ELECTORAL VOTES 3

2008 ELECTION Swing State

ABOUT
NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota joined the Union in November 1889, one of four states admitted in the first part of that month, the busiest period of new-statehood creation in U.S. history. North Dakota has participated in 29 presidential elections, voting Republican in 24 of them. Of the five times it went “blue,” only 1916 (Woodrow Wilson’s second-term victory) was not a landslide for the Democratic candidate. As a result, North Dakota is a very safe state for the Republicans in presidential elections although, oddly, both senators and the one U.S. representative are currently all Democrats. In 2004, George Bush defeated John Kerry by a 63% to 35% margin. The state’s population of about 650,000 is little changed from what it was in 1920. As a result, North Dakota is one of seven states with the minimum three electoral votes.