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).
Barack Obama on the presidential campaign trail in 2007 during his first presidential campaign .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) United States House of Representatives election (2000) United States Senate election (2004) Primary election General election County results of the 2004 senatorial election Presidential primary (2008) Popular vote First-instance vote by state and territory
First-instance vote by county
Excluding penalized contests,[b]
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 2008 Democratic National Convention (Presidential tally )
Barack Obama - chosen by acclamationUnfinished roll call (13 states, D.C. Guam , American Samoa and Democrats Abroad):
Other results Presidential elections (2008–2012) 2008 Electoral College map of the 2008 presidential election2008 United States presidential election Candidate 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 Electoral College map of the 2012 presidential election2012 United States presidential election Candidate 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 Notes 
