2008 United States presidential election in Iowa

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

2008 United States presidential election in Iowa

←  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 7 0 Popular vote 828,940 682,379 Percentage 53.93% 44.39%

County Results Congressional District Results Obama   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% McCain   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%

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

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

Iowa was won by the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, by a 9.54% margin of victory. Obama took 53.93% of the vote while his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, took 44.39%. Prior to the election, all 16 organizations considered this a state Obama would win. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush very narrowly won Iowa in his reelection bid, although prior to that, the state had gone Democratic for four consecutive presidential elections. A Midwestern state where agriculture plays a critical role in the daily lives of its citizens, Iowa is nevertheless an independent state. However, due to Obama's popularity from the Iowa caucuses, Bush's low approval rating, and the poor state of the economy, the state easily fell into the Democratic column later in the election cycle. Obama's 828,940 votes are the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history.

As of the 2020 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which Adams County, Audubon County, Benton County, Carroll County, Crawford County, Delaware County, Emmet County, Franklin County, Greene County, Hamilton County, Hardin County, Iowa County, Kossuth County, Palo Alto County, Warren County, and Winnebago County voted for the Democratic candidate. This was also the last time a majority of Iowa's counties went to the Democratic presidential candidate.

Caucuses

The 2008 Iowa caucuses took place on January 3, 2008. They are an unofficial primary, with the delegates to the state convention selected proportionally via a straw poll. The Iowa caucuses mark the traditional formal start of the delegate selection process for the 2008 United States presidential election. It was the first election of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides.

Democratic caucuses

See also: 2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses

Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008, making him the first African American to win the caucus. ^[1] Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third, though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards. Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event.

History

The Iowa Caucuses have historically been the first held in the United States. The caucus marked the traditional and formal start of the delegate selection process for the 2008 United States presidential election, and the process in which members of the Democratic Party gathered to make policy decisions. ^[2]

Iowa state law mandates that its caucus must be held at least eight days before any other meeting, caucus, or primary for the presidential nominating process. Therefore, the Iowa Caucuses have always been traditionally the leading state in the nominating process. Not only did controversy brew between the candidates, but the caucuses themselves drew a large amount of media attention. The decisions of the Iowans often affect the rest of the campaign season. ^[3] Barack Obama's victory in Iowa helped establish him as one of the Democratic frontrunners of 2008 and was a first step toward his eventual nomination. ^[4]

Process

The caucuses followed the regular procedures of the Democratic Party process. Any voter who was a registered Democrat and a resident of Iowa was eligible to participate in the event. Individuals could have chosen to register or change their party affiliation at the door. ^[2] It was estimated that 60 percent of the caucusgoers would have attended the caucuses for the first time. ^[5] All of the caucusgoers met in public buildings or schools in their respective precincts and divided themselves into groups; each group represented a candidate. The voting was done publicly (viva voce). ^[6] To be viable, each preference group/candidate must have had at least 15 percent of the caucusgoers' votes. If a candidate received less than 15 percent of the caucusgoers' votes, then the supporters of that non-viable candidate had 30 minutes to join a viable candidate's group, join another non-viable candidate's group to make the candidate viable, join an uncommitted group, or choose not to be counted as a voter. ^[5]

In Iowa, there were 1,784 precincts for the caucuses. Each viable preference group at each caucus elected a certain number of delegates proportional to the group's size that would represent the candidate at the county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa, and their Democratic conventions took place on March 15, 2008. At these conventions, a subset of delegates were chosen to attend the district, then state conventions. At the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention on June 14, 2008, a subset of delegates were chosen to attend the Democratic National Convention held August 25–28, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. As in the precinct caucuses, the pledged delegates to the national convention proportionally represented the candidates compared to the results of the state caucus. ^[6]

Delegate allocation

The delegate allocation to the Democratic National Convention was as follows: 29 district delegates proportionally represented a candidate's support at each congressional district. ^{[7] [8]} The First Congressional District receives six pledged delegates, the Second Congressional District receives seven, the Third Congressional District receives six, the Fourth Congressional District receives six, and the Fifth Congressional District receives four. All of these pledged delegates represent each congressional district independently; they are not affected by the results of the state convention. ^[8]

At the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention, on the other hand, 16 pledged delegates proportionally represented the candidates' support. Ten of these delegates were designated as at-large, meaning that they represent the entire state as a whole. ^[7] The other six were referred to as Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO). ^[8] These may include members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, the Governor, and former party leaders. Not all of the PLEOs were pledged, ^[7] but if they were, they would represent the state as a whole along with the at-large delegates. In total, the Democratic presidential candidates were allocated a total of 45 pledged delegates, depending on their support in each district and in the state. ^[8]

