Electoral history of Barack Obama

Barack Obama on the presidential campaign trail in 2007 during his first presidential campaign. |  |

This article is part of
a series about

Barack Obama

|

* * *

Pre-presidency

* Early life and career
* Illinois State Senator
* 2004 DNC keynote address
* U.S. Senator from Illinois
* 2004 election
* sponsored bills

* * *

44th President of the United States

* Presidency
* timeline
* Transition
* Inaugurations
* Trips
* international

* * *

Policies

* Economy
* Energy
* Foreign policy
* Arctic
* Europe
* East Asia
* Middle East
* South Asia
* Obama Doctrine
* Pardons
* Marine
* Native
* Social
* Space

* * *

Appointments

* Cabinet
* Judiciary
* Sotomayor
* Kagan
* Garland
* Supreme Court candidates

* * *

First term

* First 100 days
* Recovery Act
* Russia nuclear treaty
* Affordable Care Act
* Dodd–Frank
* Iraq withdrawal
* Killing of Osama bin Laden
* 2011 debt-ceiling crisis
* Libya intervention
* Afghanistan withdrawal
* Benghazi attack

* * *

Second term

* 2013 debt-ceiling crisis
* Anti-ISIL campaign
* Iraq
* Syria
* Iran nuclear deal
* Cuban thaw
* Sanctions against Russia
* Selma 50th anniversary speech
* Paris Agreement

* * *

Presidential campaigns

* 2008
* primaries
* convention
* debates
* election
* 2012
* primaries
* convention
* debates
* election

* * *

Post-presidency

* Planned presidential library
* Obama Foundation
* One America Appeal

* * *

Publications

* Dreams from My Father
* The Audacity of Hope
* A Promised Land

* * *

Personal

* Family
* Public image
* Honors

* * *

Others

* Nobel Peace Prize
* Tan suit controversy

* * *

* v
* t
* e

This is the electoral history of Barack Obama. Obama served as the 44th president of the United States (2009-2017) and as a United States senator from Illinois (2005-2008).

A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1997 representing the 13th district, which covered much of the Chicago South Side. In 2000, Obama ran an unsuccessful campaign for Illinois's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives against four-term incumbent Bobby Rush. In 2004, Obama campaigned for the U.S. Senate, participating in the first Senate election in which both major party candidates were African American, with Alan Keyes running as the Republican candidate. Obama won the election, gaining a seat previously represented by Republican Peter Fitzgerald.

In 2008, Obama entered the Democratic primaries for the U.S. presidential election. Numerous candidates entered initially, but over time the field narrowed down to Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton from New York. The contest was highly competitive between the two, with neither being able to reach a majority of delegates without the addition of unpledged delegates. Eventually, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama for the nomination, prompting his victory. He went on to face Senator John McCain from Arizona as the Republican nominee, defeating him with 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173.

Obama sought re-election for a second term in 2012, running virtually unopposed in the Democratic primaries. His opponent in the general election was former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Obama won 332 electoral votes, defeating Romney who gained 206. After this election, he became the first president since Ronald Reagan to receive a majority of the popular vote twice.[a]

## Illinois Senate elections (1997–2002)[edit]

### 1997[edit]

1997 Illinois Senate 13th district election  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | Barack Obama  | 48,592  | 82.16%
| Harold Washington | David Whitehead  | 7,461  | 12.62%
| Republican | Rosette Caldwell Peyton  | 3,091  | 5.23%
Total votes  | 59,144  | 100.00%
| Democratic hold

### 1998[edit]

1998 Illinois Senate 13th district election  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent)  | 45,486  | 89.17%
| Republican | Yesse B. Yehudah  | 5,526  | 10.83%
Total votes  | 51,012  | 100.00%
| Democratic hold

### 2002[edit]

2002 Illinois Senate 13th district election  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent)  | 48,717  | 100.00%
Total votes  | 48,717  | 100.00%
| Democratic hold

## United States House of Representatives election (2000)[edit]

### Primary election[edit]

2000 Illinois's 1st congressional district election, Democratic primary  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | Bobby Rush (incumbent)  | 59,599  | 61.03%
| Democratic | Barack Obama  | 29,649  | 30.36%
| Democratic | Donne Trotter | 6,915  | 7.08%
| Democratic | George Roby  | 1,501  | 1.54%
Total votes  | 97,664  | 100.00%

