Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Cheney, blue denotes those won by Kerry/Edwards, light blue is the electoral vote for John Edwards (written as John Ewards) by a Minnesota faithless elector. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
President before election George W. Bush
Elected President George W. Bush
The 2004 United States presidential election , the 55th quadrennial presidential election, was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush defeated Democratic nominee John Kerry, a United States Senator from Massachusetts.
Bush and incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were renominated by their party with no difficulty. Former Governor Howard Dean emerged as the early front-runner in the 2004 Democratic primaries, but Kerry won the first set of primaries in January 2004 and clinched his party's nomination in March after a series of primary victories. Kerry chose Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who had himself sought the party's 2004 presidential nomination, to be his running mate.
Bush's popularity had soared early in his first term after the September 11 attacks, but his popularity declined between 2001 and 2004. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Bush presented himself as a decisive leader and attacked Kerry as a "flip-flopper", while Kerry criticized Bush's conduct of the Iraq War. Domestic issues were debated as well, including the economy and jobs, health care, abortion, same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research.
Bush won by a slim margin, taking 53% or 286 electoral votes. He swept the South and the Mountain States and took the crucial swing states of Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico. Some aspects of the election process were subject to controversy, but not to the degree seen in the 2000 presidential election. Bush was the first candidate since George H. W. Bush in the 1988 election to also win a majority of the popular vote, as well as the last Republican candidate to have won the popular vote. Bush's victory also marked the first time that the Republican nominee won a presidential election without carrying any state in the Northeastern United States. Bush would serve until 2009 and be succeeded by Barack Obama, whereas Kerry would continue to serve in the Senate and later go on to become the 68th Secretary of State of the United States during Barack Obama's second term.
Contents 1 Background 2 Nominations 2.1 Republican nomination 2.2 Democratic Party nomination 2.2.1 Withdrawn candidates 2.2.2 Candidates gallery 2.2.3 Before the primaries 2.2.4 Iowa caucus 2.2.5 New Hampshire primary 2.2.6 South Carolina primary 2.2.7 Super Tuesday 2.2.8 Democratic National Convention 2.3 Other nominations 3 General election campaign 3.1 Campaign issues 3.2 Debates 3.3 Osama bin Laden videotape 3.4 Notable expressions and phrases 4 Results 4.1 Results by state 4.1.1 Maine and Nebraska district results 4.2 Close states 4.3 Notes on results 4.4 Finance 4.5 2004 United States Electoral College 4.6 Ballot access 4.7 Faithless elector in Minnesota 4.8 Electoral vote error in New York 4.9 Analysis 4.10 Electoral College changes from 2000 5 Voter demographics 6 Battleground states 7 Election controversy 7.1 Points of controversy 8 New during this campaign 8.1 International observers 8.2 Electronic voting 8.3 Campaign law changes 8.4 Colorado's Amendment 36 9 See also 10 References 11 Sources 12 Further reading 13 External links 13.1 Official candidate websites 13.2 Election maps and analysis 13.3 State-by-state forecasts of electoral vote outcome 13.4 Controversies 13.5 Election campaign funding 13.6 Campaign ads Background George W. Bush won the presidency in 2000 after the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore remanded the case to the Florida Supreme Court, which declared there was not sufficient time to hold a recount without violating the U.S. Constitution.
Just eight months into his presidency, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, suddenly transformed Bush into a wartime president. Bush's approval ratings surged to near 90%. Within a month, the forces of a coalition led by the United States entered Afghanistan, which had been sheltering Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks. By December, the Taliban had been removed, although a long and ongoing reconstruction would follow.
The Bush administration then turned its attention to Iraq, and argued the need to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq had become urgent. The Iraq issue gave Bush an antagonist to present to the people, (similar but different than that of 2001). Rallying support against a common enemy rather than gaining voters through ideas or policy.[4] Among the stated reasons were that Saddam's regime had tried to acquire nuclear material and had not properly accounted for biological and chemical material it was known to have previously possessed. Both the possession of these weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and the failure to account for them, would violate the UN sanctions. The assertion about WMD was hotly advanced by the Bush administration from the beginning, but other major powers including China, France, Germany, and Russia remained unconvinced that Iraq was a threat and refused to allow passage of a UN Security Council resolution to authorize the use of force.[5] Iraq permitted UN weapon inspectors in November 2002, who were continuing their work to assess the WMD claim when the Bush administration decided to proceed with war without UN authorization and told the inspectors to leave the country.[6] The United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, along with a "coalition of the willing" that consisted of additional troops from the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, from Australia and Poland. Within about three weeks, the invasion caused the collapse of both the Iraqi government and its armed forces. However, the U.S. and allied forces failed to find any weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. Nevertheless, on May 1, George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln , in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, where he gave a speech announcing the end of "major combat operations" in the Iraq War. Bush's approval rating in May was at 66%, according to a CNN–USA Today–Gallup poll.[7] However, Bush's high approval ratings did not last. First, while the war itself was popular in the U.S., the reconstruction and attempted "democratization" of Iraq lost some support as months passed and casualty figures increased, with no decrease in violence nor progress toward stability or reconstruction. Second, as investigators combed through the country, they failed to find the predicted WMD stockpiles, which led to debate over the rationale for the war.
Nominations Republican nomination Main articles: George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004; Republican Party presidential primaries, 2004; and 2004 Republican National Convention
Republican Party Ticket, 2004 George W. Bush Dick Cheney for President for Vice President (2001–2009) (2001–2009) Campaign
Bush's popularity rose as a wartime president, and he was able to ward off any serious challenge to the Republican nomination. Senator Lincoln Chafee from Rhode Island considered challenging Bush on an anti-war platform in New Hampshire, but decided not to run after the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003.[8]
On March 10, 2004, Bush officially clinched the number of delegates needed to be nominated at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. He accepted the nomination on September 2, 2004, and retained Vice President Dick Cheney as his running mate. During the convention and throughout the campaign, Bush focused on two themes: defending America against terrorism and building an ownership society. Bush used populist ideals in an attempt to rally citizens behind him in a time of international terror.[9] The ownership society included allowing people to invest some of their Social Security in the stock market, increasing home and stock ownership, and encouraging more people to buy their own health insurance.[10]
Democratic Party nomination Main article: Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2004
Democratic Party Ticket, 2004 John Kerry John Edwards for President for Vice President (1985–2013) (1999–2005) Campaign
Withdrawn candidates Candidates gallery John Edwards (Campaign) (Withdrew on March 2, 2004)
Former GovernorHoward Dean (Campaign)(Withdrew on February 18, 2004)
Wesley Clark (Campaign) (Withdrew on February 11, 2004)
Dennis Kucinich (Campaign) (Withdrew on July 22, 2004)
Al Sharpton (Withdrew on March 15, 2004)
Joe Lieberman (Campaign) (Withdrew on February 3, 2004)
Former House Majority LeaderDick Gephardt ,(Withdrew on January 20, 2004)
Former SenatorCarol Moseley Braun ,(Withdrew on January 15, 2004)
Bob Graham (Campaign) (Withdrew on October 6, 2003)
Lyndon LaRouche
Before the primaries By summer 2003, Howard Dean had become the apparent front-runner for the Democratic nomination, performing strongly in most polls and leading the pack with the largest campaign war chest. His strength as a fund raiser was attributed mainly to his embrace of the Internet for campaigning. The majority of his donations came from individual supporters, who became known as Deanites , or, more commonly, Deaniacs . Generally regarded as a pragmatic centrist during his governorship, Dean emerged during his presidential campaign as a left-wing populist, denouncing the policies of the Bush administration (especially the invasion of Iraq) as well as fellow Democrats, who, in his view, failed to strongly oppose them. Senator Lieberman, a liberal on domestic issues but a hawk on the War on Terror, failed to gain traction with liberal Democratic primary voters.
In September 2003, retired four-star general Wesley Clark announced his intention to run for the Democratic nomination. His campaign focused on themes of leadership and patriotism; early campaign advertisements relied heavily on biography. His late start left him with relatively few detailed policy proposals. This weakness was apparent in his first few debates, although he soon presented a range of position papers, including a major tax-relief plan. Nevertheless, the Democrats did not flock to support his campaign.
In sheer numbers, John Kerry had fewer endorsements than Dean, who was far ahead in the superdelegate race going into the Iowa caucuses in January 2004. However, Kerry led the endorsement races in Iowa, New Hampshire, Arizona, South Carolina, New Mexico, and Nevada. His main perceived weakness was in his neighboring state of New Hampshire and nearly all national polls. Most other states did not have updated polling numbers to give an accurate placing for Kerry's campaign before Iowa. Heading into the primaries, Kerry's campaign was largely seen as being in trouble, particularly after he fired campaign manager Jim Jordan. The key factors enabling it to survive were when fellow Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy assigned Mary Beth Cahill to be the new campaign manager, as well as Kerry's mortgaging his home to lend the money to his campaign (while his wife was a billionaire, campaign finance rules prohibited using one's personal fortune). He also brought on the "magical" Michael Whouley who would be credited with helping bring home the Iowa victory the same as he did in New Hampshire for Al Gore in 2000 against Bill Bradley.