Twelve delegates that did not represent caucus results were sent to the Democratic National Convention; they are referred to as unpledged. Eleven of them are PLEOs, which include six members of the DNC, one U.S. Senator, three U.S. Representatives, and one Governor. ^{[7] [8]} Because these unpledged delegates' profiles are usually high-profile elected officials, they are referred to as superdelegates. ^[9] The other unpledged delegate is an add-on delegate, who is selected at the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention. ^{[7] [8]}

While this process lasts for a period of approximately five months, the results of the state caucus are usually predictable by the results of the precincts' caucuses combined. Therefore, the results of the precinct caucuses provide a good measurement of Iowa's delegation to the Democratic National Convention. ^[2]

Polls

Pre-caucus opinion polling statistics throughout the campaign season.

See also: Statewide opinion polling for the January 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries § Iowa

Before the caucuses, the Des Moines Register reported that during a poll of 800 likely Democratic caucus goers from December 27 to December 30, 2007, the candidates had the following results:

• Barack Obama – 32%
• Hillary Clinton – 25%
• John Edwards – 24%
• Bill Richardson – 6%
• Joe Biden – 4%
• Christopher Dodd – 2%
• Dennis Kucinich – 1%
• Mike Gravel – 0%
• Not sure/Uncommitted – 6%

The above results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points. ^[5]

Barack Obama's results in the opinion polls rose from 28% in the Des Moines Register's poll in late November 2007. This was in part a result of a "dramatic influx of first-time caucusgoers, including a sizable bloc of political independents." ^[5] Hillary Rodham Clinton remained at a constant 25%, while John Edwards was almost unchanged when his ratings increased to 24% from 23% in November. Approximately one-third of likely caucusgoers said that they could have been persuaded to choose a different candidate before the caucuses. ^[5]

The December results of the Des Moines Register's poll also showed a widened gap between the three-way contest for the lead — Clinton, Edwards, and Obama — and the rest of the Democratic candidates. No other Democrat received more than 6 percent support of caucusgoers. ^[5]

Thirty percent of the sample population from the Des Moines Register's poll said that a candidate's ability to bring about change in the United States was the most important to them; 27% said that a candidate who would be most successful in unifying the country would have taken priority in their votes. Most caucusgoers also said that Obama was strong in both of these areas. Having the experience and competence to lead was considered the most important aspect of a candidate by 18 percent of the sample population; Hillary Clinton was rated best on this trait. Only 6 percent of the sample population said that being best able to win the general election was the top priority; Clinton, again, was rated best on this trait. ^[5]

Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Caucus results

Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses

  Barack Obama

  John Edwards

  Hillary Clinton

  Tie

Caucus Date: January 3, 2008

National Pledged Delegates Determined: 0 (of 45)

Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus Results – 2008
Party		Candidate	State Delegates	Percentage	Delegates
	Democratic	Barack Obama	940	37.6%	16
	Democratic	John Edwards	744	29.7%	14
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton	737	29.4%	15
	Democratic	Bill Richardson	53	2.1%	0
	Democratic	Joe Biden	23	0.9%	0
	Democratic	Uncommitted	3	0.2%	0
	Democratic	Christopher Dodd	1	0.0%	0
Totals			2,500	100.00%	45
Voter turnout			%		—

The Iowa Democratic Party does not release vote counts (it releases only the number of delegates to the state convention). ^[10] Since Hillary Rodham Clinton had the highest delegate strength in Iowa's 5th congressional district (a district allocated four national convention delegates) and received the same amount of national delegates elsewhere, she was projected to receive one more national delegate than Edwards despite receiving fewer projected delegates to the state convention. ^[10]

The Democratic National Committee gives the 50 states 794 superdelegates. According to a January 4, 2008 poll conducted by the Associated Press, most of the superdelegates were undecided, but 160 had endorsed Clinton, compared to 59 for Obama and 32 for Edwards. Along with the delegates that the candidates secured from Iowa, the numbers were as follows: 175 for Clinton, 75 for Obama, and 46 for Edwards. (To win the Democratic nomination for president, 2,025 delegates are needed.) ^[11] Thus, Clinton initially retained an overall delegate lead following the Iowa results.

Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama competed against each other in the Iowa Caucuses, but Kucinich asked that Iowans caucusing for him, should they fail to build a viable preference group on Caucus Night to realign to Barack Obama in the second round. Both had fought for the same priorities including ending the Iraq War, reforming Washington, D.C., and creating a better life for working families. In the 2004 Iowa Democratic Caucuses, Kucinich made a similar announcement in favor of John Edwards. At that caucus, Edwards's aides claimed that this request helped put him in second place. In the 2008 Iowa Caucus, however, Kucinich did not conduct much of a campaign in Iowa. He paid for no organizers nor offices in the state, and he was not invited to the Des Moines Register's debate in December 2007. ^{[12] [13]} Mike Gravel didn't conduct an active campaign in Iowa either. ^[14]

While the 2008 Iowa Caucuses saw a record turnout for both parties, the Democratic caucus drew more than 239,000 voters, almost double the Republican total. ^[15] Entrance polling indicated that a significant portion of the turnout came from first-time caucus attendees, as well as attendees under the age of 30; two groups of voters that primarily lent their support to Barack Obama. Women, previously expected to largely back Hillary Clinton, split their vote between Clinton and Obama, the latter of whom actually received slightly more support. ^[15] In the aftermath of the results from the Iowa Caucuses, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race. ^[15]

As a result of the Iowa Caucus, Barack Obama received a significant surge of support in the next competition, the New Hampshire Democratic Primary five days after. ^[16] In New Hampshire pre-primary polls conducted from January 4 to January 6, 2008, Obama enjoyed a 13-point lead over Clinton. ^[17]

County convention results

Convention Date: March 15, 2008

National Pledged Delegates Determined: 0 (of 45)

Iowa Democratic Presidential County Convention Results – 2008
Party		Candidate	County Delegates	Percentage	National Delegates
	Democratic	Barack Obama	1,299	51.96%	25
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton	802	32.08%	14
	Democratic	John Edwards	388	15.52%	6
	Democratic	Uncommitted	11	0.42%	0
Totals			2,500	100.00%	45
Voter turnout			%		—

District convention results

Convention Date: April 26, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 29 (of 45)

Iowa Democratic Presidential District Convention Results – 2008
Party		Candidate	District Delegates	Percentage	District Delegates	National Delegates
	Democratic	Barack Obama	16	55.17%	20	28
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton	9	31.03%	9	14
	Democratic	John Edwards	4	13.79%	0	3
Totals			29	100.00%	29	45
Voter turnout				%		—

Analysis

Barack Obama scored a major victory in the Iowa Democratic Caucuses due to a number of factors. According to exit polls, 93 percent of voters in the Iowa Democratic Caucus were Caucasian and 33% voted for Obama, 27 percent for Clinton, and 24 percent for Edwards; 4% of voters were African American and 72% voted for Obama, 16% for Clinton, and 8% for Edwards; 3% represented other races and they went 49% for Obama, 26% for Clinton, 10% for Richardson, and 5% for Edwards. Obama also won young voters ages 17–44 with 52% of the vote compared to 16% for both Clinton and Edwards. Edwards won middle-age voters ages 45–59 with 30% while Obama received 29% and Clinton took in 26% of their support. Clinton did best among elderly voters ages 60 and over with 40% of the vote while Edwards received 27% and Obama took in 19.5% of their support. Obama won self-identified Democrats by a margin of 32-31-23 (Obama-Clinton-Edwards), Independents backed Obama 41-23-17 (Obama-Edwards-Clinton), as well as self-identified Republicans who supported Obama 44-32-10 (Obama-Edwards-Clinton). Obama also won moderates and liberals but Edwards won conservatives. Socioeconomic class was not really a factor in how voters made their decisions, as Obama won all groups of family incomes.

Obama performed best in Eastern Iowa, which is considered to be the more liberal part of the state, and Central Iowa which is considered to be the more moderate part of the state. Clinton performed best in Western Iowa, which is considered to be the most conservative part of the state.

Republican caucuses

See also: 2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses

Prior to the 2008 caucuses, as in previous election cycles with a competitive presidential race, an unofficial Ames Straw Poll was held, on August 11, 2007. The official one, electing delegates to the state convention, was held on January 3, 2008, the same day as the Democratic contest. In the Ames Straw Poll, Mitt Romney finished first with 32% of the vote. In the January 2008 caucuses, Mike Huckabee finished first with 34% of the vote.

Process

Unlike the Democratic caucus, the Republican Party does not use voting rounds or have minimum requirements for a percent of votes. The Republican version is done with a straw vote of those attending the caucus. This vote is sometimes done by a show of hands or by dividing themselves into groups according to candidate. However, officially it is done with voters receiving a blank piece of paper with no names on it, and the voter writing a name and placing it in a ballot box. ^[18]

Following the straw poll, delegates are then elected from the remaining participants in the room, as most voters leave once their vote is cast. All delegates are officially considered unbound, ^[19] but media outlets either apportion delegates proportionally ^[20] or apportion them in terms of winner-take-all by counties. ^[21] In precincts that elect only one delegate, the delegate is chosen by majority vote and the vote must be by paper ballot. ^[22] The state party strongly urges that delegates reflect the results of the preference poll, but there is no obligation that they do so.

