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2004 United States elections

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2004 United States elections
2002          2003          2004          2005          2006
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 2
Incumbent presidentGeorge W. Bush (Republican)
Next Congress109th
Presidential election
Partisan controlRepublican hold
Popular vote marginRepublican +2.4%
Electoral vote
George W. Bush (R)286
John Kerry (D)251
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
2004 presidential election results map. Red denotes states/districts won by Republican George W. Bush, and Blue denotes those won by Democrat John Kerry. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
Senate elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Seats contested34 of 100 seats
Net seat changeRepublican +4
2004 United States Senate election in Alabama2004 United States Senate election in Alaska2004 United States Senate election in Arizona2004 United States Senate election in Arkansas2004 United States Senate election in California2004 United States Senate election in Colorado2004 United States Senate election in Connecticut2004 United States Senate election in Florida2004 United States Senate election in Georgia2004 United States Senate election in Hawaii2004 United States Senate election in Idaho2004 United States Senate election in Illinois2004 United States Senate election in Indiana2004 United States Senate election in Iowa2004 United States Senate election in Kansas2004 United States Senate election in Kentucky2004 United States Senate election in Louisiana2004 United States Senate election in Maryland2004 United States Senate election in Missouri2004 United States Senate election in Nevada2004 United States Senate election in New Hampshire2004 United States Senate election in New York2004 United States Senate election in North Carolina2004 United States Senate election in North Dakota2004 United States Senate election in Ohio2004 United States Senate election in Oklahoma2004 United States Senate election in Oregon2004 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania2004 United States Senate election in South Carolina2004 United States Senate election in South Dakota2004 United States Senate election in Utah2004 United States Senate election in Vermont2004 United States Senate election in Washington2004 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
2004 Senate election results map
House elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Popular vote marginRepublican +2.6%
Net seat changeRepublican +3
2004 House election results map
2004 House election results map
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested13 (11 states, 2 territories)
Net seat changeNone
2004 Delaware gubernatorial election2004 Indiana gubernatorial election2004 Missouri gubernatorial election2004 Montana gubernatorial election2004 New Hampshire gubernatorial election2004 North Carolina gubernatorial election2004 North Dakota gubernatorial election2004 Utah gubernatorial election2004 Vermont gubernatorial election2004 Washington gubernatorial election2004 West Virginia gubernatorial election2004 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election2004 American Samoa gubernatorial election
2004 Gubernatorial election results map
Legend
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     Popular Democratic hold      Nonpartisan

The 2004 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004, during the early years of the war on terror and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Republican President George W. Bush won re-election and Republicans retained control of Congress.

Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts won his party's nomination after defeating Senator John Edwards and several other candidates in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries. In the general election, Bush won 286 of the 538 electoral votes and 50.7 percent of the popular vote. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the war on terrorism and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Riding Bush's coattails, the Republicans picked up net gains of four Senate seats and three House seats. In the gubernatorial elections, neither party won a net gain of seats. Bush became the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1980 to see his party gain seats in both Houses of Congress during a presidential election year. Republicans would not win another trifecta until 2016.

Future President Barack Obama was elected to the United States Senate in Illinois, and he was elected president in the next presidential election.

As of 2020, this is the last time the incumbent party retained control over the presidency and Congress after a single term.

Federal elections

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President

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Republican incumbent President George W. Bush was re-elected, defeating Democratic Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts.

United States Senate

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The 34 seats in the United States Senate Class 3 were up for election. Republicans had a net gain of 4 seats. Summary of the 2004 United States Senate elections results

Parties Total
Democratic Republican Independent Libertarian Others
Before these elections 48 51 1 100
End of this Congress (two months later) 48 51 1 100
Not Up 29 36 1 66
Up 19 15 34
Incumbent
retired
Total before 5 3 8
Held by same party 1 1
Replaced by other party Decrease 2 Republicans replaced by Increase 2 Democrats
Decrease 5 Democrats replaced by Increase 5 Republicans
7
Result after 2 6 8
Incumbent
ran
Total before 14 12[a] 26
Won re-election 13 12 25
Lost re-election Decrease 1 Democrat replaced by Increase 1 Republican 1
Lost renomination, held by same party 0
Lost renomination, and party lost 0
Result after 13 13 26
Net gain/loss Decrease 4 Increase 4 4
Total elected 15 19 34
Result 44 55 1 100
Popular
vote
Votes 44,754,618 39,920,562 186,231 754,861 2,481,075 88,097,347
Share 50.80% 45.31% 0.21% 0.86% 2.82% 100%

Sources:

United States House of Representatives

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Republicans gained a couple of seats in the House, mainly due to the 2003 Texas redistricting. Republicans won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 2.6 percentage points.[1]

Summary of the 2004 United States House of Representatives elections results
Parties Seats Popular vote
2002 2004 Net
change
Strength Vote % Change
Republican Party 229 232 Increase 3 53.3% 55,958,144 49.4% -0.6%
Democratic Party 205 202 Decrease 3 46.4% 52,969,786 46.8% +1.6%
Libertarian Party 1,056,844 0.9% -0.5%
Independent 1 1 0 0.2% 674,202 0.6% +0.1%
Green Party 344,549 0.3% -0.1%
Constitution Party 187,006 0.2% -
Reform Party 85,539 0.1% +0.1%
Independence Party 76,053 0.1% +0.1%
Others 1,840,163 1.6% -0.6%
Total 434 435 0 100.0% 113,192,286 100.0%
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

State elections

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Governors

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Eleven of the fifty United States governors were up for re-election, as were the governorships of two U.S. territories. The final results were a net change of zero between the political parties. The Democrats picked up the governorships in Montana and New Hampshire, but the Republicans picked up the ones in Indiana and Missouri.

