California — 2008 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate2008 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentObamaD+24.0
How it voted
Share of the 2008 vote
| Barack Obama ✓Democratic | 60.9% | 8,274,473 |
|---|---|---|
| John McCainRepublican | 36.9% | 5,011,781 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 2.2% | 296,829 |
2008presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 2008 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 55 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+59.3 |
| Alpine County, CA | Democratic | D+24.5 |
| Amador County, CA | Republican | R+14.6 |
| Butte County, CA | Democratic | D+2.3 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Republican | R+12.9 |
| Colusa County, CA | Republican | R+18.1 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Democratic | D+37.6 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+6.8 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Republican | R+10.5 |
| Fresno County, CA | Democratic | D+2.1 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+22.0 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+28.1 |
| Imperial County, CA | Democratic | D+26.2 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+9.1 |
| Kern County, CA | Republican | R+17.7 |
| Kings County, CA | Republican | R+14.1 |
| Lake County, CA | Democratic | D+19.2 |
| Lassen County, CA | Republican | R+34.1 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+40.4 |
| Madera County, CA | Republican | R+13.3 |
| Marin County, CA | Democratic | D+57.6 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Republican | R+12.4 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Democratic | D+42.6 |
| Merced County, CA | Democratic | D+8.3 |
| Modoc County, CA | Republican | R+37.7 |
| Mono County, CA | Democratic | D+13.3 |
| Monterey County, CA | Democratic | D+38.3 |
| Napa County, CA | Democratic | D+32.5 |
| Nevada County, CA | Democratic | D+5.3 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+2.6 |
| Placer County, CA | Republican | R+11.2 |
| Plumas County, CA | Republican | R+12.0 |
| Riverside County, CA | Democratic | D+2.3 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Democratic | D+19.0 |
| San Benito County, CA | Democratic | D+22.7 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Democratic | D+6.3 |
| San Diego County, CA | Democratic | D+10.2 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+70.3 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Democratic | D+10.6 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Democratic | D+5.3 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Democratic | D+48.7 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Democratic | D+22.8 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Democratic | D+40.9 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Democratic | D+57.5 |
| Shasta County, CA | Republican | R+25.8 |
| Sierra County, CA | Republican | R+20.8 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Republican | R+10.3 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+28.5 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Democratic | D+49.6 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Democratic | D+1.7 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+16.7 |
| Tehama County, CA | Republican | R+24.0 |
| Trinity County, CA | Democratic | D+4.6 |
| Tulare County, CA | Republican | R+15.3 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Republican | R+12.7 |
| Ventura County, CA | Democratic | D+12.2 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+36.2 |
| Yuba County, CA | Republican | R+14.7 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Barack Obama+369,551 | 489,10678.5% | 119,55519.2% | 14,2522.3% | 622,913 |
| Alpine County | Barack Obama+170 | 42260.8% | 25236.3% | 202.9% | 694 |
| Amador County | John McCain+2,748 | 7,81341.4% | 10,56155.9% | 5052.7% | 18,879 |
| Butte County | Barack Obama+2,307 | 49,01349.7% | 46,70647.3% | 2,9883.0% | 98,707 |
| Calaveras County | John McCain+3,022 | 9,81341.9% | 12,83554.8% | 7733.3% | 23,421 |
| Colusa County | John McCain+1,164 | 2,56939.8% | 3,73357.9% | 1462.3% | 6,448 |
| Contra Costa County | Barack Obama+170,547 | 306,98367.7% | 136,43630.1% | 9,8252.2% | 453,244 |
| Del Norte County | John McCain+644 | 4,32345.4% | 4,96752.1% | 2412.5% | 9,531 |
| El Dorado County | John McCain+9,785 | 40,52943.4% | 50,31453.9% | 2,4662.6% | 93,309 |
| Fresno County | Barack Obama+5,691 | 136,70650.0% | 131,01547.9% | 5,7312.1% | 273,452 |