Iowa caucus Main article: Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2004
By the January 2004 Iowa caucuses, the field had dwindled down to nine candidates, as Bob Graham had dropped out of the race. Howard Dean was a strong front-runner. However, the Iowa caucuses yielded unexpectedly strong results for Democratic candidates Kerry, who earned 38% of the state's delegates, and John Edwards, who took 32%. Dean slipped to 18% and into third place, while Richard Gephardt finished fourth (11%). In the days leading up to the Iowa vote, there was much negative campaigning between the Dean and Gephardt candidacies.
The dismal results caused Gephardt to drop out and later endorse Kerry. Carol Moseley Braun also dropped out, endorsing Howard Dean. Besides the impact of coming in third, Dean was further hurt by a speech that he gave while at a post-caucus rally. He was shouting over the cheers of his enthusiastic audience, but the crowd noise was being filtered out by his unidirectional microphone, leaving only his full-throated exhortations audible to the television viewers. To those at home, he seemed to raise his voice out of sheer emotion.[11] However, those in the actual audience that day have insisted that they didn't know about the infamous "scream" until they returned to their hotel rooms and saw it on television.[12]
Kerry had revived his campaign and began using the slogan "Comeback Kerry".
New Hampshire primary On January 27, Kerry triumphed again, winning the New Hampshire primary. Dean finished second, Clark came in third, and Edwards placed fourth. The largest of the debates was held at Saint Anselm College, where both Kerry and Dean had strong performances.
South Carolina primary
Senator Kerry at a primary rally in St. Louis, Missouri, at the St. Louis Community College – Forest Park
The following week, Edwards won the South Carolina primary and brought home a strong second-place finish in Oklahoma to Clark. Lieberman dropped out of the campaign the following day. Kerry dominated throughout February and his support quickly snowballed as he won caucuses and primaries, taking in wins in Michigan, Washington, Maine, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; Nevada, Wisconsin, Utah, Hawaii, and Idaho. Clark and Dean dropped out during this time, leaving Edwards as the only real threat to Kerry. Kucinich and Sharpton continued to run despite poor results at the polls.
Super Tuesday In March's Super Tuesday, Kerry won decisive victories in the California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island primaries as well as in the Minnesota caucuses. Despite having withdrawn from the race two weeks earlier, Dean won his home state of Vermont. Edwards finished only slightly behind Kerry in Georgia, but after failing to win a single state other than South Carolina, he chose to withdraw from the presidential race. Sharpton followed suit a couple weeks later. Kucinich did not leave the race officially until July.
Democratic National Convention On July 6, Kerry selected Edwards as his running mate, shortly before the 2004 Democratic National Convention was held later that month in Boston. Days before Kerry announced Edwards as his running mate, Kerry gave a short list of three candidates: Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dick Gephardt, and Gov. Tom Vilsack. Heading into the convention, the Kerry/Edwards ticket unveiled its new slogan: a promise to make America "stronger at home and more respected in the world." Kerry made his Vietnam War experience the convention's prominent theme. In accepting the nomination, he began his speech with, "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty." He later delivered what may have been the speech's most memorable line when he said, "the future doesn't belong to fear, it belongs to freedom", a quote that later appeared in a Kerry/Edwards television advertisement.
The keynote address at the convention was delivered by Illinois State Senator (and future president) Barack Obama; the speech was well received, and it elevated Obama's status within the Democratic Party.[13]
Other nominations
David Cobb the Green Party candidate
Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik
See also: List of candidates in the United States presidential election, 2004
There were four other presidential tickets on the ballot in a number of states totaling enough electoral votes to have a theoretical possibility of winning a majority in the Electoral College. They were:
Michael Badnarik / Richard Campagna , Libertarian Party (campaign). Badnarik was nominated on the third ballot and Campagna on the first ballot at the Libertarian National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, held May 28–31, 2004.David Cobb / Pat LaMarche , Green Party (campaign). Cobb was nominated on the second ballot at the 2004 Green National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held June 23–28, 2004.Ralph Nader / Peter Camejo , independent (also Reform Party, Independent Party (DE), Populist Party (MD), Better Life Party, Cross-endorsements N.Y., Peace and Justice Party, Independence Parties of New York and South Carolina, and the Vermont Green Party who chose not to ratify the national party's presidential nominee).[14] Michael Peroutka / Chuck Baldwin , Constitution Party (also Alaskan Independence Party). Peroutka and Baldwin were unanimously nominated at the Constitution Party National Convention at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (June 23–26, 2004).General election campaign Campaign issues Bush focused his campaign on national security, presenting himself as a decisive leader and contrasted Kerry as a "flip-flopper." This strategy was designed to convey to American voters the idea that Bush could be trusted to be tough on terrorism while Kerry would be "uncertain in the face of danger." Bush (just as his father did with Michael Dukakis in the 1988 election) also sought to portray Kerry as a "Massachusetts liberal", who was out of touch with mainstream Americans. One of Kerry's slogans was "Stronger at home, respected in the world." This advanced the suggestion that Kerry would pay more attention to domestic concerns; it also encapsulated Kerry's contention that Bush had alienated American allies by his foreign policy.
According to one exit poll, people who voted for Bush cited the issues of terrorism and traditional values as the most important factors in their decision.[15] Kerry supporters cited the war in Iraq, the economy and jobs, and health care.[15]
Bush speaking at campaign rally in St. Petersburg, Florida, October 19, 2004
Over the course of Bush's first term in office, his extremely high approval ratings immediately following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks steadily dwindled, rising only during combat operations in Iraq in spring 2003, and again following the capture of Saddam Hussein in December that same year.[16]
Between August and September 2004, there was an intense focus on events that occurred in the late-1960s and early-1970s. Bush was accused of failing to fulfill his required service in the Texas Air National Guard.[17] However, the focus quickly shifted to the conduct of CBS News after they aired a segment on 60 Minutes Wednesday , introducing what became known as the Killian documents.[18] Serious doubts about the documents' authenticity quickly emerged,[19] leading CBS to appoint a review panel that eventually resulted in the firing of the news producer and other significant staffing changes.[20] [21]
Meanwhile, Kerry was accused by the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, who averred that "phony war crimes charges, his exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compels us to step forward."[22] The group challenged the legitimacy of each of the combat medals awarded to Kerry by the U.S. Navy, and the disposition of his discharge.
In the beginning of September, the successful Republican National Convention along with the allegations by Kerry's former mates gave Bush his first comfortable margin since Kerry had won the nomination. A post-convention Gallup poll showed the President leading the Senator by 14 points.[23] [24]
Debates
Neighboring yard signs for Bush and Kerry in Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2004
Three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate were organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, and held in the autumn of 2004. As expected, these debates set the agenda for the final leg of the political contest. Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik and Green Party candidate David Cobb were arrested while trying to access the debates. Badnarik was attempting to serve papers to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Debates among candidates for the 2004 U.S. presidential election No. Date Host City Moderators Participants Viewship(Millions)
P1 Thursday, September 30, 2004 Senator John Kerry
62.4[25] VP Tuesday, October 5, 2004 Senator John Edwards
43.5[25] P2 Friday, October 8, 2004 Senator John Kerry
46.7[25] P3 Wednesday, October 13, 2004 Senator John Kerry
51.1[25]
The first debate was held on September 30, slated to focus on foreign policy, Kerry accused Bush of having failed to gain international support for the invasion of Iraq, saying the only countries assisting the U.S. during the invasion were the United Kingdom and Australia. Bush replied to this by saying, "Well, actually, he forgot Poland." Later, a consensus formed among mainstream pollsters and pundits that Kerry won the debate decisively, strengthening what had come to be seen as a weak and troubled campaign.[26] [27] In the days after, coverage focused on Bush's apparent annoyance with Kerry and numerous scowls and negative facial expressions. On October 5, the vice presidential debate between Cheney and Edwards. An initial poll by ABC indicated a victory for Cheney, while polls by CNN and MSNBC gave it to Edwards.[28] [29] [30] [31] The second presidential debate was conducted in a town meeting format, less formal than the first presidential debate, this debate saw Bush and Kerry taking questions on a variety of subjects from a local audience.[32] Bush attempted to deflect criticism of what was described as his scowling demeanor during the first debate, joking at one point about one of Kerry's remarks, "That answer made me want to scowl."[33] Bush and Kerry met for the third and final debate on October 13.[34] 51 million viewers watched the debate. After Kerry, responding to a question about gay rights, reminded the audience that Vice President Cheney's daughter was a lesbian, Cheney responded with a statement calling himself "a pretty angry father" due to Kerry using Cheney's daughter's sexual orientation for his political purposes.[35] Polls taken by Gallup in found that Kerry pulled ahead in October, but showed a tight race as the election drew to a close.[36] Osama bin Laden videotape Main article: 2004 Osama bin Laden video
On October 29, four days before the election, excerpts of a video of Osama bin Laden addressing the American people were broadcast on al Jazeera. In his remarks, bin Laden mentions the September 11, 2001 attacks and taunted Bush over his response to them. In the days following the video's release, Bush's lead over Kerry increased by several points.[37]
Notable expressions and phrases Bring it on: Kerry used this to make the point that he was not afraid of attacks by the George W. Bush campaign. This phrase had previously been used by Bush in the summer of 2003, warning insurgents that the United States would not be intimidated to leave Iraq until after the country had been stabilized.[38] [39] Results Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral Running mate Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote George Walker Bush 62,040,610 50.73% 286 Richard Bruce Cheney 286 John Forbes Kerry 59,028,444 48.27% 251 John Reid Edwards 251 John Edwards(a) 1 John Reid Edwards 1 Ralph Nader Independent 465,650 0.38% 0 Peter Camejo 0 Michael Badnarik 397,265 0.32% 0 Richard Campagna 0 Michael Peroutka 143,630 0.12% 0 Chuck Baldwin 0 David Cobb 119,859 0.10% 0 Pat LaMarche 0 Leonard Peltier 27,607 0.02% 0 Janice Jordan 0 Walt Brown 10,837 0.01% 0 Mary Alice Herbert 0 Róger Calero(b) New York 3,689 0.01% 0 Arrin Hawkins(b) 0 Thomas Harens Minnesota 2,387 0.002% 0 Jennifer Ryan 0 Other 50,652 0.04% — Other — Total 122,295,345 100% 538 538 Needed to win 270 270
Source (Electoral and Popular Vote): Federal Elections Commission Electoral and Popular Vote SummaryVoting age population: 215,664,000
Percent of voting age population casting a vote for president: 56.70%
(a) One faithless elector from Minnesota cast an electoral vote for John Edwards (written as John Ewards) for president. [40] (b) Because Arrin Hawkins, then aged 28, was constitutionally ineligible to serve as vice president, Margaret Trowe replaced her on the ballot in some states. James Harris replaced Calero on certain other states' ballots.
