2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota

2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
Turnout78.11%[1] Decrease
 
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain
Party Democratic (DFL) Republican
Home state Illinois Arizona
Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin
Electoral vote 10 0
Popular vote 1,573,354 1,275,409
Percentage 54.06% 43.82%


President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic (DFL)

The 2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Minnesota was won by DFL nominee Barack Obama by a 10.2% 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. Barack Obama carried the state with 54.06% of the vote in 2008 over John McCain's 43.82%. Obama became the first ever Democrat to win without carrying Lake of the Woods County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Clearwater County since Woodrow Wilson in 1912, the first to do so without carrying Anoka or Jackson Counties since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

Obama was the first Democrat to carry Olmstead County since 1964. In 2008 78.1% of eligible Minnesotans voted – the highest percentage of any U.S. state – versus the national average of 61.2% As of 2020, this election was the last time Minnesota voted by a double-digit margin for a presidential candidate.

  1. ^ "Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved July 22, 2017.