2008 United States Presidential Election (Season IV)

The **2008 United States Presidential Election** was the 56th quadrennial presidential election in American history. It was held on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008. The Incumbent Democratic President Jason Walia and his running mate Vice President George David Johnson were defeated by Northwest Senator Chrestine Bingham and her running mate Representative Rhonda Sherman. Bingham-Starmer became the first African-American ever to be elected to the presidency. This election was the second overall since World War II that an incumbent president was defeated for re-election, succeeded former president Gerald Ford's defeat by Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Walia faced competition within his own primary, as the administration was being lambasted by claims of being stagnant and uncaring. Senator Martin Hanson dropped out before primaries, leaving Howard Dean to lose every single contest, however, Dean managed to achieve more than 1000 delegates. Walia's popularity peaked after he took office, promising change after the efficacy from the preceding administrations. During the administration, several major scandals had his approval ranking tanks.

During the campaign, the public knowledge that two Americans were killed while assassinating Muammar al-Gaddafi was a large blowback, that led to a now ongoing Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, as well as an FBI investigation into the matter. The ongoing 2008 financial crisis also took its toll, though the administration had mitigated its effects.

Chrestine won the election with the largest margin in the electoral college since the election of 1988. Chrestine's margin in the electoral college was due to winning the states that had not voted Republican in years, including California(1992) and Massachusetts(1996). Chrestine flipped 4 states that voted Democratic in 2004: Maine, North Carolina, Tennessee, and California. She also solidified several Republican-leaning states, such as Arkansas and Florida. Walia flipped three states that went Republican in 2004: Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Arizona.

Chrestine is the first African-American and Mormon to be nominated by a major party for the presidential ticket, and she is so far the only former First Lady and Second Lady to be nominated by a major party. Rhonda Sherman was elected the first female Vice President.

## Primaries

### 2008 Democratic National Convention

Democratic Party Presidential Nominations, 2008

### Candidates who withdrew on or before convention

 Martin Hanson |  |  | Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation(2005 - 2009)

### 2008 Republican National Convention

Republican Party Presidential Nominations, 2008

## Results

 *Others* | —
 Total

### Close States

     Chrestine Bingham

     Jason Walia

States where the margin was less than 1% (80 electoral votes)

1. **California**: 0.021%
2. **Arkansas**: 0.33%
3. **Wisconsin**: 0.47%
4. **Arizona**: 0.88%

States where the margin was less than 5% (137 electoral votes)

1. **Massachusetts**: 1.06%
2. **Tennessee**: 1.28%
3. **Maryland**: 1.47%
4. **North Carolina**: 1.51%
5. **Maine**: 2.09%
6. **South Carolina**: 2.11%
7. **West Virginia**: 2.14%
8. **Illinois**: 2.61%
9. **Florida**: 3.14%
10. **Colorado**: 3.54%
11. **Pennsylvania**: 4.48%

States where the margin was less than 10% (72 electoral votes)

1. **New Jersey**: 5.20%
2. **Oklahoma**: 5.54%
3. **Michigan**: 5.69%
4. **New York**: 7.72%