2004 United States presidential election in Kansas

2004 United States presidential election in Kansas

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →

Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards Electoral vote 6 0 Popular vote 736,456 434,993 Percentage 62.00% 36.62%

County Results Bush   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Kerry   50-60%   60-70%

President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President George W. Bush Republican

Elections in Kansas
Federal government Presidential elections 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Presidential Primaries Democratic Caucuses 2004 2008 2016 2020 Republican Caucuses 2008 2012 U.S. Senate Elections 1966 1968 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1996 special 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 U.S. House Elections 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Special elections 4th district, 2017
State government Gubernatorial elections 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Senate elections 2020 House of Representatives elections 2020 State elections by year 2012 2014 2018 2020
Ballot measures 2005 Amendment 1
Wichita Mayoral elections 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Kansas City Mayoral elections 2013 2017 2021
Overland Park Mayoral elections 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
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The 2004 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 2, 2004 as part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Kansas was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 25.4% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. On election day, it trended Republican from the 2000 election by a swing margin of almost 5%. He won every single congressional district and county, excluding just 2: Wyandotte County and Douglas County.

Caucuses[]

• 2004 Kansas Democratic presidential caucuses

Campaign[]

Predictions[]

There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.^[1]

1. D.C. Political Report: Solid Republican
2. Associated Press: Solid Bush
3. CNN: Bush
4. Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
5. Newsweek: Solid Bush
6. New York Times: Solid Bush
7. Rasmussen Reports: Bush
8. Research 2000: Solid Bush
9. Washington Post: Bush
10. Washington Times: Solid Bush
11. Zogby International: Bush
12. Washington Dispatch: Bush

Polling[]

Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each by a double-digit margin of victory and with at least 56% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Bush leading 58% to 37% for Kerry and 3% for Nader.^[2]

Fundraising[]

Bush raised $980,035.^[3] Kerry raised $387,484.^[4]

Advertising and visits[]

Neither presidential candidate advertised or visited this state. However, John Edwards visited the city of Lawrence in Douglas County briefly. ^[5][6]

Analysis[]

Apart from its flirtation with William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson, Kansas has always been a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, voting for GOP nominees in all but seven elections since statehood. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry the Sunflower State was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide in 1964. A combination of rural counties embedded with deep pockets of evangelical Christianity/social conservatism and moderate, fiscally conservative residents in Johnson County, Kansas nearly always votes Republican.

Results[]

2004 United States presidential election in Kansas[7][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush (Inc.)	736,456	62.00%	6
	Democratic	John Kerry	434,993	36.62%	0
	Reform Party	Ralph Nader	9,348	0.79%	0
	Independent	Michael Badnarik	4,013	0.34%	0
	Independent	Michael Peroutka	2,899	0.24%	0
	Write In	David Cobb	33	0.00%	0
	Write In		5	0.00%	0
	Write In	Bill Van Auken	5	0.00%	0
	Write In	Walt Brown	4	0.00%	0
Totals			1,187,756	100.00%	6
Voter turnout (Voting age population)					58.6%

Results breakdown[]

By county[]

