The very first presidential election was held in the early days of the United States. The presidential election took place starting on December 15, 1788 following the ratification of the United States Constitution and ran through January 10, 1789. The election resulted in George Washington, who ran unopposed, to be named the first President of the United States. Since then, the presidential election has been held every four years.
For a list of top election map choices for the 2012 presidential election, visit Best Election Maps. Related: The Map that Started the Red and Blue Election Map Trend.
Presidential Election Maps from 1968 to 2012
Listed here are the presidential election maps for each the past eleven elections spanning1968 to 2012.  The maps show the breakdown of electoral college votes by state.  In each election, there are 538 electoral votes and 270 is needed to win. Blue shaded indicates states that voted for the democratic contender and red shows states that voted for the republican contender.  Most electoral votes in these elections tend to be either for the Republican or Democratic party but once in a while, a faithless elector (someone who doesn’t cast his or her electoral vote for the person previously pledged to vote for) adds a twist to the election results.
Related Video: US Presidential Election Maps from 1788/89 to 2016
2012 Presidential Election Map
The 2012 Presidential election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 with President Barrack Obama (Democratic Party) running against Mitt Romney (Republication Party). President Obama won re-election and currently holds 303 of the country’s electoral votes. Mitt Romney currently holds 206 electoral votes. Due to a close count, Florida’s 29 electoral votes have not yet been allocated.
2008 Presidential Election Map
In 2008, Barrack Obama (Democratic Party) ran against John McCain (Republican Party). Obama won the election with 69,456,897 of the popular vote (against McCain’s 59,934,814). Obama carried twenty eight of the states along with the District of Columbia and one of Nebraska’s electoral votes for a total of 365 electoral votes. McCain carried twenty-two of the states and 173 electoral votes. For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 2008 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
2004 Presidential Election Map
In 2004, George Bush (Republican Party) ran for reelection against John Kerry (Democratic Party). Bush won with 62,040,610 of the popular vote and carried 31 states for 286 electoral votes. Kerry won 59,028,444 of the popular votes and carried 19 states plus the District of Columbia for 251 electoral votes (one vote in Minnesota was cast for John Edwards). For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 2004 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
2000 Presidential Election Map
In 2000 George Bush (Republican Party) ran against former Vice President (under Clinton) Al Gore (Democratic Party). This presidential election was an extremely tight race and wasn’t decided until well after election day due to a recount of Florida votes. Bush won the election with 50,456,002 popular votes and carried 30 states for 271 electoral votes. Gore won more popular votes with 50,999,897 but only carried 20 states and the District of Columbia for 261 electoral votes. For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 2000 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
For more in depth cartography from GIS Lounge about the 2000 presidential election: Campaign 2000 – A Cartographic Perspective, and the Recount: the battle for Florida.
1996 Presidential Election Map
In 1996, President Clinton (Democratic Party) ran for reelection against Bob Dole (Republican Party). Clinton won with 47,401,185 of the popular vote and carried 31 states plus the District of Columbia for 379 of electoral votes. Dole won 39,197,469 of the popular votes and carried 19 states for 159 electoral votes. For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 1996 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
1992 Presidential Election Map
In 1992, Bill Clinton ran against incumbent President George H.W. Bush. Clinton won the election that year with 44,909,806 popular votes and carried 32 states plus the District of Columbia for 370 electoral votes. Bush won 39,104,550 popular votes and carried 18 states for 168 electoral votes. For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 1992 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
1988 Presidential Election Map
In 1988, George H.W. Bush ran against Michael Dukakis. Bush won with 48,886,097 of the popular votes and carried 40 states for 426 electoral votes. Dukakis won 41,809,074 of the popular vote and carried 10 states plus the District of Columbia for 111 electoral votes. For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 1988 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
1984 Presidential Election Map
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan (Republican Party) ran for re-election against Walter Mondale (Democratic Party). Reagan overwhelmingly won the election with 54,455,472 popular votes and carried 49 states and won 525 electoral votes. Mondale won only one state (Minnesota, his home state) plus the District of Columbia. Mondale had 37,577,352 popular votes and 13 electoral votes. For a breakdown of popular and electoral votes see the 1984 Official Presidential General Election Results from the Federal Election Commission.
1980 Presidential Election Map
Ronald Reagan ran against incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Reagan won convincingly with a popular vote of 43,903,230 and carried 44 states for 489 electoral votes. Carter won 35,480,115 popular votes and carried six states plus the District of Columbia with 49 electoral votes.
1976 Presidential Election Map
Jimmy Carter (Democratic Party) ran against incumbent Gerald Ford (Republican Party) in 1976. Carter won with 40,831,881 of the popular vote and carried 23 states plus the District of Columbia for 297 electoral votes. Ford won 39,148,634 of the popular vote and carried 27 states for 240 electoral votes. One electoral vote from Washington was cast by a faithless elector in the state of Washington.
1972 Presidential Election Map
Incumbent President Richard Nixon (Republican Party) ran for re-election against George McGovern (Democratic Party). Nixon won overwhelmingly with 47,168,710 of the popular votes and carried 49 states for 520 electoral votes. McGovern won 29,173,222 of the popular vote and only carried one state, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia with 17 electoral votes. One electoral vote was cast by a faithless elector for John Hosper, the Libertarian candidate that year.
1968 Presidential Election Map
In 1968, Richard Nixon (Republican Party) ran against Hubert Humphrey (Democratic Party) and George Wallace (Independent Party). Nixon won with 31,783,783 of the popular vote and carried 32 states for 301 electoral votes. Humphrey won 31,271,839 popular votes and carried 13 states plus the District of Columbia for 191 electoral votes. Wallace won 9,901,118 of the popular votes and carried five states for 46 electoral votes.