The Ames Straw Poll

Main article: Iowa Straw Poll (1979–2011)

The 2007 Ames straw poll was held at Iowa State University (Ames)'s Hilton Coliseum on August 11, 2007. ^[23] This was primarily a fundraising event for the state's Republican Party, and only Iowa residents who paid the $35 price for a ticket were eligible to vote. Tickets were available through the various presidential campaigns and the Iowa Republican Party's headquarters.

In general, the candidates bought large blocks of tickets and gave them out for free to whoever agreed to go and vote for that candidate. The candidates also rented buses to transport voters to Ames.

Mitt Romney finished first with 32% of the vote, followed by Mike Huckabee (18%), Sam Brownback (15%), Tom Tancredo (14%), and Ron Paul (10%). Six other candidates shared the remaining 14% of the vote.

Pre-caucus polls

Pre-caucus opinion polling statistics throughout the campaign season.

See also: Statewide opinion polling for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008 § Iowa

Before the caucuses, the Des Moines Register reported the following results from a poll of 800 likely Republican caucus goers from December 27 to December 30, 2007:

• Mike Huckabee – 32%
• Mitt Romney – 26%
• John McCain – 13%
• Fred Thompson – 9%
• Ron Paul – 9%
• Rudy Giuliani – 5%
• Duncan Hunter – 1%
• Alan Keyes – 1%
• Not sure/Uncommitted – 4%

The above results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points. ^[24]

Mike Huckabee's results in the opinion polls rose from 29% in the Des Moines Register's poll in late November 2007. Mitt Romney rose two points from 24% in November to 26% in December. John McCain enjoyed the biggest increase from November, increasing six points from 7% to 13%, while Rudy Giuliani suffered the biggest drop from November, decreasing eight points from 13% to 5%. Giuliani's large drop was attributed to his strategy of skipping early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire in favor of larger, delegate-rich states such as Florida, California, and New York. ^[24] No other candidate polled more than 10%.

Huckabee's poll numbers in Iowa rose dramatically from October to December, in part due to his backing among evangelical voters, who accounted for almost one-half of those polled. Huckabee led Romney in that group 47%-20%. Huckabee also polled higher than Romney among the group who said it was more important to be a social conservative than a fiscal conservative, while Romney led Huckabee 29%-25% among the group who said that being fiscally conservative was most important. In addition, Romney also polled highest in the categories of experience and competence, the ability to bring about change, and electability.

Results

As of 11:05 p.m. EDT, January 3, 2008, with 100% of the votes reported, the results were:

100% of precincts reporting ^[25]

Candidate	Votes [26]	Percentage	Delegates
Mike Huckabee	40,954	34.36%	17
Mitt Romney	30,021	25.19%	12
Fred Thompson	15,960	13.39%	0
John McCain	15,536	13.03%	3
Ron Paul	11,841	9.93%	2
Rudy Giuliani	4,099	3.44%	0
Duncan Hunter	506	0.42%	0
Alan Keyes	247	0.21%	0
John Cox*	10	.01%	0
Hugh Cort	5	0%	0
Tom Tancredo*	5	0%	0
Vern Wuensche	2	0%	0
Sam Brownback*	1	0%	0
Cap Fendig	1	0%	0
Total	119,188	100%	34

*Candidate had already dropped out of the race prior to caucus.

Only three candidates won majorities in the individual counties: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul. The Giuliani campaign followed an unusual strategy of focusing on larger states that vote later in the process, and had done little if any campaigning in Iowa. Tancredo had already withdrawn from the presidential race two weeks earlier and endorsed Romney, ^[27] but his name remained in the official list of candidates of the Iowa Republican Party.

Some 120,000 Iowa Republicans attended the 2008 caucuses, a new record. About 87,000 attended in 2000; in 2004, George W. Bush ran unopposed. ^[28]

General election

Predictions

There were 16 organizations or websites that made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:

Source	Ranking
D.C. Political Report [29]	Likely D (flip)
Cook Political Report [30]	Lean D (flip)
The Takeaway [31]	Lean D (flip)
Electoral-vote.com [32]	Solid D (flip)
Washington Post [33]	Solid D (flip)
Politico [34]	Solid D (flip)
RealClearPolitics [35]	Solid D (flip)
FiveThirtyEight [33]	Solid D (flip)
CQ Politics [36]	Solid D (flip)
The New York Times [37]	Lean D (flip)
CNN [38]	Safe D (flip)
NPR [33]	Solid D (flip)
MSNBC [33]	Lean D (flip)
Fox News [39]	Likely D (flip)
Associated Press [40]	Likely D (flip)
Rasmussen Reports [41]	Safe D (flip)

