United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2008

United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2008
Louisiana
November 4, 2008
 
Nominee John McCain Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Arizona Illinois
Running mate Sarah Palin Joe Biden
Electoral vote 9 0
Popular vote 1,148,275 782,989
Percentage 58.56% 39.93%

Parish Results
  Obama—70-80%
  Obama—60-70%
  Obama—50-60%
  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 Louisiana which took place on November 4, 2008 was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Louisiana was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 18.6% 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". Although Bill Clinton carried the state twice, it had been trending Republican in recent years, despite having the second-highest percentage of African Americans in the country in 2000. Louisiana is rapidly turning into a more reliable red state as solidified by the comfortable margin enjoyed by McCain in 2008.

Primaries

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

Polling

McCain won every pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 50% to 40%.[15]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $2,175,416 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,438,276.[16]

Advertising and visits

Obama spent $368,039. McCain and his interest groups spent $6,019.[17] McCain visited the state once, in New Orleans.[18]

Analysis

Polling in Louisiana gave a strong lead to McCain, sometimes as high as 19%,[19] and Barack Obama did not seriously contest the state. Governor Bobby Jindal endorsed McCain early on in the primary season. Louisiana was also one of only two states to list Ron Paul on their official ballot (the other being Montana which gave the largest percentage to any third party candidate nationwide).

In 2008, Louisiana was one of five states that swung even more Republican from 2004. John McCain carried Louisiana with 58.56% of the vote, a tad bit better than George W. Bush's 56.72% of the vote in 2004.

At the same time, however, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu avoided the Republican trend in the state and held onto her U.S. Senate seat, taking in 52.11% of the vote to State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, a Democrat who switched parties to run against Landrieu. Republicans picked up two U.S. House seats in Louisiana (LA-02 and LA-06 with Joseph Cao and Bill Cassidy, respectively). In an extremely bad year for the Republican Party nationwide, Louisiana provided the GOP with a ray of hope and optimism.

Results

United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2008[20]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 1,148,275 58.56% 9
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 782,989 39.93% 0
Louisiana Taxpayers Ron Paul (no campaign) Barry Goldwater, Jr. 9,368 0.48% 0
Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 9,187 0.47% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 6,997 0.36% 0
Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 2,581 0.13% 0
Socialist Workers James Harris Alyson Kennedy 735 0.04% 0
Socialism and Liberation Gloria La Riva Eugene Puryear 354 0.02% 0
Prohibition Gene Amondson Leroy Pletten 275 0.01% 0
Totals 1,960,761 100.00% 9
Voter turnout (Voting age population) 62.0%