County	Bush #	Bush %	Kerry #	Kerry %	Others #	Others %	Total
Allen	3,808	65.92%	1,885	32.63%	84	1.45%	5,777
Anderson	2,490	64.74%	1,291	33.57%	65	1.69%	3,846
Atchison	3,769	54.54%	3,028	43.81%	114	1.65%	6,911
Barber	1,749	73.89%	585	24.71%	33	1.39%	2,367
Barton	8,545	74.00%	2,837	24.57%	165	1.43%	11,547
Bourbon	4,268	65.36%	2,167	33.19%	95	1.45%	6,530
Brown	3,034	70.18%	1,234	28.54%	55	1.27%	4,323
Butler	16,331	71.26%	6,292	27.46%	293	1.28%	22,916
Chase	1,043	70.28%	413	27.83%	28	1.89%	1,484
Chautauqua	1,496	77.84%	400	20.81%	26	1.35%	1,922
Cherokee	6,045	61.38%	3,694	37.51%	109	1.11%	9,848
Cheyenne	1,346	80.02%	317	18.85%	19	1.13%	1,682
Clark	998	78.46%	254	19.97%	20	1.57%	1,272
Clay	3,119	79.20%	777	19.73%	42	1.07%	3,938
Cloud	3,134	71.49%	1,179	26.89%	71	1.62%	4,384
Coffey	3,204	73.93%	1,076	24.83%	54	1.25%	4,334
Comanche	765	78.54%	198	20.33%	11	1.13%	974
Cowley	9,237	65.06%	4,747	33.44%	213	1.50%	14,197
Crawford	8,423	52.09%	7,470	46.20%	277	1.71%	16,170
Decatur	1,354	77.86%	355	20.41%	30	1.73%	1,739
Dickinson	6,186	71.69%	2,316	26.84%	127	1.47%	8,629
Doniphan	2,460	69.24%	1,049	29.52%	44	1.24%	3,553
Douglas	19,923	41.44%	27,282	56.74%	875	1.82%	48,080
Edwards	1,072	72.43%	383	25.88%	25	1.69%	1,480
Elk	1,114	73.87%	367	24.34%	27	1.79%	1,508
Ellis	7,683	64.70%	3,938	33.16%	254	2.14%	11,875
Ellsworth	2,246	72.90%	794	25.77%	41	1.33%	3,081
Finney	7,361	75.39%	2,303	23.59%	100	1.02%	9,764
Ford	6,413	73.66%	2,195	25.21%	98	1.13%	8,706
Franklin	7,278	64.34%	3,874	34.25%	159	1.41%	11,311
Geary	4,553	64.33%	2,436	34.42%	89	1.26%	7,078
Gove	1,182	81.46%	245	16.88%	24	1.65%	1,451
Graham	1,067	75.09%	330	23.22%	24	1.69%	1,421
Grant	2,082	78.39%	549	20.67%	25	0.94%	2,656
Gray	1,730	80.92%	387	18.10%	21	0.98%	2,138
Greeley	577	79.59%	137	18.90%	11	1.52%	725
Greenwood	2,247	70.28%	899	28.12%	51	1.60%	3,197
Hamilton	874	78.88%	222	20.04%	12	1.08%	1,108
Harper	2,123	73.54%	717	24.84%	47	1.63%	2,887
Harvey	9,364	63.08%	5,237	35.28%	244	1.64%	14,845
Haskell	1,309	84.67%	221	14.29%	16	1.03%	1,546
Hodgeman	949	80.63%	222	18.86%	6	0.51%	1,177
Jackson	3,682	63.47%	2,026	34.93%	93	1.60%	5,801
Jefferson	5,345	61.43%	3,226	37.08%	130	1.49%	8,701
Jewell	1,494	78.10%	384	20.07%	35	1.83%	1,913
Johnson	153,718	61.16%	95,002	37.80%	2,624	1.04%	251,344
Kearny	1,160	80.67%	272	18.92%	6	0.42%	1,438
Kingman	2,795	74.41%	902	24.01%	59	1.57%	3,756
Kiowa	1,248	81.36%	253	16.49%	33	2.15%	1,534
Labette	5,345	59.05%	3,582	39.58%	124	1.37%	9,051
Lane	815	81.18%	179	17.83%	10	1.00%	1,004
Leavenworth	15,609	58.37%	10,802	40.39%	332	1.24%	26,743
Lincoln	1,350	75.80%	390	21.90%	41	2.30%	1,781
Linn	2,954	64.12%	1,592	34.56%	61	1.32%	4,607
Logan	1,252	82.37%	248	16.32%	20	1.32%	1,520
Lyon	7,604	59.18%	5,003	38.93%	243	1.89%	12,850
Marion	4,393	73.30%	1,496	24.96%	104	1.74%	5,993
Marshall	3,217	63.98%	1,754	34.88%	57	1.13%	5,028
McPherson	9,353	71.68%	3,520	26.98%	176	1.35%	13,049
Meade	1,721	82.46%	349	16.72%	17	0.81%	2,087
