Colonel William A. Phillips

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The 2008 Nebraska Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 9, 2008, where 24 of the state's 31 convention delegates were chosen.[1][2] Like he did throughout many other states that held caucuses instead of primaries, Barack Obama won the Nebraska Democratic Caucus by more than a two-to-one margin of victory over Hillary Clinton. On May 13, 2008, the state also held a non-binding primary election which Obama also won but the margin of victory was considerably smaller.

Polls

Process

The Nebraska Democratic Caucus was open to all registered Democratic voters. Voters who were eligible to vote in the general election but were unregistered or registered with another party could register as Democrats at the caucus. Absentee votes for the disabled, those on active military duty, and full-time students were permitted.

After signing in, participants gathered into preference groups for each candidate. A minimum 15 percent of participants was required for viability. Only members of non-viable groups were permitted to realign to other viable groups. Afterwards, delegates were divided and elected to the county conventions in June.[3][4]

The primary election held on May 13 was not binding on any county delegates, all of whom had been selected at the caucuses. However, it may have played a role in showing superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention the preference of Nebraska Democrats.[5]

County delegates were committed to vote in the county conventions for the candidate they had supported during the caucuses. However, the same viability rules applied as at the precinct caucuses.[6] The county conventions elected delegates to the Nebraska Democratic Party State Convention which took place June 20–22, who then elected delegates to the Democratic National Convention.[3][7] The State Convention chose eight delegates pledged to Clinton and 16 pledged to Obama, the same number as the estimates following the main caucuses.[1]

Results

Precinct Caucus Results

Caucus Date: February 9, 2008 National Pledged Delegates Determined: 16 (of 24)

2008 Nebraska Democratic Presidential Caucus Results
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Democratic Barack Obama 26,126 67.56% 16
Democratic Hillary Clinton 12,445 32.18% 8
Democratic Uncommitted 99 0.26% 0
Totals 38,670 100.00% 24
Voter turnout %

Primary

The Nebraska Democratic Party does not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.

Primary Date: May 13, 2008 National Pledged Delegates Determined: 0 (of 24)

2008 Nebraska Democratic Presidential Primary Results
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Democratic Barack Obama 46,670 49.06% 0
Democratic Hillary Clinton 43,979 46.24% 0
Democratic Mike Gravel 3,886 4.09% 0
Democratic Write-ins 584 0.61% 0
Totals 95,119 100.00% 0
Voter turnout %

Analysis

Barack Obama performed extremely well throughout the state of Nebraska in the caucus, winning a majority of counties. His large margin of victory can be attributed to his overwhelming wins in Douglas County, which contains Omaha, where he won with 77.12 percent of the vote, as well as in Lancaster County, which contains the state capital of Lincoln and is home to the University of Nebraska. Most of Clinton's wins in the state came in the far more rural counties in Western Nebraska. However, during the non-binding primary, Clinton carried almost every county in Nebraska except for Douglas and Lancaster counties which gave Obama the edge and narrow victory.


See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Nebraska Democratic Delegation 2008". The Green Papers. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  2. ^ "2008 Presidential Caucus Results". Nebraska Democratic Party. February 10, 2008. Archived from the original on February 11, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2008. Retrieved February 18, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Nebraska Democratic Delegation 2008
  5. ^ "Nebraska Democratic Primary Might Still Count". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008.
  6. ^ "2008 Nebraska Democratic Party 2008 Presidential Caucus & Presidential Preference Process Rules" (PDF). Nebraska Democratic Party. June 15, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
  7. ^ Nebraska Democratic Delegation 2008