Polling

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Iowa

Obama won every pre-election poll but one taken in the state. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 39%. ^[42]

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $680,641 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,250,696. ^[43]

Advertising and visits

Obama and his interest groups spent $15,334,065. McCain and his interest groups spent $5,817,988. ^[44] The Republican ticket visited the state 9 times. The Democratic ticket visited the state 4 times. ^[45]

Analysis

Despite its closeness in recent elections, Iowa was not in close contention in the 2008 election. During primary season, Barack Obama had campaigned extensively in the state and won a substantial victory that established him as the Democratic front-runner and ultimately propelled him to victory over Hillary Clinton. In contrast, John McCain did not campaign at all in Iowa and ended up placing fourth in the Iowa Republican Caucus. Moreover, McCain's stand against Congressional ethanol subsidies proved unpopular in a state that had a large corn crop; conversely, Obama supported these subsidies. Polls consistently gave Barack Obama a double-digit lead in the state.

On Election Day, Obama won by a 9.54-point margin. The reliably Republican western part of the state turned out for McCain as expected. John Kerry failed to win any counties in this region in 2004, contributing substantially to Bush's narrow victory in the state. However, Obama significantly improved on Kerry's performance in the region. For instance, Pottawattamie County, home to Council Bluffs, went from an 18-point win for Bush to only a two-point win for McCain. Conversely, in traditionally Democratic Eastern Iowa, Obama did historically well. He was already familiar to many voters in the region, in part because the Quad Cities area spills into Obama's home state of Illinois. He also did very well in typically competitive central Iowa, anchored by the state capital of Des Moines. Every county in the state, except Clarke in central Iowa, voted more Democratic in 2008 than in 2004.

At the same time, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin was reelected with 62.66% of the vote over Republican Christopher Reed, a businessman, who received 37.26%. At the state level, Democrats expanded their leads in the Iowa state legislature, picking up four seats in the Iowa House of Representatives and two seats in the Iowa Senate.

Results

2008 United States presidential election in Iowa
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama	828,940	53.93%	7
	Republican	John McCain	682,379	44.39%	0
	Peace and Freedom	Ralph Nader	8,014	0.52%	0
	N/A	Write-ins	6,737	0.44%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	4,590	0.30%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	4,445	0.29%	0
	Green	Cynthia McKinney	1,423	0.09%	0
	Socialist Workers	James Harris	292	0.02%	0
	Socialist	Brian Moore	182	0.01%	0
	Party for Socialism and Liberation	Gloria La Riva	121	0.01%	0
Invalid or blank votes			13,882	0.01%
Totals			1,544,268	100%	7
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					69%/73%