Popular vote Bush
50.73% Kerry
48.27% Nader
0.38% Badnarik
0.32% Peroutka
0.12% Others
0.17%
Electoral vote Bush
53.16% Kerry
46.65% Edwards
0.19%
Results by state The following table records the official vote tallies for each state as reported by the official Federal Election Commission report. The column labeled "Margin" shows Bush's margin of victory over Kerry (the margin is negative for states and districts won by Kerry).
States/districts won by Bush/Cheney States/districts won by Kerry/Edwards
George W. Bush John Kerry Ralph Nader Michael Badnarik Michael Peroutka David Cobb Others Margin State Total State electoral # % electoral # % electoral # % electoral # % electoral # % electoral # % electoral # % electoral # % # Alabama 9 1,176,394 62.46% 9 693,933 36.84% – 6,701 0.36% – 3,529 0.19% – 1,994 0.11% – 0 0.00% – 898 0.05% – 482,461 25.62% 1,883,449 AL Alaska 3 190,889 61.07% 3 111,025 35.52% – 5,069 1.62% – 1,675 0.54% – 2,092 0.67% – 1,058 0.34% – 790 0.25% – 79,864 25.55% 312,598 AK Arizona 10 1,104,294 54.87% 10 893,524 44.40% – 2,773 0.14% – 11,856 0.59% – 0 0.00% – 138 0.01% – 0 0.00% – 210,770 10.47% 2,012,585 AZ Arkansas 6 572,898 54.31% 6 469,953 44.55% – 6,171 0.58% – 2,352 0.22% – 2,083 0.20% – 1,488 0.14% – 0 0.00% – 102,945 9.76% 1,054,945 AR California 55 5,509,826 44.36% – 6,745,485 54.31% 55 20,714 0.17% – 50,165 0.40% – 26,645 0.21% – 40,771 0.33% – 27,747 0.22% – −1,235,659 −9.95% 12,421,353 CA Colorado 9 1,101,255 51.69% 9 1,001,732 47.02% – 12,718 0.60% – 7,664 0.36% – 2,562 0.12% – 1,591 0.07% – 2,808 0.13% – 99,523 4.67% 2,130,330 CO Connecticut 7 693,826 43.95% – 857,488 54.31% 7 12,969 0.82% – 3,367 0.21% – 1,543 0.10% – 9,564 0.61% – 12 0.00% – −163,662 −10.37% 1,578,769 CT Delaware 3 171,660 45.75% – 200,152 53.35% 3 2,153 0.57% – 586 0.16% – 289 0.08% – 250 0.07% – 100 0.03% – −28,492 −7.59% 375,190 DE District of Columbia 3 21,256 9.34% – 202,970 89.18% 3 1,485 0.65% – 502 0.22% – 0 0.00% – 737 0.32% – 636 0.28% – −181,714 −79.84% 227,586 DC Florida 27 3,964,522 52.10% 27 3,583,544 47.09% – 32,971 0.43% – 11,996 0.16% – 6,626 0.09% – 3,917 0.05% – 6,234 0.08% – 380,978 5.01% 7,609,810 FL Georgia 15 1,914,254 57.97% 15 1,366,149 41.37% – 2,231 0.07% – 18,387 0.56% – 580 0.02% – 228 0.01% – 46 0.00% – 548,105 16.60% 3,301,875 GA Hawaii 4 194,191 45.26% – 231,708 54.01% 4 0 0.00% – 1,377 0.32% – 0 0.00% – 1,737 0.40% – 0 0.00% – −37,517 −8.74% 429,013 HI Idaho 4 409,235 68.38% 4 181,098 30.26% – 1,115 0.19% – 3,844 0.64% – 3,084 0.52% – 58 0.01% – 13 0.00% – 228,137 38.12% 598,447 ID Illinois 21 2,345,946 44.48% – 2,891,550 54.82% 21 3,571 0.07% – 32,442 0.62% – 440 0.01% – 241 0.00% – 132 0.00% – −545,604 −10.34% 5,274,322 IL Indiana 11 1,479,438 59.94% 11 969,011 39.26% – 1,328 0.05% – 18,058 0.73% – 0 0.00% – 102 0.00% – 65 0.00% – 510,427 20.68% 2,468,002 IN Iowa 7 751,957 49.90% 7 741,898 49.23% – 5,973 0.40% – 2,992 0.20% – 1,304 0.09% – 1,141 0.08% – 1,643 0.11% – 10,059 0.67% 1,506,908 IA Kansas 6 736,456 62.00% 6 434,993 36.62% – 9,348 0.79% – 4,013 0.34% – 2,899 0.24% – 33 0.00% – 14 0.00% – 301,463 25.38% 1,187,756 KS Kentucky 8 1,069,439 59.55% 8 712,733 39.69% – 8,856 0.49% – 2,619 0.15% – 2,213 0.12% – 0 0.00% – 22 0.00% – 356,706 19.86% 1,795,882 KY Louisiana 9 1,102,169 56.72% 9 820,299 42.22% – 7,032 0.36% – 2,781 0.14% – 5,203 0.27% – 1,276 0.07% – 4,346 0.22% – 281,870 14.51% 1,943,106 LA ★ 4 330,201 44.58% – 396,842 53.57% 4 8,069 1.09% – 1,965 0.27% – 735 0.10% – 2,936 0.40% – 4 0.00% – −66,641 −9.00% 740,752 ME Maryland 10 1,024,703 42.93% – 1,334,493 55.91% 10 11,854 0.50% – 6,094 0.26% – 3,421 0.14% – 3,632 0.15% – 2,481 0.10% – −309,790 −12.98% 2,386,678 MD Massachusetts 12 1,071,109 36.78% – 1,803,800 61.94% 12 4,806 0.17% – 15,022 0.52% – 0 0.00% – 10,623 0.36% – 7,028 0.24% – −732,691 −25.16% 2,912,388 MA Michigan 17 2,313,746 47.81% – 2,479,183 51.23% 17 24,035 0.50% – 10,552 0.22% – 4,980 0.10% – 5,325 0.11% – 1,431 0.03% – −165,437 −3.42% 4,839,252 MI Minnesota 10 1,346,695 47.61% – 1,445,014 51.09% 9 18,683 0.66% – 4,639 0.16% – 3,074 0.11% – 4,408 0.16% – 5,874 0.21% – −98,319 −3.48% 2,828,387 MN Mississippi 6 684,981 59.45% 6 458,094 39.76% – 3,177 0.28% – 1,793 0.16% – 1,759 0.15% – 1,073 0.09% – 1,268 0.11% – 226,887 19.69% 1,152,145 MS Missouri 11 1,455,713 53.30% 11 1,259,171 46.10% – 1,294 0.05% – 9,831 0.36% – 5,355 0.20% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 196,542 7.20% 2,731,364 MO Montana 3 266,063 59.07% 3 173,710 38.56% – 6,168 1.37% – 1,733 0.38% – 1,764 0.39% – 996 0.22% – 11 0.00% – 92,353 20.50% 450,445 MT ★ 5 512,814 65.90% 5 254,328 32.68% – 5,698 0.73% – 2,041 0.26% – 1,314 0.17% – 978 0.13% – 1,013 0.13% – 258,486 33.22% 778,186 NE Nevada 5 418,690 50.47% 5 397,190 47.88% – 4,838 0.58% – 3,176 0.38% – 1,152 0.14% – 853 0.10% – 3,688 0.44% – 21,500 2.59% 829,587 NV New Hampshire 4 331,237 48.87% – 340,511 50.24% 4 4,479 0.66% – 372 0.05% – 161 0.02% – 0 0.00% – 978 0.14% – −9,274 −1.37% 677,738 NH New Jersey 15 1,670,003 46.24% – 1,911,430 52.92% 15 19,418 0.54% – 4,514 0.12% – 2,750 0.08% – 1,807 0.05% – 1,769 0.05% – −241,427 −6.68% 3,611,691 NJ New Mexico 5 376,930 49.84% 5 370,942 49.05% – 4,053 0.54% – 2,382 0.31% – 771 0.10% – 1,226 0.16% – 0 0.00% – 5,988 0.79% 756,304 NM New York 31 2,962,567 40.08% – 