2008 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary
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 Primary results by county Clinton: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% Obama: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Kentucky |
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The 2008 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary took place May 20, 2008, and had 51 delegates at stake. The winner in each of
Kentucky had a
There were 3,545 precincts in 120 counties with 1,629,845 Democratic registered voters, and the turnout was 43.0% of the registered voters.[2]
Polls
According to a poll from Rasmussen Reports taken before the primary, Hillary Clinton led Barack Obama 56-31 percent in Kentucky with 13 percent undecided.[3]
As of April 30, two superdelegates had pledged support for Obama while three had endorsed Clinton.[1]
Results
Primary Date: May 20, 2008
National Pledged Delegates Determined: 51
| Kentucky Democratic Presidential Primary Results – 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates | ||
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton | 459,511 | 65.48% | 37 | ||
| Democratic | Barack Obama | 209,954 | 29.92% | 14 | ||
| Democratic | Uncommitted | 18,091 | 2.58% | 0 | ||
| Democratic | John Edwards | 14,212 | 2.03% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 701,768 | 100.00% | 51 | |||
| Voter turnout | 43.00% | — | ||||
Analysis
Hillary Clinton won a decisive two-to-one victory in Kentucky, a state located in
Clinton performed extraordinarily well throughout the state of Kentucky, carrying all but two counties: Jefferson County, which contains Louisville, and Fayette County which contains Lexington. Her best performance was in Southeast Kentucky, located in the heart of Appalachia, an area made up of less educated, lower-income, working-class whites. In fact, it was here where Clinton received her largest margin of victory in a county nationwide: Magoffin County gave Clinton 92.98 percent of the vote while Obama only received a meager 5.00 percent.
Kentucky was another state that highlighted Barack Obama's growing problem among working-class whites, a swing voting bloc also referred to as Reagan Democrats who Clinton claimed were crucial to Democrats winning back the White House. Exit polls in Kentucky supported Clinton's claim – of Kentucky voters who voted for Clinton, only one-third of voters said they would vote for Obama should he become the nominee while another one-third said they would vote for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and another one-third said they would not vote at all.
See also
- Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
- Kentucky Republican primary, 2008
References
- ^ a b c Berg-Andersson, Richard. "Kentucky Democratic Delegation 2008". The Green Papers. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- ^ "Kentucky State Board of Elections: Unofficial 2008 Primary Election Results, U.S. President - Statewide". Kentucky State Board of Elections. May 20, 2008. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
- ^ "Kentucky Democratic Primary". Rasmussen Reports. May 6, 2008. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.