By county

County	Barack Obama Democratic		John McCain Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	1,924	47.47%	2,060	50.83%	69	1.70%	-136	-3.36%	4,053
Adams	1,118	50.68%	1,046	47.42%	42	1.91%	72	3.26%	2,206
Allamakee	3,971	56.23%	2,965	41.99%	126	1.77%	1,006	14.24%	7,062
Appanoose	2,970	48.07%	3,086	49.94%	123	1.97%	-116	-1.87%	6,179
Audubon	1,739	50.61%	1,634	47.56%	63	1.83%	105	3.05%	3,436
Benton	7,058	51.45%	6,447	47.00%	212	1.54%	611	4.45%	13,717
Black Hawk	39,184	60.48%	24,662	38.07%	941	1.45%	14,522	22.41%	64,787
Boone	7,356	52.80%	6,293	45.17%	282	2.02%	1,063	7.63%	13,931
Bremer	6,940	53.92%	5,741	44.60%	191	1.48%	1,199	9.32%	12,872
Buchanan	6,050	58.50%	4,139	40.02%	153	1.48%	1,911	18.48%	10,342
Buena Vista	4,075	48.40%	4,223	50.15%	122	1.45%	-148	-1.75%	8,420
Butler	3,364	46.94%	3,700	51.63%	102	1.43%	-336	-4.69%	7,166
Calhoun	2,341	45.06%	2,741	52.76%	113	2.18%	-400	-7.70%	5,195
Carroll	5,302	51.01%	4,922	47.35%	171	1.65%	380	3.66%	10,395
Cass	3,211	43.68%	4,006	54.49%	135	1.83%	-795	-10.81%	7,352
Cedar	5,221	54.02%	4,289	44.38%	155	1.60%	932	9.64%	9,665
Cerro Gordo	14,405	59.67%	9,375	38.83%	363	1.50%	5,030	20.84%	24,143
Cherokee	2,890	45.38%	3,372	52.95%	106	1.67%	-482	-7.57%	6,368
Chickasaw	3,923	59.57%	2,557	38.82%	106	1.61%	1,366	20.75%	6,586
Clarke	2,218	49.90%	2,118	47.65%	109	2.44%	100	2.25%	4,445
Clay	3,925	46.72%	4,355	51.83%	122	1.45%	-430	-5.11%	8,402
Clayton	5,195	57.79%	3,651	40.61%	144	1.61%	1,544	17.18%	8,990
Clinton	15,018	60.75%	9,324	37.72%	380	1.54%	5,694	23.03%	24,722
Crawford	3,715	51.66%	3,345	46.52%	131	1.82%	370	5.14%	7,191
Dallas	15,149	46.41%	16,954	51.94%	540	1.65%	-1,805	-5.53%	32,643
Davis	1,680	44.00%	2,029	53.14%	109	2.85%	-349	-9.14%	3,818
Decatur	1,986	48.37%	2,020	49.20%	100	2.43%	-34	-0.83%	4,106
Delaware	4,649	52.22%	4,113	46.20%	141	1.58%	536	6.02%	8,903
Des Moines	12,462	60.57%	7,721	37.53%	391	1.90%	4,741	23.04%	20,574
Dickinson	4,625	46.68%	5,162	52.10%	120	1.20%	-537	-5.42%	9,907
Dubuque	28,611	59.65%	18,651	38.89%	701	1.46%	9,960	20.76%	47,963
Emmet	2,570	51.25%	2,373	47.32%	72	1.44%	197	3.93%	5,015
Fayette	5,908	57.57%	4,205	40.98%	149	1.45%	1,703	16.59%	10,262
Floyd	4,822	59.58%	3,051	37.70%	219	2.71%	1,771	21.88%	8,093
Franklin	2,575	50.01%	2,501	48.57%	73	1.42%	74	1.44%	5,149
Fremont	1,848	47.43%	1,989	51.05%	59	1.52%	-141	-3.62%	3,896
Greene	2,371	49.35%	2,349	48.90%	84	1.74%	22	0.45%	4,804
Grundy	2,790	40.86%	3,945	57.77%	94	1.37%	-1,155	-16.91%	6,829
Guthrie	2,625	44.88%	3,074	52.56%	150	2.57%	-449	-7.68%	5,849
Hamilton	4,018	49.72%	3,913	48.42%	150	1.86%	105	1.30%	8,081
Hancock	2,805	47.30%	3,016	50.86%	109	1.85%	-211	-3.56%	5,930
Hardin	4,393	49.58%	4,315	48.70%	153	1.73%	78	0.88%	8,861
Harrison	3,555	46.88%	3,909	51.55%	119	1.57%	-354	-4.67%	7,583
Henry	4,349	46.36%	4,822	51.41%	209	2.22%	-473	-5.05%	9,380
Howard	2,941	62.19%	1,722	36.41%	66	1.40%	1,219	25.78%	4,729
Humboldt	2,160	42.16%	2,895	56.51%	68	1.32%	-735	-14.35%	5,123
Ida	1,454	40.99%	2,036	57.40%	57	1.61%	-582	-16.41%	3,547
Iowa	4,202	49.16%	4,188	48.99%	158	1.85%	14	0.17%	8,548
Jackson	6,102	61.28%	3,673	36.89%	182	1.82%	2,429	24.39%	9,957
Jasper	10,250	52.78%	8,794	45.28%	378	1.95%	1,456	7.50%	19,422
