2008 Indiana gubernatorial election
November 4, 2008
 
Nominee Mitch Daniels Jill Long Thompson
Party Republican Democratic
Running mate Becky Skillman Dennie Oxley
Popular vote 1,563,885 1,082,463
Percentage 57.8% 40.1%
County results
Daniels:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Thompson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election

Mitch Daniels
Republican

 Elected Governor

Mitch Daniels
Republican

The 2008 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican nominee Mitch Daniels was challenged by Democratic nominee Jill Long Thompson and Libertarian nominee Andy Horning. Daniels easily won reelection, defeating Long Thompson by over 17 points. Despite Daniels' landslide victory, Barack Obama narrowly carried Indiana in the concurrent presidential election; the only Democratic candidate to do so since 1964.

Primaries

May 6, 2008 – Democratic and Republican primary elections.

October 6, 2008 – Deadline for voter registration for the General election.

Democratic

On the Democratic side, Indianapolis businessman Jim Schellinger and former U.S. Representative Jill Long Thompson announced their candidacies. Indiana Senate Minority Leader Richard Young also ran early, but dropped out of the race well before the primary. Schellinger raised over $1 million in campaign funds, with support of key Democratic officials such as former Indiana House Speaker John R. Gregg, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and U.S. Representative Julia Carson.[1] Long Thompson's support came from Democrats such as popular former U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr. and former Indiana First Lady Maggie Kernan.[2]

The contest was very close. The difference between the two was 13,769 votes out of over 1.1 million cast, a difference of 1.1%. Both Long Thompson and Schellinger won various counties from many different political geographies of the state. Schellinger narrowly beat Long Thompson in heavily populated Marion County, home of Indianapolis. Long Thompson trounced Schellinger in Allen County, home of Fort Wayne, the second most populous city in the state. Many attribute her very narrow statewide victory to her strong performance in Allen County. Schellinger also did well in Evansville and the Indianapolis suburbs. Long Thompson and Schellinger basically split the rural vote. It was one of the closest statewide primaries in state history, and also had the highest turnout of any Indiana non-presidential primary. Schellinger called Long Thompson around 5 a.m. the day after the election to concede. He pledged her his full support.

Democratic primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jill Long Thompson 582,860 50.60
Democratic Jim Schellinger 569,091 49.40
Total votes 1,151,951 100.00

On June 16, Long Thompson announced that her running mate and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor would be longtime State Representative Dennie Oxley.[4]

Republican

On June 16, 2007, incumbent Governor Mitch Daniels announced he was running for reelection with his Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman. He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mitch Daniels (Incumbent) 350,390 100.00
Total votes 350,390 100.00

Libertarian

Andy Horning, an engineer, Libertarian Party activist and frequent candidate, ran unopposed for his party's nomination. He appeared on the November ballot with Lisa Kelly as running mate.

General election

Debates

Three debates organized by the Indiana Debate Commission were held:[5]

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[7] Lean R October 16, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report[8] Likely R November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[9] Lean R November 3, 2008
Real Clear Politics[10] Lean R November 4, 2008

Polling

Polling had largely shown Daniels with a slight lead over both Long Thompson and Schellinger. Long Thompson later slipped further behind Daniels in most polls. In the last polls before the election, conducted by Public Policy Polling (November 2, 2008), Daniels led Long Thompson 60% to 37%.

Statewide results

2008 Indiana gubernatorial election[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mitch Daniels/Becky Skillman (incumbent) 1,563,885 57.8% +4.6
Democratic Jill Long Thompson/Dennie Oxley 1,082,463 40.1% -5.4
Libertarian Andy Horning 57,376 2.1% +0.8
No party Write-Ins 27 0.0% —
Majority 481,422
Turnout 2,703,751 62%
Republican hold Swing

County results

Daniels won 79 of Indiana's counties compared to 13 for Long Thompson.[12]

