2008 Presidential Election

Barack Obama [D]365 of 538 electoral votes
365
Electoral votes — Barack Obama
173
Electoral votes — John McCain
270
Needed for a majority
52.9%
Popular vote — Barack Obama

Electoral College record, as published by the National Archives

President
Barack Obama [D]
Main Opponent
John McCain [R]
Electoral Vote
Winner: 365 · Main Opponent: 173 · Total/Majority: 538/270
Vice President
Joe Biden (365)
V.P. Opponent:
Sarah Palin (173)
Notes:
Nebraska distributes its electoral votes proportionally, with two at-large electors representing the statewide winning presidential and vice presidential candidates and one elector each representing the winners from its three Congressional districts. For the first time since adopting this system, Nebraska's five electoral votes were split between the two major party tickets.

Popular vote — national

CandidatePartyVotesShare
Barack ObamaD69,498,51652.9%
John McCainR59,948,32345.7%
Ralph NaderI739,0340.6%
Bob BarrLBT523,7150.4%
Chuck BaldwinCON199,7500.2%
Cynthia McKinneyGRE161,7970.1%
All other candidates and write-ins (80)—242,6850.2%
Total131,313,820100%

National figures are the sum of the FEC's certified state-by-state results below. Candidate names and party labels are as the FEC published them; party labels can differ by state.

Popular vote — by state

StateBarack ObamaJohn McCainOthersTotal
Alabama813,4791,266,54619,7942,099,819
Alaska123,594193,8418,762326,197
Arizona1,034,7071,230,11128,6572,293,475
Arkansas422,310638,01726,2901,086,617
California8,274,4735,011,781275,64613,561,900
Colorado1,288,6331,073,62939,2002,401,462
Connecticut997,772629,42819,5971,646,797
Delaware255,459152,3744,579412,412
District of Columbia245,80017,3672,686265,853
Florida4,282,0744,045,62463,0468,390,744
Georgia1,844,1232,048,75931,6043,924,486
Hawaii325,871120,5667,131453,568
Idaho236,440403,01215,670655,122
Illinois3,419,3482,031,17971,8445,522,371
Indiana1,374,0391,345,64831,3672,751,054
Iowa828,940682,37925,8041,537,123
Kansas514,765699,65521,4521,235,872
Kentucky751,9851,048,46226,1731,826,620
Louisiana782,9891,148,27529,4971,960,761
Maine421,923295,27313,967731,163
Maryland1,629,467959,86242,2672,631,596
Massachusetts1,904,0971,108,85468,0343,080,985
Michigan2,872,5792,048,63980,5485,001,766
Minnesota1,573,3541,275,40961,6062,910,369
Mississippi554,662724,59710,6061,289,865
Missouri1,441,9111,445,81437,4802,925,205
Montana231,667242,76315,872490,302
Nebraska333,319452,97914,983801,281
Nevada533,736412,82721,285967,848
New Hampshire384,826316,5349,610710,970
New Jersey2,215,4221,613,20739,6083,868,237
New Mexico472,422346,83210,904830,158
New York4,804,9452,752,77183,2157,640,931
North Carolina2,142,6512,128,47439,6644,310,789
North Dakota141,278168,6016,742316,621
Ohio2,940,0442,677,82090,4865,708,350
Oklahoma502,496960,16501,462,661
Oregon1,037,291738,47552,0981,827,864
Pennsylvania3,276,3632,655,88581,0246,013,272
Rhode Island296,571165,3919,804471,766
South Carolina862,4491,034,89623,6241,920,969
South Dakota170,924203,0547,997381,975
Tennessee1,087,4371,479,17833,1342,599,749
Texas3,528,6334,479,32869,8348,077,795
Utah327,670596,03028,670952,370
Vermont219,26298,9746,810325,046
Virginia1,959,5321,725,00538,7233,723,260
Washington1,750,8481,229,21656,8143,036,878
West Virginia303,857397,46612,128713,451
Wisconsin1,677,2111,262,39343,8132,983,417
Wyoming82,868164,9586,832254,658

“Others” is the state's certified total minus the candidates shown. Every candidate's state result is in the archived FEC workbook.

Electoral votes by state

StateElectoral Vote of each StateFor PresidentFor Vice-President
Barack Obama, of IllinoisJohn McCain, of ArizonaJoe Biden, of DelawareSarah Palin, of Alaska
Alabama9-9-9
Alaska3-3-3
Arizona10-10-10
Arkansas6-6-6
California5555-55-
Colorado99-9-
Connecticut77-7-
Delaware33-3-
District of Columbia33-3-
Florida2727-27-
Georgia15-15-15
Hawaii44-4-
Idaho4-4-4
Illinois2121-21-
Indiana1111-11-
Iowa77-7-
Kansas6-6-6
Kentucky8-8-8
Louisiana9-9-9
Maine44-4-
Maryland1010-10-
Massachusetts1212-12-
Michigan1717-17-
Minnesota1010-10-
Mississippi6-6-6
Missouri11-11-11
Montana3-3-3
Nebraska *51414
Nevada55-5-
New Hampshire44-4-
New Jersey1515-15-
New Mexico55-5-
New York3131-31-
North Carolina1515-15-
North Dakota3-3-3
Ohio2020-20-
Oklahoma7-7-7
Oregon77-7-
Pennsylvania2121-21-
Rhode Island44-4-
South Carolina8-8-8
South Dakota3-3-3
Tennessee11-11-11
Texas34-34-34
Utah5-5-5
Vermont33-3-
Virginia1313-13-
Washington1111-11-
West Virginia5-5-5
Wisconsin1010-10-
Wyoming3-3-3
Total538365173365173

*Nebraska appoints its electors proportionally. Although McCain-Palin won in the First and Third Congressional Districts and took the state, Obama-Biden won the Second Congressional District. Nebraska's electoral votes were proportionally awarded accordingly: for President, McCain 4 and Obama 1; for Vice President, Palin 4 and Biden 1.

Congressional results by state

Every candidate's certified vote in all 441 House races and 36 Senate races, from the Clerk's report. 471 of 477 races match the totals printed in the report's own recapitulation tables; 5 were unopposed with no vote count printed. Compared independently with the FEC's results, 460 of 472 races agree on every candidate's vote; races where the two federal sources differ are flagged on each state's page.

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingPuerto RicoAmerican SamoaDistrict of ColumbiaGuamNorthern Mariana IslandsVirgin Islands

Official records

Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
Federal Election Commission
National Archives — Office of the Federal Register

Provenance

Electoral College record
https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/2008
Archived copy: nara/2008/electoral-college-2008.html
Retrieved Tue, 06 Oct 2026 19:30:20 GMT
SHA-256 e6dd1656a17e42be0acf241e4984da0bda104b9ed0f184b1f3660144cb3ca675
Popular vote — 2008 Pres General Results
https://www.fec.gov/documents/1666/federalelections2008.xls
Archived copy: fec/2008/federalelections2008.xls
Retrieved Tue, 06 Oct 2026 19:28:56 GMT
SHA-256 7ac35ceeaa27acca5e91f4048c025663bb4c8c770d3956e5093ecd54de524db5
License
Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)