Weeks before the election, Obama experienced a sudden bump in polling and ended up winning the state with 51% of the vote.

Florida joined nine other states that had previously voted for Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 election to swing to Obama.

That said, McCain's strength along the Florida panhandle kept the state relatively close, and he even improved on Bush's margins in Wakulla, Franklin, Liberty, and Holmes counties.

[3] Republican George W. Bush of Texas carried Florida by a convincing margin of 5% in 2004 against Democrat John Kerry,[4] a much greater margin than in 2000 when Bush controversially won the state's 25 electoral votes against Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee by 537 votes.

During the primary season, Barack Obama did not campaign there and argued against seating its delegates for the Democratic convention, earning unfavorable media attention.

A haven for retirees, Florida lacked many of the younger voters who passionately supported the Democratic nominee.

[6] Near the end of September, however, when the financial crisis of 2007–2008 became a more potent election issue, Obama proceeded to take the lead in most of the polls.

[25] Upset wins in the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas, where George W. Bush won in 2004, contributed to Obama's victory.

In the former, Obama carried Orange County (which includes Orlando) by 19 points - the best margin for a Democratic candidate in 64 years.

[26] Before Al Gore and John Kerry narrowly won it, Orange County hadn't supported a Democratic presidential nominee since Franklin D. Roosevelt's last run for president in 1944.

[28] Like most Democratic candidates, Obama dominated South Florida, winning Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties by comfortable margins.

In northern Florida, a Republican stronghold, McCain won the majority of counties by double-digit landslides.

Moreover, McCain improved on George Bush's performance in large parts of northern Florida - something he achieved in very few other areas of the country.

[29] Obama's sole accomplishment involved Duval County (Jacksonville), where he narrowed George Bush's 61,580-vote victory to a far smaller 7,919 margin.

However, McCain's unexpectedly poor showing in Orlando, a city that had voted Republican in presidential elections from 1948 to 2004, severely hurt his position in central Florida.

Democrat Alan Grayson defeated incumbent Republican Ric Keller for Florida's 8th Congressional District seat while Democrat Suzanne Kosmas ousted incumbent Republican Tom Feeney for Florida's 24th Congressional District seat.