# Electoral history of Barack Obama

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This is the electoral history of Barack Obama. Barack Obama served as the 44th president of the United States (2009–2017) and as a United States senator from Illinois (2005–2008).
A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1997 representing the 13th district, which covered much of the Chicago South Side. In 2000, Obama ran an unsuccessful campaign for Illinois's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives against four-term incumbent Bobby Rush. In 2004, Obama campaigned for the U.S. Senate, participating in the first Senate election in which both major party candidates were African American, with Alan Keyes running as the Republican candidate. Obama won the election, gaining a seat previously represented by Republican Peter Fitzgerald.
In 2008, Obama entered the Democratic primaries for the U.S. presidential election. Numerous candidates entered initially, but over time the field narrowed down to Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton from New York. The contest was highly competitive between the two, with neither being able to reach a majority of delegates without the addition of unpledged delegates. Eventually, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama for the nomination, prompting his victory. He went on to face Senator John McCain from Arizona as the Republican nominee, defeating him with 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173.
Obama sought re-election for a second term in 2012, running virtually unopposed in the Democratic primaries. His opponent in the general election was former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Obama won 332 electoral votes, defeating Romney who gained 206. After this election, he became the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to receive over 51% of the popular vote twice.

## Illinois Senate elections (1997–2002)
### 1997

1997 Illinois Senate 13th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama | 48,592 | 82.16% |
| | Harold Washington | David Whitehead | 7,461 | 12.62% |
| | Republican | Rosette Caldwell Peyton | 3,091 | 5.23% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 59,144 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 1998

1998 Illinois Senate 13th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent) | 45,486 | 89.17% |
| | Republican | Yesse B. Yehudah | 5,526 | 10.83% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 51,012 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2002

2002 Illinois Senate 13th district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent) | 48,717 | 100.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 48,717 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## United States House of Representatives election (2000)
### Primary election

2000 Illinois's 1st congressional district election, Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Bobby Rush (incumbent) | 59,599 | 61.03% |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama | 29,649 | 30.36% |
| | Democratic | Donne Trotter | 6,915 | 7.08% |
| | Democratic | George Roby | 1,501 | 1.54% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 97,664 | 100.00% |

## United States Senate election (2004)
### Primary election

2004 United States Senate Democratic primary in Illinois :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama | 755,923 | 52.77% |
| | Democratic | Dan Hynes | 294,717 | 23.71% |
| | Democratic | Blair Hull | 134,453 | 10.82% |
| | Democratic | Maria Pappas | 74,987 | 6.03% |
| | Democratic | Gery Chico | 53,433 | 4.30% |
| | Democratic | Nancy Skinner | 16,098 | 1.30% |
| | Democratic | Joyce Washington | 13,375 | 1.08% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 10 | 0.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,242,996 | 100.00% |

### General election

2004 United States Senate election in Illinois :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama | 3,598,277 | 69.97% |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes | 1,391,030 | 27.05% |
| | Independent | Albert J. Franzen | 81,186 | 1.58% |
| | Libertarian | Jerry Kohn | 69,276 | 1.35% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 2,930 | 0.05% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,142,699 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |

## 2008 Presidential election
### Democratic presidential primaries
#### Popular vote

Excluding penalized contests, only primary and caucuses votes:
2008 Democratic presidential primaries :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Barack Obama | Barack Obama | 16,706,853 | 49.04% |
| Hillary Clinton | Hillary Clinton | 16,239,821 | 47.67% |
| John Edwards | John Edwards | 742,010 | 2.18% |
| Bill Richardson | Bill Richardson | 89,054 | 0.26% |
| Uncommitted | Uncommitted | 82,660 | 0.24% |
| Dennis Kucinich | Dennis Kucinich | 68,482 | 0.20% |
| Joe Biden | Joe Biden | 64,041 | 0.19% |
| Mike Gravel | Mike Gravel | 27,662 | 0.08% |
| Christopher Dodd | Christopher Dodd | 25,300 | 0.07% |
| Others | Others | 22,556 | 0.07% |
| Total votes | Total votes | 34,068,439 | 100.00% |
Including penalized contests:
2008 Democratic presidential primaries :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Hillary Clinton | Hillary Clinton | 18,225,175 | 48.03% |
| Barack Obama | Barack Obama | 17,988,182 | 47.41% |
| John Edwards | John Edwards | 1,006,275 | 2.65% |
| Uncommitted | Uncommitted | 299,610 | 2.79% |
| Bill Richardson | Bill Richardson | 106,073 | 0.28% |
| Dennis Kucinich | Dennis Kucinich | 103,994 | 0.27% |
| Joe Biden | Joe Biden | 81,641 | 0.22% |
| Scattering | Scattering | 44,348 | 0.12% |
| Mike Gravel | Mike Gravel | 40,251 | 0.11% |
| Christopher Dodd | Christopher Dodd | 35,281 | 0.09% |
| Total votes | Total votes | 37,980,830 | 100.00% |