## United States Senate election (2004)[edit]

### Primary election[edit]

2004 United States Senate Democratic primary in Illinois  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | Barack Obama  | 655,923  | 52.77%
| Democratic | Dan Hynes | 294,717  | 23.71%
| Democratic | Blair Hull | 134,453  | 10.82%
| Democratic | Maria Pappas | 74,987  | 6.03%
| Democratic | Gery Chico | 53,433  | 4.30%
| Democratic | Nancy Skinner | 16,098  | 1.30%
| Democratic | Joyce Washington  | 13,375  | 1.08%
| Write-in | 10  | 0.00%
Total votes  | 1,242,996  | 100.00%

### General election[edit]

County results of the 2004 senatorial election 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | Barack Obama  | 3,598,277  | 69.97%
| Republican | Alan Keyes | 1,391,030  | 27.05%
| Independent | Albert J. Franzen  | 81,186  | 1.58%
| Libertarian | Jerry Kohn  | 69,276  | 1.35%
| Write-in | 2,930  | 0.05%
Total votes  | 5,142,699  | 100.00%
| Democratic gain from Republican

## Presidential primary (2008)[edit]

### Popular vote[edit]

First-instance vote by state and territory

Barack Obama (33)

Hillary Clinton (23)

First-instance vote by county

Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton

John Edwards

Tie

No results

Excluding penalized contests,[b] only primary and caucuses votes:

2008 Democratic presidential primaries Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|

Barack Obama  | 16,706,853  | 49.04%
Hillary Clinton | 16,239,821  | 47.67%
John Edwards | 742,010  | 2.18%
Bill Richardson | 89,054  | 0.26%
Uncommitted  | 82,660  | 0.24%
Dennis Kucinich | 68,482  | 0.20%
Joe Biden | 64,041  | 0.19%
Mike Gravel | 27,662  | 0.08%
Christopher Dodd | 25,300  | 0.07%
Others  | 22,556  | 0.07%
Total votes  | 34,068,439  | 100.00%

Including penalized contests:

2008 Democratic presidential primaries Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|

Hillary Clinton | 18,225,175  | 48.03%
Barack Obama  | 17,988,182  | 47.41%
John Edwards | 1,006,275  | 2.65%
Uncommitted  | 299,610  | 2.79%
Bill Richardson | 106,073  | 0.28%
Dennis Kucinich | 103,994  | 0.27%
Joe Biden | 81,641  | 0.22%
Scattering  | 44,348  | 0.12%
Mike Gravel | 40,251  | 0.11%
Christopher Dodd | 35,281  | 0.09%
Total votes  | 37,980,830  | 100.00%

### Delegate counts[edit]

2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Candidate  | Delegates
Pledged delegates  | Superdelegates | Total delegates
Barack Obama | 1,795  | 361  | 2,156
Hillary Clinton | 1,637  | 285  | 1,922
John Edwards | 4  | 2  | 6
Total  | 3,436  | 648  | 4,084
Needed to win  | 2,118

2008 Democratic National Convention (Presidential tally)

* Barack Obama \- chosen by acclamation

Unfinished roll call (13 states, D.C. Guam, American Samoa and Democrats Abroad):

* Hillary Clinton \- 1,011 (24.07%)

### Other results[edit]

2008 New Hampshire Democratic vice presidential primary Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|

Raymond Stebbins | 50,485  | 46.93%
William Bryk | 22,965  | 21.35%
John Edwards | 10,553  | 9.81%
Barack Obama  | 6,402  | 5.95%
Bill Richardson | 5,525  | 5.14%
Hillary Clinton | 3,419  | 3.18%
Joe Biden | 1,512  | 1.41%
Al Gore | 966  | 0.90%
Dennis Kucinich | 762  | 0.71%
Bill Clinton | 388  | 0.36%
John McCain | 293  | 0.27%
Christopher Dodd | 224  | 0.21%
Ron Paul | 176  | 0.16%
Jack Barnes, Jr. | 95  | 0.09%
Mike Gravel | 91  | 0.09%
Joe Lieberman | 67  | 0.06%
Mitt Romney | 66  | 0.06%
Mike Huckabee | 63  | 0.06%
Rudy Giuliani | 46  | 0.04%
Darrel Hunter  | 20  | 0.02%
Total votes  | 104,118  | 100.00%

