The 2008 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Matt Blunt Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American former naval officer and politician who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 54th Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. Before his election as governor, Blunt served ten years in ...

decided to retire instead of seeking reelection to a second term in office. Democratic nominee

Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th Governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the governorship in 2008 and reele ...

won the open seat, defeating Republican nominee

Kenny Hulshof Kenneth C. "Kenny" Hulshof (; born May 22, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who represented in the United States House of Representatives. He was the unsuccessful nominee of the Republican Party for Governor of Missouri in the 2008 el ...

Background

On January 22, 2008, Governor Blunt unexpectedly announced that he would not seek re-election because he had already "achieved virtually everything I set out to accomplish, and more ... Because I feel we have changed what I wanted to change in the first term, there is not the same sense of mission for a second." A November 2007 poll conducted by

SurveyUSA SurveyUSA is a polling firm in the United States. It conducts market research for corporations and interest groups, but is best known for conducting opinion polls for various political offices and questions. SurveyUSA conducts these opinion polls ...

showed Blunt with a 44% approval rating.
''Survey USA'' His approval among Republicans polled was 68%, and his rating among Democrats was 23%. On November 10, 2007, Democrat

filed the necessary paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission to launch a 2008 campaign for governor. The gubernatorial and other statewide office primaries were held August 5, 2008. ''CQ Politics'' rated the race as 'Leans Democratic'.Dems Gain in Five of Six New CQ Politics Rating Changes
''CQ Politics'', October 8, 2008

Timeline

*March 25, 2008 – Filing deadline for Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians2008 Missouri Election Calendar
from the ''Missouri Secretary of State'' *August 5, 2008 – Primary (gubernatorial and other statewide office) elections *August 19, 2008 – Filing deadline for other third parties and Independents *November 4, 2008 – General election.

Primaries

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

Predictions

Polling

;With Steelman ;With Blunt

Results

On election night, Nixon won easily, even though fellow Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

lost in Missouri in the concurrent presidential election (albeit by only 4,000 votes). Nixon was able to perform well in rural parts of the state. When combined with heavily populated, strong Democratic areas like

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, Hulshof didn't have a chance to come back. Nixon was declared the winner right when the polls closed in Missouri. Hulshof conceded defeat at 9:02 P.M. Central Time.

References

External links

Elections
from the ''Missouri Secretary of State''
Missouri Governor candidates
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Missouri Governor race
from ''OurCampaigns.com''
Missouri Governor race
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions
from ''Follow the Money''
Hulshof (R) vs Nixon (D)
graph of collected polls from ''Pollster.com'' *''Official campaign websites (Archived)''
Jay Nixon
Democratic candidate
Kenny Hulshof
Republican candidate
Sarah Steelman
Republican candidate
Andy Finkenstadt
Libertarian candidate {{2008 U.S. elections

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...