South Dakota — 2008 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate2008 presidential electionSouth Dakota · PresidentMcCainR+8.4
How it voted
Share of the 2008 vote
| John McCain ✓Republican | 53.2% | 203,054 |
|---|---|---|
| Barack ObamaDemocratic | 44.7% | 170,924 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 2.1% | 7,997 |
2008presidential margin
D+60R+60
66 counties, each filled by 2008 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
South Dakota cast 3 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (66 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora County, SD | Republican | R+9.3 |
| Beadle County, SD | Republican | R+7.3 |
| Bennett County, SD | Republican | R+4.7 |
| Bon Homme County, SD | Republican | R+10.9 |
| Brookings County, SD | Democratic | D+5.6 |
| Brown County, SD | Democratic | D+5.6 |
| Brule County, SD | Republican | R+18.1 |
| Buffalo County, SD | Democratic | D+48.1 |
| Butte County, SD | Republican | R+35.6 |
| Campbell County, SD | Republican | R+40.7 |
| Charles Mix County, SD | Republican | R+7.6 |
| Clark County, SD | Republican | R+12.1 |
| Clay County, SD | Democratic | D+24.2 |
| Codington County, SD | Republican | R+6.4 |
| Corson County, SD | Democratic | D+21.5 |
| Custer County, SD | Republican | R+31.8 |
| Davison County, SD | Republican | R+13.9 |
| Day County, SD | Democratic | D+12.9 |
| Deuel County, SD | Republican | R+1.5 |
| Dewey County, SD | Democratic | D+33.1 |
| Douglas County, SD | Republican | R+49.5 |
| Edmunds County, SD | Republican | R+19.0 |
| Fall River County, SD | Republican | R+26.5 |
| Faulk County, SD | Republican | R+26.3 |
| Grant County, SD | Republican | R+4.3 |
| Gregory County, SD | Republican | R+29.0 |
| Haakon County, SD | Republican | R+65.2 |
| Hamlin County, SD | Republican | R+22.2 |
| Hand County, SD | Republican | R+26.3 |
| Hanson County, SD | Republican | R+19.1 |
| Harding County, SD | Republican | R+59.9 |
| Hughes County, SD | Republican | R+26.7 |
| Hutchinson County, SD | Republican | R+28.9 |
| Hyde County, SD | Republican | R+40.9 |
| Jackson County, SD | Republican | R+20.6 |
| Jerauld County, SD | Republican | R+0.4 |
| Jones County, SD | Republican | R+50.4 |
| Kingsbury County, SD | Republican | R+5.7 |
| Lake County, SD | Democratic | D+0.6 |
| Lawrence County, SD | Republican | R+15.4 |
| Lincoln County, SD | Republican | R+15.2 |
| Lyman County, SD | Republican | R+11.2 |
| Marshall County, SD | Democratic | D+16.5 |
| McCook County, SD | Republican | R+14.5 |
| McPherson County, SD | Republican | R+34.5 |
| Meade County, SD | Republican | R+32.4 |
| Mellette County, SD | Republican | R+8.5 |
| Miner County, SD | Democratic | D+2.3 |
| Minnehaha County, SD | Democratic | D+0.7 |
| Moody County, SD | Democratic | D+4.8 |
| Oglala Lakota County, SD | Democratic | D+78.8 |
| Pennington County, SD | Republican | R+21.2 |
| Perkins County, SD | Republican | R+35.8 |
| Potter County, SD | Republican | R+31.6 |
| Roberts County, SD | Democratic | D+19.6 |
| Sanborn County, SD | Republican | R+14.0 |
| Spink County, SD | Republican | R+3.4 |
| Stanley County, SD | Republican | R+32.6 |
| Sully County, SD | Republican | R+41.8 |
| Todd County, SD | Democratic | D+57.9 |
| Tripp County, SD | Republican | R+33.3 |
| Turner County, SD | Republican | R+19.7 |