Results breakdown

By parish

Parish Obama% Obama# McCain% McCain#
Acadia 26.77% 7,028 73.23% 19,228
Allen 31.34% 2,891 68.66% 6,333
Ascension 31.89% 14,620 68.11% 31,225
Assumption 44.30% 4,756 55.70% 5,981
Avoyelles 38.20% 6,327 61.80% 10,234
Beauregard 22.27% 3,071 77.73% 10,718
Bienville 48.73% 3,589 51.27% 3,776
Bossier 27.97% 12,701 72.03% 32,706
Caddo 51.45% 55,220 48.55% 52,105
Calcasieu 37.48% 30,227 62.52% 50,431
Caldwell 23.22% 1,118 76.78% 3,696
Cameron 16.56% 613 83.44% 3,089
Catahoula 32.24% 1,659 67.76% 3,486
Claiborne 44.65% 3,025 55.35% 3,750
Concordia 39.92% 3,766 60.08% 5,668
De Soto 43.23% 5,241 56.77% 6,882
East Baton Rouge 51.06% 99,431 48.94% 95,297
East Carroll 64.39% 2,267 35.61% 1,254
East Feliciana 44.66% 4,383 55.34% 5,431
Evangeline 37.41% 5,852 62.59% 9,792
Franklin 32.03% 2,959 67.97% 6,278
Grant 17.59% 1,474 82.41% 6,906
Iberia 38.30% 12,492 61.70% 20,123
Iberville 55.67% 9,023 44.33% 7,185
Jackson 32.12% 2,456 67.88% 5,190
Jefferson Davis 29.72% 3,923 70.28% 9,277
Jefferson 36.46% 64,853 63.54% 113,008
Lafayette 34.12% 32,145 65.88% 62,055
Lafourche 26.29% 9,662 73.71% 27,089
LaSalle 13.31% 860 86.69% 5,601
Lincoln 43.64% 8,267 56.36% 10,676
Livingston 13.37% 6,674 86.63% 43,247
Madison 59.03% 3,100 40.97% 2,152
Morehouse 44.37% 5,789 55.63% 7,258
Natchitoches 46.28% 7,801 53.72% 9,054
Orleans 80.54% 116,042 19.46% 28,041
Ouachita 37.26% 24,769 62.74% 41,708
Plaquemines 32.90% 3,378 67.10% 6,889
Pointe Coupee 45.15% 5,516 54.85% 6,702
Rapides 35.46% 20,109 64.54% 36,605
Red River 45.57% 2,080 54.43% 2,484
Richland 36.54% 3,311 63.46% 5,751
Sabine 23.70% 2,245 76.30% 7,226
St. Bernard 26.58% 3,491 73.42% 9,642
St. Charles 34.11% 8,519 65.89% 16,456
St. Helena 58.58% 3,567 41.42% 2,522
St. James 56.28% 6,993 43.72% 5,432
St. John 58.23% 12,420 41.77% 8,908
St. Landry 48.35% 20,267 51.65% 21,647
St. Martin 39.47% 9,419 60.53% 14,443
St. Mary 41.48% 9,342 58.52% 13,181
St. Tammany 22.84% 24,589 77.16% 83,047
Tangipahoa 34.33% 16,427 65.67% 31,421
Tensas 54.63% 1,646 45.37% 1,367
Terrebonne 29.10% 11,579 70.90% 28,208
Union 28.94% 3,103 71.06% 7,619
Verm 25.73% 6,261 74.27% 18,069
Vernon 22.83% 3,534 77.17% 11,946
Washington 33.39% 6,122 66.61% 12,215
Webster 36.67% 6,610 63.33% 11,417
West Baton Rouge 43.11% 5,043 56.89% 6,654
West Carroll 17.83% 878 82.17% 4,045
West Feliciana 43.39% 2,414 56.61% 3,149
Winn 30.64% 2,044 69.36% 4,628

By congressional district

John McCain carried six of the state’s seven congressional districts.

District McCain Obama Representative
1st 72.72% 25.68% Bobby Jindal (110th Congress)
Steve Scalise (111th Congress)
2nd 24.86% 74.13% William J. Jefferson (110th Congress)
Joseph Cao (111th Congress)
3rd 60.99% 37.03% Charles Melancon
4th 59.28% 39.57% Jim McCrery (110th Congress)
John C. Fleming (111th Congress)
5th 61.75% 36.96% Rodney Alexander
6th 57.40% 41.26% Don Cazayoux (110th Congress)
Bill Cassidy (111th Congress)
7th 63.14% 35.20% Charles Boustany

Electors

Technically the voters of Louisiana cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Louisiana is allocated 9 electors because it has 7 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 9 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 9 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.[21] 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 9 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:[22]

  1. Lynn Skidmore
  2. Joe Lavigne
  3. Gordon Giles - He replaced Billy Nungesser, who was absent due to illness.[23]
  4. Alan Seabaugh
  5. Karen Haymon
  6. Charles Davis
  7. Charlie Buckels
  8. Dianne Christopher
  9. Roger F. Villere, Jr.

References

  1. ↑ D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries
  2. ↑ Presidential | The Cook Political Report Archived May 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - Track the Electoral College vote predictions Archived April 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Election Projection: 2008 Elections - Polls, Projections, Results
  5. ↑ Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily
  6. 1 2 3 4 Based on Takeaway
  7. ↑ POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com
  8. ↑ RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map
  9. ↑ CQ Politics | CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008 Archived June 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "Electoral College Map". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ "October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Winning the Electoral College". Fox News. April 27, 2010.
  13. ↑ roadto270
  14. ↑ Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports™
  15. ↑ Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
  16. ↑ Presidential Campaign Finance
  17. ↑ "Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  19. ↑ http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/louisiana/election_2008_louisiana_president
  20. ↑ "Official General Election Results". The Green Papers. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  21. ↑ "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  22. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 8, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  23. ↑ http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9525360[]

See also

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