State Incumbent Party First

elected

Result Candidates
Delaware Ruth Ann Minner Democratic 2000 Incumbent re-elected.
Indiana Joe Kernan Democratic 2003[b] Incumbent lost re-election.

New governor elected. Republican gain.

Missouri Bob Holden Democratic 2000 Incumbent lost re-nomination.

New governor elected. Republican gain.

Montana Judy Martz Republican 2000 Incumbent retired.

New governor elected. Democratic gain.

New Hampshire Craig Benson Republican 2002 Incumbent lost re-election.

New governor elected. Democratic gain.

North Carolina Mike Easley Democratic 2000 Incumbent re-elected.
North Dakota John Hoeven Republican 2000 Incumbent re-elected.
Utah Olene Walker Republican 2003[c] Incumbent lost re-nomination.

New governor elected. Republican hold.

Vermont Jim Douglas Republican 2002 Incumbent re-elected.
Washington Gary Locke Democratic 2000 Incumbent retired.

New governor elected. Democratic hold.

West Virginia Bob Wise Democratic 2000 Incumbent retired.

New governor elected. Democratic hold.

Other statewide elections

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In many states where if the following positions were elective offices, voters cast votes for candidates for state executive branch offices of Lieutenant Governor (though some were voted for on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee), Secretary of state, state Treasurer, state Auditor, state Attorney General, state Superintendent of Education, Commissioners of Insurance, Agriculture or, Labor, etc.) and state judicial branch offices (seats on state Supreme Courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).

State legislative elections

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Elections to state legislatures were held on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 85 legislative chambers, with all states but Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Alabama, Maryland, and Virginia holding elections in at least one house. Michigan and Minnesota held elections for their lower, but not upper houses.[2] Six chambers in three territories and the District of Columbia were up as well.

The 2004 elections created narrow legislative divisions across the country. Both parties flipped seats and chambers across the country, with most Democratic gains coming from the Northeast and West and most Republican gains coming from the South. Over 20 states featured statehouses controlled by fewer than four seats, and nearly 30 states featured divided governments. Both parties took advantage of heavy spending from 527 organizations.[3]

Republicans won control of four chambers from the Democrats. The institution of term limits contributed to the Republican takeover of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and favorable redistricting aided Republicans in winning the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time ever.[3] Republicans additionally won the Tennessee Senate, for the time since 1870, and the Indiana House of Representatives.[4][5]

Democrats performed better than Republicans overall at the state-legislative level, despite their defeat in the concurrent presidential election, winning control of eight additional chambers. Favorable redistricting enabled the Democratic takeover of the Montana Legislature and their retaking of control of the North Carolina House of Representatives, which was previously tied.[3] Additionally, they took control of the Washington Senate; the Oregon Senate, which was previously tied; both houses of the Colorado General Assembly for the first time since 1963, and the Vermont House of Representatives. The Iowa Senate became tied after previously being controlled by the Republicans prior to the election.[4][5] Democrats' takeover of the Montana House only came after the Montana Supreme Court declared a Democrat a victor in a contested election that evenly split the chamber. This gave Democrats control of the chamber with the help of incoming governor Brian Schweitzer.[6]

The Democrats also regained the title of holding the most legislative seats across the country, winning one more seat than the Republicans.[5]

Initiatives and referendums

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Vote for same-sex marriage ban by counties:
  90% – 100%
  80% – 90%
  70% – 80%
  60% – 70%
  50% – 60%
Vote against same-sex marriage ban by counties:
  60% – 70%
  50% – 60%

Local elections

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Mayoral elections

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Some of the major American cities that held their mayoral elections in 2004 included:

Notes

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  1. ^ Includes the interim appointee ran for election.
  2. ^ Kernan took office after his predecessor (Frank O'Bannon) died.
  3. ^ Walker took office after her predecessor (Mike Leavitt) resigned.

References

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  1. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 2004" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  2. ^ "State legislative elections, 2004".
  3. ^ a b c Prah, Pamela M. (November 15, 2007). "2004 elections set up year of legislative stalemate". stateline.org. Archived from the original on November 7, 2008. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  4. ^ a b Madigan, Erin; Kelderman, Eric (November 5, 2004). "GOP Loses Ground in Statehouse Control". pew.org. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  5. ^ a b c Storey, Tim (2005). "2004 legislative elections". Spectrum: The Journal of State Government. 78 (1): 8 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  6. ^ Robbins, Jim (2004-12-29). "Ruling Puts Democrats in Control in Montana". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  7. ^ "(365Gay)". Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  8. ^ Armstrong, Kevin (2008-01-10). "Chesapeake mayor Dalton Edge won't run for second term". The Virginian-Pilot.
  9. ^ Dillon, Jeff (2005-04-25). "San Diego mayor announces departure less than 5 months into second term". San Diego Union-Tribune.

Further reading

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  • 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).
  • 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).
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