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 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 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 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. It is the only election cycle since 1928 in which a Republican trifecta was successfully maintained, as well as the first time since the 1950 and 1952 elections that the Republicans gained seats in consecutive elections.

Federal elections

President

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

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 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[lower-alpha 1] — — — 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

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

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.

State Incumbent Party First

elected

 Result Candidates
Delaware Ruth Ann Minner Democratic 2000 Incumbent re-elected.
Indiana Joe Kernan Democratic 2003[lower-alpha 2] 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[lower-alpha 3] 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

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

These paragraphs are an excerpt from 2004 United States state legislative elections.[edit]

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.

Republicans won control of four chambers including the Oklahoma House of Representatives for the first since 1922; the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time ever; the Tennessee Senate for the time since 1870; and the Indiana House of Representatives.

Democrats took control of eight legislative chambers including the Washington Senate; the Oregon Senate, which was previously tied; both houses of the Montana legislature; both houses of the Colorado legislature for the first time since 1963; the North Carolina House of Representatives- which was previously tied; and the Vermont House of Representatives. Additionally, the Iowa Senate became tied after previously being controlled by the GOP before the election.[3][4] 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.[5]

The Democrats also regained the title of holding the most legislative seats across the country, winning one more seat than the Republicans.[6] Republicans won a trifecta in Georgia for the first time ever.

Initiatives and referendums

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

Mayoral elections

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

Notes

  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

  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. ↑ Tim Storey 2004 Legislative Elections The Council of State Governments
  4. ↑ Madigan, Erin; Kelderman, Eric (November 5, 2004). "GOP Loses Ground in Statehouse Control". pew.org. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  5. ↑ Robbins, Jim (2004-12-29). "Ruling Puts Democrats in Control in Montana". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  6. ↑ Storey, Tim (2005). "2004 legislative elections". Spectrum: The Journal of State Government. 78 (1): 8 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  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

  • 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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