2004 Presidential Election

November 2, 2004 · The Post-Cold-War Era · 538 electoral votes, 270 to win

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

EV share
George W. BushRepublicanDick Cheney286
62,040,61050.70%34
John KerryDemocraticJohn Edwards251
59,028,44448.30%22
John EdwardsDemocraticJohn Edwards1
50.00%
Ralph NaderIndependentPeter Camejo465,6500.38%
Michael BadnarikLibertarianRichard Campagna397,2650.32%
Michael PeroutkaConstitutionChuck Baldwin143,6300.12%
David CobbGreenPat LaMarche119,8590.10%

122,195,463 votes recorded for the candidates listed.

Results by state

AlabamaGeorge W. Bush62.5%9John Kerry · 36.8%
AlaskaGeorge W. Bush61.1%3John Kerry · 35.5%
ArizonaGeorge W. Bush54.9%10John Kerry · 44.4%
ArkansasGeorge W. Bush54.3%6John Kerry · 44.5%
CaliforniaJohn Kerry54.3%55George W. Bush · 44.4%
ColoradoGeorge W. Bush51.7%9John Kerry · 47.0%
ConnecticutJohn Kerry54.3%7George W. Bush · 44.0%
DelawareJohn Kerry53.4%3George W. Bush · 45.8%
District of ColumbiaJohn Kerry89.2%3George W. Bush · 9.3%
FloridaGeorge W. Bush52.1%27John Kerry · 47.1%
GeorgiaGeorge W. Bush58.0%15John Kerry · 41.4%
HawaiiJohn Kerry54.0%4George W. Bush · 45.3%
IdahoGeorge W. Bush68.4%4John Kerry · 30.3%
IllinoisJohn Kerry54.8%21George W. Bush · 44.5%
IndianaGeorge W. Bush59.9%11John Kerry · 39.3%
IowaGeorge W. Bush49.9%7John Kerry · 49.2%
KansasGeorge W. Bush62.0%6John Kerry · 36.6%
KentuckyGeorge W. Bush59.5%8John Kerry · 39.7%
LouisianaGeorge W. Bush56.7%9John Kerry · 42.2%
MaineJohn Kerry53.6%2George W. Bush · 44.6%
Maine-1John Kerry55.1%1George W. Bush · 43.1%
Maine-2John Kerry52.0%1George W. Bush · 46.1%
MarylandJohn Kerry55.9%10George W. Bush · 42.9%
MassachusettsJohn Kerry61.9%12George W. Bush · 36.8%
MichiganJohn Kerry51.2%17George W. Bush · 47.8%
MinnesotaJohn Kerry51.1%9George W. Bush · 47.6%
MississippiGeorge W. Bush59.5%6John Kerry · 39.8%
MissouriGeorge W. Bush53.3%11John Kerry · 46.1%
MontanaGeorge W. Bush59.1%3John Kerry · 38.6%
NebraskaGeorge W. Bush65.9%2John Kerry · 32.7%
Nebraska-1George W. Bush63.0%1John Kerry · 35.7%
Nebraska-2George W. Bush60.2%1John Kerry · 38.5%
Nebraska-3George W. Bush74.9%1John Kerry · 23.7%
NevadaGeorge W. Bush50.5%5John Kerry · 47.9%
New HampshireJohn Kerry50.2%4George W. Bush · 48.9%
New JerseyJohn Kerry52.9%15George W. Bush · 46.2%
New MexicoGeorge W. Bush49.8%5John Kerry · 49.0%
New YorkJohn Kerry58.4%31George W. Bush · 40.1%
North CarolinaGeorge W. Bush56.0%15John Kerry · 43.6%
North DakotaGeorge W. Bush62.9%3John Kerry · 35.5%
OhioGeorge W. Bush50.8%20John Kerry · 48.7%
OklahomaGeorge W. Bush65.6%7John Kerry · 34.4%
OregonJohn Kerry51.4%7George W. Bush · 47.2%
PennsylvaniaJohn Kerry50.9%21George W. Bush · 48.4%
Rhode IslandJohn Kerry59.4%4George W. Bush · 38.7%
South CarolinaGeorge W. Bush58.0%8John Kerry · 40.9%
South DakotaGeorge W. Bush59.9%3John Kerry · 38.4%
TennesseeGeorge W. Bush56.8%11John Kerry · 42.5%
TexasGeorge W. Bush61.1%34John Kerry · 38.2%
UtahGeorge W. Bush71.5%5John Kerry · 26.0%
VermontJohn Kerry58.9%3George W. Bush · 38.8%
VirginiaGeorge W. Bush53.7%13John Kerry · 45.5%
WashingtonJohn Kerry52.8%11George W. Bush · 45.6%
West VirginiaGeorge W. Bush56.1%5John Kerry · 43.2%
WisconsinJohn Kerry49.7%10George W. Bush · 49.3%
WyomingGeorge W. Bush68.9%3John Kerry · 29.1%

The Congress it seated

109th Congress

2005–2007

Unified government

Senate

44–55

Democratic vs Republican · 1 others

House

202–232

Democratic vs Republican · 1 others