County Daniels Votes Long Thompson Votes Others Votes Total
Adams 61.3% 8,291 36.5% 4,938 2.2% 294 13,523
Allen 61.0% 89,938 37.3% 55,027 1.7% 2,449 147,414
Bartholomew 70.6% 21,547 27.7% 8,447 1.7% 533 30,527
Benton 62.8% 2,398 34.3% 1,308 2.9% 109 3,815
Blackford 57.2% 3,098 41.0% 2,221 1.8% 97 5,416
Boone 80.5% 21,352 17.5% 4,633 2.0% 540 26,525
Brown 61.3% 4,967 35.6% 2,880 3.1% 250 8,097
Carroll 63.8% 5,586 33.4% 2,925 2.8% 241 8,752
Cass 56.3% 8,831 40.9% 6,418 2.8% 433 15,682
Clark 60.7% 28,622 37.9% 17,821 1.4% 682 47,125
Clay 52.7% 5,986 44.6% 5,055 2.7% 312 11,353
Clinton 67.7% 8,322 29.8% 3,658 2.5% 306 12,286
Crawford 38.9% 1,869 59.7% 2,869 1.4% 68 4,806
Daviess 58.5% 6,043 38.5% 3,978 3.0% 310 10,331
Dearborn 67.3% 14,536 30.3% 6,540 2.4% 519 21,595
Decatur 72.8% 7,486 24.6% 2,534 2.6% 270 10,290
DeKalb 57.1% 9,562 40.4% 6,752 2.5% 424 16,738
Delaware 56.5% 27,876 41.7% 20,588 1.8% 895 49,359
Dubois 54.3% 9,946 43.3% 7,938 2.4% 445 18,329
Elkhart 57.8% 40,983 39.7% 28,114 2.5% 1,740 70,837
Fayette 58.2% 5,373 39.8% 3,670 2.0% 180 9,223
Floyd 62.3% 22,471 36.1% 13,020 1.6% 576 36,067
Fountain 58.5% 4,350 37.9% 2,816 3.6% 269 7,435
Franklin 61.6% 6,443 35.2% 3,674 3.2% 337 10,454
Fulton 58.7% 5,309 38.6% 3,493 2.7% 247 9,049
Gibson 60.1% 9,087 38.1% 5,757 1.8% 270 15,114
Grant 61.8% 16,006 36.4% 9,431 1.8% 462 25,899
Greene 50.1% 6,756 46.5% 6,261 3.4% 464 13,481
Hamilton 83.3% 106,574 15.2% 19,442 1.5% 1,863 127,879
Hancock 77.1% 26,395 20.6% 7,053 2.0% 800 34,248
Harrison 56.9% 10,277 41.2% 7,447 1.9% 342 18,066
Hendricks 77.1% 49,490 20.9% 13,381 2.0% 1,301 64,172
Henry 57.1% 12,142 40.1% 8,519 2.8% 589 21,250
Howard 61.6% 23,852 36.5% 14,143 1.9% 755 38,750
Huntington 65.7% 10,555 32.0% 5,139 2.3% 377 16,071
Jackson 56.0% 9,729 41.5% 7,218 2.5% 433 17,380
Jasper 54.1% 6,737 43.5% 5,419 2.4% 296 12,452
Jay 57.0% 4,763 40.8% 3,404 2.2% 180 8,347
Jefferson 51.1% 6,671 47.0% 6,127 1.9% 242 13,040
Jennings 51.1% 6,016 45.7% 5,373 3.2% 381 11,770
Johnson 77.4% 44,743 20.4% 11,813 2.2% 1,279 57,835
Knox 46.0% 7,119 52.8% 8,165 1.2% 376 15,464
Kosciusko 67.5% 19,901 30.0% 8,825 2.5% 751 29,477
LaGrange 57.3% 5,441 39.3% 3,727 3.4% 322 9,490
Lake 34.6% 66,145 64.0% 122,111 1.4% 2,748 191,004
LaPorte 33.9% 15,495 63.4% 28,922 2.7% 1,241 45,658
Lawrence 57.5% 10,504 39.8% 7,281 2.7% 495 18,280
Madison 59.7% 34,028 38.3% 21,776 2.0% 1,120 56,924
Marion 55.5% 209,955 42.5% 160,318 2.0% 7,377 377,650
Marshall 56.8% 10,314 41.0% 7,447 2.2% 394 18,155
Martin 55.4% 2,714 41.5% 2,030 3.1% 153 4,897
Miami 58.1% 7,816 38.4% 5,174 3.5% 469 13,459
Monroe 47.3% 28,482 49.8% 30,026 2.9% 1,764 60,272
Montgomery 74.2% 11,304 23.7% 3,605 2.1% 317 15,226
Morgan 70.0% 19,818 26.8% 7,570 3.2% 908 28,296
Newton 49.9% 2,999 47.0% 2,822 3.1% 186 6,007
Noble 56.0% 9,408 41.3% 6,951 2.7% 453 16,812
Ohio 55.4% 1,590 41.8% 1,197 2.8% 80 2,867
Orange 50.6% 4,046 47.0% 3,760 2.4% 192 7,998
Owen 57.9% 4,717 37.8% 3,074 4.3% 347 8,138
Parke 50.6% 3,553 46.1% 3,240 3.3% 235 7,028
