2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
 
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Arizona
Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin
Electoral vote 12 0
Popular vote 1,904,098 1,108,854
Percentage 61.80% 35.99%


President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place, as in all 50 states and D.C., as part of the 2008 United States presidential election of November 4, 2008. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who, in turn, voted for the office of president and vice president.

Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama won the state by a 25.8% margin of victory: slightly better than John Kerry's 25.2% margin in 2004. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations forecast that Obama would win Massachusetts, or otherwise considered it to be a safe blue state. Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960, and has maintained extremely large Democratic margins since 1996. No Republican presidential nominee has won a single county in the state, nor obtained more than 40% of the vote, since George H. W. Bush in 1988.[1][2] In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama captured the state's 12 electoral votes winning 61.80% of the popular vote to Republican John McCain's 35.99%. Massachusetts was also 1 of only 6 states in which neither Obama nor McCain won during the primary season.

To date, this is the last time that the towns of Berkley, Brimfield, Brookfield, Carver, Dighton, Dudley, Holland, Oxford, Phillipston, Rehoboth, Spencer, and Warren voted Democratic.