Coattails?

[HAnnA MArin County]

Were there any states where the presidential candidates had coattails down the ticket for other statewide races (U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representative At Large, Governor), or the other way around? For each state that had another statewide race, I've posted the results in terms of who won the state by a bigger margin. Feel free to discuss the coattail effect, if it exited in any of the below races.

Alabama
*U.S. Senate: Jeff Sessions (R)* 63.36% - Vivian Davis Figures (D) 36.52% = R + 26.84
*President: John McCain (R) 60.32% - Barack Obama (D) 38.74% = R + 21.58

Alaska
*President: John McCain (R) 59.42% - Barack Obama (D) 37.89% = R + 21.53
*U.S. House At Large: Don Young (R)* 50.14% - Ethan Berkowitz (D) 44.97% = R + 5.17
*U.S. Senate: Mark Begich (D) 47.77% - Ted Stevens (R)* 46.52% = D + 1.25

Arkansas
*U.S. Senate: Mark Pryor (D)* 79.53% - Rebekah Kennedy (G) 20.47% = D + 59.06
*President: John McCain (R) 58.72% - Barack Obama (D) 38.86% = R + 19.86

Colorado
*U.S. Senate: Mark Udall (D) 52.80% - Bob Schaffer (R)^ 42.49% = D + 10.31
*President: Barack Obama (D) 53.66% - John McCain (R) 44.71% = D + 8.95

Delaware
*Governor: Jack Markell (D)^ 67.52% - Bill Lee (R) 32.05% = D + 35.47
*U.S. Senate: Joe Biden (D)* 64.69% - Christine O'Donnell (R) 35.31% = D + 29.38
*President: Barack Obama (D) 61.91% - John McCain (R) 36.93% = D + 24.98
*U.S. House At Large: Michael Castle (R)* 61.08% - Karen Hartley-Nagle (D) 37.99% = R + 23.09

Georgia
*President: John McCain (R) 52.10% - Barack Obama (D) 46.90% = R + 5.20
*U.S. Senate: Saxby Chambliss (R)* 49.76% - Jim Martin (D) 46.83% = R + 2.93

Idaho
*President: John McCain (R) 61.21% - Barack Obama (D) 35.91% = R + 25.30
*U.S. Senate: Jim Risch (R)^ 57.65% - Larry LaRocco (D) 34.11% = R + 23.54

Illinois
*U.S. Senate: Dick Durbin (D)* 67.84% - Steve Sauerberg (R) 28.53% = D + 39.31
*President: Barack Obama (D) 61.86% - John McCain (R) 36.75% = D + 25.11

Indiana
*Governor: Mitch Daniels (R)* 57.84% - Jill Long Thompson (D) 40.04% = R + 17.80
*President: Barack Obama (D) 49.87% - John McCain (R) 48.84% = D + 1.03

Iowa
*U.S. Senate: Tom Harkin (D)* 62.66% - Christopher Reed (R) 37.26% = D + 25.40
*President: Barack Obama (D) 53.93% - John McCain (R) 44.39% = D + 9.54

Kansas
*U.S. Senate: Pat Roberts (R)* 60.06% - Jim Slattery (D) 36.46% = R + 23.60
*President: John McCain (R) 56.50% - Barack Obama (D) 41.57% = R + 14.93

Kentucky
*President: John McCain (R) 57.37% - Barack Obama (D) 41.15% = R + 16.22
*U.S. Senate: Mitch McConnell (R)* 52.97% - Bruce Lunsford (D) 47.03% = R + 5.94

Louisiana
*U.S. Senate: Mary Landrieu (D)* 52.11% - John Kennedy (R) 45.72% = D + 6.39
*President: John McCain (R) 58.56% - Barack Obama (D) 39.93% = R + 18.63

Maine
*U.S. Senate: Susan Collins (R)* 61.33% - Tom Allen (D) 38.58% = R + 22.75
*President: Barack Obama (D) 57.71% - John McCain (R) 40.38% = D + 17.33

Massachusetts
*U.S. Senate: John Kerry (D)* 65.86% - Jeff Beatty (R) 30.93% = D + 34.93
*President: Barack Obama (D) 61.80% - John McCain (R) 35.99% = D + 25.81

Michigan
*U.S. Senate: Carl Levin (D)* 62.65% - Jack Hoogendyk (R) 33.84% = D + 28.81
*President: Barack Obama (D) 57.33% - John McCain (R) 40.89% = D + 16.44

Minnesota
*President: Barack Obama (D) 54.06% - John McCain (R) 43.82% = D + 10.24
*U.S. Senate: Al Franken (D) 41.99% - Norm Coleman (R)* 41.98% = D + 0.01

