# 2008 United States Senate elections
The 2008 [United States Senate](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-senate) elections, held on November 4, 2008, chose one-third of the Senate's 100 seats alongside the presidential election that year, and produced a Democratic majority of 57 seats, with 41 Republicans and 2 independents who caucused with the Democrats in the 111th Congress.[1](https://data.ipu.org/election-summary/HTML/2340_08.htm) • [2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf) Thirty-three states had regularly scheduled Senate elections, and special elections were also held for unexpired Senate terms in [Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mississippi) and Wyoming.[2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf) Voters cast 69,872,090 votes for Senate candidates nationwide.[2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Election date | November 4, 2008, held jointly with the presidential election[1](https://data.ipu.org/election-summary/HTML/2340_08.htm) |
| Seats contested | Regularly scheduled elections in 33 states, plus special elections in Mississippi and Wyoming[2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf) |
| Senate vote total | 69,872,090 votes cast for U.S. Senate candidates nationwide[2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf) |
| Resulting Senate | 57 Democrats, 41 Republicans, 2 Independents in the 111th Congress[2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf) |
| Georgia runoff | Saxby Chambliss 1,866,612 (49.8%) defeated Jim Martin 1,756,864 (46.8%) in the December 2, 2008 runoff[3](https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2008/2008Stat.htm) |
| Minnesota recount | Final certified totals of 1,212,629 to 1,212,317 after a statewide recount[4](https://www.sos.minnesota.gov/media/3078/minnesotas-historic-2008-election.pdf) |
| Turnout | A record 2.92 million Minnesotans voted; the state had the highest turnout in the nation, five percentage points above second-place Wisconsin[4](https://www.sos.minnesota.gov/media/3078/minnesotas-historic-2008-election.pdf) |
## The setting
The congressional elections of November 2008 were held at the same time as the presidential election, a circumstance the IPU Parline database notes as standard for Senate renewal cycles.[1](https://data.ipu.org/election-summary/HTML/2340_08.htm) [Pew Research Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/pew-research-center)'s post-election analysis found the political landscape had shifted since 2006, with the electorate dramatically more Democratic than in 2004, when it had been split evenly along partisan lines.[5](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2008/11/13/postelection-perspectives/) Issues of foreign policy and the economy, along with a public desire for a change in leadership, shaped the congressional elections as they did the presidential race.[6](https://about.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/2008-elections-united-states)
## Minnesota: a recount that changed the outcome
**Minnesota produced the closest Senate race of 2008.** Election-night figures placed incumbent [Norm Coleman](https://www.edgepedia.org/norm-coleman) at 1,211,565 votes (42.0%) and [Al Franken](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-franken) at 1,211,359 (42.0%), with the race not yet called.[7](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP08-84/RP08-84.pdf) The state canvassing board certified results for races with clear winners on November 18 and adopted a recount plan for the U.S. Senate race.[4](https://www.sos.minnesota.gov/media/3078/minnesotas-historic-2008-election.pdf) The recount records are preserved as a dedicated collection at the Minnesota Historical Society.[8](https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gr01176.html)
After the recount, the certified totals were 1,212,629 for Franken and 1,212,317 for Coleman, a margin of 312 votes out of a record 2.92 million ballots cast.[4](https://www.sos.minnesota.gov/media/3078/minnesotas-historic-2008-election.pdf) Drawing on the AP's vote tally, information from state election offices, and research conducted by [FairVote](https://www.edgepedia.org/fairvote), an Associated Press examination of statewide recounts concluded that this race was the latest statewide contest in which a recount changed the outcome.[9](https://apnews.com/article/4d8a5000d49f48ee1361a1288cad3b99) Statistical work published during the recount period examined audit methods for the race, illustrating how discrepancy measures from random samples can assess whether a full hand tally would find a different winner.[10](https://arxiv.org/abs/0811.1697)
