2008 United States presidential election in California

Main article: 2008 United States presidential election

The 2008 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 2008, in California as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any of the 50 states, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

2008 United States presidential election in California

← 2004 November 4, 2008 2012 →
Turnout	79.42% (of registered voters) 3.38 pp 59.22% (of eligible voters) 2.19 pp[1]
Nominee Barack Obama John McCain Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Arizona Running mate Joe Biden Sarah Palin Electoral vote 55 0 Popular vote 8,274,473 5,011,781 Percentage 61.01% 36.95%
County Results Congressional District Results Obama   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% McCain   50–60%   60–70%
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

California was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 24.1% margin of victory. No Republican has carried the state in a presidential election since George H. W. Bush in 1988. Prior to the election, California was considered to be a state Obama would win or as a safe blue state. With its 55 electoral votes, California was Obama's largest electoral prize in 2008, due to victories not in California, but in Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington state, proclaiming him president-elect.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic candidate carried Trinity County in a presidential election. This was also the first time since 1936 that a Democratic presidential candidate won more than 60% of the vote in California, which the Democrats have done in every election since, except for 2024.

Primaries

• For other parties, see California state elections, February 2008.

On February 5, 2008, presidential primaries were held by all parties with ballot access in the state.

Democratic

2008 California Democratic presidential primary

← 2004 February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05) 2016 →

Candidate Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Home state New York Illinois Delegate count 204 166 Popular vote 2,608,184 2,186,662 Percentage 51.47% 43.16%

Election results by county

The 2008 California Democratic presidential primary took place on February 5, 2008, also known as Super Tuesday. California was dubbed the "Big Enchilada" by the media because it offers the most delegates out of any other delegation.^[2] Hillary Clinton won the primary.

Process

In the primary, 370 of California's 441 delegates to the Democratic National Convention were selected. The remaining delegates were superdelegates not obligated to vote for any candidate at the convention. Of these delegates, 241 were awarded at the congressional district level, and the remaining 129 were awarded to the statewide winner. Candidates were required to receive at least 15% of either the district or statewide vote to receive any delegates.^[3] Registered Democrats and Decline to State voters were eligible to vote.^[4]

Number of delegates	Congressional districts
3	20, 47
4	2, 3, 11, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52
5	1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 33, 35, 36, 37, 50, 53
6	6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 30

Polls

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the Super Tuesday Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008 § California

The latest six polls were averaged (only counting the latest Zogby poll).

Candidate	Mean of polls released in February 2008	Median of polls released in February 2008	RCP average
Hillary Clinton	42.8%	40.5%	44.2%
Barack Obama	40.3%	40.4%	41.6%

Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

2008 California Democratic presidential primary[5]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
Hillary Clinton	2,608,184	51.47%	204
Barack Obama	2,186,662	43.16%	166
John Edwards	193,617	3.82%	0
Dennis Kucinich	24,126	0.48%	0
Bill Richardson	19,939	0.39%	0
Joe Biden	18,261	0.36%	0
Mike Gravel	8,184	0.16%	0
Christopher Dodd	8,005	0.16%	0
Willie Carter (write-in)	4	0.00%	0
Eric Hinzman (write-in)	4	0.00%	0
Phil Epstein (write-in)	3	0.00%	0
Brian Calef (write-in)	2	0.00%	0
David Frey (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Joseph McAndrew (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Keith Judd (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
John Stein (write-in)	7	0.0000001%	0
Totals	5,066,993	100.00%	370
Voter turnout[A]	—		—

Republican

2008 California Republican primary

← 2004 February 5, 2008 2012 →

Candidate John McCain Mitt Romney Mike Huckabee Party Republican Republican Republican Home state Arizona Massachusetts Arkansas Popular vote 1,238,988 1,013,471 340,669 Percentage 42.25% 34.56% 11.612%

Election results by county

The 2008 California Republican primary was held on February 5, 2008, with a total of 173 national delegates at stake.

