Please read the following table in HTML format from a webpage and then answer the question in detail according to the table. Each table cell is defined by a <td> and a </td> tag. Each table row starts with a <tr> and ends with a </tr> tag. 'rowspan=m' and 'colspan=n' represents a cell spaning over 'm' rows and 'n' columns.

Webpage title:
Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Table title:
Politics
Table:
<table id='hittask' contenteditable='False'>
<tr> <th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Year </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Republican </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Democratic </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Third parties </th></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2016 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 84.6% 48,824 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 12.0% 6,950 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 3.4% 1,956 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2012 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 84.2% 45,513 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 13.8% 7,451 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2.0% 1,098 </td></tr>
<tr> <td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2008 </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 85.0% 43,269 </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 13.1% 6,681 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1.9% 942 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2004 </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 76.8% 33,976 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 22.4% 9,895 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.9% 382 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2000 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 67.5% 24,889 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 29.9% 11,008 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2.6% 968 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1996 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 47.4% 16,159 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 38.9% 13,276 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 13.7% 4,660 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1992 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 47.1% 14,808 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 36.6% 11,499 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 16.3% 5,114 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1988 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 61.3% 15,779 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 37.5% 9,659 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1.2% 305 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1984 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 65.7% 17,465 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 33.5% 8,913 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.8% 198 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1980 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 47.2% 10,666 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 50.1% 11,319 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2.8% 624 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1976 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 35.0% 5,555 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 62.1% 9,875 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2.9% 465 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1972 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 73.0% 7,481 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 18.5% 1,898 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 8.5% 874 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1968 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 7.7% 947 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 11.4% 1,400 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 80.9% 9,907 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1964 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 61.1% 5,508 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 38.9% 3,509 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1960 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 14.4% 954 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 43.5% 2,881 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 42.1% 2,793 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1956 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 37.2% 1,628 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 58.8% 2,571 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 4.0% 173 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1952 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 28.6% 1,436 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 71.4% 3,578 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1948 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 7.6% 264 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 53.0% 1,841 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 39.4% 1,366 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1944 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 12.2% 343 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 87.8% 2,460 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1940 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 7.8% 252 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 92.2% 2,971 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1936 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 17.0% 496 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 83.0% 2,414 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1932 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 4.4% 89 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 95.6% 1,953 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1928 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 48.2% 975 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 51.8% 1,047 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1924 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 14.3% 110 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 85.7% 657 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1920 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 24.4% 218 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 75.5% 674 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.1% 1 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1916 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 6.3% 35 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 90.5% 503 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 3.2% 18 </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1912 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 0.6% 3 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 80.1% 379 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 19.2% 91 </td></tr>
</table>
Question:
How did Republicans perform in the 2008 election compared to the previous one?
Answer:
In Livingston Parish, the Republicans improved in the 2008 election, in which they received 43,269 votes and 85% of the total to 6,681 votes for Democrat.