2004 United States presidential election

2004 United States presidential election

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout60.1%[1] Increase 5.9 pp
 
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards
Electoral vote 286 251[a]
States carried 31 19 + DC
Popular vote 62,040,610 59,028,444
Percentage 50.7% 48.3%

2004 United States presidential election in California2004 United States presidential election in Oregon2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)2004 United States presidential election in Idaho2004 United States presidential election in Nevada2004 United States presidential election in Utah2004 United States presidential election in Arizona2004 United States presidential election in Montana2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming2004 United States presidential election in Colorado2004 United States presidential election in New Mexico2004 United States presidential election in North Dakota2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota2004 United States presidential election in Nebraska2004 United States presidential election in Kansas2004 United States presidential election in Oklahoma2004 United States presidential election in Texas2004 United States presidential election in Minnesota2004 United States presidential election in Iowa2004 United States presidential election in Missouri2004 United States presidential election in Arkansas2004 United States presidential election in Louisiana2004 United States presidential election in Wisconsin2004 United States presidential election in Illinois2004 United States presidential election in Michigan2004 United States presidential election in Indiana2004 United States presidential election in Ohio2004 United States presidential election in Kentucky2004 United States presidential election in Tennessee2004 United States presidential election in Mississippi2004 United States presidential election in Alabama2004 United States presidential election in Georgia2004 United States presidential election in Florida2004 United States presidential election in South Carolina2004 United States presidential election in North Carolina2004 United States presidential election in Virginia2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia2004 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2004 United States presidential election in Maryland2004 United States presidential election in Delaware2004 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania2004 United States presidential election in New Jersey2004 United States presidential election in New York2004 United States presidential election in Connecticut2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2004 United States presidential election in Vermont2004 United States presidential election in New Hampshire2004 United States presidential election in Maine2004 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2004 United States presidential election in Hawaii2004 United States presidential election in Alaska2004 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2004 United States presidential election in Maryland2004 United States presidential election in Delaware2004 United States presidential election in New Jersey2004 United States presidential election in Connecticut2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2004 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2004 United States presidential election in Vermont2004 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Cheney and blue denotes those won by Kerry/Edwards. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
Faithless elector: John Edwards 1 (MN)

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were elected to a second term, defeating the Democratic ticket of John Kerry, a United States senator from Massachusetts and his running mate John Edwards, a United States senator from North Carolina.

Bush and Cheney were renominated by their party with no difficulty. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean emerged as the early front-runner in the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries, but Kerry won the first set of primaries in January and clinched his party's nomination in March after a series of primary victories. Kerry chose Edwards, who had himself sought the party's 2004 presidential nomination, to be his running mate.

Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's handling of the war on terror and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Bush presented himself as a decisive leader and attacked Kerry as a "flip-flopper". Kerry criticized Bush's conduct of the Iraq War, despite having voted for it himself. 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 narrow margin of 35 electoral votes and took 50.7% of the popular vote. Bush swept the South and the Mountain States and took the crucial swing states of Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico, the latter two flipping Republican. Although Kerry flipped New Hampshire, Bush won both more electoral votes and states than in 2000. Ohio was the tipping-point state, and was considered to be the state that allowed Bush to win re-election. Some aspects of the election process were subject to controversy, but not to the degree seen in the 2000 presidential election.

Since the death of 2000 vice-presidential nominee Joe Lieberman in 2024, this is the earliest presidential election in which all major-party candidates for president and vice president are still alive.

  1. ^ "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Election Project. CQ Press.


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