## Presidential elections (2008–2012)[edit]

### 2008[edit]

Electoral College map of the 2008 presidential election 2008 United States presidential electionCandidate| Running mate| Party| Popular vote| Electoral vote

|
|
|
|

Votes| %| Votes| %
| Barack Obama| Joe Biden| Democratic| 69,498,516| 52.91| 365| 67.84
| John McCain| Sarah Palin| Republican| 59,948,323| 45.64| 173| 32.16
| Ralph Nader| Matt Gonzalez| Independent| 739,034| 0.56|
| Bob Barr| Wayne Allyn Root| Libertarian| 523,715| 0.40|
| Chuck Baldwin| Darrell Castle| Constitution| 199,750| 0.15|
| Cynthia McKinney| Rosa Clemente| Green| 161,797| 0.12|
Others| 290,626| 0.22|
Total| 131,361,761| 100.00| 538| 100.00

### 2012[edit]

Electoral College map of the 2012 presidential election 2012 United States presidential electionCandidate| Running mate| Party| Popular vote| Electoral vote

|
|
|
|

Votes| %| Votes| %
| Barack Obama (inc.)| Joe Biden (inc.)| Democratic| 65,915,795| 51.06| 332| 61.71
| Mitt Romney| Paul Ryan| Republican| 60,933,504| 47.20| 206| 38.29
| Gary Johnson| Jim Gray| Libertarian| 1,275,971| 0.99|
| Jill Stein| Cheri Honkala| Green| 469,627| 0.36|
Others| 490,513| 0.38|
Total| 129,085,410| 100.00| 538| 100.00

## See also[edit]

* Obama coalition
* Electoral history of Joe Biden
* Electoral history of Hillary Clinton
* Electoral history of Sarah Palin
* Electoral history of John McCain
* Electoral history of John Edwards
* Electoral history of Kamala Harris
* Electoral history of Mitt Romney

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush won majorities of the popular vote once each, while Bill Clinton never won a majority in the popular vote.
2. ^ Florida and Michigan violated Democratic National Committee rules by moving their primaries before February 5, 2008, resulting in a nullification of their primaries, until the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to restore half their delegates.

* v
* t
* e

Barack Obama

* 44th President of the United States (2009–2017)
* U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005–2008)
* Illinois Senator from the 13th district (1997–2004)

| Life and
politics|

* Early life and career
* Illinois Senate career
* 2004 Democratic National Convention
* U.S. Senate career
* Political positions
* Administration foreign policy
* Cannabis
* Mass surveillance
* Social
* Space
* Nobel Peace Prize
* West Wing Week

|
|

Presidency
(timeline)|

* Transition
* 2009 inauguration
* 2013 inauguration
* First 100 days
* Timeline
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016–17
* Foreign policy
* Middle East
* War in Afghanistan
* Iraq withdrawal
* Killing of Osama bin Laden
* Benghazi attack
* Return to Iraq
* War in Syria
* Iran nuclear deal
* Pivot to Asia
* Cuban thaw
* Obama Doctrine
* Europe
* Economic policy
* Affordable Care Act
* American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
* Dodd–Frank Act
* Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
* Energy/Environmental
* Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act
* Marine policy
* New Energy for America
* Regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act
* Clean Power Plan
* Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014
* Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
* New START
* MAP-21st Century Act
* FAST Act
* Pardons
* Presidential trips
* international
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016–17
* Judicial appointments
* Supreme Court
* Sotomayor
* Kagan
* Garland
* controversies
* Cabinet
* Presidential Library and Center
* Executive actions
* Executive orders
* Memoranda
* Proclamations
* Trump transition
* Plantation Estate

Books|

* Dreams from My Father (1995)
* The Audacity of Hope (2006)
* Of Thee I Sing (2010)
* A Promised Land (2020)

Speeches|

* "The Audacity of Hope" (2004)
* "Yes We Can" (2008)
* "A More Perfect Union" (2008)
* "Change Has Come to America" (2008)
* "A New Birth of Freedom" (2009)
* Joint session of Congress (2009)
* "A New Beginning" (2009)
* Joint session of Congress (health care reform) (2009)
* State of the Union Address
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* Tucson memorial speech (2011)
* Joint session of Congress (jobs) (2011)
* "You didn't build that" (2012)
* Selma 50th anniversary (2015)
* Farewell address (2017)

