132 | 1.50% | 2,398 | 27.39% | 8,754 |
| Graves | 10,056 | 62.25% | 5,843 | 36.17% | 256 | 1.58% | 4,213 | 26.08% | 16,155 |
| Grayson | 6,605 | 66.70% | 3,154 | 31.85% | 144 | 1.45% | 3,451 | 34.85% | 9,903 |
| Green | 3,785 | 74.52% | 1,204 | 23.71% | 90 | 1.77% | 2,581 | 50.81% | 5,079 |
| Greenup | 8,849 | 56.01% | 6,621 | 41.91% | 328 | 2.08% | 2,228 | 14.10% | 15,798 |
| Hancock | 1,928 | 46.53% | 2,135 | 51.52% | 81 | 1.95% | -207 | -4.99% | 4,144 |
| Hardin | 23,896 | 59.75% | 15,650 | 39.13% | 444 | 1.11% | 8,246 | 20.62% | 39,990 |
| Harlan | 7,165 | 72.27% | 2,586 | 26.08% | 163 | 1.64% | 4,579 | 46.19% | 9,914 |
| Harrison | 4,520 | 59.55% | 2,916 | 38.42% | 154 | 2.03% | 1,604 | 21.13% | 7,590 |
| Hart | 4,397 | 64.49% | 2,290 | 33.59% | 131 | 1.92% | 2,107 | 30.90% | 6,818 |
| Henderson | 9,523 | 47.95% | 10,049 | 50.60% | 289 | 1.46% | -526 | -2.65% | 19,861 |
| Henry | 4,081 | 58.98% | 2,725 | 39.38% | 113 | 1.63% | 1,356 | 19.60% | 6,919 |
| Hickman | 1,406 | 62.49% | 812 | 36.09% | 32 | 1.42% | 594 | 26.40% | 2,250 |
| Hopkins | 11,916 | 61.59% | 7,104 | 36.72% | 328 | 1.70% | 4,812 | 24.87% | 19,348 |
| Jackson | 4,407 | 84.36% | 743 | 14.22% | 74 | 1.42% | 3,664 | 70.14% | 5,224 |
| Jefferson | 153,957 | 43.38% | 196,435 | 55.34% | 4,544 | 1.28% | -42,478 | -11.96% | 354,936 |
| Jessamine | 13,711 | 67.83% | 6,236 | 30.85% | 267 | 1.32% | 7,475 | 36.98% | 20,214 |
| Johnson | 5,948 | 69.84% | 2,407 | 28.26% | 162 | 1.90% | 3,541 | 41.58% | 8,517 |
| Kenton | 40,714 | 59.69% | 26,480 | 38.82% | 1,019 | 1.49% | 14,234 | 20.87% | 68,213 |
| Knott | 3,070 | 52.75% | 2,612 | 44.88% | 138 | 2.37% | 458 | 7.87% | 5,820 |
| Knox | 8,150 | 71.56% | 3,074 | 26.99% | 165 | 1.61% | 5,076 | 44.57% | 11,389 |
| LaRue | 4,153 | 67.22% | 1,913 | 30.96% | 112 | 1.81% | 2,240 | 36.26% | 6,178 |
| Laurel | 17,660 | 78.49% | 4,618 | 20.52% | 222 | 0.99% | 13,042 | 57.97% | 22,500 |
| Lawrence | 3,503 | 62.01% | 2,036 | 36.04% | 110 | 1.95% | 1,467 | 25.97% | 5,649 |
| Lee | 1,978 | 71.33% | 752 | 27.12% | 43 | 1.55% | 1,226 | 44.21% | 2,773 |
| Leslie | 3,574 | 81.28% | 766 | 17.42% | 57 | 1.30% | 2,808 | 63.86% | 4,397 |
| Letcher | 5,367 | 65.17% | 2,623 | 31.85% | 245 | 2.98% | 2,744 | 33.32% | 8,235 |
| Lewis | 3,213 | 67.06% | 1,510 | 31.52% | 68 | 1.42% | 1,703 | 35.54% | 4,791 |
| Lincoln | 6,273 | 68.55% | 2,752 | 30.07% | 126 | 1.38% | 3,521 | 38.48% | 9,151 |
| Livingston | 2,890 | 62.92% | 1,622 | 35.31% | 81 | 1.77% | 1,268 | 27.61% | 4,593 |
| Logan | 6,925 | 63.59% | 3,811 | 35.00% | 154 | 1.41% | 3,114 | 28.59% | 10,890 |
| Lyon | 2,220 | 57.59% | 1,577 | 40.91% | 58 | 1.50% | 643 | 16.68% | 3,855 |
| McCracken | 19,043 | 61.92% | 11,285 | 36.69% | 426 | 1.39% | 7,758 | 25.23% | 30,754 |