Process

The delegates represented California at the Republican National Convention. There were three delegates to every congressional district and fourteen bonus delegates. The winner in each of the 53 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates. The statewide winner was awarded 11 of the 14 bonus delegates, with the 3 remaining delegates assigned to party leaders.^[6][7] Voting in the primary was restricted to registered Republican voters.^[8]

Polls

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008 § California

Early polls showed Rudy Giuliani in the lead. Polls taken closer to the primary either showed Mitt Romney or John McCain as the favored candidate.^[9]

Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

2008 California Republican presidential primary[5][10]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
John McCain	1,238,988	42.25%	155
Mitt Romney	1,013,471	34.56%	15
Mike Huckabee	340,669	11.62%	0
Rudy Giuliani	128,681	4.39%	0
Ron Paul	125,365	4.27%	0
Fred Thompson	50,275	1.71%	0
Duncan Hunter	14,021	0.48%	0
Alan Keyes	11,742	0.40%	0
John H. Cox	3,219	0.11%	0
Tom Tancredo	3,884	0.13%	0
Sam Brownback	2,486	0.08%	0
Karen Irish (write-in)	6	0.00%	0
Michael Shaw (write-in)	2	0.00%	0
Edward Marshall (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Joel Neuberg (write-in)	1	0.00%	0
Robert Brickell (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Brian Calef (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
David Frey (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Walter Rothnie (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
John Sutherland (write-in)	0	0.00%	0
Uncommitted delegates	3
Totals	2,932,811	100.00%	173
Voter turnout	56.08%		—

American Independent Party

The American Independent Party held its primary February 5, 2008

2008 California AIP presidential primary[11]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Don J. Grundmann	16,603	36.08%
Dianne Beall Templin	15,302	33.25%
Mad Max Riekse	14,099	30.64%
David Andrew Larson (write-in)	18	0.04%
Totals	46,022	100.00%

Green Party

The Green Party held its primary February 5, 2008.

2008 California Green Party presidential primary[11][12]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
Ralph Nader	21,726	60.61%	-
Cynthia McKinney	9,534	26.60%	-
Elaine Brown	1,598	4.46%	-
Kat Swift	1,084	3.02%	-
Kent Mesplay	727	2.03%	-
Jesse Johnson	619	1.73%	-
Jared Ball	556	1.55%	-
Totals	35,844	100.00%	168

Libertarian

The Libertarian Party held its primary February 5, 2008.

2008 California Libertarian Party presidential primary[11]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Christine Smith	4,241	25.16%
Steve Kubby	2,876	17.06%
Wayne Allen Root	2,360	14.00%
Bob Jackson	1,486	8.81%
Barry Hess	891	5.29%
George Phillies	852	5.05%
Michael P. Jingozian	774	4.19%
Robert Milnes	721	4.28%
Daniel Imperato	707	4.19%
John Finan	706	4.19%
Dave Hollist	678	4.02%
Alden Link	565	3.35%
Leon L. Ray (write-in)	1	0.01%
Totals	16,858	100.00%

Peace and Freedom

The Peace and Freedom Party held its primary February 5, 2008.

2008 California Peace and Freedom Party presidential primary[11]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Ralph Nader	2,620	40.66%
Cynthia McKinney	1,385	21.49
Gloria La Riva	1,292	20.05%
Brian P. Moore	335	5.51%
John Crockford	346	5.37%
Stewart A. Alexander	340	5.28%
Stanley Hetz	106	1.64%
Totals	6,444	100.00%

Campaign

Predictions

Name	Prediction
Associated Press[13]	Likely D
CNN[14]	Safe D
The Cook Political Report[15]	Solid D
CQ Politics[16]	Solid D
D.C. Political Report[17]	Likely D
Electoral-vote.com[18]	Solid D
Fox News[19]	Likely D
The New York Times[20]	Solid D
Politico[21]	Solid D
Real Clear Politics[22]	Solid D
Rasmussen Reports[23]	Safe D
The Takeaway[24]	Solid D

Polling

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: California

Characterized early on as “The Big Enchilada” by some pundits, ultimately Obama won most opinion polls taken prior to the election. Until October 9, his lead ranged from 7 to 15 points in most polls. However, after October 9, his lead expanded to more than 20 consistently. In the final three polls he averaged 59%, while McCain averaged 34%; which is close to the results on election day.^[25]

Fundraising

Obama raised a total of $124,325,459 from the state. McCain raised a total of $26,802,024.^[26]

Advertising and visits

The Obama campaign spent almost $5,570,641. The McCain campaign spent $1,885,142.^[27] Obama visited the state six times. McCain visited the state eight times.^[28]

Analysis

California was once a Republican leaning swing state, supporting Republican candidates in every election from 1952 through 1988, except in 1964. However, since the 1990s, California has become a reliably Democratic state with a highly diverse ethnic population (mostly Latino) and liberal bastions such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County. The last time the state was won by a Republican candidate was in 1988 by George H. W. Bush.