Jefferson	5,070	58.73%	3,324	38.51%	238	2.76%	1,746	20.22%	8,632
Johnson	51,027	69.91%	20,732	28.40%	1,230	1.69%	30,295	41.51%	72,989
Jones	5,446	54.42%	4,405	44.01%	157	1.57%	1,041	10.41%	10,008
Keokuk	2,518	46.96%	2,712	50.58%	132	2.46%	-194	-3.62%	5,362
Kossuth	4,625	50.82%	4,329	47.57%	146	1.60%	296	3.25%	9,100
Lee	9,821	57.00%	7,062	40.99%	347	2.01%	2,759	16.01%	17,230
Linn	68,037	60.01%	43,626	38.48%	1,706	1.50%	24,411	21.53%	113,369
Louisa	2,523	51.27%	2,314	47.02%	84	1.71%	209	4.25%	4,921
Lucas	2,029	45.33%	2,330	52.06%	117	2.61%	-301	-6.73%	4,476
Lyon	1,675	26.93%	4,471	71.88%	74	1.19%	-2,796	-44.95%	6,220
Madison	3,733	44.02%	4,579	53.99%	169	1.99%	-846	-9.97%	8,481
Mahaska	4,464	40.83%	6,271	57.35%	199	1.82%	-1,807	-16.52%	10,934
Marion	7,421	43.57%	9,256	54.34%	355	2.09%	-1,835	-10.77%	17,032
Marshall	10,023	53.71%	8,278	44.36%	362	1.93%	1,745	9.35%	18,663
Mills	2,976	40.86%	4,183	57.44%	124	1.70%	-1,207	-16.58%	7,283
Mitchell	3,179	55.13%	2,469	42.82%	118	2.05%	710	12.31%	5,766
Monona	2,295	47.84%	2,411	50.26%	91	1.90%	-116	-2.42%	4,797
Monroe	1,798	46.41%	2,000	51.63%	76	1.96%	-202	-5.22%	3,874
Montgomery	2,326	43.98%	2,887	54.58%	76	1.44%	-561	-10.60%	5,289
Muscatine	10,920	57.11%	7,929	41.47%	271	1.42%	2,991	15.64%	19,120
O'Brien	2,338	31.88%	4,894	66.74%	101	1.38%	-2,556	-34.86%	7,333
Osceola	1,037	33.14%	2,027	64.78%	65	2.08%	-990	-31.64%	3,129
Page	2,900	39.41%	4,351	59.12%	108	1.47%	-1,451	-19.71%	7,359
Palo Alto	2,428	50.50%	2,294	47.71%	86	1.79%	134	2.79%	4,808
Plymouth	4,629	36.99%	7,765	62.05%	121	0.96%	-3,136	-25.06%	12,515
Pocahontas	1,800	44.87%	2,138	53.29%	74	1.84%	-338	-8.42%	4,012
Polk	120,984	56.43%	89,668	41.82%	3,757	1.75%	31,316	14.61%	214,409
Pottawattamie	20,436	48.28%	21,237	50.18%	651	1.54%	-801	-1.90%	42,324
Poweshiek	5,519	55.01%	4,340	43.26%	174	1.73%	1,179	11.75%	10,033
Ringgold	1,236	45.97%	1,401	52.10%	52	1.93%	-165	-6.13%	2,689
Sac	2,256	44.65%	2,705	53.53%	92	1.82%	-449	-8.88%	5,053
Scott	48,927	56.64%	36,365	42.10%	1,086	1.26%	12,562	14.54%	86,378
Shelby	2,863	44.35%	3,488	54.04%	104	1.61%	-625	-9.69%	6,455
Sioux	3,030	18.18%	13,490	80.95%	145	0.87%	-10,460	-62.77%	16,665
Story	26,548	56.99%	18,995	40.78%	1,038	2.23%	7,553	16.21%	46,581
Tama	4,899	55.34%	3,820	43.15%	133	1.51%	1,079	12.19%	8,852
Taylor	1,347	44.51%	1,607	53.11%	72	2.38%	-260	-8.60%	3,026
Union	3,000	50.73%	2,781	47.02%	133	2.25%	219	3.71%	5,914
Van Buren	1,546	42.80%	1,986	54.98%	80	2.21%	-440	-12.18%	3,612
Wapello	8,820	55.33%	6,663	41.80%	457	2.87%	2,157	13.53%	15,940
Warren	12,299	49.42%	12,144	48.79%	446	1.79%	155	0.63%	24,889
Washington	5,170	48.64%	5,247	49.36%	212	2.00%	-77	-0.72%	10,629
Wayne	1,357	45.52%	1,565	52.50%	59	1.98%	-208	-6.98%	2,981
Webster	9,917	53.44%	8,337	44.93%	302	1.63%	1,580	8.51%	18,556
Winnebago	3,254	53.48%	2,730	44.86%	101	1.66%	524	8.62%	6,085
Winneshiek	6,829	60.52%	4,273	37.87%	182	1.61%	2,556	22.65%	11,284
Woodbury	21,983	49.05%	22,219	49.58%	613	1.37%	-236	-0.53%	44,815
Worth	2,567	60.27%	1,612	37.85%	80	1.88%	955	22.42%	4,259
Wright	3,102	48.51%	3,198	50.01%	95	1.48%	-96	-1.50%	6,395
Total	828,940	53.93%	682,379	44.39%	25,804	1.68%	146,561	9.54%	1,537,123

