California was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 24.1% margin of victory. No Republican has carried the state in a presidential election since George H. W. Bush in 1988. Prior to the election, California was considered to be a state Obama would win or as a safe blue state. With its 55 electoral votes, California was Obama's largest electoral prize in 2008.
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic candidate carried Trinity County in a presidential election. This was also the first time since 1936 that a Democratic presidential candidate won more than 60% of the vote in California, which the Democrats have done in every election since, except for 2024.