| McCreary | 4,078 | 75.42% | 1,258 | 23.27% | 71 | 1.33% | 2,820 | 52.15% | 5,407 |
| McLean | 2,386 | 53.96% | 1,963 | 44.39% | 73 | 1.65% | 423 | 9.57% | 4,422 |
| Madison | 19,694 | 60.53% | 12,392 | 38.09% | 451 | 1.38% | 7,302 | 22.44% | 32,537 |
| Magoffin | 2,434 | 52.33% | 2,105 | 45.26% | 112 | 2.41% | 329 | 7.07% | 4,651 |
| Marion | 3,842 | 50.45% | 3,596 | 47.22% | 177 | 2.32% | 246 | 3.23% | 7,615 |
| Marshall | 9,512 | 61.42% | 5,683 | 36.70% | 292 | 1.88% | 3,829 | 24.72% | 15,487 |
| Martin | 2,824 | 76.49% | 808 | 21.89% | 60 | 1.62% | 2,016 | 54.60% | 3,692 |
| Mason | 4,102 | 57.60% | 2,891 | 40.60% | 128 | 1.80% | 1,310 | 17.00% | 7,121 |
| Meade | 6,691 | 59.71% | 4,343 | 38.76% | 172 | 1.53% | 2,348 | 20.95% | 11,206 |
| Menifee | 1,155 | 46.40% | 1,276 | 51.27% | 58 | 2.33% | -121 | -4.87% | 2,489 |
| Mercer | 6,781 | 67.41% | 3,159 | 31.40% | 120 | 1.19% | 3,622 | 36.01% | 10,060 |
| Metcalfe | 2,734 | 65.11% | 1,350 | 32.15% | 115 | 2.74% | 1,384 | 32.96% | 4,199 |
| Monroe | 3,537 | 75.82% | 1,067 | 22.87% | 61 | 1.31% | 2,470 | 52.95% | 4,665 |
| Montgomery | 5,947 | 57.56% | 4,234 | 40.98% | 150 | 1.45% | 1,713 | 16.58% | 10,331 |
| Morgan | 2,396 | 54.72% | 1,879 | 42.91% | 104 | 2.37% | 517 | 11.81% | 4,379 |
| Muhlenberg | 6,447 | 50.02% | 6,221 | 48.27% | 221 | 1.71% | 226 | 1.75% | 12,889 |
| Nelson | 10,139 | 55.87% | 7,654 | 42.18% | 353 | 1.95% | 2,485 | 13.69% | 18,146 |
| Nicholas | 1,634 | 55.02% | 1,272 | 42.83% | 64 | 2.15% | 362 | 12.19% | 2,970 |
| Ohio | 5,687 | 57.22% | 4,059 | 40.84% | 192 | 1.94% | 3,844 | 52.67% | 9,938 |
| Oldham | 18,997 | 64.80% | 10,000 | 34.11% | 319 | 1.09% | 8,997 | 30.69% | 29,316 |
| Owen | 2,969 | 62.49% | 1,694 | 35.66% | 88 | 1.85% | 1,275 | 26.83% | 4,751 |
| Owsley | 1,279 | 75.86% | 381 | 22.60% | 26 | 1.54% | 898 | 53.26% | 1,686 |
| Pendleton | 3,676 | 63.36% | 2,027 | 34.94% | 99 | 1.70% | 1,649 | 28.42% | 5,802 |
| Perry | 6,762 | 65.18% | 3,444 | 33.20% | 169 | 1.62% | 3,318 | 31.98% | 10,375 |
| Pike | 12,655 | 55.89% | 9,525 | 42.07% | 463 | 2.04% | 3,130 | 13.82% | 22,643 |
| Powell | 2,837 | 57.06% | 2,065 | 41.53% | 70 | 1.41% | 772 | 15.53% | 4,972 |
| Pulaski | 19,862 | 77.09% | 5,590 | 21.70% | 314 | 1.21% | 14,272 | 55.39% | 25,766 |
| Robertson | 533 | 52.51% | 451 | 44.43% | 31 | 3.05% | 82 | 8.08% | 1,015 |
| Rockcastle | 4,757 | 75.82% | 1,410 | 22.47% | 107 | 1.71% | 3,347 | 53.35% | 6,274 |
| Rowan | 3,907 | 47.92% | 4,074 | 49.96% | 173 | 2.12% | -167 | -2.04% | 8,154 |
| Russell | 5,779 | 77.31% | 1,569 | 20.99% | 127 | 1.70% | 4,210 | 56.32% | 7,475 |
| Scott | 11,782 | 59.72% | 7,712 | 39.09% | 236 | 1.19% | 4,070 | 20.63% | 19,730 |
| Shelby | 11,451 | 61.76% | 6,871 | 37.06% | 218 | 1.18% | 4,580 | 24.70% | 18,540 |
