2008 United States presidential election

The United States held its 55th quadrennial presidential election on November 4, 2008. The Democratic Party ticket of presidential candidate Barack Obama and vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden won over the Republican Party ticket of Senator John McCain of Arizona and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin with 338 electoral college votes to 156.

The rules for a U.S. federal election are very complicated, and the race is long and expensive; the contenders by the end of May had already spent some $900 million seeking the party nomination, with Republican (GOP) contenders spending far less than the Democrats, whose nomination battle lasted into June 2008. The Democratic Party ticket was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, with Senator Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate. The Republican Party ticket was Senator John McCain of Arizona, with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as vice-presidential pick. Both parties officially named their tickets at their national conventions: in late August in Denver, Colorado, for the Democrats and in early September in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota for the Republicans.