Democrat. Two senators from each state are elected to represent their state. Johanns won, taking 58% of the vote, with Kleeb taking 40%. Obama selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden to offset concerns about Obamas experience with foreign policy. Winner. Obama opposed the Iraq invasion and argued for a 16-month timetable for removing troops and reinforcing troops in Afghanistan. Dykstra won the Republican primary on June 3. For more information please visit. The Electoral College is the process in which the United States elects its president. [53] Kathy Cummings, a retired special education teacher was nominated via convention by the Green Party. This was the first presidential election year since 1964 when the Democratic Party won the White House and had coattails in the Senate and House of Representatives. The 2008 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2008, with 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested. Each state (Including the District of Columbia) is allocated a number of electors equal to its number of representatives plus two for each of its senators. Localized groups supporting Obama and Biden were able to sign up through the main campaign site, which gathered contact info for mobilization purposes. Begich announced his candidacy for the Senate seat on April 22, 2008. George LeMieux was appointed to replace Mel Martinez upon his resignation. Popular Democratic former Governor Mark Warner (no relation) was the Democratic nominee for the race. For the Georgia senate race, votes from the runoff election are counted. Contact | The incumbent governors of Puerto Rico, Anbal Acevedo Vil, and American Samoa, Togiola Tulafono, were also up for re-election. The Republicans, who openly conceded early on that they wouldn't be able to regain the majority in this election,[3][4] lost eight seats. . The state traditionally leaned Republican, but John Kerry from neighboring Massachusetts narrowly won the state in the 2004 Presidential election. [96][97] Wicker beat Musgrove 55% to 45%. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was the Democratic nominee, and Senator John McCain of Arizona was the Republican nominee. The Upshot's Senate forecasting model uses a combination of polling data and a fundamentals model that includes among other things candidate political experience, money raised, and state . *Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) caucus with Democrats. On November 4, 2008, Coleman received 1,211,590 votes to Franken's 1,211,375 votes, a margin of 215 votes, far less than 0.1%, thereby triggering an automatic recount. In North Carolina, there had been rumors that senator Elizabeth Dole would retire from the Senate and run for governor, but she said in 2006 that she intended to run for re-election. Such seating became known as the Cherokee Strip, a reference to the region in Oklahoma with land that at the time belonged neither to the Indian Territory nor the United States. Overview and Live Results: Chicago Mayoral Election, Legislative Special Elections, Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin Running for U.S. Senate, Initial 2024 House Ratings from Sabato's Crystal Ball. Going into these elections, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two Independents who caucused with the Democrats, giving the Democratic caucus the slightest 5149 majority. Have questions about Senate art? Sununu's 2002 opponent, former Governor Jeanne Shaheen, decided to run and was generally considered to be a very formidable challenger. Sauerberg had 29%. [137] Conley, whose victory in the Democratic primary over Michael Cone was a surprise, is a former Republican who supported Ron Paul in 2008 and campaigned as the more conservative candidate on some issues, notably illegal immigration and the bailout of Wall Street. [120] The Democratic nominee was state senator Kay Hagan,[121] who defeated Jim Neal and Dustin Lassiter in the Democratic primary. In the early years of the Senate an equal number of desks were placed on each side of the room, separated by a central passageway, without regard to party size. [134] National Journal has declared that "Reed is probably the safest incumbent of the 2008 cycle". The goal of having two senators per state is to have each state equally represented in the senate. Justices Opened Door to Gerrymander Presidential Elections, How Trump Could Win Re-Election By One Electoral Vote, 3 Myths About Abolishing the Electoral College, 5 Reasons to Abolish the Electoral College, Another Look at the 2020 Battleground States, Imagining the 2024 Electoral Map After Redistricting, The Electoral College Penalizes Voters In High Turnout States, The Winner-Take-All Electoral College Isnt In the Constitution. On Jan. 1, 2008, Gov. A map of key Senate races to watch. Obama received more votes than any candidate in history. Popular vote totals generally gathered from state Certificates of Ascertainment and/or results posted directly by individual states. [32], Other candidates included Bob Kinsey of Denver as the Green Party nominee,[33] Douglas "Dayhorse" Campbell as the American Constitution Party's nominee,[34] and Independent candidate Buddy Moore, unaffiliated any party.