2004 United States presidential election in Mississippi

2004 United States presidential election in Mississippi

← 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 684,981 458,094 Percentage 59.44% 39.75%

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

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

Elections in Mississippi
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The 2004 United States presidential election in Mississippi 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. It was the first presidential election since the 2000 United States census where Mississippi lost an electoral vote, reducing its elector count from seven to six. Mississippi had the fewest electoral votes since 1848.^[1]

Mississippi was won by incumbent President George W. Bush of the Republican Party with a 19.69% margin of victory over Democratic nominee John Kerry. Prior to the election, Mississippi was considered a state Bush would win with ease, or a red state. Mississippi has not voted for a Democrat since 1976, when Jimmy Carter carried the state.

As of 2021, this is the last election in which Mississippi voted to the right of Arkansas, Tennessee, or Louisiana.

Campaign[]

Predictions[]

12 news organizations made state-by-state predictions of the election. These organizations published their predictions just prior to election day:^[2]

News Organization	Prediction
D.C. Political Report	Leans Republican
Associated Press	Leans Bush
CNN	Bush
Cook Political Report	Leans Republican
Newsweek	Solid Bush
New York Times	Solid Bush
Rasmussen Reports	Bush
Research 2000	Solid Bush
Washington Post	Bush
Washington Times	Solid Bush
Zogby International	Bush
Washington Dispatch	Bush

Polling[]

Bush won pre-election polling by a double-digit margin.^[3]

Fundraising[]

Bush raised $866,580.^[4] Kerry raised $599,665.^[5]

Advertising and visits[]

Neither campaign spent or visited this state during the fall campaign.^[6]

Analysis[]

The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Mississippi was fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976. Due to its reliably conservative voting pattern, neither of the two major party candidates campaigned in the state.

Mississippi is one of the most racially polarized states in presidential elections. Black Mississippians almost uniformly vote Democratic, while white Mississippians vote Republican nearly as consistently. In 2004, 14% of white Mississippians voted for John Kerry and 10% of African Americans voted for Bush.^[7] Kerry's main support lay in the western counties on the Delta and next to the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Pike County, Copiah County, Oktibbeha County, and Yazoo County voted for the Republican candidate.

Results[]

2004 United States presidential election in Mississippi[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican Party	George W. Bush	684,981	59.44%	6
	Democratic Party	John Kerry	458,094	39.75%	0
	Reform Party	Ralph Nader	3,177	0.28%	0
	Libertarian Party	Michael Badnarik	1,793	0.16%	0
	Constitution Party	Michael Peroutka	1,759	0.15%	0
	Independent (politician)	Roger Calero	1,272	0.11%	0
	Green Party	David Cobb	1,073	0.09%	0
	Independent (politician)	Write Ins	216	0.02%	0
Totals			-	100.00%	6
Voter turnout (Voting Age population)					54.4%

Results breakdown[]

By county[]

Most Mississippi counties voted for Bush.^[9]

