2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota candidate Barack Obama
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 Democratic 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, the first to do so without carrying Benton, Morrison, or Scott Counties since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, the first to do so without carrying Cass, Chisago, Hubbard, Isanti, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Le Sueur, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Nobles, Renville, Sherburne, Todd, or Wright Counties since John F. Kennedy in 1960, and the first to do so without carrying Goodhue, Sibley, Wabasha, or Waseca Counties since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
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 to the right of Pennsylvania and neighboring Wisconsin, and was decided by a double digit margin too.By congressional district
Barack Obama carried 5 of the 8 congressional districts, including one seat held by a Republican. John McCain carried three congressional districts, including one seat held by a Democrat.Electors
Technically the voters of Minnesota heir ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Minnesota is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 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 10 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Following an apparent mishap in the previous election, whereby an elector pledged to Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry instead cast their vote for running-mate John Edwards and thus became a faithless elector, Minnesota amended its statutes and became one of the few states whereby electors are legally required to vote for the candidate they are pledged to. This was the first election where the new laws were effective.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 10 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:
Arthur A. Anderson
Jim Gremmels
Dave Lee
Al Patton
Joan M. Wittman
William J. Davis
Benjamin F. Gross
Matt Little
Jackie Stevenson
Susan Kay Moravec - replaced Donyta J. Wright who did not appear for the ceremony
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