Battleground States

Colorado | Florida | Indiana | Iowa | Minnesota | New Mexico | North Carolina | Ohio | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Virginia |

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McCain supporters cheered in Pueblo, Colo., Oct. 3 as Sen. McCain spoke about offshore oil drilling.

Colorado: New Voter Mix

9 electoral votes

• Top issues: Education, minorities
• Population: 4.7 million
• Gender: 50.3% male, 49.7% female
• Race: 71.7% white (non-Hispanic), 19.7% Hispanic, 4.1% black, 4.5 % other
• Age: 24.6% 18 years or younger; 10% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $50,105

President Bush took Colorado in 2000 and 2004 with 51% and 52% of the vote, respectively. But the red state has gone purple in the four years since, as Coloradans have elected a Democratic senator and governor.

The state's voting eligible population has risen 13% since the 2004 election, with more young voters and Latino immigrants added to the rolls. Nationally, Sen. Obama is favored by 63% of the Hispanic vote, compared with 30% for Sen. McCain. Separately, white, college-educated voters, a demographic that has been moving steadily Democratic, now comprise one-fourth of Colorado's electorate.

The chairman of the Colorado State Republican Party says suburban women aged 30 to 50 are the key to winning the state. These suburbanite females tend to be socially liberal and fiscally conservative and are capable of voting for either party.

In late September, a WSJ/NBC News poll showed Sen. Obama with a lead of four percentage points.

More:

• McCain Is 'Getting Annihilated' in Four Battleground States
• Political Diary: Colorado Ladies Love McCain
• Latino Drive Likely to Aid Obama

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Sen. McCain visited Miami's Everglades with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Florida: Election Day Nightmare?

27 electoral votes

• Top issues: Economy, immigration, Social Security
• Population: 18 million
• Gender: 49.1% male, 50.9% female
• Race: 61.3% white (non-Hispanic), 15.8% black, 20.2% Hispanic
• Age: 22.2% 18 years or younger; 16.8% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $40,900

The Sunshine State is key to Sen. McCain's national election strategy. Florida's political machines have served Republicans well in recent election cycles, and Sen. McCain is counting on support from Gov. Charlie Crist, while some of the state's Democrats still look at Sen. Obama as having been an obstacle to seating their delegation at the party's convention in Denver.

Sen. Obama is betting on new voters to win Florida. The state has seen a rapid increase in registrations among Democrats and African Americans. An obstacle could be training inexperienced voters in two new state laws -- one that requires a match between a voter's ID and a government database and one that allows citizens to challenge the legitimacy of fellow voters.

Both campaigns see Election Day gold in the state's huge and fast-growing Hispanic population, yet Florida's Cuban-American voters largely supported Sen. McCain on the Republican primary. The Jewish community in south Florida has been critical to the Democratic party in close elections.

More:

• Obama Seeks Advantage in Florida as Early Voting Starts
• Tampa Bay Rays Come Out for Obama
• Campaign Resources Flow in to Florida in Final Stretch
• Senior McCain Aide Says They 'Need' Florida, Ohio Wins
• Florida Could Again Muddle Race for White House
• Obama at Square One in Florida

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Sen. Obama greeted supporters after a town hall meeting in Terre Haute in early September.

Indiana: Back to the Democrats?

11 electoral votes

• Top issues: Jobs, economy, trade
• Population: 6.3 million
• Gender: 49.3% male, 50.7% female
• Race: 83.9% white (non-Hispanic), 8.9% black, 4.8% Hispanic
• Age: 25% 18 years or younger; 14.4% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $43,217

The Hoosier State hasn't voted for a Democrat since the 1964 Lyndon Johnson landslide, but the candidate from next-door Illinois is bidding to flip the state into the Democratic column this year.

Sen. Obama has 32 offices across the state and dozens of paid staffers and has aired at least $1.5 million in TV ads since June. The McCain campaign has no field offices or paid staffers working full-time in the state, and Sen. McCain hasn't visited the state since July 1.

Public polls taken this month show the two candidates running about even or Sen. McCain slightly ahead.

More:

• McCain Is 'Getting Annihilated' in Four Battleground States
• Obama Closes Gap in Red State Indiana
• Trade Stances Reframed For Indiana, North Carolina
• State Profile: Indiana Keys

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A Obama supporter braved the cold weather outside a Democratic debate in Des Moines, Iowa.