| Union County, SD | Republican | R+13.8 |
| Walworth County, SD | Republican | R+28.1 |
| Yankton County, SD | Republican | R+2.0 |
| Ziebach County, SD | Democratic | D+27.2 |
South Dakota results by county
66 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora County | Mccain, John+139 | 79453.1% | 65543.8% | 463.1% | 1,495 |
| Beadle County | Mccain, John+561 | 4,05452.6% | 3,49345.3% | 1672.2% | 7,714 |
| Bennett County | Mccain, John+57 | 61450.8% | 55746.1% | 373.1% | 1,208 |
| Bon Homme County | Mccain, John+345 | 1,71253.9% | 1,36743.1% | 963.0% | 3,175 |
| Brookings County | Obama, Barack H.+776 | 6,43146.1% | 7,20751.7% | 3072.2% | 13,945 |
| Brown County | Obama, Barack H.+974 | 8,06746.3% | 9,04151.9% | 3181.8% | 17,426 |
| Brule County | Mccain, John+442 | 1,40757.7% | 96539.6% | 672.7% | 2,439 |
| Buffalo County | Obama, Barack H.+298 | 15625.2% | 45473.3% | 91.5% | 619 |
| Butte County | Mccain, John+1,515 | 2,82166.3% | 1,30630.7% | 1293.0% | 4,256 |
| Campbell County | Mccain, John+348 | 59169.2% | 24328.5% | 202.3% | 854 |
| Charles Mix County | Mccain, John+302 | 2,10953.0% | 1,80745.4% | 621.6% | 3,978 |
| Clark County | Mccain, John+235 | 1,06554.9% | 83042.8% | 452.3% | 1,940 |
| Clay County | Obama, Barack H.+1,512 | 2,29636.8% | 3,80861.0% | 1382.2% | 6,242 |
| Codington County | Mccain, John+779 | 6,37452.3% | 5,59545.9% | 2161.8% | 12,185 |
| Corson County | Obama, Barack H.+302 | 53538.1% | 83759.5% | 342.4% | 1,406 |
| Custer County | Mccain, John+1,434 | 2,90964.5% | 1,47532.7% | 1232.7% | 4,507 |
| Davison County | Mccain, John+1,177 | 4,73156.0% | 3,55442.0% | 1702.0% | 8,455 |
| Day County | Obama, Barack H.+413 | 1,37242.8% | 1,78555.7% | 481.5% | 3,205 |
| Deuel County | Mccain, John+34 | 1,08849.1% | 1,05447.5% | 763.4% | 2,218 |
| Dewey County | Obama, Barack H.+669 | 65932.6% | 1,32865.8% | 321.6% | 2,019 |
| Douglas County | Mccain, John+869 | 1,29373.6% | 42424.1% | 392.2% | 1,756 |
| Edmunds County | Mccain, John+394 | 1,21358.4% | 81939.5% | 442.1% | 2,076 |
| Fall River County | Mccain, John+1,010 | 2,34861.6% | 1,33835.1% | 1233.2% | 3,809 |
| Faulk County | Mccain, John+313 | 73962.0% | 42635.7% | 272.3% | 1,192 |
| Grant County | Mccain, John+165 | 1,95150.9% | 1,78646.6% | 932.4% | 3,830 |
| Gregory County | Mccain, John+652 | 1,42363.3% | 77134.3% | 532.4% | 2,247 |
| Haakon County | Mccain, John+752 | 93981.4% | 18716.2% | 272.3% | 1,153 |
| Hamlin County | Mccain, John+618 | 1,66159.6% | 1,04337.4% | 833.0% | 2,787 |
| Hand County | Mccain, John+529 | 1,24762.0% | 71835.7% | 462.3% | 2,011 |
| Hanson County | Mccain, John+465 | 1,42658.7% | 96139.5% | 441.8% | 2,431 |
| Harding County | Mccain, John+440 | 57578.3% | 13518.4% | 243.3% | 734 |
| Hughes County | Mccain, John+2,261 | 5,29862.6% | 3,03735.9% | 1331.6% | 8,468 |
| Hutchinson County | Mccain, John+1,043 | 2,28563.3% | 1,24234.4% | 812.2% | 3,608 |
| Hyde County | Mccain, John+321 | 54769.7% | 22628.8% | 121.5% | 785 |
| Jackson County | Mccain, John+233 | 66859.0% | 43538.4% | 302.6% | 1,133 |
| Jerauld County | Mccain, John+4 | 54649.4% | 54249.0% | 171.5% | 1,105 |
| Jones County | Mccain, John+316 | 46373.8% | 14723.4% | 172.7% | 627 |
| Kingsbury County | Mccain, John+158 | 1,43551.5% | 1,27745.9% | 722.6% | 2,784 |
| Lake County | Obama, Barack H.+40 | 2,99348.6% | 3,03349.3% | 1312.1% | 6,157 |
