United States presidential election in Idaho, 2008

Main article: United States presidential election, 2008

United States presidential election in Idaho, 2008

November 4, 2008

Nominee John McCain Barack Obama Party Republican Democratic Home state Arizona Illinois Running mate Sarah Palin Joe Biden Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 403,012 236,440 Percentage 61.21% 35.91%

255px County Results   Obama—60-70%   Obama—50-60%   Obama—<50%   McCain—50-60%   McCain—60-70%   McCain—70-80%   McCain—80-90%

President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Idaho 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 4 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Idaho was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 25.3% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Polling in the state gave a very comfortable lead to Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama, sometimes by a margin of at least 30 percent, the most being 43 percent. Idaho was largely considered a safely Republican state, as it has not gone Democratic since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in 1964.

Primaries

• Idaho Democratic caucuses, 2008
• Idaho Republican primary, 2008

Campaign

Predictions

There were 17 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:

1. D.C. Political Report: Republican
2. Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
3. Takeaway: Solid McCain
4. Election Projection: Solid McCain
5. Electoral-vote.com: Strong Republican
6. Washington Post: Solid McCain
7. Politico: Solid McCain
8. Real Clear Politics: Solid McCain
9. FiveThirtyEight.com: Solid McCain
10. CQ Politics: Safe Republican
11. New York Times: Solid Republican
12. CNN: Safe Republican
13. NPR: Solid Republican
14. MSNBC: Solid Republican
15. Fox News: Republican
16. Associated Press: Republican
17. Rasmussen Reports: Safe Republican

Polling

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008: Idaho

McCain won every pre-election poll, each with a double digit margin and with at least 52%. The final 3 poll average gave the Republican 66% to 29%.

Fundraising

Obama raised $874,523. McCain raised $441,338.

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $268. McCain spent $434. Neither campaign visited the state.

Analysis

With a substantial Mormon population, Idaho is one of the most reliably GOP bastions in the country. Although Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate since Michael Dukakis in 1988 to eclipse 35 percent of the vote in solidly red state Idaho, the state was still won handily by John McCain by a margin of approximately 25.34 percent. McCain carried 41 of the state's 44 counties. Obama carried Blaine County, home to Sun Valley and several other prime ski resorts; Latah County, home to the college town of Moscow, and Teton County, a highly affluent suburb of Teton County, Wyoming. While Obama did not carry Ada County, he did carry the state capital and city of Boise. McCain's victory in Idaho, however, was less than that of George W. Bush's who carried the state with 68.38% of the vote in 2004, a 12.78-percent swing to the Democrats in Idaho.

During the same election, Republicans held onto the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Larry Craig who reluctantly retired after it was revealed that he had solicited a man for sex in the men's restroom at an airport in Minneapolis. Former Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch, a Republican, was elected with 57.65% of the vote over Democrat Larry LaRocco who received 34.11%. A pro-life independent candidate received 5.35% while Libertarian Kent Marmon received 1.54% and Rex Rammell, a far right-wing candidate who also ran as an Independent, received 1.34%.

At the state level, Republicans expanded their supermajority status in the Idaho state legislature as they picked up one seat in the Idaho House of Representatives.

Results

United States presidential election in Idaho, 2008
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	403,012	61.21%	4
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	236,440	35.91%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	Matt Gonzalez	7,175	1.09%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	Darrell Castle	4,747	0.72%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	3,658	0.56%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins		3,340	0.51%	0
	American Independent (Write-in)	Alan Keyes (Write-in)	Brian Rohrbough	40	0.01%	0
	Green (Write-in)	Cynthia McKinney (Write-in)	Rosa Clemente	39	0.01%	0
	Socialist (Write-in)	Brian Moore (Write-in)	Stewart Alexander	3	0.00%	0
Totals				658,454	100.00%	4
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						60.1%

Results breakdown

By county

County	Obama%	Obama#	McCain%	McCain#
Ada	46.90%	82023	53.10%	92879
Adams	32.46%	728	67.54%	1515
Bannock	43.32%	14792	56.68%	19356
Bear Lake	17.44%	502	82.56%	2377
Benewah	34.72%	1407	65.28%	2646
Bingham	26.56%	4424	73.44%	12230
Blaine	66.89%	6947	33.11%	3439
Boise	33.76%	1240	66.24%	2433
Bonner	41.30%	7840	58.70%	11145
Bonneville	28.02%	11415	71.98%	29324
Boundary	32.24%	1474	67.76%	3098
Butte	23.14%	318	76.86%	1056
Camas	30.71%	187	69.29%	422
Canyon	32.03%	20147	67.97%	42752
Caribou	17.23%	553	82.77%	2656
Cassia	17.30%	1305	82.70%	6240
Clark	17.34%	64	82.66%	305
Clearwater	32.04%	1211	67.96%	2569
Custer	26.68%	620	73.32%	1704
Elmore	31.17%	2523	68.83%	5571
Franklin	12.40%	599	87.60%	4231
Fremont	18.47%	1065	81.53%	4700
Gem	27.94%	2166	72.06%	5585
Gooding	28.29%	1485	71.71%	3764
Idaho	24.71%	1935	75.29%	5895
Jefferson	16.12%	1641	83.88%	8540
Jerome	26.81%	1794	73.19%	4897
Kootenai	36.56%	22120	63.44%	38387
Latah	53.51%	9191	46.49%	7984
Lemhi	21.32%	796	78.68%	2938
Lewis	27.31%	479	72.69%	1275
Lincoln	33.95%	497	66.05%	967
Madison	12.75%	1625	87.25%	11120
Minidoka	22.24%	1137	77.76%	3976
Nez Perce	40.75%	7123	59.25%	10357
Oneida	18.10%	381	81.90%	1724
Owyhee	23.79%	944	76.21%	3024
Payette	28.74%	2415	71.26%	5988
Power	36.93%	1027	63.07%	1754
Shoshone	46.05%	2521	53.95%	2953
Teton	50.43%	2302	49.57%	2263
Twin Falls	31.18%	8621	68.82%	19032
Valley	46.54%	2394	53.46%	2750
Washington	28.15%	1241	71.85%	3168

By congressional district

John McCain solidly swept both of Idaho’s two congressional districts.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
1st	61.82%	35.88%	Bill Sali (110th Congress)
			Walt Minnick (111th Congress)
2nd	61.19%	36.34%	Mike Simpson

Electors

Main article: List of United States presidential electors, 2008

Technically the voters of Idaho cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Idaho 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 and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 4 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 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. All four were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:

1. Darlene Bramon
2. Ben Doty
3. John Erickson
4. Melinda Smyser