2008 Oregon Democratic presidential primary
The 2008 Oregon Democratic presidential primary was a mail-only primary in the U.S. state of Oregon. Ballots were mailed to registered Democratic voters between May 2 and May 6, 2008.[1] To be counted, all ballots had to have been received by county elections offices by 8:00 p.m. PDT on May 20, 2008.[1] It was a closed primary and voters had to have registered as Democrats by April 29, 2008 to be eligible to vote in any of the partisan races. Barack Obama won the presidential primary with 58% of the vote.
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 Primary results by county Clinton: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Obama: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Oregon |
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At the time of the election there were 868,371 registered Democratic voters; 73.56% of them voted in this election.[2]
Delegates
Oregon had a total of 65 delegates at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of these, 52 pledged delegates were allocated proportionally to one of the Democratic Presidential candidates in the primary. (The delegates themselves, along with nine alternates, were elected at a later date.)[3]
The 52 pledged delegates were allocated as follows:[3]
- Oregon's 1st congressional district: 7
- Oregon's 2nd congressional district: 5
- Oregon's 3rd congressional district: 9
- Oregon's 4th congressional district: 7
- Oregon's 5th congressional district: 6
- At-large: 12
- Pledged superdelegates: 6
Oregon also had 13 unpledged superdelegates, all of whom endorsed Obama (though Kulongoski and Hooley originally endorsed Clinton in the primaries):[4][5]
- Governor Ted Kulongoski
- U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
- Congressman David Wu
- Congressman Earl Blumenauer
- Congressman Peter DeFazio
- Congresswoman Darlene Hooley
- Secretary of State Bill Bradbury (by association with the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State)
- DNC member Frank Dixon
- DNC member Jenny Greenleaf
- DNC member Wayne Kinney
- DNC member Gail Rasmussen
- DNC member and DPO chair Meredith Wood Smith
- Former Governor Barbara Roberts (unpledged delegate, elected at the state Democratic convention on June 21)[6]
Polling
| Source | Date | Clinton | Obama | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | May 16–May 18, 2008 | 42% | 55% | 2% | 1% |
| Suffolk | May 15–May 17, 2008 | 41% | 45% | -- | 8% |
| American Research Group | May 14–May 15, 2008 | 45% | 50% | -- | 5% |
| Public Policy Polling (D) | May 10–May 11, 2008 | 39% | 53% | -- | 7% |
| SurveyUSA | May 9–May 11, 2008 | 43% | 54% | 2% | 2% |
| Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall | May 8–May 10, 2008 | 35% | 55% | -- | 10% |
| Rasmussen Reports | May 1, 2008 | 39% | 51% | -- | 10% |
| SurveyUSA | April 28–April 30, 2008 | 44% | 50% | 2% | 4% |
| SurveyUSA | April 4–April 6, 2008 | 42% | 52% | 4% | 3% |
| Riley Research Poll | January 21–January 29, 2008 | 36% | 28% | 18% | 13% |
May 18 Obama rally
On May 18, 2008, Barack Obama addressed a rally in Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, with a crowd estimated at 72,000 (60,000 inside the gates and another 12,000 outside).[7] This crowd was the largest ever to greet Obama, surpassing his previous record of 35,000 people in Pennsylvania.[8][9] It was also likely the largest-ever political rally in Oregon, surpassing the John Kerry rally in 2004, which drew 50,000.[7] Large, media-attracting rallies and meetings such as this were noted to make a substantial difference in electorate enthusiasm and volunteer sign-ups for both Democratic Party potential candidates.[10]
Results
Primary date: May 20, 2008
National pledged delegates determined: 52
| 2008 Oregon Democratic presidential primary Official Results[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates[12] |
| Barack Obama | 375,385 | 58.52% | 31 |
| Hillary Clinton | 259,825 | 40.50% | 21 |
| Write-in | 6,289 | 0.98% | 0 |
| Total | 638,790 | 100.00% | 52 |
References
- "Voters' Guides General Information". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
- "Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division". Oregon Secretary of State. May 22, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
- "Democratic Party of Oregon: Basic information about our delegate selection plan" (PDF). OregonDemocrats.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- "Kulongoski, Hooley endorse Obama". The Oregonian. June 6, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
- "Unpledged PLEO Delegates -- by state" (PDF). Democratic Party. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- "Oregon Democrats pick ex-governor as 65th delegate". OregonLive.com. June 21, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
- Cole, Michelle; Dave Hogan; Tony Green (May 19, 2008). "72,000 gather at Portland's Waterfront Park to see Obama The crowd is a record for a political event in Oregon and wraps up the Democratic senator's campaign tour of the state". The Oregonian.
- "Record Obama Crowd, the Size of a City". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- Rohter, Larry (May 18, 2008). "Obama Draws Record Crowd in Oregon". The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- Meckler, Laura (June 9, 2008). "In Crowd Size, Obama Has the Edge". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
- "Oregon Secretary of State, June 9, 2008 Primary Election, Official Election Results, United States President". Oregon Secretary of State. June 20, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
- Berg-Andersson, Richard. "Oregon Democratic Delegation 2008". The Green Papers. Retrieved May 21, 2008.