Obama won by a historic margin, with 61.01% of the votes. Most news organizations called California for Obama as soon as the polls in the state closed. He was projected the winner of the state along with Washington, Hawaii, and Oregon at the same time, whose combined electoral votes caused all news organizations to declare Obama the president-elect. The last time the margin was higher in the state was in 1936 when Franklin D. Roosevelt won with 66.95% of the vote.^[29]

In San Francisco and Alameda County (which includes Oakland and Berkeley), four out of five voters backed the Democratic candidate. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Obama won every county by a three to two margin or greater.^[30] In Los Angeles County, Obama won almost 70% of the votes.^[30] His combined margin in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County would have been more than enough to carry the state.

Obama also made considerable headway in historically Republican areas of the state. Fresno County, for example, a heavily populated county in the Central Valley, went from giving Bush a 16% margin to a 2% margin for Obama.^[30] San Diego County moved from a six-percent margin for Bush to a 10-point margin for Obama—only the second time since World War II that a Democrat has carried this military-dominated county.^[30] San Bernardino and Riverside went from double-digit Republican victories to narrow Democratic wins.^[30] Ventura County also moved from Republican to Democratic. Orange County, historically one of the most Republican suburban counties in the nation, went from a 21-point margin for Bush to only a 2.5-point margin for McCain.

Voter turnout was also fairly higher than the national average. The 79% turnout of registered voters in the state was the highest since the 1976 presidential election.^[31] Despite the Democratic landslide in California, during the same election, a ballot proposition to ban same-sex marriage narrowly passed. A number of counties that had voted for Obama voted yes to it, as it was supported by Hispanics and African Americans. Even though Obama considered marriage to be between a man and a woman at the time, he opposed the "divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution... the U.S. Constitution or those of other states".^[32] Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's Republican governor and a supporter of John McCain, opposed the proposition, though McCain supported it. There was also a proposed ballot proposition called the Presidential Election Reform Act in the state to alter the way the state's electors would be distributed among presidential candidates, but the initiative failed to get onto the ballot.^[33]

Results

The following are official results from the California Secretary of State.^[34]

2008 United States presidential election in California
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	8,274,473	61.01%	55
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	5,011,781	36.95%	0
	Peace and Freedom	Ralph Nader	Matt Gonzalez	108,381	0.80%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	67,582	0.50%	0
	American Independent	Alan Keyes	Brian Rohrbough	40,673	0.30%	0
	Green	Cynthia McKinney	Rosa Clemente	38,774	0.29%	0
	Independent	Ron Paul (write-in)	Gail Lightfoot	17,006	0.13%	0
	Independent	Chuck Baldwin (write-in)	Darrell Castle	3,145	0.02%	0
	Independent	James Harris (write-in)	Alyson Kennedy	49	0.00%	0
	Independent	Frank Moore (write-in)	Susan Block	36	0.00%	0
Valid votes				13,561,900	98.68%	—
Invalid or blank votes				181,277	1.32%	—
Totals				13,743,177	100.00%	55
Voter turnout				79.42%		—

By county

The results below are primarily compiled from the final reports available from the Secretary of State. The "others" category also includes write-in votes.^[35]

