Barack Obama won Oregon in 2008 with over 56% of the vote, It was a comfortable margin and part of a west coast sweep for the future president. He also won Washington and California. Of those three states, Oregon was the state he received the lowest percentage in. This article will take a look at Oregon presidential voting from 1928 to 2008. the objective is to compare the Obama victory to how other democrats have done in Oregon.

1928

 Herbert Hoover(R) won an overwhelming victory in the 1928 Presidential election. He won every state except for six southern states and Massachusetts. Oregon gave Hoover over 64% of the vote in 1928.

1932

 Franklin Roosevelt(D) began his string of four presidential election victories in 1932. He defeated current president Hoover in a landslide. Oregon switched to the democrats in this election. They gave Roosevelt just under 58% of the vote.

1936

 Roosevelt was easily reelected in 1936. He won every state except Maine and New Hampshire. His percentage in Oregon increased to over 64%. This was a complete turnaround in vote percentages for the democrats from eight years earlier.

1940

 The 1940 election was another easy victory for Roosevelt. His republican challenger won ten states compared to the two of 1936. His national vote percentages dropped and Oregon followed suit. Roosevelt received 53.7% of the Oregon vote. This is the lowest winning percentage in Oregon for a presidential candidate in the four election we have discussed so far.

1944

 Roosevelt won his final election in 1944. It was another solid victory in the electoral college. Although the republicans increased the number of states they won to twelve. The presidents national percentage dropped again as it did in Oregon. Roosevelt won 51.78% of the vote in Oregon. He managed to win the state in four straight elections.

1948

 President Truman(D) was running for election after taking over as president after the death of Roosevelt. The last five presidential elections had been landslides. Truman was elected for a full term with less than 50% of the vote nationally. The third party candidacies of Strom Thurmond and Henry Wallace kept the national vote totals close. Oregon voted republican for the first time since 1928. Thomas Dewey(R) won Oregon with 49.78% of the vote.

 1952

 This election was the first of two battles between Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) and Adlai Stevenson(D). Unlike the 1948 election, 1952 was an electoral college landslide. Eisenhower won forty states to eight for Stevenson. This was the first republican presidential winner since 1928. Oregon voted republican for the second straight election. Eisenhower received 60.54% of the vote in the state.

1956

 The rematch of 1956 went worse for Stevenson. He only won seven states and President Eisenhower increased his numbers in the popular vote. Oregon voted republican for the third straight presidential election.However, the percentage for Eisenhower dropped to 55.25%

1960

 The 1960 election pitted John Kennedy(D) against Richard Nixon(R). Kennedy won an election where less than 113,000 votes separated the candidates nationally. The election of Kennedy was the sixth democratic victory in the last eight presidential elections. Oregon voted republican for the fourth straight presidential election. The winning percentage dropped to 52.56%

1964

 Lyndon Johnson(D) assumed the presidency when Kennedy. He faced Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. This election turned out to be the last time the democrats won the presidency by a landslide to date. Goldwater won only six states and Johnson received over 61% of the vote nationally. After voting republican in four straight presidential elections, the tide turned in favor of the democrats. Johnson won Oregon with 63.72% of the vote.

1968

 Richard Nixon(R) was back in 1968. In an election that included third party candidate George Wallace, Nixon won the presidency with 43.42% of the national vote. Oregon returned to the republican column in 1968. Nixon won the state with 49.83% of the vote.

1972

 President Nixon ran for reelection in 1972. He faced George McGovern(D). Nixon won an eay election. McGovern only carried Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Oregon voted republican for the second straight election. Nixon won 52.45% of the state vote. Oregon had voted republican in six of the last seven presidential elections.

1976

 Jimmy Carter(D) defeated President Gerald Ford(R) in a very close election in 1976. Oregon voted republican for the third straight presidential election. The third party run of Eugene McCarthy probably cost Carter Oregon in 1976. President Ford won Oregon with 47.78% of the vote.

1980

 The 1980 election brought the Reagan revolution. Ronald Reagan(R) defeated incumbent President Carter(D). John Anderson was a strong third party candidate. Reagan easily won the electoral vote but the popular vote was much closer. The republicans won Oregon for the fourth straight time in 1980. Much like 1976, the third party candidate may have cost the democrats the state. Reagan received 48.33% of the vote. John Anderson pulled in almost 10%.

1984

 Reagan won the 1984 election by carrying everything except for the state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia. The republicans won Oregon for the fifth straight election. Reagan received 55.91% of the state vote. This was the first time since 1972 that the winning candidate received over 50% of the vote in Oregon.

1988

 The 1988 election was the third straight presidential win for the republicans. George Bush(R) defeated Michael Dukakis. Oregon went against the national trend and the democrats won for the first time since 1964. Dukakis received 51.28% of the Oregon vote.

1992

 Bill Clinton(D) broke the republican presidential winning streak in 1992. He was greatly helped by the independent run of Ross Perot. Perot won almost 19% of the national vote. Oregon stayed with the democrats in 1992. Clinton won the state with 42.48% of the vote.

1996

  President Clinton won reelection in 1996. This race included Ross Perot and Ralph Nader as third party candidates. Clinton won Oregon again and the democrats won the state for the third consecutive time in 1996. Clinton increased his percentage to 47.15%. The third party candidates combined to poll over 12% of the Oregon vote. 

2000

 George W. Bush(R) returned the presidency to the republicans in 2000. This was a very close election nationally as it was in Oregon. Al Gore(D) carried the state by around 7,000 votes for the democrats. Ralph Nader won over 5% of the Oregon vote with the Green Party.The democrats won Oregon for the fourth straight time.

2004

 President Bush was reelected in another close election in 2004. Oregon continued its run of democratic victories by supporting John Kerry. Kerry received 51.35% of the Oregon vote.The democrats won their fifth straight election in Oregon. This matched the republican streak that ran from 1968 to 1984.

2008

 Barack Obama(D) returned the presidency to the democrats in 2008. He defeated John McCain(R). Obama received 56.75% of the vote in Oregon. That was about 4% more than his national numbers.

Summary

 How does President Obama compare historically. His 56.75% vote total is the highest by a democrat since 1964. The last republican to have more was Eisenhower in 1952. Obama clearly did well in a state that is trending to the democrats. You do need to take into consideration that Reagan in 1984 was the last republican to win Oregon. I would have to conclude that Obama won an impressive victory in Oregon.