2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

The Democratic Party presidential primaries of 2008 was an American political event. In various states, various Democratic candidates asked people and delegates to vote for them in primaries and caucuses. Candidates won delegates based on a percentage of votes (in primaries). There were 4,233 delegates. A candidate would have to get 2,110 delegates to win the nomination. The two front-runners of the campaign were New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Although Clinton led in the beginning, Obama soon gained the lead. Obama went on to become the first African-American presidential candidate in American history.

2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

January 3 – June 3, 2008

Candidate Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Home state Illinois New York Delegate count 2,272.5 1,978 Contests won 33 23 Popular vote 17,535,458 17,493,836< Percentage 48.0%

First place by first-instance vote   Barack Obama (33)   Hillary Clinton (23)

Popular vote margins Clinton   0–10%   10–20%   20–30%   30–85% Obama   0–10%   10–20%   20–30%   30–85% (popular vote winners and delegate winners differ in five contests: NH, NV, MO, TX, and GU)

Previous Democratic nominee John Kerry Democratic nominee Barack Obama