Miami	8,645	64.14%	4,681	34.73%	153	1.14%	13,479
Mitchell	2,577	77.88%	687	20.76%	45	1.36%	3,309
Montgomery	9,435	68.06%	4,254	30.69%	174	1.26%	13,863
Morris	1,945	66.88%	921	31.67%	42	1.44%	2,908
Morton	1,258	81.37%	275	17.79%	13	0.84%	1,546
Nemaha	3,966	73.68%	1,336	24.82%	81	1.50%	5,383
Neosho	4,530	65.23%	2,318	33.38%	97	1.40%	6,945
Ness	1,387	77.36%	379	21.14%	27	1.51%	1,793
Norton	2,069	80.35%	472	18.33%	34	1.32%	2,575
Osage	4,698	64.36%	2,482	34.00%	119	1.63%	7,299
Osborne	1,552	76.45%	444	21.87%	34	1.67%	2,030
Ottawa	2,330	78.56%	595	20.06%	41	1.38%	2,966
Pawnee	2,144	72.78%	759	25.76%	43	1.46%	2,946
Phillips	2,206	79.07%	550	19.71%	34	1.22%	2,790
Pottawatomie	6,210	71.58%	2,147	24.75%	319	3.68%	8,676
Pratt	3,075	71.21%	1,181	27.35%	62	1.44%	4,318
Rawlins	1,408	82.29%	288	16.83%	15	0.88%	1,711
Reno	17,139	65.11%	8,739	33.20%	444	1.69%	26,322
Republic	2,205	77.42%	601	21.10%	42	1.47%	2,848
Rice	3,124	72.62%	1,116	25.94%	62	1.44%	4,302
Riley	12,415	60.53%	7,774	37.91%	320	1.56%	20,509
Rooks	2,116	78.40%	529	19.60%	54	2.00%	2,699
Rush	1,224	68.53%	516	28.89%	46	2.58%	1,786
Russell	2,628	75.82%	795	22.94%	43	1.24%	3,466
Saline	14,758	65.54%	7,365	32.71%	395	1.75%	22,518
Scott	1,897	83.79%	339	14.97%	28	1.24%	2,264
Sedgwick	101,111	62.46%	58,619	36.21%	2,161	1.33%	161,891
Seward	3,894	78.71%	1,012	20.46%	41	0.83%	4,947
Shawnee	43,467	54.34%	35,438	44.30%	1,090	1.36%	79,995
Sheridan	1,133	81.63%	232	16.71%	23	1.66%	1,388
Sherman	2,063	75.46%	630	23.04%	41	1.50%	2,734
Smith	1,780	75.58%	538	22.85%	37	1.57%	2,355
Stafford	1,636	75.29%	506	23.29%	31	1.43%	2,173
Stanton	780	82.54%	160	16.93%	5	0.53%	945
Stevens	1,912	85.40%	308	13.76%	19	0.85%	2,239
Sumner	6,997	67.69%	3,163	30.60%	177	1.71%	10,337
Thomas	2,925	77.92%	786	20.94%	43	1.15%	3,754
Trego	1,219	72.56%	434	25.83%	27	1.61%	1,680
Wabaunsee	2,464	70.10%	982	27.94%	69	1.96%	3,515
Wallace	741	84.78%	112	12.81%	21	2.40%	874
Washington	2,436	78.18%	632	20.28%	48	1.54%	3,116
Wichita	861	81.69%	183	17.36%	10	0.95%	1,054
Wilson	3,204	74.27%	1,037	24.04%	73	1.69%	4,314
Woodson	1,201	68.36%	527	29.99%	29	1.65%	1,757
Wyandotte	17,312	34.19%	32,781	64.75%	535	1.06%	50,628

By congressional district[]

Bush won all four congressional districts.^[9]

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
1st	72%	26%	Jerry Moran
2nd	59%	39%	Jim Ryun
3rd	55%	44%	Dennis Moore
4th	64%	34%	Todd Tiahrt

Electors[]

Technically the voters of Kansas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kansas is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 6 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 13, 2004, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 6 were pledged to Bush/Cheney.^[10]

1. Ruth Garvey Fink
2. Bud Hentzen
3. Dennis Jones
4. Wanda Konold
5. Jack Ranson
6. Patricia Pitney Smith

See also[]

• United States presidential elections in Kansas
• Presidency of George W. Bush

References[]