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| Turnout | 66.2% [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Congressional district results Municipality results
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The2008 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 4, 2008. It was part of the2008 United States presidential election which happened throughout all 50 states andD.C. Voters chose 17 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Michigan was won by Democratic nomineeBarack Obama by a 16.4% margin of victory. Due to the worsening of the state's economy, and an extremely highunemployment rate and anti-incumbent backlash in the state following theGreat Recession, Democrats were heavily favored to win the state. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safeblue state. Michigan had leaned Democratic for the last couple decades, as it voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since1992.
In the end, Obama won Michigan by a larger-than-expected margin of victory, winning by 823,940 votes. As of2024, this is the last election that a Democrat wonAlger,Alpena,Arenac,Benzie,Berrien,Cass,Clare,Clinton,Delta,Gladwin,Iosco,Iron,Jackson,Lenawee,Mason,Menominee,Oceana,Ogemaw,Ontonagon,Presque Isle,Roscommon,St. Clair, andSchoolcraft counties.Kent andLeelenau counties wouldn’t vote for a Democrat again until 2020.
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[2] | Likely D |
| Cook Political Report[3] | Lean D |
| The Takeaway[4] | Solid D |
| Electoral-vote.com[5] | Solid D |
| Washington Post[6] | Solid D |
| Politico[7] | Solid D |
| RealClearPolitics[8] | Solid D |
| FiveThirtyEight[6] | Solid D |
| CQ Politics[9] | Solid D |
| The New York Times[10] | Solid D |
| CNN[11] | Safe D |
| NPR[6] | Solid D |
| MSNBC[6] | Solid D |
| Fox News[12] | Likely D |
| Associated Press[13] | Likely D |
| Rasmussen Reports[14] | Safe D |
Very early on, polling was tight as Obama was having a difficult time getting support from the pessimistic state. Since September 21, Obama swept all the polls taken from the state. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 40%.[15]
John McCain raised a total of $4,330,872 in the state. Barack Obama raised $7,299,275.[16]
Obama and his interest groups spent $12,995,614. McCain and his interest group spent $13,332,086.[17] The Democratic ticket visited the state 10 times to McCain's 9 times.[18]
Michigan had not supported a Republican for president since1988, and would not do so again until 2016. However, the state's 17 electoral votes had been continually a prime target for Republicans, and the Democratic margin of victory incrementally decreased from1996 to2004. In 2008, Republican presidential nomineeJohn McCain put an early effort into winning Michigan, hoping to convertblue-collar voters disaffected by Obama's unfamiliarity as a liberal African-American fromChicago.Macomb County, a populous blue-collar suburb ofDetroit, was a large target.
A major problem for the Obama campaign was the2008 Michigan Democratic presidential primary. Obama removed his name from the ballot after state officials moved up the primary in violation of party rules. As a result,Hillary Rodham Clinton won the state with 55%. This led to the McCain campaign focusing heavily on winning Michigan in the general election. In May 2008, McCain was leading in aRasmussen poll with 45% to 44%.[19] After the September financial crisis, however, McCain's general campaign fell into trouble. Polls showed Michigan, a state especially affected by the economy, turning away from McCain. Voters blamed Republicans for the crisis. In early October, with polls showing him falling further behind Obama, McCain pulled out of the state, essentially ceding it to Obama.[20] This was widely publicized, and more than likely contributed to Obama's landslide victory.
On Election Day, Barack Obama won by a double-digit margin of 16%. The state was called for Obama almost as soon as the polls closed. InWayne County, home to Detroit, Obama piled up a 3–1 margin. Democratic strongholdsWashtenaw County (home toAnn Arbor and theUniversity of Michigan),Ingham County (home toLansing andMichigan State) andGenesee County (home toFlint) gave Obama 65-70% of the vote. Macomb County, which McCain had focused so intensely on, voted Democratic by a comfortable margin of 9%.Oakland County, once a bastion of suburban conservatism, went for Obama by 15 points. Obama also carriedKent County (home toGrand Rapids and former PresidentGerald Ford) by a very narrow 0.5% margin of victory, or 1,573 votes, the first time that a Democrat had done so since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. He was also the first Democrat to carry Berrien, Clinton, Eaton, Jackson, and Leelanau counties since 1964.