Mississippi
*U.S. Senate: Thad Cochran (R)* 61.44% - Erik Fleming (D) 38.56% = R + 22.88
*President: John McCain (R) 56.18% - Barack Obama (D) 43.00% = R + 13.18
*U.S. Senate: Roger Wicker (R)* 54.96% - Ronnie Musgrove (D) 45.04% = R + 9.92

Missouri
*Governor: Jay Nixon (D) 58.40% - Kenny Hulshof (R)^ 39.49% = D + 18.91
*President: John McCain (R) 49.36% - Barack Obama (D) 49.23% = R + 0.13

Montana
*U.S. Senate: Max Baucus (D)* 72.89% - Bob Kelleher (R) 27.11% = D + 45.78
*Governor: Brian Schweitzer (D)* 65.42% - Roy Brown (R) 32.54% = D + 32.88
*U.S. House At Large: Denny Rehberg (R)* 64.14% - John Driscoll (D) 32.42% = R + 31.72
*President: John McCain (R) 49.49% - Barack Obama (D) 47.11% = R + 2.38

Nebraska
*U.S. Senate: Mike Johanns (R)^ 57.52% - Scott Kleeb (D) 40.06% = R + 17.46
*President: John McCain (R) 56.53% - Barack Obama (D) 41.60% = R + 14.93

New Hampshire
*Governor: John Lynch (D)* 70.15% - Joe Kenney (R) 27.61% = D + 42.54
*President: Barack Obama (D) 54.13% - John McCain (R) 44.52% = D + 9.61
*U.S. Senate: Jeanne Shaheen (D) 51.59% - John Sununu (R)* 45.25% = D + 6.34

New Jersey
*President: Barack Obama (D) 57.14% - John McCain (R) 41.61% = D + 15.53
*U.S. Senate: Frank Lautenberg (D)* 56.03% - Bill Zimmer (R) 41.95% = D + 14.08

New Mexico
*U.S. Senate: Tom Udall (D) 61.33% - Steve Pearce (R)^ 38.67% = D + 22.66
*President: Barack Obama (D) 56.91% - John McCain (R) 41.78% = D + 15.13

North Carolina
*U.S. Senate: Kay Hagan (D) 52.65% - Elizabeth Dole (R)* 44.18% = D + 8.47
*Governor: Beverly Perdue (D)^ 50.27% - Pat McCrory (R) 46.88% = D + 3.39
*President: Barack Obama (D) 49.70% - John McCain (R) 49.38% = D + 0.32

North Dakota
*Governor: John Hoeven (R)* 74.44% - Tim Mathern (D) 23.53% = R + 50.91
*U.S. House At Large: Earl Pomeroy (D)* 61.97% - Duane Sand (R) 38.03% = D + 23.94
*President: John McCain (R) 53.07% - Barack Obama (D) 44.47% = R + 8.60

Oklahoma
*President: John McCain (R) 65.65% - Barack Obama (D) 34.35% = R + 31.30
*U.S. Senate: James Inhofe (R)* 56.68% - Andrew Rice (D) 39.18% = R + 17.50

Oregon
*President: Barack Obama (D) 56.75% - John McCain (R) 40.40% = D + 16.35
*U.S. Senate: Jeff Merkley (D) 48.90% - Gordon Smith (R)* 45.55% = D + 3.35

Rhode Island
*U.S. Senate: Jack Reed (D)* 73.07% - Bob Tingle (R) 26.47% = D + 46.60
*President: Barack Obama (D) 62.86% - John McCain (R) 35.06% = D + 27.80

South Carolina
*U.S. Senate: Lindsey Graham (R)* 57.52% - Bob Conley (D) 42.25% = R + 15.27
*President: John McCain (R) 53.87% - Barack Obama (D) 44.90% = R + 8.97

South Dakota
*U.S. House At Large: Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D)* 67.56% - Chris Lien (R) 32.44% = D + 35.12
*U.S. Senate: Tim Johnson (D)* 62.49% - Joel Dykstra (R) 37.51% = D + 24.98
*President: John McCain (R) 53.16% - Barack Obama (D) 44.7% = R + 8.41

Tennessee
*U.S. Senate: Lamar Alexander (R)* 65.14% - Bob Tuke (D) 31.64% = R + 33.50
*President: John McCain (R) 56.85% - Barack Obama (D) 41.79% = R + 15.06

Texas
*U.S. Senate: John Cornyn (R)* 54.82% - Rick Noriega (D) 42.84% = R + 11.98
*President: John McCain (R) 55.39% - Barack Obama (D) 43.63% = R + 11.76