Perry 37.7% 3,169 61.1% 5,133 1.2% 98 8,400
Pike 48.1% 2,850 49.3% 2,924 2.6% 157 5,931
Porter 43.1% 31,388 54.4% 39,519 2.5% 1,802 72,709
Posey 62.7% 7,983 36.0% 4,592 1.3% 164 12,739
Pulaski 53.6% 3,096 43.7% 2,524 2.7% 153 5,773
Putnam 65.6% 9,443 32.0% 4,597 2.4% 346 14,386
Randolph 59.5% 6,268 37.8% 3,987 2.7% 280 10,535
Ripley 60.8% 7,347 35.9% 4,342 3.3% 402 12,091
Rush 66.6% 5,071 30.3% 2,311 3.1% 237 7,619
Saint Joseph 47.8% 56,176 50.5% 59,259 1.7% 1,978 117,413
Scott 49.5% 4,414 48.5% 4,330 2.0% 180 8,924
Shelby 67.2% 11,774 30.0% 5,259 2.8% 489 17,522
Spencer 54.8% 5,527 43.9% 4,418 1.3% 134 10,079
Starke 47.0% 4,339 51.3% 4,726 1.7% 161 9,226
Steuben 55.9% 7,896 41.3% 5,822 2.8% 402 14,120
Sullivan 40.5% 3,463 55.9% 4,779 3.6% 311 8,553
Switzerland 47.6% 1,730 48.9% 1,776 3.5% 126 3,632
Tippecanoe 61.9% 41,740 35.6% 23,980 2.5% 1,710 67,430
Tipton 67.0% 5,244 30.4% 2,376 2.6% 204 7,824
Union 53.1% 1,756 42.7% 1,412 4.2% 138 3,306
Vanderburgh 62.3% 48,033 36.4% 28,090 1.3% 994 77,117
Vermillion 38.7% 2,769 58.2% 4,164 3.1% 223 7,156
Vigo 50.6% 21,941 47.1% 20,448 2.3% 1,011 43,400
Wabash 64.4% 8,578 33.3% 4,434 2.3% 308 13,320
Warren 51.7% 2,057 45.3% 1,804 3.0% 119 3,980
Warrick 65.1% 18,498 33.5% 9,531 1.4% 386 28,415
Washington 54.4% 6,141 43.4% 4,894 2.2% 249 11,284
Wayne 52.4% 14,832 43.2% 12,203 4.2% 1,198 28,233
Wells 65.4% 8,418 32.3% 4,153 2.3% 292 12,863
White 61.2% 6,620 35.6% 3,845 3.2% 343 10,808
Whitley 60.4% 8,997 37.4% 5,566 2.2% 320 14,883

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References

  1. ↑ "Schellinger for Governor: Endorsements". JimSchellinger.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Hoosiers for Jill: News". HoosiersforJill.com. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  3. 1 2 Democratic primary resultsin.gov Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Oxley Joins Long Thompson on Democratic Ticket". HoosiersforJill.com. June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Gubernatorial Debates". Indiana Debate Commission. October 1, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Final Indiana Gubernatorial Debate Tuesday Night". Associated Press. October 14, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
  7. ↑ "2008 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  8. ↑ "2008 Gubernatorial Ratings". Gubernatorial Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  9. ↑ "THE LAST LAST WORD The Crystal Ball's Final Projections for the 2008 Election". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ "2008 Indiana Governor Race". RealClearPolitics. November 4, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Indiana General Election November 4, 2008, Statewide". Indiana Secretary of State. November 4, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Indiana General Election November 4, 2008, by County". Indiana Secretary of State. November 4, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
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