Republican support in the state collapsed; McCain was only able to win two counties with margins of more than 10,000 votes.[21] This result signified continued evidence of Michigan's Democratic tilt, anchored by the heavily Democratic cities of Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Flint. Barack Obama won 46Michigan counties compared to 37 for John McCain. The largest county with a very close winning margin was a 49.3% vs. 48.8% plurality for Obama inKent County.[22] As of the2024 presidential election[update], this is the last presidential election in whichAlger County,Alpena County,Arenac County,Benzie County,Berrien County,Cass County,Clare County,Clinton County,Delta County,Gladwin County,Gratiot County,Iosco County,Iron County,Jackson County,Lenawee County,Mason County,Menominee County,Oceana County,Ogemaw County,Ontonagon County,Presque Isle County,Roscommon County,Schoolcraft County, andSt. Clair County voted for the Democratic candidate. This is also the last presidential election in which the Democratic candidate won theUpper Peninsula, or a majority of congressional districts in the state.
At the same time as Obama swept the state, Democrats made more gains in Michigan. Incumbent DemocraticU.S. SenatorCarl Levin was reelected with 62.65% of the vote over RepublicanJack Hoogendyk's 33.84%. Democrats also picked up twoU.S. House seats in Michigan inthe 7th District andthe 9th District, withMark Schauer andGary Peters knocking offTim Walberg andJoe Knollenberg, respectively. This gave Democrats the majority in Michigan's U.S. House delegation. In addition, Democrats picked up nine seats in theMichigan House of Representatives.
| 2008 United States presidential election in Michigan | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Barack Obama | Joe Biden | 2,872,579 | 57.33% | 17 | |
| Republican | John McCain | Sarah Palin | 2,048,639 | 40.89% | 0 | |
| Natural Law | Ralph Nader | Matt Gonzalez | 33,085 | 0.66% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Bob Barr | Wayne Allyn Root | 23,716 | 0.47% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Chuck Baldwin | Darrell Castle | 14,685 | 0.29% | 0 | |
| Green | Cynthia McKinney | Rosa Clemente | 8,892 | 0.18% | 0 | |
| Write-Ins | Write-Ins | 170 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 5,010,129 | 100.00% | 17 | |||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 66.9% | |||||
| County | Barack Obama Democratic | John McCain Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alcona | 2,896 | 45.11% | 3,404 | 53.02% | 120 | 1.87% | -508 | -7.91% | 6,420 |
| Alger | 2,472 | 52.04% | 2,188 | 46.06% | 90 | 1.89% | 284 | 5.98% | 4,750 |
| Allegan | 24,165 | 43.63% | 30,061 | 54.28% | 1,154 | 2.09% | -5,896 | -10.65% | 55,380 |
| Alpena | 7,705 | 50.95% | 7,125 | 47.11% | 294 | 1.94% | 580 | 3.84% | 15,124 |