County	Barack Obama Democratic		John McCain Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Alameda	489,106	78.52%	119,555	19.19%	14,252	2.29%	369,551	59.33%	622,913
Alpine	422	60.81%	252	36.31%	20	2.88%	170	24.50%	694
Amador	7,813	41.38%	10,561	55.94%	505	2.67%	-2,748	-14.56%	18,879
Butte	49,013	49.66%	46,706	47.32%	2,988	3.03%	2,307	2.34%	98,707
Calaveras	9,813	41.90%	12,835	54.80%	773	3.30%	-3,022	-12.90%	23,421
Colusa	2,569	39.84%	3,733	57.89%	146	2.26%	-1,164	-18.05%	6,448
Contra Costa	306,983	67.73%	136,436	30.10%	9,825	2.17%	170,547	37.63%	453,244
Del Norte	4,323	45.36%	4,967	52.11%	241	2.53%	-644	-6.75%	9,531
El Dorado	40,529	43.44%	50,314	53.92%	2,466	2.64%	-9,785	-10.48%	93,309
Fresno	136,706	49.99%	131,015	47.91%	5,731	2.10%	5,691	2.08%	273,452
Glenn	3,734	37.80%	5,910	59.82%	235	2.38%	-2,176	-22.02%	9,879
Humboldt	39,692	62.05%	21,713	33.94%	2,563	4.01%	17,979	28.11%	63,968
Imperial	24,162	62.24%	14,008	36.08%	650	1.67%	10,154	26.16%	38,820
Inyo	3,743	43.76%	4,523	52.88%	288	3.37%	-780	-9.12%	8,554
Kern	93,457	39.97%	134,793	57.65%	5,558	2.38%	-41,336	-17.68%	233,808
Kings	14,747	42.00%	19,710	56.14%	651	1.85%	-4,963	-14.14%	35,108
Lake	14,854	57.96%	9,935	38.76%	840	3.28%	4,919	19.20%	25,629
Lassen	3,586	31.37%	7,483	65.45%	364	3.18%	-3,897	-34.08%	11,433
Los Angeles	2,295,853	69.19%	956,425	28.82%	65,970	1.99%	1,339,428	40.37%	3,318,248
Madera	17,952	42.27%	23,583	55.52%	939	2.21%	-5,631	-13.25%	42,474
Marin	109,320	77.77%	28,384	20.19%	2,866	2.04%	80,936	57.58%	140,570
Mariposa	4,100	42.37%	5,298	54.75%	279	2.88%	-1,198	-12.38%	9,677
Mendocino	27,843	69.29%	10,721	26.68%	1,620	4.03%	17,122	42.61%	40,184
Merced	34,031	53.13%	28,704	44.81%	1,316	2.05%	5,327	8.32%	64,051
Modoc	1,313	29.71%	2,981	67.44%	126	2.85%	-1,668	-37.73%	4,420
Mono	3,093	55.52%	2,354	42.25%	124	2.23%	739	13.27%	5,571
Monterey	88,453	68.15%	38,797	29.89%	2,533	1.95%	49,656	38.26%	129,783
Napa	38,849	65.14%	19,484	32.67%	1,309	2.19%	19,365	32.47%	59,642
Nevada	28,617	51.43%	25,663	46.12%	1,367	2.46%	2,954	5.31%	55,647
Orange	549,558	47.63%	579,064	50.19%	25,065	2.17%	-29,506	-2.56%	1,153,687
Placer	75,112	43.21%	94,647	54.45%	4,053	2.33%	-19,535	-11.24%	173,812
Plumas	4,715	42.75%	6,035	54.72%	278	2.52%	-1,320	-11.97%	11,028
Riverside	325,017	50.21%	310,041	47.90%	12,241	1.89%	14,976	2.31%	647,299
Sacramento	316,506	58.30%	213,583	39.34%	12,770	2.35%	102,923	18.96%	542,859
San Benito	11,917	60.22%	7,425	37.52%	446	2.25%	4,492	22.70%	19,788
San Bernardino	315,720	52.07%	277,408	45.75%	13,206	2.18%	38,312	6.32%	606,334
San Diego	666,581	53.95%	541,032	43.79%	27,890	2.26%	125,549	10.16%	1,235,503
San Francisco	322,220	83.96%	52,292	13.62%	8,353	2.18%	269,928	70.34%	383,796
San Joaquin	113,974	54.19%	91,607	43.56%	4,727	2.25%	22,367	10.63%	210,308
San Luis Obispo	68,176	51.20%	61,055	45.85%	3,924	2.95%	7,121	5.35%	133,155
San Mateo	222,826	73.47%	75,057	24.75%	5,409	1.78%	147,769	48.72%	303,292
Santa Barbara	105,614	60.21%	65,585	37.39%	4,208	2.40%	40,029	22.82%	175,407
Santa Clara	462,241	69.45%	190,039	28.55%	13,309	2.00%	272,202	40.90%	665,589
Santa Cruz	98,745	77.30%	25,244	19.76%	3,747	2.93%	73,501	57.54%	127,736
Shasta	28,867	35.91%	49,588	61.68%	1,935	2.41%	-20,721	-25.77%	80,390
Sierra	743	37.32%	1,158	58.16%	90	4.52%	-415	-20.84%	1,991
Siskiyou	9,292	43.09%	11,520	53.42%	752	3.49%	-2,228	-10.33%	21,564
Solano	102,095	63.18%	56,035	34.68%	3,458	2.14%	46,060	28.50%	161,588
Sonoma	168,888	73.64%	55,127	24.04%	5,336	2.33%	113,761	49.60%	229,351
Stanislaus	80,279	49.70%	77,497	47.98%	3,736	2.31%	2,782	1.72%	161,512
Sutter	13,412	40.62%	18,911	57.27%	698	2.11%	-5,499	-16.65%	33,021
Tehama	8,945	36.42%	14,843	60.44%	772	3.14%	-5,898	-24.02%	24,560
Trinity	3,233	50.28%	2,940	45.72%	257	4.00%	293	4.56%	6,430
Tulare	43,634	41.35%	59,765	56.64%	2,126	2.01%	-16,131	-15.29%	105,525
Tuolumne	11,532	42.24%	14,988	54.90%	783	2.87%	-3,456	-12.66%	27,303
Ventura	187,601	55.01%	145,853	42.77%	7,587	2.22%	41,748	12.24%	341,041
Yolo	53,488	67.07%	24,592	30.84%	1,669	2.09%	28,896	36.23%	79,749
Yuba	8,866	41.43%	12,007	56.10%	528	2.47%	-3,141	-14.67%	21,401
Total	8,274,473	60.92%	5,011,781	36.90%	296,829	2.19%	3,262,692	24.02%	13,583,083