Iowa: Early Indicator

7 electoral votes

• Top issues: Economy, Iraq, religion
• Population: 2.9 million
• Gender: 49.4% male, 50.6% female
• Race: 91% white (non-Hispanic), 2.5% black, 3.8% Hispanic, 2.7% other
• Age: 23.8% 18 years or younger; 14.6% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $42,865

Early every election season, all eyes are on Iowa as the first state to hold nominating contests, and this January, Iowa voters gave Sen. Obama his first win. In 2000, Sen. McCain won the state's GOP primary, beating out soon-to-be President Bush.

The voter registration advantage has flipped from four years ago -- there are now more than 60,000 more Democratic voters.

Iowa has a strong anti-war tradition, but Republicans count with the support of the state's Christian conservative base.

Both candidates and their vice-presidential nominees have campaigned repeatedly in the state, traveling back to the state in June to tour riverside flood zones and pitch in to help.

More:

• Iowa Win Doesn't Guarantee Big Prize
• Democrats Head Back to Iowa

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A woman cheered at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Minnesota: Continuing a Recent Trend

10 electoral votes

• Top issues: Economy, health care, taxes, unemployment
• Population: 5.2 million
• Gender: 49.7% male, 50.3% female
• Race: 85.9% white (non-Hispanic), 4.5% black, 3.8% Hispanic, 5.8 % other
• Age: 24.3% 18 years or younger; 12.1% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $51,202

Minnesota had supported only one Republican presidential candidate in 50 years -- Richard Nixon in 1972 -- until 2004 when President Bush won 48% of the vote. Sen. McCain hopes he can maintain the state's recent red tinge.

The Republicans held their national convention in Minnesota in September, and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty was on Sen. McCain's short list for vice president. With its strong health-care and technology sectors, the Twin Cities area has attracted well-paid professionals who have tended to support fiscally conservative candidates, such as Gov. Pawlenty. This July, though, the state's unemployment rate hit 5.8%, its highest level in 22 years and slightly above the national average.

Gov. Pawlenty says that for Minnesotans, the economy is the main issue. "People are concerned about filling up their gas tanks and [about] their home heating bills this winter."

Sen. McCain lost the statewide primary to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by 2-to-1. In the Feb. 5, Democratic primary, Sen. Obama won.

More:

• Republicans Hope to Sway Upper Midwest
• Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nevada: Are They Really Battlegrounds?

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Obama supporters attended a rally in Espanola, N.M., on Sept. 18.

New Mexico: The Hispanic West

5 electoral votes

• Top issues: Economy, immigration
• Population: 1.9 million
• Gender: 49.2% male, 50.8% female
• Race: 42.8% white (non-Hispanic), 2.5% black, 44% Hispanic
• Age: 26% 18 years or younger; 12.4% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $37,838

New Mexico went for President Bush in 2004 and 2000 but has a mostly Democratic legislature and a Democratic governor: former presidential contender Bill Richardson. In 2004, President Bush won the state by only 6,000 votes.

New Mexico has 501,000 Hispanic eligible voters, accounting for 3% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters. Polls show Sen. Obama with more than a two-to-one advantage among Hispanics, as not even Sen. McCain's support for immigration reform appears to be enough to transform that trend.

More:

• New Mexico Long Shot Sees Opening
• Obama, McCain Court Hispanics, but Avoid Immigration Issues
• Obama Campaign Focuses on a Few Red States

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Onlookers watched as Sen. Obama arrived for a campaign stop in Raleigh, N.C.

North Carolina: Crisis Votes

7 electoral votes

• Top issues: Economy, financial crisis
• Population: 8.8 million
• Gender: 49% male, 51% female
• Race: 67.9% white (non-Hispanic), 21.7% black, 6.7% Hispanic, 3.7% other
• Age: 24.3% 18 years or younger; 12.2% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $40,863

Public polls and an avalanche of Democratic voter registrations indicate North Carolina, which hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter, may no longer be a safe Republican state.

Home to Charlotte, the nation's second-leading banking center behind New York City, the state has suffered with the financial meltdown.

The McCain campaign announced in September that it would increase staffing levels in the state. The Obama campaign had already had a robust ground presence there for months.

Since Jan. 1, new voter registrations in North Carolina have favored Democrats nearly four to one. New black voters could also boost Sen. Obama's chance. An estimated 457,000 black citizens didn't vote in 2004; President Bush won the state by 435,000 voters.

More:

• Wachovia's Hometown Confronts an Identity Crisis
• Obama and Biden: Together Again for the First Time

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A McCain supporter holds up a sign reading, "Ohio Loves Mac" at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio.