| Antrim | 6,079 | 43.89% | 7,506 | 54.19% | 267 | 1.93% | -1,427 | -10.30% | 13,852 |
| Arenac | 4,155 | 51.12% | 3,807 | 46.84% | 166 | 2.04% | 348 | 4.28% | 8,128 |
| Baraga | 1,725 | 47.22% | 1,846 | 50.53% | 82 | 2.25% | -121 | -3.31% | 3,653 |
| Barry | 13,449 | 43.91% | 16,431 | 53.65% | 749 | 2.44% | -2,982 | -9.74% | 30,629 |
| Bay | 32,589 | 56.59% | 23,795 | 41.32% | 1,204 | 2.09% | 8,794 | 15.27% | 57,588 |
| Benzie | 5,451 | 52.88% | 4,687 | 45.47% | 171 | 1.66% | 764 | 7.41% | 10,309 |
| Berrien | 40,381 | 51.88% | 36,130 | 46.42% | 1,323 | 1.70% | 4,251 | 5.46% | 77,834 |
| Branch | 8,413 | 46.01% | 9,534 | 52.14% | 338 | 1.85% | -1,121 | -6.13% | 18,285 |
| Calhoun | 34,561 | 53.84% | 28,553 | 44.48% | 1,082 | 1.69% | 6,008 | 9.36% | 64,196 |
| Cass | 12,083 | 51.25% | 11,114 | 47.14% | 379 | 1.61% | 969 | 4.11% | 23,576 |
| Charlevoix | 6,817 | 47.35% | 7,306 | 50.74% | 275 | 1.91% | -489 | -3.39% | 14,398 |
| Cheboygan | 6,720 | 48.34% | 6,920 | 49.78% | 261 | 1.88% | -200 | -1.44% | 13,901 |
| Chippewa | 8,184 | 48.98% | 8,267 | 49.48% | 257 | 1.54% | -83 | -0.50% | 16,708 |
| Clare | 7,496 | 51.32% | 6,793 | 46.51% | 316 | 2.17% | 703 | 4.81% | 14,605 |
| Clinton | 20,005 | 49.54% | 19,726 | 48.85% | 650 | 1.61% | 279 | 0.69% | 40,381 |
| Crawford | 3,441 | 47.94% | 3,561 | 49.61% | 176 | 2.45% | -120 | -1.67% | 7,178 |
| Delta | 9,974 | 52.32% | 8,763 | 45.97% | 327 | 1.72% | 1,211 | 6.35% | 19,064 |
| Dickinson | 5,995 | 45.04% | 7,049 | 52.96% | 267 | 2.00% | -1,054 | -7.92% | 13,311 |
| Eaton | 30,742 | 53.36% | 25,900 | 44.95% | 974 | 1.69% | 4,842 | 8.41% | 57,616 |
| Emmet | 8,515 | 46.92% | 9,314 | 51.32% | 320 | 1.76% | -799 | -4.40% | 18,149 |
| Genesee | 143,927 | 65.27% | 72,451 | 32.86% | 4,117 | 1.87% | 71,476 | 32.41% | 220,495 |
| Gladwin | 6,590 | 49.77% | 6,391 | 48.27% | 260 | 1.96% | 199 | 1.50% | 13,241 |
| Gogebic | 4,757 | 57.44% | 3,330 | 40.21% | 194 | 2.35% | 1,427 | 17.23% | 8,281 |
| Grand Traverse | 23,258 | 47.62% | 24,716 | 50.60% | 869 | 1.78% | -1,458 | -2.98% | 48,843 |
| Gratiot | 9,105 | 51.33% | 8,322 | 46.92% | 311 | 1.75% | 783 | 4.41% | 17,738 |
| Hillsdale | 8,765 | 42.86% | 11,221 | 54.87% | 463 | 2.27% | -2,456 | -12.01% | 20,449 |
| Houghton | 7,476 | 46.81% | 8,101 | 50.72% | 395 | 2.47% | -625 | -3.91% | 15,972 |
| Huron | 8,367 | 48.83% | 8,434 | 49.22% | 334 | 1.95% | -67 | -0.39% | 17,135 |
| Ingham | 93,994 | 65.72% | 46,483 | 32.50% | 2,549 | 1.78% | 47,511 | 33.22% | 143,026 |
| Ionia | 12,565 | 45.93% | 14,156 | 51.74% | 638 | 2.33% | -1,591 | -5.81% | 27,359 |
| Iosco | 7,309 | 51.38% | 6,583 | 46.28% | 333 | 2.34% | 726 | 5.10% | 14,225 |
| Iron | 3,080 | 49.98% | 2,947 | 47.83% | 135 | 2.19% | 133 | 2.15% | 6,162 |
| Isabella | 16,679 | 58.71% | 11,220 | 39.49% | 511 | 1.80% | 5,459 | 19.22% | 28,410 |