4,314,280 58.37% 31 99,873 1.35% – 11,607 0.16% – 207 0.00% – 87 0.00% – 2,415 0.03% – −1,351,713 −18.29% 7,391,036 NY North Carolina 15 1,961,166 56.02% 15 1,525,849 43.58% – 1,805 0.05% – 11,731 0.34% – 0 0.00% – 108 0.00% – 348 0.01% – 435,317 12.43% 3,501,007 NC North Dakota 3 196,651 62.86% 3 111,052 35.50% – 3,756 1.20% – 851 0.27% – 514 0.16% – 0 0.00% – 9 0.00% – 85,599 27.36% 312,833 ND Ohio 20 2,859,768 50.81% 20 2,741,167 48.71% – 0 0.00% – 14,676 0.26% – 11,939 0.21% – 192 0.00% – 166 0.00% – 118,601 2.11% 5,627,908 OH Oklahoma 7 959,792 65.57% 7 503,966 34.43% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 455,826 31.14% 1,463,758 OK Oregon 7 866,831 47.19% – 943,163 51.35% 7 0 0.00% – 7,260 0.40% – 5,257 0.29% – 5,315 0.29% – 8,956 0.49% – −76,332 −4.16% 1,836,782 OR Pennsylvania 21 2,793,847 48.42% – 2,938,095 50.92% 21 2,656 0.05% – 21,185 0.37% – 6,318 0.11% – 6,319 0.11% – 1,170 0.02% – −144,248 −2.50% 5,769,590 PA Rhode Island 4 169,046 38.67% – 259,765 59.42% 4 4,651 1.06% – 907 0.21% – 339 0.08% – 1,333 0.30% – 1,093 0.25% – −90,719 −20.75% 437,134 RI South Carolina 8 937,974 57.98% 8 661,699 40.90% – 5,520 0.34% – 3,608 0.22% – 5,317 0.33% – 1,488 0.09% – 2,124 0.13% – 276,275 17.08% 1,617,730 SC South Dakota 3 232,584 59.91% 3 149,244 38.44% – 4,320 1.11% – 964 0.25% – 1,103 0.28% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 83,340 21.47% 388,215 SD Tennessee 11 1,384,375 56.80% 11 1,036,477 42.53% – 8,992 0.37% – 4,866 0.20% – 2,570 0.11% – 33 0.00% – 6 0.00% – 347,898 14.27% 2,437,319 TN Texas 34 4,526,917 61.09% 34 2,832,704 38.22% – 9,159 0.12% – 38,787 0.52% – 1,636 0.02% – 1,014 0.01% – 548 0.01% – 1,694,213 22.86% 7,410,765 TX Utah 5 663,742 71.54% 5 241,199 26.00% – 11,305 1.22% – 3,375 0.36% – 6,841 0.74% – 39 0.00% – 1,343 0.14% – 422,543 45.54% 927,844 UT Vermont 3 121,180 38.80% – 184,067 58.94% 3 4,494 1.44% – 1,102 0.35% – 0 0.00% – 0 0.00% – 1,466 0.47% – −62,887 −20.14% 312,309 VT Virginia 13 1,716,959 53.68% 13 1,454,742 45.48% – 2,393 0.07% – 11,032 0.34% – 10,161 0.32% – 104 0.00% – 2,976 0.09% – 262,217 8.20% 3,198,367 VA Washington 11 1,304,894 45.64% – 1,510,201 52.82% 11 23,283 0.81% – 11,955 0.42% – 3,922 0.14% – 2,974 0.10% – 1,855 0.06% – −205,307 −7.18% 2,859,084 WA West Virginia 5 423,778 56.06% 5 326,541 43.20% – 4,063 0.54% – 1,405 0.19% – 82 0.01% – 5 0.00% – 13 0.00% – 97,237 12.86% 755,887 WV Wisconsin 10 1,478,120 49.32% – 1,489,504 49.70% 10 16,390 0.55% – 6,464 0.22% – 0 0.00% – 2,661 0.09% – 3,868 0.13% – −11,384 −0.38% 2,997,007 WI Wyoming 3 167,629 68.86% 3 70,776 29.07% – 2,741 1.13% – 1,171 0.48% – 631 0.26% – 0 0.00% – 480 0.20% – 96,853 39.79% 243,428 WY U.S Total 538 62,040,610 50.73% 286 59,028,444 48.27% 251 465,151 0.38% – 397,265 0.32% – 143,630 0.12% – 119,859 0.10% – 99,887 0.08% – 3,012,166 2.46% 122,294,846 US
Although Guam has no votes in the Electoral College, they have held a straw poll for their presidential preferences since 1980. In 2004, the results were Bush 21,490 (64.1%), Kerry 11,781 (35.1%), Nader 196 (0.58%) and Badnarik 67 (0.2%).[41]
Maine and Nebraska district results ★ Maine and Nebraska each allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates. In both states, two electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote is awarded to the winner of each congressional district. The following table records the official presidential vote tallies for Maine and Nebraska's congressional districts.[42] [43]
District Electors Bush % Kerry % Nader % Badnarik % Peroutka % Cobb % Other % Margin % Total 1 165,824 43.14% 211,703 55.07% 4,004 1.04% 1,047 0.27% 346 0.09% 1,468 0.38% – – −45,879 −11.94% 384,392 1 164,377 46.13% 185,139 51.95% 4,065 1.14% 918 0.26% 389 0.11% 1,468 0.41% – – −20,762 −5.83% 356,356 1 169,888 62.97% 96,314 35.70% 2,025 0.75% 656 0.24% 405 0.15% 453 0.17% 30 0.01% 73,574 27.27% 269,771 1 153,041 60.24% 97,858 38.52% 1,731 0.68% 813 0.32% 305 0.12% 261 0.10% 23 0.01% 55,183 21.72% 254,032 1 189,885 74.92% 60,156 23.73% 1,942 0.77% 572 0.23% 604 0.24% 264 0.10% 29 0.01% 129,729 51.18% 253,452
Close states Red font color denotes those won by Republican President George W. Bush; blue denotes states won by Democrat John Kerry.
States where margin of victory was under 1% (22 electoral votes):
Wisconsin 0.38%Iowa 0.67%New Mexico 0.79%States where margin of victory was more than 1% but less than 5% (93 electoral votes):
New Hampshire 1.37%Ohio 2.11%Pennsylvania 2.50%Nevada 2.59%Michigan 3.42%Minnesota 3.48%Oregon 4.16%Colorado 4.67%States where margin of victory was more than 5% but less than 10% (149 electoral votes):
Florida 5.01%Maine's 2nd Congressional District 5.82%New Jersey 6.68%Washington 7.18%Missouri 7.20%Delaware 7.59%Virginia 8.20%Hawaii 8.74%Maine 9.00%Arkansas 9.76%California 9.95%Notes on results Bush received 62,040,610 popular votes compared to Kerry's 59,028,444.
Because of a request by Ralph Nader, New Hampshire held a recount.
Note also:
Finance
These maps show the amount of attention given by the campaigns to the close states. At left, each waving hand represents a visit from a presidential or vice-presidential candidate during the final five weeks. At right, each dollar sign represents one million dollars spent on TV advertising by the campaigns during the same time period.
