The 2008 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Kansas was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 14.9% 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. He won all but three counties and one congressional district in the state. Obama still performed significantly better than Kerry, and his 41.55% of the vote remains the highest for a Democrat in the 21st century, although his running mate Joe Biden nearly matched that percentage 12 years later, with a slight reduction in margin of defeat.

As of 2024, this is the last time that Crawford County voted for the Democratic candidate in a presidential election.

Caucuses 2008 Kansas Democratic presidential caucuses 2008 Kansas Republican presidential caucuses

Campaign

Predictions There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:

+SourceRankingD.C. Political ReportCook Political ReportThe TakeawayElectoral-vote.comWashington PostBased on TakeawayPoliticoRealClearPoliticsFiveThirtyEightCQ PoliticsThe New York TimesCNNNPRMSNBCFox NewsAssociated PressRasmussen Reports

Polling

McCain won every pre-election poll. Since March 16, McCain won each poll with a double-digit margin and at least 47% of the vote.Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $1,219,074 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,548,322.

Advertising and visits Obama spent $62,108. McCain and his interest groups spent $13,693. Neither campaign visited the state.

Analysis Kansas has always been a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, voting for GOP nominees in all but seven elections since statehood. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry Kansas was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide in 1964. Although the state did receive attention from Barack Obama, whose mother was born in Kansas, it wasn't enough to overcome the deeply planted GOP roots in the state. John McCain carried Kansas by a comfortable 15-percent margin of victory. McCain's margin of victory in Kansas, however, was less than that of George W. Bush who carried the state in 2004 with 62% of the vote over John Kerry's 36.62% showing in the state - a 10-point swing to the Democrats in 2008.

Obama only won three counties - Crawford (home to Pittsburg), Douglas (home to Lawrence), and Wyandotte (home to Kansas City). The first two were home to large college populations, while Wyandotte had a significant African-American population. He did, however, succeed in winning 41% of the state's popular vote. The other Democrats to have cracked the 40 percent barrier in the state since Johnson's 1964 landslide are Jimmy Carter in 1976, Michael Dukakis in 1988, Joe Biden in 2020, and Kamala Harris in 2024.

To highlight its status as a reliably red state, former State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, a Republican, ousted incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Nancy Boyda to win back Kansas's 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jenkins received 50.80% of the vote to Boyda's 45.97%. At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts was reelected with 60.06% of the vote over former Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Slattery. Republicans also made gains in the Kansas Senate, picking up one seat.

, this is the last election in which Crawford County voted for the Democratic candidate. Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Atchison County since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Results 2008 United States presidential election in KansasPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 699,655 56.48% 6 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 514,765 41.55% 0 Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 10,527 0.85% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 6,706 0.54% 0 Reform Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 4,148 0.33% 0 Green Cynthia McKinney (write-in) Rosa Clemente 35 0.00% 0 Write-in votes 36 0.00% 0 Totals 1,238,873 100.00% 6 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 60.8%

By county