Bush won the only Republican popular-vote majority between 1988 and 2024, on terrorism and turnout machinery; Ohio's 118,000-vote margin was the hinge. Kerry conceded a day after the polls closed.
Elected
George W. Bush
Republican
Electoral vote
286 of 538
Popular vote
50.7%
62,040,610 votes
Turnout
60.1%
VEP 60.1% · VAP 55.7%
The result
George W. Bush
Republican · 50.70% of votes
286
electoral votes
John Kerry
Democratic · 48.30% of votes
251
electoral votes
John Edwards
Democratic · 0.00% of votes
1
electoral votes
Ralph Nader
Independent · 0.38% of votes
—
electoral votes
Michael Badnarik
Libertarian · 0.32% of votes
—
electoral votes
Michael Peroutka
Constitution · 0.12% of votes
—
electoral votes
David Cobb
Green · 0.10% of votes
—
electoral votes
EV share
George W. Bush
Republican
Dick Cheney
286
62,040,610
50.70%
34
John Kerry
Democratic
John Edwards
251
59,028,444
48.30%
22
John Edwards
Democratic
John Edwards
1
5
0.00%
—
Ralph Nader
Independent
Peter Camejo
—
465,650
0.38%
—
Michael Badnarik
Libertarian
Richard Campagna
—
397,265
0.32%
—
Michael Peroutka
Constitution
Chuck Baldwin
—
143,630
0.12%
—
David Cobb
Green
Pat LaMarche
—
119,859
0.10%
—
122,195,463 votes recorded for the candidates listed.
Results by state
Alabama
George W. Bush · 62.5% · runner-up John Kerry 36.8%
9
electoral votes
Alaska
George W. Bush · 61.1% · runner-up John Kerry 35.5%
3
electoral votes
Arizona
George W. Bush · 54.9% · runner-up John Kerry 44.4%
10
electoral votes
Arkansas
George W. Bush · 54.3% · runner-up John Kerry 44.5%
6
electoral votes
California
John Kerry · 54.3% · runner-up George W. Bush 44.4%
55
electoral votes
Colorado
George W. Bush · 51.7% · runner-up John Kerry 47.0%
9
electoral votes
Connecticut
John Kerry · 54.3% · runner-up George W. Bush 44.0%
7
electoral votes
Delaware
John Kerry · 53.4% · runner-up George W. Bush 45.8%
3
electoral votes
District of Columbia
John Kerry · 89.2% · runner-up George W. Bush 9.3%
3
electoral votes
Florida
George W. Bush · 52.1% · runner-up John Kerry 47.1%
27
electoral votes
Georgia
George W. Bush · 58.0% · runner-up John Kerry 41.4%
15
electoral votes
Hawaii
John Kerry · 54.0% · runner-up George W. Bush 45.3%
4
electoral votes
Alabama
George W. Bush
62.5%
9
John Kerry · 36.8%
Alaska
George W. Bush
61.1%
3
John Kerry · 35.5%
Arizona
George W. Bush
54.9%
10
John Kerry · 44.4%
Arkansas
George W. Bush
54.3%
6
John Kerry · 44.5%
California
John Kerry
54.3%
55
George W. Bush · 44.4%
Colorado
George W. Bush
51.7%
9
John Kerry · 47.0%
Connecticut
John Kerry
54.3%
7
George W. Bush · 44.0%
Delaware
John Kerry
53.4%
3
George W. Bush · 45.8%
District of Columbia
John Kerry
89.2%
3
George W. Bush · 9.3%
Florida
George W. Bush
52.1%
27
John Kerry · 47.1%
Georgia
George W. Bush
58.0%
15
John Kerry · 41.4%
Hawaii
John Kerry
54.0%
4
George W. Bush · 45.3%
Idaho
George W. Bush
68.4%
4
John Kerry · 30.3%
Illinois
John Kerry
54.8%
21
George W. Bush · 44.5%
Indiana
George W. Bush
59.9%
11
John Kerry · 39.3%
Iowa
George W. Bush
49.9%
7
John Kerry · 49.2%
Kansas
George W. Bush
62.0%
6
John Kerry · 36.6%
Kentucky
George W. Bush
59.5%
8
John Kerry · 39.7%
Louisiana
George W. Bush
56.7%
9
John Kerry · 42.2%
Maine
John Kerry
53.6%
2
George W. Bush · 44.6%
Maine-1
John Kerry
55.1%
1
George W. Bush · 43.1%
Maine-2
John Kerry
52.0%
1
George W. Bush · 46.1%
Maryland
John Kerry
55.9%
10
George W. Bush · 42.9%
Massachusetts
John Kerry
61.9%
12
George W. Bush · 36.8%
Michigan
John Kerry
51.2%
17
George W. Bush · 47.8%
Minnesota
John Kerry
51.1%
9
George W. Bush · 47.6%
Mississippi
George W. Bush
59.5%
6
John Kerry · 39.8%
Missouri
George W. Bush
53.3%
11
John Kerry · 46.1%
Montana
George W. Bush
59.1%
3
John Kerry · 38.6%
Nebraska
George W. Bush
65.9%
2
John Kerry · 32.7%
Nebraska-1
George W. Bush
63.0%
1
John Kerry · 35.7%
Nebraska-2
George W. Bush
60.2%
1
John Kerry · 38.5%
Nebraska-3
George W. Bush
74.9%
1
John Kerry · 23.7%
Nevada
George W. Bush
50.5%
5
John Kerry · 47.9%
New Hampshire
John Kerry
50.2%
4
George W. Bush · 48.9%
New Jersey
John Kerry
52.9%
15
George W. Bush · 46.2%
New Mexico
George W. Bush
49.8%
5
John Kerry · 49.0%
New York
John Kerry
58.4%
31
George W. Bush · 40.1%
North Carolina
George W. Bush
56.0%
15
John Kerry · 43.6%
North Dakota
George W. Bush
62.9%
3
John Kerry · 35.5%
Ohio
George W. Bush
50.8%
20
John Kerry · 48.7%
Oklahoma
George W. Bush
65.6%
7
John Kerry · 34.4%
Oregon
John Kerry
51.4%
7
George W. Bush · 47.2%
Pennsylvania
John Kerry
50.9%
21
George W. Bush · 48.4%
Rhode Island
John Kerry
59.4%
4
George W. Bush · 38.7%
South Carolina
George W. Bush
58.0%
8
John Kerry · 40.9%
South Dakota
George W. Bush
59.9%
3
John Kerry · 38.4%
Tennessee
George W. Bush
56.8%
11
John Kerry · 42.5%
Texas
George W. Bush
61.1%
34
John Kerry · 38.2%
Utah
George W. Bush
71.5%
5
John Kerry · 26.0%
Vermont
John Kerry
58.9%
3
George W. Bush · 38.8%
Virginia
George W. Bush
53.7%
13
John Kerry · 45.5%
Washington
John Kerry
52.8%
11
George W. Bush · 45.6%
West Virginia
George W. Bush
56.1%
5
John Kerry · 43.2%
Wisconsin
John Kerry
49.7%
10
George W. Bush · 49.3%
Wyoming
George W. Bush
68.9%
3
John Kerry · 29.1%
The Congress it seated
109th Congress
2005–2007
Unified government
Senate
44–55 +1
Republican control · Democratic–Republican +1 independent
House
202–232 +1
Republican control · Democratic–Republican +1 independent