| Jackson | 37,480 | 50.19% | 35,692 | 47.79% | 1,507 | 2.02% | 1,788 | 2.40% | 74,679 |
| Kalamazoo | 77,051 | 58.79% | 51,554 | 39.34% | 2,456 | 1.87% | 25,497 | 19.45% | 131,061 |
| Kalkaska | 3,780 | 44.48% | 4,527 | 53.27% | 192 | 2.25% | -747 | -8.79% | 8,499 |
| Kent | 149,909 | 49.34% | 148,336 | 48.83% | 5,554 | 1.83% | 1,573 | 0.51% | 303,799 |
| Keweenaw | 610 | 43.26% | 756 | 53.62% | 44 | 3.12% | -146 | -10.36% | 1,410 |
| Lake | 2,919 | 55.16% | 2,269 | 42.88% | 104 | 1.98% | 650 | 12.28% | 5,292 |
| Lapeer | 21,457 | 47.30% | 22,831 | 50.33% | 1,074 | 2.37% | -1,374 | -3.03% | 45,362 |
| Leelanau | 7,355 | 50.85% | 6,938 | 47.97% | 171 | 1.18% | 417 | 2.88% | 14,464 |
| Lenawee | 24,640 | 51.48% | 22,225 | 46.43% | 1,000 | 2.09% | 2,415 | 5.05% | 47,865 |
| Livingston | 42,349 | 42.39% | 55,592 | 55.64% | 1,965 | 1.97% | -13,243 | -13.25% | 99,906 |
| Luce | 1,191 | 43.47% | 1,490 | 54.38% | 59 | 2.15% | -299 | -10.91% | 2,740 |
| Mackinac | 3,027 | 47.23% | 3,268 | 50.99% | 114 | 1.78% | -241 | -3.76% | 6,409 |
| Macomb | 223,784 | 53.26% | 187,663 | 44.66% | 8,729 | 2.08% | 36,121 | 8.60% | 420,176 |
| Manistee | 7,235 | 55.62% | 5,510 | 42.36% | 264 | 2.02% | 1,725 | 13.26% | 13,009 |
| Marquette | 19,635 | 59.03% | 12,906 | 38.80% | 719 | 2.17% | 6,729 | 20.23% | 33,260 |
| Mason | 7,817 | 51.29% | 7,147 | 46.89% | 277 | 1.82% | 670 | 4.40% | 15,241 |
| Mecosta | 9,101 | 48.68% | 9,238 | 49.41% | 358 | 1.91% | -137 | -0.73% | 18,697 |
| Menominee | 5,981 | 54.02% | 4,855 | 43.85% | 236 | 2.13% | 1,126 | 10.17% | 11,072 |
| Midland | 20,701 | 47.26% | 22,263 | 50.83% | 834 | 1.91% | -1,562 | -3.57% | 43,798 |
| Missaukee | 2,898 | 38.68% | 4,469 | 59.65% | 125 | 1.67% | -1,571 | -20.97% | 7,492 |
| Monroe | 39,180 | 51.13% | 35,858 | 46.79% | 1,593 | 2.08% | 3,322 | 4.34% | 76,631 |
| Montcalm | 13,208 | 48.75% | 13,291 | 49.05% | 597 | 2.20% | -83 | -0.30% | 27,096 |
| Montmorency | 2,403 | 44.83% | 2,841 | 53.00% | 116 | 2.17% | -438 | -8.17% | 5,360 |
| Muskegon | 53,821 | 63.73% | 29,145 | 34.51% | 1,490 | 1.76% | 24,676 | 29.22% | 84,456 |
| Newaygo | 10,790 | 46.52% | 11,862 | 51.14% | 544 | 2.34% | -1,072 | -4.62% | 23,196 |
| Oakland | 372,566 | 56.42% | 276,956 | 41.94% | 10,873 | 1.64% | 95,610 | 14.48% | 660,395 |
| Oceana | 6,405 | 51.20% | 5,860 | 46.85% | 244 | 1.95% | 545 | 4.35% | 12,509 |
| Ogemaw | 5,391 | 49.93% | 5,133 | 47.54% | 274 | 2.53% | 258 | 2.39% | 10,798 |
| Ontonagon | 1,966 | 50.60% | 1,823 | 46.92% | 96 | 2.48% | 143 | 3.68% | 3,885 |
| Osceola | 4,855 | 44.03% | 5,973 | 54.17% | 198 | 1.80% | -1,118 | -10.14% | 11,026 |
| Oscoda | 1,887 | 43.42% | 2,320 | 53.38% | 139 | 3.18% | -433 | -9.96% | 4,346 |
| Otsego | 5,634 | 44.55% | 6,752 | 53.39% | 261 | 2.06% | -1,118 | -8.84% | 12,647 |
| Ottawa | 50,828 | 37.23% | 83,330 | 61.03% | 2,381 | 1.74% | -32,502 | -23.80% | 136,539 |