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Democratic — >15%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5−10%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%

County flips

Legend

• Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican

  Republican   Hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Butte (largest city: Chico)
• Fresno (largest town: Fresno)
• Nevada (largest town: Truckee)
• Merced (largest community: Merced)
• Riverside (largest city: Riverside)
• San Bernardino (largest town: San Bernardino)
• San Diego (largest community: San Diego)
• San Joaquin (largest city: Stockton)
• San Luis Obispo (largest town: San Luis Obispo)
• Stanislaus (largest community: Modesto)
• Trinity (largest community: Weaverville)
• Ventura (largest city: Ventura)

By congressional district

Obama carried 42 of 53 congressional districts in California, including eight districts held by Republicans.

District	McCain	Obama	Representative
1st	31.69%	65.60%	Mike Thompson
2nd	56.10%	41.43%	Wally Herger
3rd	48.81%	49.28%	Dan Lungren
4th	53.98%	43.83%	John Doolittle (110th Congress)
			Tom McClintock (111th Congress)
5th	28.40%	69.62%	Doris Matsui
6th	22.01%	75.95%	Lynn Woolsey
7th	26.43%	71.40%	George Miller
8th	12.38%	85.22%	Nancy Pelosi
9th	9.87%	88.13%	Barbara Lee
10th	33.14%	64.66%	Ellen Tauscher
11th	44.47%	53.79%	Jerry McNerney
12th	23.88%	74.32%	Jackie Speier
13th	23.81%	74.38%	Pete Stark
14th	24.88%	73.11%	Anna Eshoo
15th	29.69%	68.42%	Mike Honda
16th	28.83%	69.55%	Zoe Lofgren
17th	25.78%	72.14%	Sam Farr
18th	38.98%	59.24%	Dennis Cardoza
19th	52.12%	46.03%	George Radanovich
20th	38.70%	59.55%	Jim Costa
21st	56.32%	42.06%	Devin Nunes
22nd	59.67%	38.30%	Kevin McCarthy
23rd	32.31%	65.30%	Lois Capps
24th	47.65%	50.49%	Elton Gallegly
25th	48.34%	49.45%	Howard McKeon
26th	46.96%	51.03%	David Dreier
27th	31.69%	66.12%	Brad Sherman
28th	22.04%	76.16%	Howard Berman
29th	30.37%	67.59%	Adam Schiff
30th	27.90%	70.44%	Henry Waxman
31st	17.83%	79.87%	Xavier Becerra
32nd	29.81%	68.17%	Hilda Solis
33rd	11.69%	86.81%	Diane Watson
34th	23.15%	74.73%	Lucille Roybal-Allard
35th	14.14%	84.37%	Maxine Waters
36th	33.52%	64.39%	Jane Harman
37th	18.70%	79.59%	Laura Richardson
38th	26.62%	71.27%	Grace Napolitano
39th	32.43%	65.48%	Linda Sánchez
40th	51.14%	46.63%	Ed Royce
41st	54.18%	43.66%	Jerry Lewis
42nd	53.19%	44.88%	Gary Miller
43rd	30.09%	67.96%	Joe Baca
44th	48.57%	49.51%	Ken Calvert
45th	46.94%	51.52%	Mary Bono Mack
46th	49.77%	47.94%	Dana Rohrabacher
47th	37.78%	60.14%	Loretta Sanchez
48th	48.55%	49.30%	John B. T. Campbell III
49th	53.01%	45.14%	Darrell Issa
50th	47.08%	51.26%	Brian Bilbray
51st	35.48%	63.11%	Bob Filner
52nd	53.42%	44.98%	Duncan Hunter
53rd	29.87%	68.17%	Susan Davis