| Glenn County | John McCain+2,176 | 3,73437.8% | 5,91059.8% | 2352.4% | 9,879 |
| Humboldt County | Barack Obama+17,979 | 39,69262.0% | 21,71333.9% | 2,5634.0% | 63,968 |
| Imperial County | Barack Obama+10,154 | 24,16262.2% | 14,00836.1% | 6501.7% | 38,820 |
| Inyo County | John McCain+780 | 3,74343.8% | 4,52352.9% | 2883.4% | 8,554 |
| Kern County | John McCain+41,336 | 93,45740.0% | 134,79357.7% | 5,5582.4% | 233,808 |
| Kings County | John McCain+4,963 | 14,74742.0% | 19,71056.1% | 6511.9% | 35,108 |
| Lake County | Barack Obama+4,919 | 14,85458.0% | 9,93538.8% | 8403.3% | 25,629 |
| Lassen County | John McCain+3,897 | 3,58631.4% | 7,48365.5% | 3643.2% | 11,433 |
| Los Angeles County | Barack Obama+1,339,428 | 2,295,85369.2% | 956,42528.8% | 65,9702.0% | 3,318,248 |
| Madera County | John McCain+5,631 | 17,95242.3% | 23,58355.5% | 9392.2% | 42,474 |
| Marin County | Barack Obama+80,936 | 109,32077.8% | 28,38420.2% | 2,8662.0% | 140,570 |
| Mariposa County | John McCain+1,198 | 4,10042.4% | 5,29854.7% | 2792.9% | 9,677 |
| Mendocino County | Barack Obama+17,122 | 27,84369.3% | 10,72126.7% | 1,6204.0% | 40,184 |
| Merced County | Barack Obama+5,327 | 34,03153.1% | 28,70444.8% | 1,3162.1% | 64,051 |
| Modoc County | John McCain+1,668 | 1,31329.7% | 2,98167.4% | 1262.9% | 4,420 |
| Mono County | Barack Obama+739 | 3,09355.5% | 2,35442.3% | 1242.2% | 5,571 |
| Monterey County | Barack Obama+49,656 | 88,45368.2% | 38,79729.9% | 2,5332.0% | 129,783 |
| Napa County | Barack Obama+19,365 | 38,84965.1% | 19,48432.7% | 1,3092.2% | 59,642 |
| Nevada County | Barack Obama+2,954 | 28,61751.4% | 25,66346.1% | 1,3672.5% | 55,647 |
| Orange County | John McCain+29,506 | 549,55847.6% | 579,06450.2% | 25,0652.2% | 1,153,687 |
| Placer County | John McCain+19,535 | 75,11243.2% | 94,64754.5% | 4,0532.3% | 173,812 |
| Plumas County | John McCain+1,320 | 4,71542.8% | 6,03554.7% | 2782.5% | 11,028 |
| Riverside County | Barack Obama+14,976 | 325,01750.2% | 310,04147.9% | 12,2411.9% | 647,299 |
| Sacramento County | Barack Obama+102,923 | 316,50658.3% | 213,58339.3% | 12,7702.4% | 542,859 |
| San Benito County | Barack Obama+4,492 | 11,91760.2% | 7,42537.5% | 4462.3% | 19,788 |
| San Bernardino County | Barack Obama+38,312 | 315,72052.1% | 277,40845.8% | 13,2062.2% | 606,334 |
| San Diego County | Barack Obama+125,549 | 666,58154.0% | 541,03243.8% | 27,8902.3% | 1,235,503 |
| San Francisco County | Barack Obama+269,928 | 322,22084.0% | 52,29213.6% | 9,2842.4% | 383,796 |
| San Joaquin County | Barack Obama+22,367 | 113,97454.2% | 91,60743.6% | 4,7272.2% | 210,308 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Barack Obama+7,121 | 68,17651.2% | 61,05545.9% | 3,9242.9% | 133,155 |
| San Mateo County | Barack Obama+147,769 | 222,82673.5% | 75,05724.7% | 5,4091.8% | 303,292 |
| Santa Barbara County | Barack Obama+40,029 | 105,61460.2% | 65,58537.4% | 4,2082.4% | 175,407 |
| Santa Clara County | Barack Obama+272,202 | 462,24169.4% | 190,03928.6% | 13,3092.0% | 665,589 |
| Santa Cruz County | Barack Obama+73,501 | 98,74577.3% | 25,24419.8% | 3,7472.9% | 127,736 |
| Shasta County | John McCain+20,721 | 28,86735.9% | 49,58861.7% | 1,9352.4% | 80,390 |
| Sierra County | John McCain+415 | 74337.3% | 1,15858.2% | 904.5% | 1,991 |
| Siskiyou County | John McCain+2,228 | 9,29243.1% | 11,52053.4% | 7523.5% | 21,564 |
| Solano County | Barack Obama+46,060 | 102,09563.2% | 56,03534.7% | 3,4582.1% | 161,588 |
| Sonoma County | Barack Obama+113,761 | 168,88873.6% | 55,12724.0% | 5,3362.3% | 229,351 |
| Stanislaus County | Barack Obama+2,782 | 80,27949.7% | 77,49748.0% | 3,7362.3% | 161,512 |
| Sutter County | John McCain+5,499 | 13,41240.6% | 18,91157.3% | 6982.1% | 33,021 |
| Tehama County | John McCain+5,898 | 8,94536.4% | 14,84360.4% | 7723.1% | 24,560 |
| Trinity County | Barack Obama+293 | 3,23350.3% | 2,94045.7% | 2574.0% | 6,430 |
| Tulare County | John McCain+16,131 | 43,63441.3% | 59,76556.6% | 2,1262.0% | 105,525 |
| Tuolumne County | John McCain+3,456 | 11,53242.2% | 14,98854.9% | 7832.9% | 27,303 |
| Ventura County | Barack Obama+41,748 | 187,60155.0% | 145,85342.8% | 7,5872.2% | 341,041 |
| Yolo County | Barack Obama+28,896 | 53,48867.1% | 24,59230.8% | 1,6692.1% | 79,749 |
| Yuba County | John McCain+3,141 | 8,86641.4% | 12,00756.1% | 5282.5% | 21,401 |
Nominees: Barack Obama (D) · John McCain (R)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 2008 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Same ballot, 2008CA
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 2008 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.