Utah
*Governor: Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (R)* 77.63% - Bob Springmeyer (D) 19.72% = R + 57.91
*President: John McCain (R) 62.25% - Barack Obama (D) 34.22% = R + 28.03

Vermont
*U.S. House At Large: Peter Welch (D)* 83.25% - Mike Bethel (I) 4.81% = D + 78.44
*President: Barack Obama (D) 67.46% - John McCain (R) 30.45% = D + 37.01
*Governor: Jim Douglas (R)* 53.43% - Anthony Pollina (I) 21.87% = R + 31.56

Virginia
*U.S. Senate: Mark Warner (D) 65.03% - Bob Gilmore III (R)^ 33.73% = D + 31.30
*President: Barack Obama (D) 52.63% - John McCain (R) 46.33% = D + 6.30

Washington
*President: Barack Obama (D) 57.34% - John McCain (R) 40.26% = D + 17.08
*Governor: Christine Gregoire (D)* 53.24% - Dino Rossi (R) 46.76% = D + 6.48

West Virginia
*Governor: Joe Manchin III (D)* 69.78% - Russ Weeks (R) 25.72% = D + 44.06
*U.S. Senate: Jay Rockefeller IV (D)* 63.73% - Jay Wolfe (R) 36.26% = D + 27.47
*President: John McCain (R) 55.60% - Barack Obama (D) 42.51% = R + 13.09

Wyoming
*U.S. Senate: Mike Enzi (R)* 75.63% - Chris Rothfuss (D) 24.26% = R + 51.37
*U.S. Senate: John Barrasso (R)* 73.35% - Nick Carter (D) 26.53% = R + 46.82
*President: John McCain (R) 64.78% - Barack Obama (D) 32.54% = R + 32.24
*U.S. House At Large: Cynthia Lummis (R)^ 52.62% - Gary Trauner (D) 42.81% = R + 9.81

[Nichlemn]

I think the coattail effect only exists when a candidate pulls in people who otherwise wouldn't vote. (I'd love to see a rigorous study on this, though) The most obvious examples of these were the black voters that turned out for Obama. For example, it's possible that Obama made the difference in the Louisiana Senate race even though he lost the state by a large margin, if he attracted a lot of blacks that voted straight-D, but didn't cause many straight-R voters to turn out. His losses could have been mostly among people that would have voted for Landrieu regardless of who the top of the ticket was.

[DariusNJ]

Georgia, because the high AA turnout helped Jim Martin.

[Bo]

Some states where McCain's coattails helped were Alaska, Georgia, and Wyoming. Obama's coattails helped in Minnesota.

[HAnnA MArin County]

Some states where McCain's coattails helped were Alaska, Georgia, and Wyoming. Obama's coattails helped in Minnesota.

I think Alaska was more so Palin's coattails as opposed to McCain, because if you recall during the summer, the polls in Alaska were surprisingly close until McCain announced her as his running mate. Obama also had coattails in Georgia because of the high African American turnout, but I agree about McCain having coattails in Wyoming. Save for his home state of Arizona, Wyoming was the only state in the West that trended Republican, and he probably did help the Republicans hold onto the at-large House seat that Lummis won by like 9-10 points when most pollsters had the seat rated as toss-up.

I think McCain also had some coattails in Idaho, Nebraska and Kentucky, more so Kentucky if you examine the close margin of victory that McConnell accomplished over Lunsford. I think had Hillary been the nominee, McConnell would have been defeated.

[politicalchick20]

I think North Carolina might have had coattails involved due to voters being pissed over Elizabeth Dole's "Godless" ad against Kay Hagan.

[Derek]

I think North Carolina might have had coattails involved due to voters being pissed over Elizabeth Dole's "Godless" ad against Kay Hagan.

That was a terrible ad and she would've lost my vote.

[nclib]

I think that Obama putting a lot of work into usual red states helped senate candidates. I think that he helped Hagan in North Carolina, helped keep the georgia vote close, and won the Minnesota senate seat.

Hagan ran ahead of Obama in NC.

[hcallega]

coattails are really hard to judge because all politics are local. The most obvious example of coattails that I can think of was Frank Church loosing in 1980. Of course the news also the race before the polls in Idaho closed.

[rbt48]

Coattails aren't nearly what they used to be.  Does any state still have the option to select one party's candidate for all races with a single mark on the ballot or voting machine lever?  I don't think so; Connecticut and Oklahoma were the last to drop this option, I believe.

In Nebraska, the way the ballot is layed out, it's hard to envision coattails being a factor, unless one party has the voters wrath against it in a given election year.