2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska facts for kids

The 2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska occurred on November 4, 2008. It was part of the United States´ general election that year. The Republican candidates were Arizona Senator John McCain and his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. The Democratic candidates were Illinois Senator Barack Obama, and his running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden. Although McCain won the statewide vote by a margin of 14.93%, Obama was given 1 electoral vote (McCain got 4). That made Obama the first Democrat to win an electoral vote in Nebraska since 1964.

The McCain won the popular vote statewide. However (as is the case in Maine), in Nebraska, two electoral votes are given to the winner of the statewide popular vote. The remaining electoral votes (in the case of Nebraska, which has five electoral votes, this means three) are distributed: one is appointed to the winner of each congressional district. In this case, Obama narrowly won the votes of Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, and therefore, received an electoral vote.