[35]. In the end, Landrieu was re-elected with 52% of the vote, Kennedy having 46%. Incumbent John Kerry sought another Senate term in Massachusetts. When the Senate moved to its current Chamber in 1859, the practice of dividing the desks equally continued for several years even though the new Chamber was large enough to permit a flexible seating arrangement. Eleven of the fifty United States governors were up for re-election, as were the governorships of two U.S. territories. Michigan and Minnesota held elections for their lower, but not upper houses. Johnson underwent surgery in December 2006 for a cerebral arteriovenous malformation and was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007. Kaufman subsequently announced that he would not seek election to a full term in 2010, effectively making him a caretaker. Nebraska state Green Party Co-Chairman Steve Larrick was also a candidate,[101] as was Kelly Rosberg of the Nebraska Party. McCain suggested that government-aided bodies like the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) failed to offset these risks. [110][111] Furthermore, in the wake of the financial crisis, Carl Peter Klapper entered the race as a write-in candidate.[112]. Latinos and the 2008 Presidential Election. Additionally, it was the first election in which both major parties nominated candidates who were born outside of the contiguous United States. Usage Policy | Additionally, votes cast for Paul Wellstone in the 2002 election are not factored into the DFL's total from that year. [114] Domenici normally would have been expected to win re-election easily, having won his current term with the support of two out of three New Mexico voters; however, he was to be investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee for his role in firing U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Graham easily bested Witherspoon in the June 10 primary.[136]. [44], On September 1, 2007, senator Larry Craig announced his intent to resign from the Senate effective September 30, 2007. Obama received 365 electoral votes, and McCain 173. On December 2, 2008, Chambliss won the run-off with 57% of vote to Martin's 43%. Utah. Summary of the November 4, 2008, United States Senate election results. [47] The announcement followed by just six days the disclosure that he had pleaded guilty on August 1, 2007, to a reduced misdemeanor charge arising out of his arrest on June 11 at the Minneapolis airport for soliciting sex with a man in the restroom. The Obama campaign also realized its commitment to younger voters by winning all age groups except those aged 65 years and older. Senator Hillary Clinton were the leading candidates for the Democratic nomination. The campaign engaged targeted groups through networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. simplemaps_election.votes_by_state = {"AL":9,"AK":3,"AZ":10,"AR":6,"CA":55,"CO":9,"CT":7,"DE":3,"FL":27,"GA":15,"HI":4,"ID":4,"IL":21,"IN":11,"IA":7,"KS":6,"KY":8,"LA":9,"ME":2,"ME1":1,"ME2":1,"MD":10,"MA":12,"MI":17,"MN":9,"MS":6,"MO":11,"MT":3,"NE":2,"NE1":1,"NE2":1,"NE3":1,"NV":5,"NH":4,"NJ":15,"NM":5,"NY":31,"NC":15,"ND":3,"OH":20,"OK":7,"OR":7,"PA":21,"RI":4,"SC":8,"SD":3,"TN":11,"TX":34,"UT":5,"VT":3,"VA":13,"WA":11,"WV":5,"WI":10,"WY":3,"DC":3}; Electoral Vote Map is an interactive map to help you follow the 2024 presidential election. Two senators from each state are elected to represent their state. to easily win re-election. Barkley, who had briefly been appointed Senator after the death of Paul Wellstone in 2002, ran under the banner of the Independence Party, the largest third party in Minnesota. Obama also offered the chance for voters to elect the nations first African American president and a relatively young president at 47 years old. Eight incumbent state governors were running for re-election, while the retirements of Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware, Matt Blunt of Missouri, and Mike Easley of North Carolina left those gubernatorial positions open. Green Party Senate Candidate Chris Lugo Urges Inclusion in Debates. However, Georgia proceeded to a runoff election where the Republican candidate won by over 10%. [41] For most of the campaign, Chambliss maintained a comfortable lead in most polls. [93] However, Barbour filed an appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which overturned the earlier ruling and set the special election for November 4, 2008.[94][95]. Sen. Trent Lott's surprise resignation has opened up the other Mississippi Senate seat in 2008. Governors No Toss Ups 45 Democrats * Toss Ups 7 Republicans 48 38 Safe or Not Up 6 1 7 2 4 42 Safe or Not Up 51 Seats Needed. "Daniel Lewis Is Libertarian Candidate For U.S. Senate", "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives", Noriega avoids runoff in Senate bid; Cornyn wins easily, "Our Campaigns - TX US Senate - D Primary Race - Mar 04, 2008", "Our Campaigns - TX US Senate - R Primary Race - Mar 04, 2008", "Democrat Warner Holds Large Lead Over Davis and Gilmore", "Senate Mourns Death of Wyoming Republican Craig Thomas", "Goodenough announces Senate bid against Barrasso | KULR-8 TELEVISION - Billings, Montana | Wyoming State News", Political newcomer Carter will face Barrasso, Cook Political Report 2008 Senate Race Ratings, Intrade Composite Poll - Supermajority Predictions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2008_United_States_Senate_elections&oldid=1142360887, November 2008 events in the United States, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Articles with dead external links from July 2016, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from June 2016, Articles with dead external links from September 2017, Articles with dead external links from July 2017, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2013, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from March 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 00:07.