Elections|

| Illinois|

* State Senate
* 1996
* 1998
* 2002
* U.S. House of Representatives
* 2000

|

U.S. Senate|

* 2004

Presidential|

* 2008 campaign
* endorsements
* GOP/conservative support
* staff members
* primaries
* primary campaign
* running mate selection
* convention
* debates
* election
* 2012 campaign
* endorsements
* primaries
* convention
* debates
* election

Family|

* Michelle Obama (wife)
* Ann Dunham (mother)
* Barack Obama Sr. (father)
* Lolo Soetoro (stepfather)
* Maya Soetoro-Ng (maternal half-sister)
* Stanley Armour Dunham (maternal grandfather)
* Madelyn Dunham (maternal grandmother)
* Auma Obama (paternal half-sister)
* Malik Obama (paternal half-brother)
* Marian Shields Robinson (mother-in-law)
* Craig Robinson (brother-in-law)
* Bo (family dog)
* Sunny (family dog)

* v
* t
* e

Public image

News and
political events|

* Oprah Winfrey's endorsement
* Citizenship conspiracy theories
* litigation
* Religion conspiracy theories
* Bill Ayers controversy
* Jeremiah Wright controversy
* Republican and conservative support (2008)
* Assassination threats
* 2008 Denver
* 2008 Tennessee
* First inauguration invitations
* Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
* Citizen's Briefing Book
* Tea Party protests
* New Energy for America
* Gates–Crowley Rose Garden meeting
* Firing of Shirley Sherrod
* Impeachment efforts
* Tan suit controversy

Books about|

* Bibliography
* Obama: From Promise to Power
* Barack Obama: Der schwarze Kennedy
* Redemption Song
* The Case Against Barack Obama
* The Obama Nation
* Culture of Corruption
* Catastrophe
* Barack and Michelle
* The Speech
* The Obama Story
* Between Barack and a Hard Place
* Game Change
* Obama Zombies
* Conservative Victory
* The Bridge
* The Obama Diaries
* The Obama Syndrome
* The Obama Identity
* O: A Presidential Novel
* Where's the Birth Certificate?
* Obama's Last Stand
* Barack Obama: The Story
* Game Change 2012
* Buyer's Remorse
* Rising Star
* Shade
* The World as It Is

Music|

* Obama Girl
* "I Got a Crush... on Obama"
* "Barack the Magic Negro"
* will.i.am
* "Yes We Can"
* "The President Sang Amazing Grace"
* "There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama"
* "Sí Se Puede Cambiar"
* "My President"
* "Deadheads for Obama"
* "Air and Simple Gifts"
* Change Is Now
* Hope! – Das Obama Musical
* "Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney"
* Barack's Dubs
* "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"

Film, TV,
and stage|

* By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009)
* Change (2010)
* Obama Anak Menteng (2010)
* 2016: Obama's America (2012)
* The Road We've Traveled (2012)
* Southside with You (2016)
* Hillary and Clinton (2016)
* Barry (2016)
* America's Great Divide (2020)
* We the People (2021)
* Renegades: Born in the USA (2021)
* Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union (2021)
* The First Lady (2022)
* Picturing the Obamas (2022)

Other media|

* Social media use
* Artists for Obama
* "Hope" poster
* "Joker" poster
* Hair Like Mine
* Situation Room
* Iman Crosson
* The Forgotten Man (2010 painting)
* President Barack Obama (2018 portrait)
* Obama logo
* In comics

Related|

* Barack Obama Day (Illinois)
* Obama Day (Kenya)
* Awards and honors
* Namesakes
* Higher Ground Productions
* "One Last Time (44 Remix)"
* Sunlight before signing

* ← George W. Bush
* Donald Trump →

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Electoral histories of presidents of the United States

* George Washington
* John Adams
* John Quincy Adams
* William Henry Harrison
* James Buchanan
* Abraham Lincoln
* Theodore Roosevelt
* Warren G. Harding
* Herbert Hoover
* Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Harry S. Truman
* John F. Kennedy
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Richard Nixon
* Gerald Ford
* Jimmy Carter
* Ronald Reagan
* George H. W. Bush
* Bill Clinton
* George W. Bush
* Barack Obama
* Donald Trump
* Joe Biden

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template