## Alaska and Georgia: slow calls and a runoff
**Alaska's race was among the last decided.** On election night, official figures showed Republican incumbent [Ted Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/ted-stevens) with 106,594 votes (48.2%) and Democrat Mark Begich with 103,337 (46.7%), with 11,242 votes (5.1%) for others and the race listed as not called.[7](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP08-84/RP08-84.pdf) Begich's 2008 victory later stood as the last time Alaska elected a Democrat to the Senate.[11](https://apnews.com/article/0542aaa0e516c1c6057a2f13e9163b3f)
**Georgia required a runoff.** Under Georgia law, a runoff is treated as a continuation of the general election because a majority vote is required for election to the office.[3](https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2008/2008Stat.htm) Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss won the December 2, 2008 runoff with 1,866,612 votes (49.8%) to Democrat Jim Martin's 1,756,864 (46.8%), out of 3,751,450 votes cast in that round.[3](https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2008/2008Stat.htm)
## Campaign finance context
The 2008 cycle was the last in which the total reached $5.3 billion in spending on federal elections from political parties, outside groups, and candidates combined, according to a congressional report on campaign finance practices.[12](https://www.congress.gov/111/crpt/hrpt492/CRPT-111hrpt492.pdf) The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 had already prohibited national party committees from raising or spending nonfederal "soft money," and the [Federal Election Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/federal-election-commission)'s summary of the 2008 cycle documented party activity across Senate, House, and presidential campaigns.[13](https://www.fec.gov/updates/party-financial-activity-summarized-for-the-2008-election-cycle-party-support-for-candidates-increases/) Leadership PAC money changing hands among Senate candidates grew from $674,400 in 2008 to $1.28 million in a later cycle, one measure of the practice's expansion.[14](https://time.com/3551095/senate-election-campaign-finance-pac/)
## The resulting Senate
The elections seated the 111th Congress with 57 Democratic senators, 41 Republicans, and 2 independents.[2](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf) The Democratic Party achieved a near supermajority in the Senate, holding 57 seats to the Republican Party's 41, with the additional two seats held by independent senators who caucused with the Democrats.[6](https://about.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/2008-elections-united-states)
## References
1. [IPU Parline database: United States of America (Senate) elections in 2008](https://data.ipu.org/election-summary/HTML/2340_08.htm)
2. [Federal Elections 2008, Federal Election Commission](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2008.pdf)
3. [2008 Election Statistics, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives](https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2008/2008Stat.htm)
4. [Minnesota's Historic 2008 Election, Minnesota Legislative Manual (Blue Book)](https://www.sos.minnesota.gov/media/3078/minnesotas-historic-2008-election.pdf)
5. [Post-Election Perspectives, Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2008/11/13/postelection-perspectives/)
6. [2008 Elections in the United States, EBSCO Research Starters](https://about.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/2008-elections-united-states)
7. [US Elections 2008, House of Commons Library Research Briefing RP08-84](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP08-84/RP08-84.pdf)
8. [2008 United States Senate Election Recount Records, Minnesota Historical Society](https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gr01176.html)
9. [Don't count on a recount to change the winner in close elections, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/4d8a5000d49f48ee1361a1288cad3b99)
10. [A Sharper discrepancy measure for post-election audits, arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/0811.1697)
11. [Trump went all the way to Alaska in a sign of just how close its Senate race may be, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/0542aaa0e516c1c6057a2f13e9163b3f)
12. [111th Congress Committee Report on campaign finance, Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/111/crpt/hrpt492/CRPT-111hrpt492.pdf)
13. [Party Financial Activity Summarized for the 2008 Election Cycle, Federal Election Commission](https://www.fec.gov/updates/party-financial-activity-summarized-for-the-2008-election-cycle-party-support-for-candidates-increases/)
14. [Straw Into Gold: Candidates Trade Leadership PAC Dollars for Campaign Cash, TIME](https://time.com/3551095/senate-election-campaign-finance-pac/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Elections and representation › Elections and referendums › United States election events › United States federal election events › US Senate election events › Senate elections, 2006–present*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license