#### Delegate counts

2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries :
| Candidate | Delegates | Delegates | Delegates |
| Candidate | Pledged delegates | Superdelegates | Total delegates |
| Barack Obama | 1,795 | 361 | 2,156 |
| Hillary Clinton | 1,637 | 285 | 1,922 |
| John Edwards | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 3,436 | 648 | 4,084 |
| Needed to win | Needed to win | Needed to win | 2,118 |
2008 Democratic National Convention (Presidential tally)
* Barack Obama - chosen by acclamation
Unfinished roll call (13 states, D.C. Guam, American Samoa and Democrats Abroad):
* Hillary Clinton - 1,011 (24.07%)

#### Other results

2008 New Hampshire Democratic vice presidential primary :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Raymond Stebbins | Raymond Stebbins | 50,485 | 46.93% |
| William Bryk | William Bryk | 22,965 | 21.35% |
| John Edwards | John Edwards | 10,553 | 9.81% |
| Barack Obama | Barack Obama | 6,402 | 5.95% |
| Bill Richardson | Bill Richardson | 5,525 | 5.14% |
| Hillary Clinton | Hillary Clinton | 3,419 | 3.18% |
| Joe Biden | Joe Biden | 1,512 | 1.41% |
| Al Gore | Al Gore | 966 | 0.90% |
| Dennis Kucinich | Dennis Kucinich | 762 | 0.71% |
| Bill Clinton | Bill Clinton | 388 | 0.36% |
| John McCain | John McCain | 293 | 0.27% |
| Christopher Dodd | Christopher Dodd | 224 | 0.21% |
| Ron Paul | Ron Paul | 176 | 0.16% |
| Jack Barnes, Jr. | Jack Barnes, Jr. | 95 | 0.09% |
| Mike Gravel | Mike Gravel | 91 | 0.09% |
| Joe Lieberman | Joe Lieberman | 67 | 0.06% |
| Mitt Romney | Mitt Romney | 66 | 0.06% |
| Mike Huckabee | Mike Huckabee | 63 | 0.06% |
| Rudy Giuliani | Rudy Giuliani | 46 | 0.04% |
| Darrel Hunter | Darrel Hunter | 20 | 0.02% |
| Total votes | Total votes | 104,118 | 100.00% |

### General election

2008 United States presidential election :
| Candidate | Candidate | Running mate | Party | Popular vote | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Electoral vote |
| Candidate | Candidate | Running mate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Barack Obama | Joe Biden | Democratic | 69,498,516 | 52.91 | 365 | 67.84 |
| | John McCain | Sarah Palin | Republican | 59,948,323 | 45.64 | 173 | 32.16 |
| | Ralph Nader | Matt Gonzalez | Independent | 739,034 | 0.56 | | |
| | Bob Barr | Wayne Allyn Root | Libertarian | 523,715 | 0.40 | | |
| | Chuck Baldwin | Darrell Castle | Constitution | 199,750 | 0.15 | | |
| | Cynthia McKinney | Rosa Clemente | Green | 161,797 | 0.12 | | |
| Others | Others | Others | Others | 290,626 | 0.22 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 131,361,761 | 100.00 | 538 | 100.00 |

## 2012 Presidential election
### General election

2012 United States presidential election :
| Candidate | Candidate | Running mate | Party | Popular vote | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Electoral vote |
| Candidate | Candidate | Running mate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Barack Obama (inc.) | Joe Biden (inc.) | Democratic | 65,915,795 | 51.06 | 332 | 61.71 |
| | Mitt Romney | Paul Ryan | Republican | 60,933,504 | 47.20 | 206 | 38.29 |
| | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | Libertarian | 1,275,971 | 0.99 | | |
| | Jill Stein | Cheri Honkala | Green | 469,627 | 0.36 | | |
| Others | Others | Others | Others | 490,513 | 0.38 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 129,085,410 | 100.00 | 538 | 100.00 |