2008 West Virginia General Elections Story

A head to head comparison of the 2008 West Virginia General Election gives us an idea of the break down of the voters.    

John McCain received 397,466 (55.7%) votes, beating Barack Obama who gained 303,857 (42.6%) by 93,609 votes in West Virginia.

John McCain won 48 counties whereas Barack Obama won 7 counties in the total of the 55 counties in the State of West Virginia.

2008 General Election Barack Obama Popular Vote Count Contributed by West Virginia (WV)

During the 2008 General elections, over 131M total number of votes were cast. Barack Obama got 69,448,278 (69.4 Million) over John McCain's 61,739,059 (61.7 Million). He won the popular vote by 7,709,219 (7.7 Million). Even though he lost to John McCain in the State of West Virginia, his 303,857 votes represents 0.4% of his popular vote victory. The remaining 49 states contributed to the remaining 99.6% popular votes victory.

Top 15 Counties in Primary Elections vs General Elections

These 15 counties play an important role in these Primary elections. If a candidate, can get a sizable majority in the largest counties (Kanawha, Berkeley, Wood, Cabell), it becomes very difficult to win majorities in the smaller counties without voter outreach and increased voter participation in them.

Top 15 Counties Comparison in Primary Elections vs General Elections

Monongalia is one of the larger county, voted in favor of Barack Obama giving him a 1.3k vote advantage. Kanawha, Berkeley and Wood, another larger counties, voted in favor of John McCain giving him a  15.5k vote advantage. However, John McCain's steady marginal wins in the less popular counties were enough to overcome that deficit, making him gain an upper hand in the State of West Virginia.

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Related References: 2016 West Virginia Primary Election Story, 2016 West Virginia General Election Story, 2020 West Virginia Primary Election Story, 2020 West Virginia General Election Story, 2012 West Virginia General Election Story