| Presque Isle | 3,722 | 49.55% | 3,606 | 48.01% | 183 | 2.44% | 116 | 1.54% | 7,511 |
| Roscommon | 7,082 | 50.24% | 6,727 | 47.72% | 287 | 2.04% | 355 | 2.52% | 14,096 |
| Saginaw | 60,276 | 57.80% | 42,225 | 40.49% | 1,782 | 1.71% | 18,051 | 17.31% | 104,283 |
| St. Clair | 40,677 | 50.28% | 38,536 | 47.63% | 1,687 | 2.09% | 2,141 | 2.65% | 80,900 |
| St. Joseph | 12,322 | 47.81% | 12,886 | 50.00% | 563 | 2.19% | -564 | -2.19% | 25,771 |
| Sanilac | 9,047 | 44.86% | 10,679 | 52.95% | 443 | 2.19% | -1,632 | -8.09% | 20,169 |
| Schoolcraft | 2,184 | 50.38% | 2,058 | 47.47% | 93 | 1.95% | 126 | 2.91% | 4,335 |
| Shiawassee | 19,397 | 53.27% | 16,268 | 44.67% | 750 | 2.06% | 3,129 | 8.60% | 36,415 |
| Tuscola | 13,503 | 48.48% | 13,740 | 49.33% | 611 | 2.19% | -237 | -0.85% | 27,854 |
| Van Buren | 18,588 | 53.47% | 15,534 | 44.68% | 644 | 1.85% | 3,054 | 8.79% | 34,766 |
| Washtenaw | 130,578 | 69.62% | 53,946 | 28.76% | 3,024 | 1.62% | 76,632 | 40.86% | 187,548 |
| Wayne | 660,085 | 74.02% | 219,582 | 24.62% | 12,064 | 1.36% | 440,503 | 49.40% | 891,731 |
| Wexford | 7,379 | 46.88% | 8,044 | 51.10% | 318 | 2.02% | -665 | -4.22% | 15,741 |
| Totals | 2,872,579 | 57.33% | 2,048,639 | 40.89% | 89,388 | 1.78% | 823,940 | 16.44% | 5,010,606 |
| Democratic Hold Gain from Republican | Republican Hold |
Barack Obama carried 12 of the 15 congressional districts, including four held by Republicans.
| District | McCain | Obama | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 48.11% | 49.93% | Bart Stupak |
| 2nd | 50.85% | 47.50% | Peter Hoekstra |
| 3rd | 49.43% | 48.84% | Vern Ehlers |
| 4th | 48.19% | 50.09% | Dave Camp |
| 5th | 34.71% | 63.67% | Dale Kildee |
| 6th | 44.18% | 54.12% | Fred Upton |
| 7th | 46.50% | 51.73% | Tim Walberg (110th Congress) |
| Mark Schauer (111th Congress) | |||
| 8th | 45.72% | 52.58% | Mike Rogers |
| 9th | 42.83% | 55.79% | Joe Knollenberg (110th Congress) |
| Gary Peters (111th Congress) | |||
| 10th | 49.85% | 48.23% | Candice Miller |
| 11th | 44.56% | 53.78% | Thaddeus McCotter |
| 12th | 33.23% | 65.05% | Sander Levin |
| 13th | 14.47% | 84.71% | Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick |
| 14th | 13.45% | 85.77% | John Conyers Jr. |
| 15th | 32.48% | 65.80% | John Dingell |
Technically the voters of Michigan cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. Michigan is allocated 17 electors because it has 15congressional districts and 2senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 17 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 17 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.[23] 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 the state. All 17 were pledged to Obama and Biden:
State and district results of the2008 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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