(money spent/total votes=average spent per vote) Source: FEC[44]
2004 United States Electoral College Main article: United States presidential electors, 2004
Ballot access Presidential ticket Party Bush / Cheney Republican 50+DC Kerry / Edwards Democrat 50+DC Badnarik / Campagna Libertarian 48+DC Peroutka / Baldwin Constitution 36 Nader / Camejo Independent, Reform 34+DC Cobb / LaMarche Green 27+DC
Faithless elector in Minnesota One elector in Minnesota cast a ballot for president with the name of "John Ewards" [sic ] written on it.[45] The Electoral College officials certified this ballot as a vote for John Edwards for president. The remaining nine electors cast ballots for John Kerry. All ten electors in the state cast ballots for John Edwards for vice president (John Edwards's name was spelled correctly on all ballots for vice president).[46] This was the first time in U.S. history that an elector had cast a vote for the same person to be both president and vice president.
Electoral balloting in Minnesota was performed by secret ballot, and none of the electors admitted to casting the Edwards vote for president, so it may never be known who the faithless elector was. It is not even known whether the vote for Edwards was deliberate or unintentional; the Republican Secretary of State and several of the Democratic electors have expressed the opinion that this was an accident.[47]
Electoral vote error in New York New York's initial electoral vote certificate indicated that all of its 31 electoral votes for president were cast for "John L. Kerry of Massachusetts" instead of John F. Kerry, who won the popular vote in the state.[48] This was apparently the result of a typographical error, and an amended electoral vote certificate with the correct middle initial was transmitted to the President of the Senate prior to the official electoral vote count.[49]
Analysis
Map comparing voter turnout to result
Compared to 2000 vs. Al Gore, Bush picked up a net gain of 8 electoral votes due to narrow victories in Iowa and New Mexico while conceding a close loss in New Hampshire, and a net gain of 7 votes due to the reapportionment of electors in 2003 as a result of the 2000 census, for a total net gain of 15 electoral votes. This was the first election since 1988 in which the winning presidential candidate of either party won an absolute majority (over 50%) of the popular vote. 2004 marked the only time at which a president who lost the popular vote in the preceding election won it in the following election. Bush won the popular vote with 50.73% to Kerry's 48.27%. Although in percentage terms it was the closest popular margin ever for a victorious sitting president, Bush received 2.5% more than Kerry. Bush's absolute victory margin (approximately 3 million votes) was the smallest of any sitting president since Harry S. Truman in 1948. At least 12 million more votes were cast than in the 2000 election. Voter turnout was unusually high. American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate reported a record turnout of 60.7% of eligible voting-age citizens, 6.4% higher than turnout in the previous election and the highest since 1968.[50] Note, however, that the "eligible" voting-age electorate is by definition smaller than the total voting-age population. In a formal report, the Federal Election Commission released a lower figure of 56.70% for the percentage of the electorate that voted for a presidential candidate,[51] based on the latter, larger pool (as calculated by the Census Bureau). Owing to the nation's growing population and large turnout, both Bush and Kerry received more votes than any previous presidential candidate in American history. The previous record was held by Republican Ronald Reagan, who in 1984 received 54.4 million votes. Five states saw every county vote for one candidate: Bush won every county in Utah and Oklahoma while Kerry won every county in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. As in 2000, electoral votes split along sharp geographical lines: the West Coast, Northeast, and most of the Great Lakes region for Kerry, and the South, Great Plains, and Mountain States for Bush. The widespread support for Bush in the Southern states continued the transformation of the formerly Democratic Solid South to the Republican South. This is the first time a candidate from either party won the presidency without carrying a single Northeastern state. Minor party candidates received many fewer votes, dropping from a total of 3.5% in 2000 to approximately one percent. As in 2000, Ralph Nader finished in third place, but his total declined from 2.9 million to 400,000 votes, leaving him with fewer votes than Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan had received in finishing fourth in 2000. The 2004 election completed the transition of Illinois from a swing state into a reliably Democratic one. Through the 2000 election both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates campaigned in the state during elections. It went for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush from 1980–1988; Bill Clinton and Al Gore from 1992 to 2000. Both Bush and Gore spent large amounts of time and resources in the state; in 2004 it was not the case. The election marked the first time an incumbent president was returned to office while his political party increased its numbers in both houses of Congress since Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1964 election. It was the first time for a Republican since William McKinley in the 1900 election. This did not last for long however, as the Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in the 2006 elections. Although the election was close, nearly half of U.S. voters lived in a county where Bush or Kerry won by 20 percentage points or more. By comparison, only a quarter lived in such counties in 1976.[52] Bush became the first president to be elected to two terms without carrying any of these states in either of his campaigns: California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. He was also the first Republican to be elected without ever carrying Vermont in either of his campaigns. This is the most recent election in which the Democratic Party nominated a person with military service. As of 2017, this election is the last time that the Republican nominee won Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, or Virginia. This is the first time New Hampshire did not support a Republican who was elected, which happened again in 2016. This is the first time and the only time (as of 2017) New Mexico voted for a Republican since 1988. This was the last time that the Republican nominee won Florida, Ohio and Iowa until 2016. This is the last time that the losing candidate won the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (as well as Maine's second congressional district). Due to increasing Democratic support in urban regions, this is the last presidential election the Republican candidate won any of the following urban counties/county equivalents: Jefferson County, Alabama, Fresno County, California, Merced County, California, Riverside County, California, San Bernardino County, California, San Diego County, California, San Joaquin County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, Stanislaus County, California, Ventura County, California, Arapahoe County, Colorado, Broomfield, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, Hillsborough County, Florida, Osceola County, Florida, Douglas County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia, Newton County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Illinois, DuPage County, Illinois, Kane County, Illinois, Lake County, Illinois, Will County, Illinois, Fayette County, Kentucky, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, Dakota County, Minnesota, Washington County, Minnesota, Washoe County, Nevada, Sandoval County, New Mexico, Buncombe County, North Carolina, Wake County, North Carolina, Hamilton County, Ohio, Clackamas County, Oregon, Centre County, Pennsylvania, Charleston County, South Carolina, Bexar County, Texas, Cameron County, Texas, Dallas County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, Loudoun County, Virginia, Manassas, Virginia, Prince William County, Virginia, Suffolk, Virginia, Island County, Washington, and Skagit County, Washington. Electoral College changes from 2000 With the completion of the 2000 census, Congressional reapportionment took place, moving some representative districts from the slowest growing states to the fastest growing. As a result, several states had a different number of electors in the U.S. Electoral College in 2004 than in 2000, since the number of electors allotted to each state is equal to the sum of the number of Senators and Representatives from that state.
The following table shows the change in electors from the 2000 election. Red states represent those won by Bush; and blue states, those won by both Gore and Kerry. All states except Nebraska and Maine use a winner-take-all allocation of electors. Each of these states was won by the same party in 2004 that had won it in 2000; thus, George W. Bush received a net gain of seven electoral votes due to reapportionment while the Democrats lost the same amount.
Gained votes Lost votes Arizona (8→10 Florida (25→27 Georgia (13→15 Texas (32→34 California (54→55 Colorado (8→9 North Carolina (14→15 Nevada (4→5 New York (33→31 Pennsylvania (23→21 Connecticut (8→7 Mississippi (7→6 Ohio (21→20 Oklahoma (8→7 Wisconsin (11→10 Illinois (22→21 Indiana (12→11 Michigan (18→17
(This table uses the currently common Red→Republican, Blue→Democratic color association, as do the maps on this page. Some older party-affiliation maps use the opposite color-coding for historical reasons.)
Voter demographics The 2004 presidential vote by demographic subgroup Demographic subgroup Kerry Bush Other % of Total vote 48 51 1 100 Ideology 85 13 1 21 54 45 1 45 15 84 1 34 Party 89 11 0 37 6 93 1 37 49 48 3 26 Gender Men 44 55 1 46 Women 51 48 1 54 Marital status Married 42 57 3 63 Non-married 58 40 2 37 Race 41 58 1 77 88 11 1 11 56 44 0 2 Other 54 40 6 2 53 44 3 8 Religion 40 59 1 54 47 52 1 27 74 25 1 3 Other 74 23 3 7 67 31 2 10 Religious service attendance More than weekly 35 64 1 16 Weekly 41 58 1 26 Monthly 49 50 1 14 A few times a year 54 45 1 28 Never 62 36 2 15 White evangelical or born-again Christian? 21 78 1 23 Everyone else 56 43 1 77 Age 18–29 years old 54 45 1 17 30–44 years old 46 53 1 29 45–59 years old 48 51 1 30 60 and older 46 54 0 24 First time voter? First time voter 53 46 1 11 Everyone else 48 51 1 89 Sexual orientation 77 23 0 4 46 53 1 96 Education Not a high school graduate 50 49 1 4 High school graduate 47 52 1 22 Some college education 46 54 0 32 College graduate 46 52 2 26 55 44 1 16 Family income Under $15,000 63 36 1 8 $15,000–30,000 57 42 1 15 $30,000–50,000 50 49 1 22 $50,000–75,000 43 56 1 23 $75,000–100,000 45 55 0 14 $100,000–150,000 42 57 1 11 $150,000–200,000 42 58 0 4 Over $200,000 35 63 2 3 Union households 59 40 1 24 Non-union 44 55 1 76 Military service 41 57 2 18 Non-veterans 50 49 1 82 Region 56 43 1 22 48 51 1 26 42 58 0 32 50 49 1 20 Community size Urban 54 45 1 30 Suburban 47 52 1 46 Rural 42 57 1 25
Source: CNN exit poll (13,660 surveyed )[53]
Battleground states
Cheney visited Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania on October 27, 2004
[54] During the campaign and as the results came in on the night of the election there was much focus on Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. These three swing states were seen as evenly divided, and with each casting 20 electoral votes or more, they had the power to decide the election. As the final results came in, Kerry took Pennsylvania and then Bush took Florida, focusing all attention on Ohio.