| Lawrence County | Mccain, John+1,855 | 6,78756.3% | 4,93240.9% | 3362.8% | 12,055 |
| Lincoln County | Mccain, John+3,161 | 11,80356.8% | 8,64241.6% | 3221.6% | 20,767 |
| Lyman County | Mccain, John+184 | 89454.5% | 71043.3% | 372.3% | 1,641 |
| Marshall County | Obama, Barack H.+361 | 90041.1% | 1,26157.6% | 301.4% | 2,191 |
| McCook County | Mccain, John+427 | 1,64655.9% | 1,21941.4% | 802.7% | 2,945 |
| McPherson County | Mccain, John+474 | 91566.5% | 44132.1% | 191.4% | 1,375 |
| Meade County | Mccain, John+3,764 | 7,51564.8% | 3,75132.3% | 3402.9% | 11,606 |
| Mellette County | Mccain, John+72 | 44552.8% | 37344.2% | 253.0% | 843 |
| Miner County | Obama, Barack H.+28 | 57747.4% | 60549.7% | 363.0% | 1,218 |
| Minnehaha County | Obama, Barack H.+587 | 39,25148.7% | 39,83849.5% | 1,4631.8% | 80,552 |
| Moody County | Obama, Barack H.+155 | 1,50846.3% | 1,66351.1% | 832.6% | 3,254 |
| Oglala Lakota County | Obama, Barack H.+2,640 | 3319.9% | 2,97188.7% | 481.4% | 3,350 |
| Pennington County | Mccain, John+9,801 | 27,60359.6% | 17,80238.5% | 8751.9% | 46,280 |
| Perkins County | Mccain, John+603 | 1,10265.4% | 49929.6% | 855.0% | 1,686 |
| Potter County | Mccain, John+455 | 93765.1% | 48233.5% | 211.5% | 1,440 |
| Roberts County | Obama, Barack H.+891 | 1,78139.3% | 2,67258.9% | 831.8% | 4,536 |
| Sanborn County | Mccain, John+169 | 66955.4% | 50041.4% | 383.1% | 1,207 |
| Spink County | Mccain, John+110 | 1,66050.8% | 1,55047.4% | 591.8% | 3,269 |
| Stanley County | Mccain, John+507 | 1,01765.5% | 51032.8% | 261.7% | 1,553 |
| Sully County | Mccain, John+348 | 58169.7% | 23328.0% | 192.3% | 833 |
| Todd County | Obama, Barack H.+1,637 | 57120.2% | 2,20878.1% | 491.7% | 2,828 |
| Tripp County | Mccain, John+945 | 1,85965.5% | 91432.2% | 662.3% | 2,839 |
| Turner County | Mccain, John+857 | 2,53858.3% | 1,68138.6% | 1333.1% | 4,352 |
| Union County | Mccain, John+1,066 | 4,31056.0% | 3,24442.1% | 1471.9% | 7,701 |
| Walworth County | Mccain, John+745 | 1,66862.9% | 92334.8% | 592.2% | 2,650 |
| Yankton County | Mccain, John+201 | 5,03949.7% | 4,83847.7% | 2572.5% | 10,134 |
| Ziebach County | Obama, Barack H.+242 | 31235.0% | 55462.2% | 252.8% | 891 |
complete certified result
South Dakota candidate results
Top three shown first · expand for every reported candidate and write-in category
Source: MIT Election Data + Science Lab — U.S. President 1976–2024 state candidate returns
Nominees: Barack Obama (D) · John McCain (R)
South Dakota's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 2008 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | −36.5% |
| 1896 | +0.2% |
| 1900 | −15.6% |
| 1904 | −49.4% |
| 1908 | −23.8% |
| 1912 | +42.1% |
| 1916 | −3.9% |
| 1920 | −41.0% |
| 1924 | −36.3% |
| 1928 | −21.0% |
| 1932 | +29.2% |
| 1936 | +11.5% |
| 1940 | −14.8% |
| 1944 | −16.7% |
| 1948 | −4.8% |
| 1952 | −38.5% |
| 1956 | −16.8% |
| 1960 | −16.4% |
| 1964 | +11.2% |
| 1968 | −11.3% |
| 1972 | −8.6% |
| 1976 | −1.5% |
| 1980 | −28.8% |
| 1984 | −26.5% |
| 1988 | −6.3% |
| 1992 | −3.5% |
| 1996 | −3.5% |
| 2000 | −22.7% |
| 2004 | −21.3% |
| 2008 | −8.4% |
| 2012 | −18.0% |
| 2016 | −29.8% |
| 2020 | −26.2% |
| 2024 | −29.2% |
Same ballot, 2008SD
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 2008 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.