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Democratic — >15%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5−10%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%

County flips

Legend

• Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican

  Republican   Hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Adams (largest city: Corning)
• Audubon (largest city: Audubon)
• Allamakee (largest city: Waukon)
• Bremer (largest city: Waverly)
• Carroll (largest city: Carroll)
• Cedar (largest city: Tipton)
• Crawford (largest city: Denison)
• Delaware (largest city: Manchester)
• Emmet (largest city: Estherville)
• Franklin (largest city: Hampton)
• Greene (largest city: Jefferson)
• Hamilton (largest city: Webster City)
• Hardin (largest city: Iowa Falls)
• Iowa (largest city: Williamsburg)
• Kossuth (largest city: Algona)
• Louisa (largest city: Wapello)
• Marshall (largest city: Marshalltown)
• Palo Alto (largest city: Emmetsburg)
• Union (largest city: Creston)
• Warren (largest city: Indianola)
• Winnebago (largest city: Forest City)

By congressional district

Barack Obama carried 4 out of the state's 5 congressional districts, including one district held by a Republican.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
1st	40.72%	58.24%	Bruce Braley
2nd	38.57%	60.18%	Dave Loebsack
3rd	44.66%	54.03%	Leonard Boswell
4th	45.53%	53.11%	Tom Latham
5th	54.60%	44.25%	Steve King

Electors

Main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Iowa cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Iowa is allocated 7 electors because it has 5 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 7 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 7 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. ^[46] 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 7 pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:

1. Elwood Thompson
2. Slayton Thompson
3. Kathleen O'Leary
4. Jon Heitland
5. Dennis Ryan
6. Joe Judge
7. Audrey Linville

See also

• United States presidential elections in Iowa
• 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries

References

1. Shepherd, Julianne (January 4, 2008). "Barack Obama Takes Iowa Caucuses; Senator Could Become America's First Black President". Vibe. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
2. "About the Iowa Caucuses". Iowa Caucus 2008. Iowa Department of Economic Development. 2007. Archived from the original on January 2, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
3. Best, Amy. "Iowa Caucuses: The Importance of Being First". The Cube. Iowa Department of Economic Development. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
4. Murray, Shailagh (May 20, 2008). "Obama's Triumphant Iowa Return". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
5. Beaumont, Thomas (January 1, 2008). "New Iowa Poll: Obama widens lead over Clinton". DesMoinesRegister.com. Des Moines Register and Tribune Company. Archived from the original on October 8, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
6. Gill, Kathy (2008). "How Do The Iowa Caucuses Work?". About.com US Politics. About. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
7. "How To Become A Delegate". The 2008 Democratic National Convention. 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee. 2008. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
8. Berg-Andersson, Richard E. (May 15, 2008). "Iowa Democratic Delegation 2008". The Green Papers. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
9. The Associated Press (December 20, 2007). "What Are Delegates?". AOL News. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
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11. Associated Press (January 4, 2008). "Clinton still leads in overall delegate race, despite losing in Iowa" . Retrieved January 4, 2008.
12. Kucinich Asks Supporters to Back Obama. Associated Press . 2008-01-02. Archived January 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
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14. "Second-Tier Dems Hope for Caucus Boost". WHO-TV. January 3, 2008. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
15. Martelle, Scott (January 4, 2008). "America Votes 2008; Iowa Caucuses (Special Coverage)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
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17. Memmott, Mark; Lawrence, Jill (January 6, 2008). "Obama up by 13 points, McCain up by 4 in USAT/Gallup Poll in N.H." USAToday.com. USA Today. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
18. Leibovich, Mark (January 4, 2008). "One Republican Caucus Is Found to Be an Uncomplicated Affair". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
19. Republican Party of IOWA | Caucuses
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23. Ames Straw Poll date set Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine from OvalOffice2008.com.
24. Roos, Jonathan (December 31, 2007). "GOP poll: Huckabee maintains lead over Romney". DesMoinesRegister.com. Des Moines Register and Tribune Company. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
25. "Election Center 2008: Primary Results for Iowa". CNNPolitics.com. Cable News Network. January 4, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
26. "Certified Results of the January 3rd, 2008 – Iowa Republican Party Caucus Presidential Straw Vote". Republican Party of Iowa. January 3, 2008. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008.
27. Pulliam, Jason (December 20, 2007). "Tancredo drops out, endorses Romney". USA Today. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
28. Woodward, Whitney (January 4, 2008). "Democrat turnout outnumbers GOP by 2-1". Quad-City Times . Retrieved January 4, 2008.
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• https://web.archive.org/web/20080516092625/http://articles.citypages.com/2008-01-09/feature/the-wizards-of-odds/
• "2008 General Election Official Canvass Summary" (PDF). State of Iowa. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2009.

External links

• Polling results from Real Clear Politics
• Polling data from Pollster.com
• Iowa Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Plan
• Iowa Caucus Explained and Analyzed in the Creepy Sleepy Show podcast
• Covered using talk radio and social media by the Talk Radio News Service
• Complete Obama victory speech video and transcription in English, French and Spanish
• http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/ia/iowa_republican_caucus-207.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20080509091509/http://www.pollster.com/08-IA-Rep-Pres-Primary.php
• http://www.iowacaucus.org/iacaucus.html Archived 2008-01-02 at the Wayback Machine A FAQ about the Iowa Caucus.
• http://www.iowagop.net Official results