The morning after the election, the major candidates were neck and neck. It was clear that the result in Ohio, along with two other states who had still not declared (New Mexico and Iowa), would decide the winner. Bush had established a lead of around 130,000 votes but the Democrats pointed to provisional ballots that had yet to be counted, initially reported to number as high as 200,000. Bush had preliminary leads of less than 5% of the vote in only four states, but if Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico had all eventually gone to Kerry, a win for Bush in Ohio would have created a 269–269 tie in the Electoral College. The result of an electoral tie would cause the election to be decided in the House of Representatives with each state casting one vote, regardless of population. Such a scenario would almost certainly have resulted in a victory for Bush, as Republicans controlled more House delegations. Therefore, the outcome of the election hinged solely on the result in Ohio, regardless of the final totals elsewhere. In the afternoon Ohio's Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, announced that it was statistically impossible for the Democrats to make up enough valid votes in the provisional ballots to win. At the time provisional ballots were reported as numbering 140,000 (and later estimated to be only 135,000). Faced with this announcement, John Kerry conceded defeat.
The upper Midwest bloc of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin is also notable, casting a sum of 27 electoral votes. The following is list of the states considered swing states in the 2004 election by most news organizations and which candidate they eventually went for. The two major parties chose to focus their advertising on these states:
Bush:Colorado Florida Iowa New Mexico Nevada Ohio Kerry:
Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire Oregon Pennsylvania Wisconsin
Presidential electoral votes by state. Red is Republican, Blue is Democratic
Presidential popular votes by county. Note substantially more "mixing" of colors.
Presidential popular votes by county as a scale from Red/Republican to Blue/Democratic
Presidential popular votes cartogram, in which the sizes of counties have been rescaled according to their population.
Cartogram in which each square represents one electoral vote.
Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.
Change in vote margins at the county level from the 2000 election to the 2004 election. While Bush improved nationally overall, making his strongest gains in the South, he suffered a loss of support in parts of New England and the Western United States, which swung in Kerry's favor.
The 2004 Presidential Election in the United States, Results by Congressional District
Election controversy Main article: 2004 United States election voting controversies
Map of election day problems
After the election, some sources reported indications of possible data irregularities and systematic flaws during the voting process.
Although the overall result of the election was not challenged by the Kerry campaign, Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik obtained a recount in Ohio. This recount was completed December 28, 2004, although on January 24, 2007, a jury convicted two Ohio elections officials of selecting precincts to recount where they already knew the hand total would match the machine total, thereby avoiding having to perform a full recount.[55]
At the official counting of the electoral votes on January 6, a motion was made contesting Ohio's electoral votes. Because the motion was supported by at least one member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, election law mandated that each house retire to debate and vote on the motion. In the House of Representatives, the motion was supported by 31 Democrats. It was opposed by 178 Republicans, 88 Democrats and one independent. Not voting were 52 Republicans and 80 Democrats.[56] Four people elected to the House had not yet taken office, and one seat was vacant. In the Senate, it was supported only by its maker, Senator Barbara Boxer, with 74 Senators opposed and 25 not voting. During the debate, no Senator argued that the outcome of the election should be changed by either court challenge or revote. Senator Boxer claimed that she had made the motion not to challenge the outcome, but to "shed the light of truth on these irregularities."
Kerry would later state that "the widespread irregularities make it impossible to know for certain that the [Ohio] outcome reflected the will of the voters." In the same article, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said "I'm not confident that the election in Ohio was fairly decided... We know that there was substantial voter suppression, and the machines were not reliable. It should not be a surprise that the Republicans are willing to do things that are unethical to manipulate elections. That's what we suspect has happened."[57]
Points of controversy There is no individual federal agency with direct regulatory authority of the U.S. voting machine industry.[58] However the Election Assistance Commission has full regulatory authority over federal testing and certification processes, as well as an influential advisory role in certain voting industry matters.[59] Further oversight authority belongs to the Government Accountability Office, regularly investigating voting system related issues.[60] The Ohio Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, who simultaneously served as co-chair of the 2004 Republican Presidential Campaign, came under fire for failing to uphold his legal obligation to investigate potential voter fraud, manipulation, and irregularities, in a 100-page report by the Congressional Judiciary Committee. The former president of Diebold Election Systems (Bob Urosevich) and the vice president of customer support at Election Systems & Software (Todd Urosevich) are brothers.[61] [62] Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who was on a short list of George W. Bush's vice-presidential candidates,[63] [64] served as the chairman of ES&S in the early 1990s when it operated under the name American Information Systems Inc. (AIS).[65] ES&S voting machines tabulated 85 percent of the votes cast in Hagel's 2002 and 1996 election races. In 2003 Hagel disclosed a financial stake in McCarthy Group Inc., the holding company of ES&S.[65] Global Election Systems, which was purchased by Diebold Election Systems and developed the core technology behind the company's voting machines and voter registration system, employed five convicted felons as consultants and developers.[66] Jeff Dean, a former senior vice-president of Global Election Systems when it was bought by Diebold, had previously been convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree. Bev Harris reports Dean was retained as a consultant by Diebold Election Systems,[67] though Diebold has disputed the consulting relationship.[66] Dean was convicted of theft via "alteration of records in the computerized accounting system" using a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of 2 years.[67] International election observers were barred from the polls in Ohio[68] [69] by then Republican Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Blackwell's office argues this was the correct interpretation of Ohio law.[69] California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified all Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting machines due to computer-science reports released detailing design and security concerns.[70] [71] 30% of all U.S. votes cast in the 2004 election were cast on direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machine, which do not print individual paper records of each vote.[72] Numerous statistical analyses showed "discrepancy in the number of votes Bush received in counties that used the touch-screen machines and counties that used other types of voting equipment" as well as discrepancies with exit polls, favoring President George W. Bush.[73] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] New during this campaign International observers At the invitation of the United States government, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sent a team of observers to monitor the presidential elections in 2004. It was the first time the OSCE had sent observers to a U.S. presidential election, although they had been invited in the past.[80] In September 2004 the OSCE issued a report on U.S. electoral processes[81] [82] and the election final report.[83] The report reads: "The November 2, 2004 elections in the United States mostly met the OSCE commitments included in the 1990 Copenhagen Document. They were conducted in an environment that reflects a long-standing democratic tradition, including institutions governed by the rule of law, free and generally professional media, and a civil society intensively engaged in the election process. There was exceptional public interest in the two leading presidential candidates and the issues raised by their respective campaigns, as well as in the election process itself."
Earlier, some 13 U.S. Representatives from the Democratic Party had sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking for the UN to monitor the elections. The UN responded that such a request could only come from the official national executive. The move was met with opposition from some Republican lawmakers.[84] The OSCE is not affiliated with the United Nations.
Electronic voting Further information: Electronic voting § Analysis
For 2004, some states expedited the implementation of electronic voting systems for the election, raising several issues:
Software. Without proper testing and certification, critics believe electronic voting machines could produce an incorrect report due to malfunction or deliberate manipulation.[85] Recounts. A recount of an electronic voting machine is not a recount in the traditional sense. The machine can be audited for irregularities and voting totals stored on multiple backup devices can be compared, but vote counts will not change.Partisan ties. Democrats noted the Republican or conservative ties of several leading executives in the companies providing the machines.[86] Campaign law changes The 2004 election was the first to be affected by the campaign finance reforms mandated by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as the McCain–Feingold Bill for its sponsors in the United States Senate). Because of the Act's restrictions on candidates' and parties' fundraising, a large number of so-called 527 groups emerged. Named for a section of the Internal Revenue Code, these groups were able to raise large amounts of money for various political causes as long as they do not coordinate their activities with political campaigns. Examples of 527s include Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, MoveOn.org, the Media Fund, and America Coming Together. Many such groups were active throughout the campaign season (there was some similar activity, although on a much lesser scale, during the 2000 campaign).
