Kansas Democratic caucuses, 2008
Encyclopedia
The Kansas
Democratic
Presidential Caucuses took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 21 delegates at stake. The remaining 11 delegates were selected at the Kansas Democratic Party District Conventions on April 12. The state, and a majority of its delegates, were won by Barack Obama
.
National Pledged Delegates Determined: 21 (of 32)
Convention Date: April 12, 2008
National Pledged Delegates Determined: 0 (of 32)
Kathleen Sebelius
who was at the time a very popular Democratic Governor in a very Republican state. The endorsement by Sebelius, who is now serving as Secretary of Health & Human Services in the Obama Administration, along with Obama's roots in the state, may have contributed to his large victory in the Kansas Democratic Primary. He won a majority of counties and carried all four of the state's congressional districts. Clinton only carried three counties in the state - Franklin
, Linn
and Miami
(both Miami and Linn are situated along the state's border with Missouri
where Clinton did far better). Clinton also tied Obama in 16 counties but these were relatively rural
and far less populated areas that could not be overweighed by his margins in the more populated, urban
areas including Kansas City
, Lawrence
, Topeka
, and Wichita
.
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Presidential Caucuses took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 21 delegates at stake. The remaining 11 delegates were selected at the Kansas Democratic Party District Conventions on April 12. The state, and a majority of its delegates, were won by Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Process
The Kansas Democratic Caucus was open to all registered Democrats, non-Democrats, 17-year-olds eligible to vote by the general election, and new voters who could register or re-register at the door. Surrogates were permitted for religious observance, military service, legislative service, or physical disability. At the caucus, participants gathered into preference groups. There was a 15-percent minimum threshold required for viability at the precinct level, with re-caucusing among all participants permitted. After re-caucusing, the results were tallied and reported to state party headquarters, and delegates were selected to Congressional District Conventions on April 12, who then selected delegates to the Kansas Democratic Party State Convention on May 17. In Kansas, delegates' pledges are binding to congressional districts at the precinct level, unlike most other caucuses, where delegates are unpledged up to the Congressional District Convention level.Polls
Local Unit Convention Results
Convention Date: February 5, 2008National Pledged Delegates Determined: 21 (of 32)
| Kansas Democratic Presidential Caucus Results – 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... |
27,172 | 73.98% | 23 | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the... |
9,462 | 25.76% | 9 | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
John Edwards John Edwards Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in... |
53 | 0.14% | 0 | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
Dennis Kucinich Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections.... |
35 | 0.10% | 0 | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
Bill Richardson | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 36,723 | 100.00% | 32 | |||
| Voter turnout | % | — | ||||
District Convention Results
Allocation of delegates to candidates was pre-determined by the results of the local unit conventions on February 5. Only the persons filling the roles of delegates and alternates were chosen at this event.Convention Date: April 12, 2008
National Pledged Delegates Determined: 0 (of 32)
| Kansas Democratic Presidential District Convention Results – 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | District Delegates | Percentage | National Delegates | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... |
15 | 71.43% | 23 | ||
| Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Rodham Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the... |
6 | 28.57% | 9 | ||
| Totals | 21 | 100.00% | 32 | |||
| Voter turnout | % | — | ||||
Analysis
As he did throughout all other states that held caucuses, Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton by a nearly three-to-one margin in Kansas, one of the reddest states in the nation. Obama, however, had roots in Kansas, as it was the state where his mother was born and raised. Obama also received a huge endorsement from former GovernorGovernor of Kansas
The Governor of the State of Kansas is the head of state for the State of Kansas, United States. Under the Kansas Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Kansas executive branch, of the government of Kansas. The Governor is the...
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician currently serving as the 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was the second female Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address, and chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors...
who was at the time a very popular Democratic Governor in a very Republican state. The endorsement by Sebelius, who is now serving as Secretary of Health & Human Services in the Obama Administration, along with Obama's roots in the state, may have contributed to his large victory in the Kansas Democratic Primary. He won a majority of counties and carried all four of the state's congressional districts. Clinton only carried three counties in the state - Franklin
Franklin County, Kansas
Franklin County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 25,992. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa...
, Linn
Linn County, Kansas
Linn County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 9,656. Its county seat is Mound City, and its most populous city is Pleasanton...
and Miami
Miami County, Kansas
Miami County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 32,787. Its county seat and most populous city is Paola...
(both Miami and Linn are situated along the state's border with Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
where Clinton did far better). Clinton also tied Obama in 16 counties but these were relatively rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
and far less populated areas that could not be overweighed by his margins in the more populated, urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
areas including Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
, Lawrence
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, and Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
.
See also
- Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008The 2008 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. presidential election...
- Kansas Republican caucuses, 2008Kansas Republican caucuses, 2008The 2008 Kansas Republican caucuses took place on February 9, 2008.By the evening of February 9, Fox News and CNN projected Mike Huckabee as the winner of the Kansas Caucuses.The Associated Press also called the race for Mike Huckabee.- Results :...