United States presidential election in Maryland, 2008

United States presidential election in Maryland, 2008

November 4, 2008

Nominee Barack Obama John McCain Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Arizona Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin Electoral vote 10 0 Popular vote 1,629,467 959,862 Percentage 61.92% 36.47%

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

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

Elections in Maryland
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The 2008 United States presidential election in Maryland 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 10 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Maryland was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 25.4% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. The Old Line State has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate of every election since 1992. In 2008, Obama easily captured the state's 10 electoral votes in a landslide victory, winning 61.92% of the popular vote to Republican John McCain's 36.47%.

Primaries

• Maryland Democratic primary, 2008
• Maryland 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: Democrat^[1]
2. Cook Political Report: Solid Democrat^[2]
3. Takeaway: Solid Obama^[3]
4. Election Projection: Solid Obama^[4]
5. Electoral-vote.com: Strong Democrat^[5]
6. Washington Post: Solid Obama^[6]
7. Politico: Solid Obama^[7]
8. Real Clear Politics: Solid Obama^[8]
9. FiveThirtyEight.com: Solid Obama^[6]
10. CQ Politics: Safe Democrat^[9]
11. New York Times: Solid Democrat^[10]
12. CNN: Safe Democrat^[11]
13. NPR: Solid Obama^[6]
14. MSNBC: Solid Obama^[6]
15. Fox News: Democrat^[12]
16. Associated Press: Democrat^[13]
17. Rasmussen Reports: Safe Democrat^[14]

Polling

Obama won every single pre-election poll, each by a double digit margin of victory and at least 51% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 38%.^[15]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $3,439,120 in the state. Barack Obama raised $19,091,136.^[16]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $257,582 while McCain spent nothing.^[17] Both tickets visited the state once.^[18]

Analysis

Maryland has supported the Democratic nominee in each of the last five presidential elections by an average margin of 15.4%. In 1980, it was one of only six states to vote for Democrat Jimmy Carter over Republican Ronald Reagan. It has only supported a Republican five times since Truman--the Republican landslides of 1952, 1956, 1972, 1984 and 1988.

Maryland is often among the Democratic nominees' best states. In 1992, Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas. In 1996, Maryland was Clinton's sixth best, in 2000 Maryland ranked fourth for Al Gore and in 2004 John Kerry showed his fifth best performance in Maryland.

Republican presidential candidates typically win more counties by running up huge margins in western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. However, they are usually swamped by the heavily Democratic Baltimore-Washington, D.C. axis, which casts almost 75 percent of the state's vote. The state's four largest county-level jurisdictions--Montgomery, Prince George's and Baltimore counties and the City of Baltimore—are strongly Democratic. These areas, which contain 1.5 million voters combined, make it extremely difficult for a Republican to win Maryland. Even in bad years for Democrats, a Republican usually has to run the table in the rest of the state and win either Montgomery, Prince George's or Baltimore counties to have a realistic chance of carrying the state. In 1984, for instance, Ronald Reagan only carried Maryland by crushing Walter Mondale in Baltimore County and narrowly winning Montgomery. In 1988, George H. W. Bush ran up a 42,300-vote margin in Baltimore County over Michael Dukakis--almost 85 percent of his statewide margin of 49,800 votes.

The 2008 election was no exception. Barack Obama won the state's 10 electoral votes in 2008 with 61.92% of the vote to John McCain's 36.47%. Obama carried Montgomery, Prince George's, Baltimore County and Baltimore City with 71.6%, 88.9%, 56.2 and 87.2% of the vote, respectively. Obama's combined 550,000-vote margin in these four areas would have been enough to carry the state. While McCain won more counties, the only large county he won was Anne Arundel County, home to the state capital, Annapolis.

Both of Maryland's U.S. Senators and seven of its eight U.S. Representatives in Congress are Democrats, and Democrats hold supermajorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates. The state has elected only five Republican governors since 1900.

U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer, a Democrat who represents Maryland's 5th Congressional District, was elected as House Majority Leader for the 110th Congress of the U.S. House of Representatives and 111th Congress, serving in that post since January 2007.

While Maryland is a Democratic Party stronghold, its best known political figure is perhaps a Republican – former Governor Spiro Agnew, who served as Vice President under Richard M. Nixon. He was Vice President from 1969 to 1973, when he resigned in the aftermath of revelations that he had taken bribes while he was Governor of Maryland. In late 1973, a court found Agnew guilty of violating tax laws.

In 2008, Democrats picked up a U.S. House an open seat in Maryland's 1st Congressional District as Democrat Frank M. Kratovil, Jr. defeated Republican Andy Harris by less than a 1-percent margin of victory.

Results

Results breakdown

By county

By congressional district

Barack Obama carried six of Maryland’s eight congressional districts, all held by Democrats. John McCain carried two congressional districts, the only one held by a Republican and one that was won by a Democrat in 2008.

Electors

Technically the voters of Maryland cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maryland is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 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 10 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 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 10 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:^[21]

1. Gene M. Ransom III
2. Delores Kelley
3. Guy Guzzone
4. Nathaniel Exum
5. Chris Reynolds
6. Bobby Fouche
7. Liz Bobo
8. Michael Barnes
9. Susan Lee
10. Rainier Harvey, Sr.

References

See also

State results of the United States presidential election, 2008
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