To distinguish official campaigning from independent campaigning, political advertisements on television were required to include a verbal disclaimer identifying the organization responsible for the advertisement. Advertisements produced by political campaigns usually included the statement, "I'm [candidate's name] , and I approve this message." Advertisements produced by independent organizations usually included the statement, "[Organization name] is responsible for the content of this advertisement", and from September 3 (60 days before the general election), such organizations' ads were prohibited from mentioning any candidate by name. Previously, television advertisements only required a written "paid for by" disclaimer on the screen.
This law was not well known or widely publicized at the beginning of the Democratic primary season, which led to some early misperception of Howard Dean, who was the first candidate to buy television advertising in this election cycle. Not realizing that the law required the phrasing, some people viewing the ads reportedly questioned why Dean might say such a thing—such questions were easier to ask because of the maverick nature of Dean's campaign in general.
Colorado's Amendment 36 Main article: Colorado Amendment 36
A ballot initiative in Colorado, known as Amendment 36, would have changed the way in which the state apportions its electoral votes. Rather than assigning all 9 of the state's electors to the candidate with a plurality of popular votes, under the amendment Colorado would have assigned presidential electors proportionally to the statewide vote count, which would be a unique system (Nebraska and Maine assign electoral votes based on vote totals within each congressional district). Opponents claimed that this splitting would diminish Colorado's influence in the Electoral College, and the amendment ultimately failed, receiving only 34% of the vote.
See also 2004 U.S. presidential election timeline Ralph Nader's presidential campaigns Jesusland map Newspaper endorsements in the United States presidential election, 2004 History of the United States (1991–2008) Kerry Fonda 2004 election photo controversy Killian documents authenticity issues Second inauguration of George W. Bush Other elections United States gubernatorial elections, 2004 United States House elections, 2004 United States Senate elections, 2004 References ^ "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". Presidency.ucsb.edu . Retrieved 2016-08-18 . .mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em^ a b "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF) . Federal Election Commission. May 2005. Retrieved November 20, 2012 . ^ One Minnesota elector voted for Edwards for both president and vice president. During the counting of the vote in Congress, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) raised objections to the Ohio Certificate of Vote alleging that the votes were not regularly given. Both houses voted to override the objection, 74 to 1 in the Senate and 267 to 31 in the House of Representatives. See 2004 presidential election results from the National Archives and Records Administration. ^ Kazin, Michael (1995). The Populist Persuasion . Cornell University. ^ Tagliabue, John (March 5, 2003). "France, Germany and Russia Vow to Stop Use of Force Against Iraq". The New York Times . ^ "U.S advises weapons inspectors to leave Iraq". USA Today . March 17, 2003. ^ "Bush Jumpstarts '04 Fundraising, Says Collecting Campaign Cash Now Will Keep War On Terror Focused". CBS News. May 24, 2003. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Lincoln Chafee, Against the Tide (2007), pp. 119–20 ^ Brownstein, Ronald (2004-02-15). "A Bush-Kerry Fight to Define Populism". Los Angeles Times . ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-11-15 . ^ writer, by Mark Gongloff, CNN/Money senior. "Bush to push ownership society - Sep. 2, 2004". money.cnn.com . Retrieved 2017-11-16 . ^ "The scream that left us blind". Loyola Phoenix . 11 February 2004. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2006 . ^ Salzman, Eric (January 26, 2004). "Dean's Scream: Not What It Seemed". CBS News. Retrieved November 27, 2006 . ^ Bernstein, David (June 2007). "The Speech". Chicago Magazine . Retrieved April 13, 2008 . ^ "2004 Presidential Election by State", The Green Papers. ^ a b "Decision 2004 – Exit poll". MSNBC. Retrieved June 5, 2008 . ^ "Historical Bush Approval Ratings". Hist.umn.edu. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ "Bush fell short on duty at Guard". Boston Globe . September 8, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2007 . ^ "CBS 60 Minutes Wednesday transcript" (PDF) . Thornburgh-Boccardi Report, Exhibit 1B. September 8, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2007 . ^ Michael Dobbs and Mike Allen (September 9, 2004). "Some Question Authenticity of Papers on Bush". Washington Post . Retrieved June 16, 2007 . ^ "Thornburgh-Boccardi report" (PDF) . CBS News. Retrieved June 16, 2007 . ^ "Final Figure in '60 Minutes' Scandal Resigns". Fox News . Associated Press. March 25, 2005. Retrieved June 16, 2007 . ^ "Election of 2004". Retrieved 2017-11-15 . ^ "RealClear Politics – Polls". Realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ "RealClear Politics – Polls". Realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ a b c d "CPD: 2004 Debates". www.debates.org . Retrieved 2019-01-08 . ^ "Poll: Kerry Wins Debate, Pulls Even". msnbc.com. October 4, 2004. Archived from the original on September 10, 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Stevenson, Richard W.; Rutenberg, Jim (2004-07-06). "THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: THE STRATEGY; Bush Campaign Sees an Opportunity for Attack in Kerry's Overtures to McCain". The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-15 . ^ "Dick Cheney Debate With John Edwards Polls Give It To Edwards". s5000.com. 6 October 2004. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved May 24, 2010 . ^ "US running mates clash over Iraq". BBC. October 6, 2004. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Sandalow, Marc (October 5, 2004). "Edwards-Cheney debate: wide audience expected: Tight race makes VP matchup more compelling". San Francisco Chronicle . Archived from the original on October 29, 2004. ^ Langer, Gary; Sussman, Dalia (October 6, 2004). "Cheney Gains With Help From His Friends". ABC News. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ "US debate: What the commentators said". BBC. October 9, 2004. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Fornek, Scott (October 9, 2004). "Bush, Kerry make draft, tax pledges". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on October 11, 2004. ^ "Transcript & Video: Third Debate – You Decide 2004". Fox News. October 14, 2004. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Vanden Brook, Tom (October 14, 2004). "Kerry lesbian remark angers Cheneys". USA Today . Retrieved October 5, 2012. ^ "Gallup Presidential Election Trial-Heat Trends, 1936-2008". Gallup. Retrieved 11 January 2018 . ^ Sherwell, Philip (October 31, 2004). "Bush takes a six-point lead after new bin Laden tape". The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2012 . ^ Safire, William (Feb 29, 2004). "On Language; Bring it On!". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-04-28 . ^ Crowley, Michael (May 28, 2004). "John Kerry's Long Shortlist". Slate. Retrieved 2017-04-28 . ^ "MPR: Minnesota elector gives Edwards a vote; Kerry gets other nine". News.minnesota.publicradio.org. Retrieved May 5, 2009 . ^ "2004 Presidential Vote". Ballot-Access.org. December 12, 2004. Retrieved September 17, 2008 . ^ "Maine Certificate of Ascertaiment, 2004 Presidential Election". ^ "Nebraska Certificate of Ascertainment, 2004 Presidential Election". ^ "Search Campaign Finance Summary Data". Fec.gov. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Freddoso, David (21 December 2004). "Does L Stand For Loser". National Review . Retrieved 11 April 2015 . ^ Radio, Minnesota Public. "MPR: Minnesota elector gives Edwards a vote; Kerry gets other nine". ^ Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota elector gives Edwards a vote; Kerry gets other nine ^ "NARA Federal Register U. S. Electoral College 2004 Certificate". Archives.gov. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ "NARA Federal Register U. S. Electoral College 2004 Certificate". Archives.gov. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ "" Turnout Exceeds Optimistic Predictions: More Than 122 Million Vote", Press Release, Center for the Study of the American Electorate, issued January 14, 2005" (PDF) . Center for the Study of the American Electorate. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 16, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008 . ^ "" 2004 Election Results", FEC formal publication" (PDF) . fec.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2008 . ^ Bishop, Bill; Cushing, Robert (February 29, 2008). "The Big Sort: Migration, Economy and Politics in the United States of 'Those People' " (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2008. ^ "CNN.com Election 2004". CNN. Retrieved January 2, 2018 . ^ "Travels of Vice President Dick Cheney-October 2004". Gwu.edu. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ Kropko, M.R. (January 24, 2007). "Election Staff Convicted in Recount Rig". Washington Post . Retrieved May 26, 2010 . ^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 7". Clerk.house.gov. January 6, 2005. Retrieved May 24, 2010 . ^ Kennedy, Robert F. "Was the 2004 Election Stolen? : Rolling Stone". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ U.S. GAO. (March 13, 2001). Elections: The Scope of Congressional Authority in Election Administration (GAO-01-470). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved February 10, 2008. ^ U.S. Election Assistance Commission (January 11, 2007). "EAC Statement Regarding Partisan Political Activities by Voting Machine Manufacturers and Testing Labs and their Employees". Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2008 . ^ Government Accountability Office election related reports Archived May 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine ^ "Private Company Still 'Controls' Election Outcome". americanfreepress.net. