| Here are some interesting stats...though with a caveat that there'll be some votes tomorrow...
Anyway...numbers, with thoughts:
Number of votes cast for Barack Obama in Montana in 2008: 229,700
Number of votes cast for John Kerry in Montana in 2004: 173,710
How many more votes Obama won in Montana than Kerry: 55,990
Number of votes cast for John McCain in Montana in 2008: 241,836
Number of votes cast for George W Bush in Montana in 2004: 266,063
How many fewer votes McCain won in Montana than Bush: 24,227
Number of votes separating Barack Obama from John McCain in the 2008 election: 12,136
Percentage of Montana's 2008 total votes that difference is: 2.50%
Number of votes separating John Kerry from George Bush in the 2004 election: 92,353
Percentage of Montana's 2004 total votes that difference is: 20.50%
In short, that's quite a swing in votes Barack Obama managed in 2008. For anyone out there who knocked on doors, or worked the phones, or donated to Barack Obama's campaign and is feeling a little blue about the outcome in the state, just consider those numbers for a moment, and realize what an excellent base we have in Montana who'll be receptive to progressive ideas.
Percentage of votes cast for third-party presidential candidates in Montana in 2008: 3.19%
Percentage of votes cast for third-party presidential candidates in Montana in 2004: 2.37%
Quick realization: Ron Paul either doesn't have the support everyone assumed he did in Montana, or else Paul-Bearers, like Nader-ites, held their noses and voted for one of the two main candidates. Looks like the polls before the election got Paul's Election-Day support right.
Number of votes cast for Brian Schweitzer in 2008: 316,509
Percentage of total 2008 votes cast: 65.37%
Number of votes cast for Brian Schweitzer in 2004: 225,016
Percentage of total 2004 votes cast: 50.44%
How many more votes Schweitzer won in Montana in 2008 than 2004: 91,493
Not much to say here, other than Schweitzer obviously pleased Montana's voters during his first term. Those re-election numbers are remarkable.
Number of votes cast in 2008 for president, but not for governor: 1,839
Number of votes cast in 2004 for president, but not for governor: 4,288
Less down-ballot blanks in 2008 than in 2004. One of the biggest fears many had going into this election is that new and sporadic voters brought to the table by Obama would leave their ballots blank under the President, like what happened in the primary. Didn't happen. In fact, this generation of voters was more likely to vote down ballot...
Number of votes cast for Linda McCulloch in the 2008 SoS race: 232,070
Number of votes cast for Brad Johnson in the 2008 SoS race: 227,595
Number of votes cast for Bill Kennedy in the 2004 SoS race: 210,972
Number of votes cast for Brad Johnson in the 2004 SoS race: 219,821
How many more votes Johnson won in Montana in 2008 than 2004: 7,774
New voters won this election for McCulloch. Johnson increased his support from 2004 to 2008, and still lost the race. During the same period, the number of supporters for the Republican presidential candidate diminished.
Number of votes separating McCulloch from Johnson in the election: 4,475
Number of votes cast in 2008 for the Constitution Party SoS candidate, Sieglinde Sharbano: 11,523
Number of votes cast in 2004 for third-party SoS candidates: 0
Percentage of votes cast for third-party SoS candidates in 2008: 2.54%
Or maybe the Constitution Party did in Johnson. I know a lot of conservatives were less than pleased with his job performance. Maybe instead of pulling the lever for McCulloch, they opted for Sharbano. On the other and, 2.54% is not much, kind of what you'd expect in any election with third-party candidates.
Number of votes cast in 2008 for president, but not for SoS: 15,843
Number of votes cast in 2004 for president, but not for SoS: 19,641
Again, 2008 voters were more likely to vote down-ballot than their 2004 brethren.
Number of votes cast in 2008 for Bob Kelleher: 128,762
Percentage of votes cast Kelleher won in his 2008 bid for Senate: 27.12%
Number of votes cast in 2004 for Bob Kelleher: 8,393
Percentage of votes cast Kelleher won in his 2004 bid for Governor: 1.88%
That's right, folks! Bob Kelleher is the big winner of the 2008 election! He picked up more than 120,000 votes over his 2004 gubernatorial bid, and advanced more than 25 percent in the polls!
I have no idea what this means. Twenty-five percent will vote for the other guy, no matter who it is? Still, not many standing Senators can post of winning 72 percent of their electorate's approval in any re-election bid.
Number of votes cast in 2008 for John Driscoll: 154,710
Percentage of votes cast Driscoll won in his 2008 "bid" for MT-AL: 32.35%
Number of votes cast in 2008 for Roy Brown: 157,894
Percentage of votes cast Brown won in his 2008 bid for Governor: 32.61%
So Roy Brown outpolled John Driscoll by about 3,000 votes, despite the fact that Driscoll refused to campaign and endorsed his opponent. You have to see this as a shocking rejection of Roy Brown by Montanans, and a ringing endorsement of Schweitzer. It also shows how vulnerable Rehberg was this cycle. If a Democratic House candidate would start where a Republican gubernatorial candidate ended up...man...
Fun. I'll take a closer look at county and geographic distribution of votes later this week. |