Electors

Technically the voters of California cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. California is allocated 55 electors because it has 53 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 55 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate, to the California Secretary of State. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 55 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them.^[36] An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

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. In California the 55 electors meet in the State Capitol building in Sacramento to cast their ballots.^[37]

The following were the members of the Electoral College from California. All were pledged to and voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.^[38]

Jaime Alvarado William Ayer Joe Baca Jr. Ian Blue Roberta Brooks Nathan Brostrom Mark Cibula Robert Conaway Ray Cordova Lawrence Du Bois James Farley John Freidenrich Mark Friedman Bobby Glaser

Audrey Gordon Robert Handy Ilene Haber Mary Hubert Aleita Huguenin Richard Hundrieser Fred Jackson Patrick Kahler Mary Keadle LeRoy King Vinz Koller Mark Macarro Alma Marquez Ana Mascarenas

Betty McMillion Michael McNerney Gwen Moore Jeremy Nishihara Gregory Olzack Joe Perez Nancy Parrish Lou Paulson Anthony Rendon Frank Salazar David Sanchez Larry Sheingold Lane Sherman Stephen Smith

Juadina Stallings Kenneth Sulzer Aaruni Thakur Norma Torres Silissa Uriarte-Smith Sid Voorakkara Greg Warner Karen Waters Sanford Weiner Gregory Willenborg Kelley Willis James Yedor Christine Young

Notes

^A Turnout information is not available because Decline to State voters were allowed to participate.^[4] There were a total of 6,749,406 eligible registered voters registered with the Democratic Party and 3,043,164 who declined to state.^[10]

See also

• February 2008 California elections
• November 2008 California elections
• Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: California
• 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries

References

1. "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State.
2. Mirchandani, Rajesh (February 3, 2008). "Candidates vie for bite of 'Big Enchilada'". BBC News. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
3. "Call for the 2008 Democratic National Convention" (PDF). Democratic National Committee. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 8, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
4. "Decline to State - Voter Information". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
5. "The Statement of Vote: President by County" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
6. Schneider, Bill (May 1, 2007). "Votes, contributors make California a key player in 2008". CNN. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
7. Marelius, John (February 3, 2008). "Delegate Formulas Vary by Party". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
8. "Voter Information Guide". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
9. Statewide opinion polling for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008#California
10. "Report of Registration as of January 22, 2008" (PDF). California Secretary of State. March 15, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 18, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
11. "FEDERAL ELECTIONS 2008: ELECTION RESULTS FOR THE U.S. PRESIDENT, THE U.S. SENATE AND THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES". www.fec.gov. Federal Elections Commission. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
12. Giese, Chuck (June 20, 2008). "The Green Party's Internal Democracy Problem: Presidential Politics". www.dissedentvoice.org. Dissident Voice. Retrieved April 7, 2008.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
13. Associated Press
14. CNN Archived 2010-06-19 at the Wayback Machine
15. The Cook Political Report
16. CQ Politics
17. D.C. Political Report
18. Electoral-vote.com
19. Fox News
20. The New York Times
21. Politico
22. Real Clear Politics
23. Rasmussen Reports
24. The Takeaway
25. "California: McCain vs. Obama". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
26. "Presidential Campaign Finance: CA Contributions to All Candidates by 3 digit Zip Code". Federal Election Commission. Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
27. "Election Tracker: Ad Spending". CNN. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
28. "Election Tracker: Candidate Visits". CNN. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
29. Ewers, Justin (November 5, 2008). "Obama Wins by Historic Margin in California". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
30. Leip, Dave. "2008 Presidential General Election Results: 2008". Retrieved June 18, 2009.
31. "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2008" (PDF). California Secretary of State. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
32. "Obama rejects proposed California gay marriage ban". Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
33. Goldmacher, Shane (February 5, 2008). "Electoral college measure falls short". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
34. "Statement of Vote: 2008 General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. December 13, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 6, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
35. "Supplement to the Statement of Vote: Statewide Summary by County for United States President" (PDF). California Secretary of State. April 10, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
36. "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
37. "Duly Appointed Presidential Electors". The Green Papers. October 11, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
38. "2008 Presidential Election: California Certificate of Ascertainment". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 5, 2009.

External links

• Official list of electors for ballot candidates
• Official list of electors for write-in candidates