Ohio: Swing Land

20 electoral votes

• Top issues: Housing crisis, unemployment, economy, trade
• Population: 11.4 million
• Gender: 49.8% male, 51.2% female
• Race: 82.9% white (non-Hispanic), 12% black, 3.1% other
• Age: 24.1% 18 years or younger; 13.3% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $43,371

Both campaigns have been gunning hard to attract voters in Ohio, a swing state so important that no Republican candidate has been elected without carrying it.

The state suffers from both high unemployment and a rash of home foreclosures, and Ohio's Republicans have tried to place the blame for the state's economic woes on the state's Democratic governor, in contrast to the situation in other struggling states, where Democrats have blamed the Republican president.

Sens. McCain and Obama both have encouraged supporters to vote as soon as possible under the state's recently changed early-voting law. In polls, Ohioans have bounced back and forth between the two candidates.

More:

• Senior McCain Aide Says They 'Need' Florida, Ohio Wins
• Ohio Voters Head to the Polls
• In Ohio, GOP Tries to Blame Economy on Democrats
• Undecided Think It Over
• Blog: Undecided in Ohio

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An estimated 75,000 people came out to see Sen. Obama speak as he wraps up his campaign through Oregon.

Oregon: Green and Blue?

7 electoral votes

• Top issues: Environment, independent voters
• Population: 3.7 million
• Gender: 49.7% male, 50.3% female
• Race: 81% white (non-Hispanic), 10.2% Hispanic, 8.8% other
• Age: 23.1% under 18 years, 12.9% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $42,568

Oregon has voted for the Democratic candidate in the past five presidential elections, and the Cook Political Report lists the state in its "Lean Democratic" column. Yet the state is known for its independent voters and for backing candidates who buck political norms -- Ron Paul did well there in the primaries. Sen. McCain's reputation as a maverick could appeal to some of those same voters.

Demographically, the state is largely white, with a significant manufacturing base and plenty of middle- and low-income voters. Portland, the state's largest city, has a liberal voting record, and Sen. Obama polls very well among working-class whites in the state. Sen. Obama held a rally in Portland in May that drew 75,000 supporters.

Portland was recently named the greenest city in the U.S., and both candidates have been playing up their energy policies here. Sen. McCain gave a speech on climate in May, detailing his plan for curtailing emissions.

More:

Political Diary: Oregon Isn't Ohio

Obama Holds Huge Rally in Oregon

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Pennsylvania delegates held up signs at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., in early September.

Pennsylvania: Battle for the Working Class

21 electoral votes

• Top issues: Taxes, health care, education
• Population: 12.4 million
• Gender: 49.6% male, 51.4% female
• Race: 82.1% white (non-Hispanic), 10.7% black, 4.2% Hispanic
• Age: 22.5% 18 years or younger; 15.2% 65 years and older
• Median household income: $43,714

Democrats have carried the Keystone State in the past two presidential elections, but Sen. McCain still hopes to turn the tables in November.

The Republican is targeting Pennsylvania's white working-class voters with a conservative message on social issues. Organized labor has helped Sen. Obama court the same voters.

More:

• McCain Still Targets Pennsylvania, Ohio
• Labor Woos Whites for Obama

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Andrea Glover of Franconia, Va., signed up to volunteer for the Obama campaign in August.

Virginia: Changing Balance

13 electoral votes

• Top issues: Economy, taxes, Iraq
• Population: 7.6 million
• Gender: 49.2% male, 50.8% female
• Race: 67.7% white (non-Hispanic), 19.9% black, 6.3% Hispanic
• Age: 23.6% 18 years or younger; 11.6 % 65 years and older
• Median household income: $51,103

Traditionally a Republican stronghold, Virginia has supported a Democrat in just one presidential vote in the past 50 years: the election Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. However, the balance of Democrats has grown in heavily populated northern Virginia, and the state's Democratic governor, Tim Kaine, has campaigned actively for Sen. Obama.

Despite the crowding in the state's northern edge, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner, once the state's governor, has advised that, to win Virginia, Sen. Obama also must find ways to relate to rural voters.

The state has 484,000 black people who didn't vote in 2004, and 250 Obama volunteers were conducting registration drives in the state this summer. Only 58% of qualified African-Americans in Virginia were registered to vote in 2004, compared with 72% of whites; nationwide, 68% of African-Americans and 75% of whites were registered to vote.

More:

• In Virginia, McCain Struggles To Hold the South for GOP
• Mark Warner Emphasizes the 'Takeaways'
• Obama Seeks to Add Black Voters | Map

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Notes: Population estimates and other demographic details as of 2006; income data as of 2004.

Sources: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal reports, Census Bureau (for demographic data)

Corrections & Amplifications

Median household income in New Mexico is $37,838 according to 2004 census data. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the average for the state was $108,100. The above article has been corrected.