2008 Vermont gubernatorial election

2008 Vermont gubernatorial election
	Douglas: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Pollina: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60%; Symington: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60%
Governor before election; Jim Douglas; Republican	Elected Governor ; Jim Douglas; Republican

The 2008 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 4. Incumbent Republican Governor Jim Douglas won re-election to a fourth term. The gubernatorial primary took place on September 9, 2008.

Despite Democrat Barack Obama concurrently winning the state in a landslide in the presidential election and carrying every county, Republican Governor Jim Douglas was able to win reelection in a landslide and carried every county in the state himself. Democrats actually came in third, about 200 votes behind Independent candidate Anthony Pollina. Prior to 2024, this was the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of the same political party were elected governor and lieutenant governor of Vermont.

General election

Dates and deadlines

July 21, 2008—filing (for major parties)
September 9, 2008—primary election
September 12, 2008—filing (for third parties)
October 29, 2008—voter registration deadline for general election
November 4, 2008—general election

^[1]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[2]	Likely R	October 16, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report^[3]	Likely R	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[4]	Safe R	November 3, 2008
Real Clear Politics^[5]	Safe R	November 4, 2008

Polling

Source	Date	Jim Douglas (R)	Anthony Pollina (I/P)	Gaye Symington (D)
WCAX^[6]	October 28, 2008	47%	23%	24%
Rasmussen^[7]	October 10, 2008	45%	25%	20%

Results for governor

2008 Vermont gubernatorial election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Douglas (incumbent)	170,492	53.4	−3.0
	Independent	Anthony Pollina	69,791	21.8	n/a
	Democratic	Gaye Symington	69,534	21.7	−19.5
	Independent	Tony O'Connor	3,106	0.9	n/a
	Independent	Sam Young	2,490	0.7	n/a
	Liberty Union	Pete Diamondstone	1,710	0.5	+0.3
	Independent	Cris Ericson	1,704	0.5	−0.4
		write-ins	258	0.0	n/a
Majority			100,701	31.6
Turnout			319,085
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Windham (largest municipality: Brattleboro)

Results for lieutenant governor

2008 Vermont Lieutenant Governor general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Brian Dubie (incumbent)	171,744	55.0	+3.8
	Democratic	Thomas Costello	121,953	39.1	−6.4
	Progressive	Richard Kemp	14,249	4.5	+2.3
	Liberty Union	Ben Mitchell	3,639	1.1	−0.1
		write-ins	207	0.0	n/a
Majority			49,791	15.9	+10.2
Turnout			311,792
	Republican hold		Swing

References

^ 2008 Critical Election Dates Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine Vermont Secretary of State
^ "2008 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
^ "2008 Gubernatorial Ratings". Gubernatorial Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
^ "THE LAST LAST WORD The Crystal Ball's Final Projections for the 2008 Election". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
^ "2008 Vermont Governor Race". RealClearPolitics. November 4, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
^ WCAX
^ Rasmussen

External links

Elections & Campaign Finance Division from the Vermont Secretary of State
Vermont Governor candidates at Project Vote Smart
Vermont Governor race from OurCampaigns.com
Vermont Governor race from 2008 Race Tracker
Campaign contributions^{[permanent dead link‍]} from Follow the Money
Official campaign websites (archived):
- Jim Douglas, Republican incumbent candidate
- Anthony Pollina, Independent candidate
- Gaye Symington, Democratic candidate
- Sam Young, Independent candidate

[1] 2008 Critical Election Dates Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine Vermont Secretary of State

[2] "2008 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 4, 2021.

[3] "2008 Gubernatorial Ratings". Gubernatorial Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved May 25, 2021.

[4] "THE LAST LAST WORD The Crystal Ball's Final Projections for the 2008 Election". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved December 25, 2021.

[5] "2008 Vermont Governor Race". RealClearPolitics. November 4, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2021.

[6] WCAX

[7] Rasmussen

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