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ Paul R. La Monica (August 30, 2004). "The trouble with e-voting". CNN/Money. Retrieved October 23, 2006 . ^ "The Maverick on Bush's Short List – Business loves Hagel—even if the GOP doesn't always". BusinessWeek . Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Vice president Chuck Hagel?". Grand Island Independent. May 27, 2000. Archived from the original on August 19, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ a b Bolton, Alexander (January 29, 2003). "Hagel's ethics filings pose disclosure issue". The Hill . Archived from the original on April 1, 2003. ^ a b "Con Job at Diebold Subsidiary". Wired.com. December 17, 2003. Archived from the original on April 26, 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ a b "Bev Harris: Embezzler Programmed Voting System". Scoop Independent News. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ Mark, Jason (October 26, 2004). "Election Officials in Ohio and Florida Fail to Give Poll Access to International Election Observers". Global Exchange . Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ a b "Foreign observers banned by Blackwell". The Enquirer. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "California Bans E-Vote Machines". Wired. April 30, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "California official seeks criminal probe of e-voting". MSNBC. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "E-Voting: Is The Fix In?". CBS News. July 28, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Researchers: Florida Vote Fishy". Wired. November 18, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Votergate 2004? – Research Studies Uncover Potential Massive Election Fraud". Yurica Report: News Intelligence Analysis. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Complete US Exit Poll Data Confirms Net Suspicions". Scoop Independent News. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "University researchers challenge Bush win in Florida: 'Something went awry with electronic voting in Florida,' says the lead researcher". ComputerWorld. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked". CommonDreams.org. Archived from the original on December 10, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Bush's 'Incredible' Vote Tallies". consortiumnews.com. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "National Election Data Archive". ElectionArchive.org. Retrieved December 20, 2007 . ^ "Interactive White House Home Page". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved November 3, 2008 . ^ "Microsoft Word – US NAM Report, 28 Sep 2004.doc" (PDF) . Retrieved May 24, 2010 . ^ Renvert, Nicole (October 14, 2004). "Election 2004 – In The Eyes of the Beholders: OSCE Election Observers Will Oversee the U.S. Presidential Election". American Institute for Contemporary German Studies . Johns Hopkins University. Archived from the original on October 22, 2004. ^ "XI" (PDF) . Retrieved May 24, 2010 . ^ Washington Times August 6, 2004 ^ "Bruce Schneier: The Problem with Electronic Voting Machines, November 2004". Schneier.com. Retrieved May 24, 2010 . ^ Warner, Melanie. "Machine Politics in the Digital Age." New York Times. November 9, 2003. Sources "Presidential Results by Congressional District". Polidata . Washington, D.C.: Polidata. Retrieved July 29, 2005 . Barone, Michael J. The Almanac of American Politics: 2006 (2005) Daclon, Corrado Maria, US elections and war on terrorism (2004), Analisi Difesa, no. 50 Evan Thomas, Eleanor Clift, and Staff of Newsweek. Election 2004 (2005) Books Ceaser, James W. and Andrew E. Busch. Red Over Blue: The 2004 Elections and American Politics (2005), narrative history. Greene, John C. and Mark J. Rozell, eds. The Values Campaign?: The Christian Right and the 2004 Elections (2006). Miller, Mark Crispin. Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election (2005) – Sabato, Larry J. Divided States of America: The Slash And Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election (2005). Stempel III, Guido H. and Thomas K. Hargrove, eds. The 21st-Century Voter: Who Votes, How They Vote, and Why They Vote (2 vol. 2015). Further reading Nordhaus, William (July 2006). "Electoral victory and statistical defeat? Economics, politics, and the 2004 Presidential election". Quarterly Journal of Political Science . 1 (3): 313–322. doi:10.1561/100.00000014. Baum, Matthew A.; Gussin, Phil (March 2008). "In the eye of the beholder: how information shortcuts shape individual perceptions of bias in the media". Quarterly Journal of Political Science . 3 (1): 1–31. doi:10.1561/100.00007010. External links Encyclopædia Britannica Election of 2004 in Counting the Votes Official candidate websites Election maps and analysis Maps of proportion shift, counties more Republican, counties more Democratic, compared to 2000 election. NYTimes.com 2004 Election Results Interactive Graphic Sheppard, Michael. "How close were U.S. Presidential Elections? 2004". Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. PBS.org Interactive Electoral College Map Alternate views of the electoral results map Assessing the Vote and the Roots of American Political Divide State-by-state forecasts of electoral vote outcome Probability analysis of Electoral College based on latest poll results by state Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball USA Today polls Controversies About.com, Democracy & Voting Rights – Ohio 2004 Election as Lesson in What Can Go Wrong "The Whoppers of 2004". FactCheck . Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. October 31, 2004. Archived from the original on November 1, 2004. Election campaign funding Campaign ads Campaign commercials from the 2004 election (2000 ←) 2004 United States presidential election (→ 2008)
:_Candidates2004 United States elections Candidates Debates Timeline Potomac primary Mini-Tuesday Republican Party Convention Primaries Primary results Nominee George W. Bush (campaign )VP nominee Dick CheneyCandidates John BuchananJack Fellure Tom Laughlin Democratic Party Convention Primaries Primary results Nominee John Kerry (campaign )VP nominee John EdwardsCandidates Carol Moseley Brauncampaign )campaign )campaign )campaign )campaign )Caroline Killeen campaign )campaign )campaign )Al Sharpton Controversies Moss v. Bush Voting controversies Kerry military service Bush military service
Constitution Party Convention Nominee Michael Peroutka VP nominee Chuck Baldwin Green Party Convention Nominee David Cobb (campaign)VP nominee Pat LaMarche Candidates Sheila Bilyeu Peter Camejo Paul Glover Kent Mesplay Lorna Salzman Libertarian Party Convention Nominee Michael Badnarik (campaign)VP nominee Richard Campagna Candidates Gary Nolan Aaron Russo Personal Choice Party Nominee Charles Jay VP nominee Marilyn Chambers Prohibition Party Nominee Gene Amondson Alternate nominee Earl Dodge Reform Party Nominee Ralph Nader (campaign)Socialist Equality Party Socialist Party Nominee Walt Brown VP nominee Mary Alice Herbert Candidates Eric Chester Socialist Workers Party Nominee Róger Calero Alternate nominee James Harris VP nominee Arrin Hawkins Workers World Party Nominee John Parker VP nominee Teresa Gutierrez Thomas Harens Tom Laughlin Leonard Peltier
Other 2004 elections House Senate Gubernatorial
State results of the 2004 United States presidential election
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
George W. Bush
*_46th_Governor_of_Texas_(1995–2000)43rd President of the United States (2001–2009) 46th Governor of Texas (1995–2000) Owner of the Texas Rangers (1989–1998) Born July 6, 1946 Presidency First inauguration Second inauguration First term Second term Domestic policy Legislation and programs Economic policy Foreign policy International trips Bush Doctrine Bush–Putin meeting (2001) Bush–Putin meeting (2005) War in Afghanistan Status of Forces Agreement Patriot Act No Child Left Behind Act Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act USA Freedom Corps Department of Homeland Security Space policy Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty "War on Terror" President's Council on Service and Civic Participation Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy Email controversy Judicial appointments Supreme Court controversies Cabinet Pardons Impeachment efforts Life Presidential library Early life Military service controversy (Killian documents controversy and authenticity issues) Professional life Governorship of Texas Prairie Chapel Ranch Bush compound Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Speeches Axis of evil Mission Accomplished State of the Union address 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Elections United States House of Representatives elections, 1978 Texas gubernatorial election 1994 1998 Presidential campaign 2000 2004 Republican Party presidential primaries, 2000 2004 Republican National Convention 2000 2004 United States presidential election, 2000 United States presidential election, 2004 Public image Bushisms Nicknames As the subject of books and films Fictionalized portrayals Miss Me Yet? Books A Charge to Keep (1999)Decision Points (2010)41: A Portrait of My Father (2014)Portraits of Courage (2017)Family Laura Bush (wife) Barbara Pierce Bush (daughter) Jenna Bush Hager (daughter) George H. W. Bush (father presidency) Barbara Bush (mother) Robin Bush (sister) Jeb Bush (brother) Neil Bush (brother) Marvin Bush (brother) Dorothy Bush Koch (sister) Prescott Bush (grandfather) George P. Bush (nephew) Barney (dog) Miss Beazley (dog) India (cat) Spot Fetcher (dog) ← Bill Clinton Barack Obama →
John Kerry
Career Military career 2004 Democratic National Convention 2004 campaign VP selection process Kerry–Feingold Amendment Sponsored legislation Elections Senate election, 1984 Senate election, 1990 Senate election, 1996 Senate election, 2002 United States presidential election, 2004 Senate election, 2008 Related Going Upriver The New Soldier swiftboating Unfit for Command Family Forbes family Teresa Heinz Julia Thorne Alexandra Kerry Vanessa Kerry Richard Kerry Rosemary Forbes Kerry Cameron Kerry
5.5 pp
