United States elections, 2004

2004 United States elections

Presidential election year
Election day	November 2
Presidential election
Electoral vote
George W. Bush (R)	286
John Kerry (D)	251
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
Seats contested	34 seats of Class III
Net change	Republican +4
2004 Senate election results map
House elections
Net change	Republican +3
2004 House election results map
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	13 (11 states, 2 territories)
Net change	0
2004 Gubernatorial election results map
Legend
Democratic hold   Democratic gain   Republican hold   Republican gain   Independent hold

The 2004 United States elections were held on November 2, with President George W. Bush winning re-election. Riding Bush's coattails, the Republicans picked up net gains of 4 Senate seats and 3 House seats, increasing their majorities in both House in Congress. In the state governorships up for election, there was no net gain in seats for either party. 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.

Federal

President

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

United States Congress

United States House of Representatives

Republicans gained a couple of seats in the House, mainly due to the 2003 Texas redistricting.

United States Senate

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 United States Senate elections, 2004 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	Held by same party	—	1	—	—	—	1
	Replaced by other party	2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats	5 Democrats replaced by 5 Republicans	—	—	—	7
Incumbent ran	Won re-election	13	12	—	—	—	25
	Lost re-election	1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	—	1
	Lost renomination, held by same party	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Lost renomination, and party lost	—	—	—	—	—	0
Total held		13	13	—	—	—	26
Total not held / gained		2	4	—	—	—	6
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	50.8%	45.3%	0.21%	0.86%	2.82%	100%

Sources:

• Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections
• United States Elections Project at George Mason University

State

Governors

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.

Other state-wide Officer elections

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

Many states across the nation held elections for their state legislatures.

Initiatives and Referenda

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%

• State constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage are passed in eleven states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah. The measures in Oregon, Mississippi, and Montana bans same-sex marriage only, while Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Utah bans both same-sex marriage and civil unions and Michigan bans granting any benefits whatsoever to same-sex couples.^[1]

Local elections

Mayoral elections

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

• Chesapeake – Dalton S. Edge won an open seat race to succeed outgoing Mayor William E. Ward.^[2]
• Jersey City- In a special election triggered due to the passing of Glenn Cunningham (D), attorney Jerramiah Healy (D) defeated General Assemblyman Louis Manzo (D) and Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith (D) to serve the rest of the unexpired term.
• San Diego – Incumbent Mayor Dick Murphy (R) was re-elected, but resigned five months later.^[3]

References

Further reading

• 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).

External links

• United States Election 2004 Web Archive from the U.S. Library of Congress

United States elections
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See also Presidential elections Senate elections House elections Gubernatorial elections