| Simpson | 4,437 | 60.71% | 2,775 | 37.97% | 97 | 1.32% | 1,662 | 22.74% | 7,309 |
| Spencer | 5,378 | 66.82% | 2,519 | 31.30% | 152 | 1.88% | 2,859 | 35.52% | 8,049 |
| Taylor | 7,568 | 69.69% | 3,165 | 29.14% | 127 | 1.17% | 4,403 | 40.55% | 10,860 |
| Todd | 3,336 | 67.52% | 1,543 | 31.23% | 62 | 1.25% | 1,793 | 36.29% | 4,941 |
| Trigg | 4,189 | 64.18% | 2,246 | 34.41% | 92 | 1.41% | 1,943 | 29.77% | 6,527 |
| Trimble | 2,239 | 58.74% | 1,484 | 38.93% | 89 | 2.33% | 755 | 19.81% | 3,812 |
| Union | 3,120 | 51.71% | 2,804 | 46.47% | 110 | 1.82% | 316 | 5.24% | 6,034 |
| Warren | 25,993 | 58.88% | 17,669 | 40.02% | 483 | 1.10% | 8,324 | 18.86% | 44,145 |
| Washington | 3,305 | 62.65% | 1,890 | 35.83% | 80 | 1.52% | 1,415 | 26.82% | 5,275 |
| Wayne | 4,868 | 67.65% | 2,201 | 30.59% | 127 | 1.76% | 2,667 | 37.06% | 7,196 |
| Webster | 3,037 | 54.82% | 2,390 | 43.14% | 113 | 2.04% | 647 | 11.68% | 5,540 |
| Whitley | 10,015 | 73.08% | 3,484 | 25.42% | 205 | 1.50% | 6,531 | 47.66% | 13,704 |
| Wolfe | 1,408 | 47.44% | 1,493 | 50.30% | 67 | 2.26% | -85 | -2.86% | 2,968 |
| Woodford | 7,130 | 57.98% | 5,027 | 40.88% | 140 | 1.14% | 2,103 | 17.10% | 12,297 |
| Totals | 1,048,462 | 57.37% | 751,985 | 41.15% | 27,140 | 1.49% | 296,477 | 16.22% | 1,827,587 |
| Democratic Hold Gain from Republican | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic |
McCain carried five of the state's six congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.[19]
| District | McCain | Obama | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 61.85% | 36.60% | Ed Whitfield |
| 2nd | 60.54% | 38.03% | Ron Lewis (110th Congress) |
| Brett Guthrie (111th Congress) | |||
| 3rd | 43.36% | 55.66% | John Yarmuth |
| 4th | 60.41% | 37.96% | Geoff Davis |
| 5th | 67.01% | 31.24% | Hal Rogers |
| 6th | 55.41% | 43.22% | Ben Chandler |
Technically the voters of Kentucky cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. Kentucky was allocated eight electors because it had sixcongressional districts and twosenators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of eight 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 eight 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;[20] an elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as afaithless elector.
The electors of each state and theDistrict 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 Kentucky. All eight were pledged to and voted forJohn McCain andSarah Palin:[21]
State and district results of the2008 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
|  | |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also:Political party strength in Kentucky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
