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United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2008

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58.56%
  
39.93%

1,148,275
  
782,989

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November 4, 2008


The 2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana which took place on November 4, 2008 was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Contents

Louisiana was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 18.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe "red state". Although Bill Clinton carried the state twice, it had been trending Republican in recent years, despite having the second-highest percentage of African Americans in the country in 2000. Louisiana is rapidly turning into a more reliable red state as solidified by the comfortable margin enjoyed by McCain in 2008. This would also be the first time since 1968 that Louisiana failed to back the winning candidate since being among the most recent states to vote third party that same year as well.

Primaries

  • Louisiana Democratic primary, 2008
  • Louisiana Republican primary, 2008
  • Louisiana Republican caucuses, 2008
  • Predictions

    There were 17 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:

    1. D.C. Political Report: Republican
    2. Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
    3. Takeaway: Solid McCain
    4. Election Projection: Solid McCain
    5. Electoral-vote.com: Strong Republican
    6. Washington Post: Solid McCain
    7. Politico: Solid McCain
    8. Real Clear Politics: Solid McCain
    9. FiveThirtyEight.com: Solid McCain
    10. CQ Politics: Safe Republican
    11. New York Times: Solid Republican
    12. CNN: Safe Republican
    13. NPR: Solid McCain
    14. MSNBC: Solid McCain
    15. Fox News: Republican
    16. Associated Press: Republican
    17. Rasmussen Reports: Safe Republican

    Polling

    McCain won every pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 50% to 40%.

    Fundraising

    John McCain raised a total of $2,175,416 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,438,276.

    Advertising and visits

    Obama spent $368,039. McCain and his interest groups spent $6,019. McCain visited the state once, in New Orleans.

    Analysis

    Polling in Louisiana gave a strong lead to McCain, sometimes as high as 19%, and Barack Obama did not seriously contest the state. Governor Bobby Jindal endorsed McCain early on in the primary season. Louisiana was also one of only two states to list Ron Paul on their official ballot (the other being Montana which gave the largest percentage to any third party candidate nationwide).

    In 2008, Louisiana was one of five states that swung even more Republican from 2004. John McCain carried Louisiana with 58.56% of the vote, a tad bit better than George W. Bush's 56.72% of the vote in 2004.

    At the same time, however, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu avoided the Republican trend in the state and held onto her U.S. Senate seat, taking in 52.11% of the vote to State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, a Democrat who switched parties to run against Landrieu. Republicans picked up two U.S. House seats in Louisiana (LA-02 and LA-06 with Joseph Cao and Bill Cassidy, respectively). In an extremely bad year for the Republican Party nationwide, Louisiana provided the GOP with a ray of hope and optimism.

    By congressional district

    John McCain carried six of the state’s seven congressional districts.

    Electors

    Technically the voters of Louisiana cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Louisiana is allocated 9 electors because it has 7 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 9 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 9 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. 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.

    The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 9 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:

    1. Lynn Skidmore
    2. Joe Lavigne
    3. Gordon Giles - He replaced Billy Nungesser, who was absent due to illness.
    4. Alan Seabaugh
    5. Karen Haymon
    6. Charles Davis
    7. Charlie Buckels
    8. Dianne Christopher
    9. Roger F. Villere, Jr.

    References

    United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2008 Wikipedia