# Obama coalition

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The Obama coalition was the combination of various voting blocs that supported the candidacy and presidency of Barack Obama. It consisted primarily of racial minorities, along with women and young voters. It allowed for high vote share among cities and suburbs, as well as among voters that self-described as moderate. The coalition formed in 2007 and 2008 as Obama campaigned for the presidency. During the 2008 election, the strength of the coalition gave Obama 53% of the vote. In 2012, he won reelection with 51% of the vote along similar demographic lines. This made Obama the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win the majority of the popular vote in multiple elections.
The weaknesses of the coalition became apparent during the two midterm elections that took place during Obama's presidency. During the 2010 midterms, significant portions of the coalition failed to turn out or defected to the Republican Party. Similar results occurred in the 2014 midterms. Hillary Clinton was described as attempting to continue the Obama coalition in order to win the presidential election in 2016, with her loss marking a failure to maintain the coalition.
During the 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates, Kamala Harris argued that it was necessary to "rebuild the Obama coalition" for the Democratic Party to win the election. After receiving the Democratic nomination, Obama's former Vice President Joe Biden was described as requiring a new coalition due to shifts in voting patterns over the previous years; the white working-class had moved away from the coalition while women aligned with it in stronger numbers. Slight shifts had also taken place among suburban and nonwhite voters. In 2020, Joe Biden won the presidential election with the same voting blocs as the Obama coalition.
In 2024, the coalition was claimed to be largely fallen apart as working class of all races had moved away from the coalition, causing Kamala Harris to lose the election and the popular vote. The Trump coalition based on income and education levels was measured to be closer to the 2008 Obama coalition than Harris was. Nate Cohn of The New York Times stated that Trump had made larger gains with racial minorities than White voters without college degrees compared to the 2012 presidential election (the last pre-Trump election), with Democratic gains being mainly just among White voters with college degrees.

## Vote share

Obama vote share by demographic subgroup :
| Demographic subgroup | 2008 | 2012 | 2008-12 Swing |
| Total vote | 53 | 51 | -2 |
| Ideology | | | |
| Liberals | 89 | 86 | -3 |
| Moderates | 60 | 56 | -4 |
| Conservatives | 20 | 17 | -3 |
| Party | | | |
| Democrats | 89 | 92 | 3 |
| Republicans | 9 | 6 | -3 |
| Independents | 52 | 45 | -7 |
| Gender | | | |
| Men | 49 | 45 | -4 |
| Women | 56 | 55 | -1 |
| Marital status | | | |
| Married | 47 | 42 | -5 |
| Unmarried | 65 | 62 | -3 |
| Race | | | |
| White | 43 | 39 | -4 |
| Black | 95 | 93 | -2 |
| Asian | 62 | 73 | 11 |
| Other | 66 | 58 | -8 |
| Hispanic | 67 | 71 | 4 |
| Religion | | | |
| Protestant | 45 | 42 | -3 |
| Catholic | 54 | 50 | -4 |
| Jewish | 78 | 69 | -9 |
| Other | 73 | 74 | 1 |
| None | 75 | 70 | -5 |
| Religious service attendance | | | |
| More than weekly | 43 | 36 | -7 |
| Weekly | 43 | 41 | -2 |
| Monthly | 53 | 55 | -2 |
| A few times a year | 59 | 56 | -3 |
| Never | 67 | 62 | -5 |
| White evangelical or born-again Christian? | | | |
| White evangelical or born-again Christian | 24 | 21 | -3 |
| Everyone else | 62 | 60 | -2 |
| Age | | | |
| 18–24 years old | 66 | 60 | -6 |
| 25–29 years old | 66 | 60 | -6 |
| 30–39 years old | 54 | 55 | 1 |
| 40–49 years old | 49 | 48 | -1 |
| 50–64 years old | 50 | 47 | -3 |
| 65 and older | 45 | 44 | -1 |
| Age by race | | | |
| Whites 18–29 years old | 54 | 44 | -10 |
| Whites 30–44 years old | 41 | 38 | -3 |
| Whites 45–64 years old | 42 | 38 | -4 |
| Whites 65 and older | 40 | 39 | -1 |
| Blacks 18–29 years old | 95 | 91 | -4 |
| Blacks 30–44 years old | 96 | 94 | -2 |
| Blacks 45–64 years old | 96 | 93 | -3 |
| Blacks 65 and older | 94 | 93 | -1 |
| Latinos 18–29 years old | 76 | 74 | -2 |
| Latinos 30–44 years old | 63 | 71 | 8 |
| Latinos 45–64 years old | 58 | 68 | 10 |
| Latinos 65 and older | 68 | 65 | -3 |
| Others | 64 | 67 | 3 |
| Sexual orientation | | | |
| LGBT | 70 | 76 | 6 |
| Heterosexual | 53 | 49 | -4 |
| Education | | | |
| Not a high school graduate | 63 | 64 | 1 |
| High school graduate | 52 | 51 | -1 |
| Some college education | 51 | 49 | -2 |
| College graduate | 50 | 47 | -3 |
| Postgraduate education | 58 | 55 | -5 |
| Union households | | | |
| Union | 59 | 58 | -1 |
| Non-union | 51 | 49 | -2 |
| Issue regarded as most important | | | |
| Economy | 53 | 47 | -6 |
| Health care | 73 | 75 | 2 |
| Region | | | |
| Northeast | 59 | 59 | 0 |
| Midwest | 54 | 50 | -4 |
| South | 45 | 46 | 1 |
| West | 57 | 54 | -3 |