| Elections in Virginia |
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In 2008, Virginia, for the first time since 1964, cast its electoral college presidential votes for a Democrat, Barack Obama. It also elected a United States senator, members of the United States House of Representatives, and local officers such as county board and school board members.
On February 12, 2008, a Presidential primary decided which candidate would receive Virginia's delegates to the 2008 National convention. The results were: [1]
| John McCain | 241,780 | 50.99% |
| Mike Huckabee | 188,835 | 39.83% |
| Ron Paul | 21,799 | 4.59% |
| Mitt Romney | 16,307 | 3.43% |
| Fred D. Thompson | 3,493 | 0.73% |
| Rudy Giuliani | 1,879 | 0.39% |
In a second step, city and county caucuses elected delegates to Congressional District and the State Conventions. The third step was a series of Congressional District conventions held in late April and early May 2008; they elected some of Virginia's delegates to the Republican National Convention. The Republican State Convention (Richmond, Virginia May 30–31, 2008) chose the Republican Senate nominee, twenty-seven (27) delegates, and twenty-seven (27) alternate delegates at large to the 2008 Republican National Convention. [2] Since the Republican primary is winner-take-all, all National Convention delegates must vote for John McCain on the first ballot. [3] The main issues for State Convention delegates was their preference for party chairman and U.S. Senate nominee. James S. Gilmore secured the Senate nomination over Robert G. Marshall by 70 votes out of 10,378. Although Gilmore outspent Marshall by more than 8 to 1, a coalition of anti-abortion activists, libertarians and some moderates from Northern Virginia almost succeeded in nominating Marshall. Later in the day, that coalition elected Delegate Jeffrey M. Frederick as state party chair over incumbent John H. Hager (Jenna Bush's father-in-law). [4]
The Eighth and Tenth Congressional districts chose their congressional candidates in primary elections June 10, 2008. [5]
| 8th C.D. | Mark Ellmore | 3,286 | 56.04% | Amit K. Singh | 2,577 | 43.95% |
| 10th C.D. | Frank R. Wolf (incumbent) | 16,726 | 91.73% | Vern McKinley | 1,506 | 8.26% |
In October 2008, Virginia's Republican Party chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden because of his association with Bill Ayers. Both had friends who bombed buildings in the United States. A McCain spokeswoman complained Frederick's remarks were "not appropriate." [7]
On November 3, 2008, the Virginia Republican Party charged that local election officials had mailed absentee ballots ten days late to military members overseas. Its lawsuit sought to modify the rule which requires all absentee votes to be received by the time that the polls close in order to give overseas absentee voters and additional 10 days to return their ballots. [8]
For 2008, the Republican Party of Virginia raised $489,024 compared with $2,200,851 for the Democratic party. [9]
The 2008 Presidential Preference Primary was held on February 12, 2008. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson all turned in enough signatures to the Virginia State Board of Elections to qualify to run in the Commonwealth. Chris Dodd did not file with the State Board of Elections by the December 14, 5:00 pm deadline. [10]
Delegates to the 2008 National Convention were selected in proportion to the votes gained in the primary. The results of the primary are:
| Barack Obama | 619,515 | 63.73% |
| Hillary Clinton | 343,177 | 35.30% |
| John Edwards | 5,109 | 0.52% |
| Dennis J. Kucinich | 2,335 | 0.24% |
| Bill Richardson | 1,054 | 0.10% |
| Joe Biden | 791 | 0.08% |
Each city or county held a caucus to elect delegates to the state convention in proportion to the primary results during the third week of April. The Democratic Party of Virginia will send 103 delegates and 14 alternates to the national convention in Denver, Colorado. Eighteen of the 103 delegates were automatically allocated to party leaders. In May 2008, 54 delegates and 11 alternates were elected at Congressional District Conventions. An additional 20 at large delegates, 11 party leader and elected official delegates, and 3 alternates were elected at the Virginia State Democratic Convention on June 14, 2008, in Hampton, Virginia. [12] The allocation of delegates between the two candidates which received at least 15% of the vote, based on the primary results, are as follows:
| Delegate Type | Total | Obama | Clinton |
| District Level Delegates | 54 | 35 | 19 |
| District Level Alternates | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| At-Large Delegates | 18 | 12 | 6 |
| At-large Alternates | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Pledged PLEOs | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Unpledged PLEO Delegates | 16 | ||
| Unpledged Add-on Delegates | 2 |
In the November 4, 2008 General Election, the Barack Obama / Joe Biden ticket carried the state with 1,897,941 (52.21%) to 1,699,428 (46.75%). Thirty-two percent of that margin came from Arlington County in Northern Virginia. Democrat Mark Warner also defeated former Governor James Gilmore for the United States Senate 2,302,480 (64.69%) to 1,211,654 (34.04%). [14]
For 2008, the Democratic Party of Virginia raised $2,200,851 compared with $489,024 for the Republican party. [9]
The 2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucus occurred on January 3, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides. Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008, making him the first African American to win the caucus and the first African American to win a primary state since Jesse Jackson in 1988. Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third, though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards. Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
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The 2008 Nebraska Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 9, 2008, where 24 of the state's 31 convention delegates were chosen. Like he did throughout many other states that held caucuses instead of primaries, Barack Obama won the Nebraska Democratic Caucus by more than a two-to-one margin of victory over Hillary Clinton. On May 13, 2008, the state also held a non-binding primary election which Obama also won but the margin of victory was considerably smaller.
The 2008 Maine Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 10, 2008, and had 24 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Maine's two congressional districts received all of that district's total delegates, which totaled 16. Another eight delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama, at the Maine Democratic Party Statewide Convention on May 31, 2008. These 24 delegates represented Maine at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Another 10 unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.
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The 2008 Oregon Democratic presidential primary was a mail-only primary in the U.S. state of Oregon. Ballots were mailed to registered Democratic voters between May 2 and May 6, 2008. To be counted, all ballots had to have been received by county elections offices by 8:00 p.m. PDT on May 20, 2008. It was a closed primary and voters had to have registered as Democrats by April 29, 2008, to be eligible to vote in any of the partisan races. Barack Obama won the presidential primary with 58% of the vote.
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The 2008 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 4, 2008, which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Elections in Virginia are authorized under Article I of the Virginia State Constitution, sections 5–6, and Article V which establishes elections for the state-level officers, cabinet, and legislature. Article VII section 4 establishes the election of county-level officers. Elections are regulated under state statute 24.2-102. The Virginia State Board of Elections oversees the execution of elections under state law. In a 2020 study, Virginia was ranked as the 12th easiest state for citizens to vote in.
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