County	Kerry #	Kerry %	Bush #	Bush %	Other #	Other %	Total #
Adams	7,844	54.56%	6,487	45.12%	45	0.31%	14,376
Alcorn	5,364	38.02%	8,605	60.99%	141	1.00%	14,110
Amite	2,973	41.77%	4,106	57.69%	38	0.53%	7,117
Attala	3,014	37.94%	4,882	61.45%	49	0.62%	7,945
Benton	2,234	52.83%	1,962	46.39%	33	0.78%	4,229
Bolivar	8,560	63.75%	4,722	35.17%	145	1.08%	13,427
Calhoun	2,211	34.92%	4,096	64.70%	24	0.38%	6,331
Carroll	1,897	34.01%	3,652	65.48%	28	0.50%	5,577
Chickasaw	3,991	48.75%	4,123	50.37%	72	0.88%	8,186
Choctaw	1,290	33.01%	2,598	66.48%	20	0.51%	3,908
Claiborne	4,338	81.53%	941	17.68%	42	0.79%	5,321
Clarke	2,377	31.96%	5,027	67.59%	34	0.46%	7,438
Clay	4,732	51.94%	4,333	47.56%	46	0.50%	9,111
Coahoma	6,741	64.10%	3,643	34.64%	132	1.26%	10,516
Copiah	4,902	43.49%	6,316	56.03%	54	0.48%	11,272
Covington	3,135	38.26%	5,010	61.14%	49	0.60%	8,194
DeSoto	13,247	27.05%	35,437	72.35%	297	0.61%	48,981
Forrest	9,781	37.71%	15,966	61.56%	189	0.73%	25,936
Franklin	1,566	35.01%	2,883	64.45%	24	0.54%	4,473
George	1,715	21.57%	6,182	77.76%	53	0.67%	7,950
Greene	1,419	26.90%	3,827	72.55%	29	0.55%	5,275
Grenada	4,154	41.33%	5,844	58.15%	52	0.52%	10,050
Hancock	5,023	28.62%	12,332	70.27%	195	1.11%	17,550
Harrison	22,555	36.49%	38,781	62.74%	474	0.77%	61,810
Hinds	51,370	59.55%	34,269	39.73%	626	0.73%	86,265
Holmes	6,170	75.87%	1,925	23.67%	37	0.45%	8,132
Humphreys	2,975	63.96%	1,626	34.96%	50	1.08%	4,651
Issaquena	510	53.01%	437	45.43%	15	1.56%	962
Itawamba	2,771	28.88%	6,751	70.35%	74	0.77%	9,596
Jackson	15,046	30.45%	34,035	68.88%	333	0.67%	49,414
Jasper	4,081	51.49%	3,808	48.04%	37	0.47%	7,926
Jefferson Davis	2,955	51.30%	2,667	46.30%	138	2.40%	5,760
Jefferson	2,798	81.34%	627	18.23%	15	0.44%	3,440
Jones	7,344	27.69%	19,032	71.77%	142	0.54%	26,518
Kemper	2,454	53.48%	2,107	45.91%	28	0.61%	4,589
Lafayette	6,218	40.41%	9,004	58.51%	166	1.08%	15,388
Lamar	3,876	19.10%	16,288	80.26%	130	0.64%	20,294
Lauderdale	10,026	33.92%	19,395	65.62%	134	0.45%	29,555
Lawrence	2,355	36.11%	4,119	63.16%	48	0.74%	6,522
Leake	3,212	39.10%	4,962	60.41%	40	0.49%	8,214
Lee	9,895	32.97%	19,878	66.24%	237	0.79%	30,010
Leflore	7,240	61.97%	4,427	37.89%	17	0.15%	11,684
Lincoln	4,372	30.52%	9,889	69.03%	65	0.45%	14,326
Lowndes	7,904	38.10%	12,642	60.93%	202	0.97%	20,748
Madison	12,942	34.84%	24,015	64.65%	191	0.51%	37,148
Marion	3,828	32.63%	7,845	66.87%	59	0.50%	11,732
Marshall	7,979	58.78%	5,520	40.67%	75	0.55%	13,574
Monroe	6,149	39.78%	9,223	59.66%	87	0.56%	15,459
Montgomery	2,422	44.89%	2,953	54.73%	21	0.39%	5,396
Neshoba	2,515	24.82%	7,581	74.81%	37	0.37%	10,133
Newton	2,274	26.84%	6,156	72.66%	42	0.50%	8,472
Noxubee	4,293	71.31%	1,698	28.21%	29	0.48%	6,020
Oktibbeha	4,178	42.89%	5,485	56.30%	79	0.81%	9,742
Panola	6,540	49.06%	6,734	50.52%	56	0.42%	13,330
Pearl River	4,392	22.97%	14,612	76.42%	117	0.61%	19,121
Perry	1,259	25.13%	3,729	74.43%	22	0.44%	5,010
Pike	7,578	46.73%	8,547	52.71%	90	0.56%	16,215
Pontotoc	2,591	23.42%	8,375	75.72%	95	0.86%	11,061
Prentiss	3,327	33.50%	6,538	65.83%	40	0.67%	9,932
Quitman	1,925	59.84%	1,270	39.48%	22	0.68%	3,217
Rankin	10,738	20.12%	41,971	78.65%	656	1.23%	53,365
Scott	3,780	37.15%	6,364	62.55%	31	0.30%	10,175
Sharkey	1,553	50.41%	1,115	36.19%	413	13.40%	3,081
Simpson	3,262	32.37%	6,810	67.58%	5	0.05%	10,077
Smith	1,493	21.01%	5,566	78.33%	47	0.66%	7,106
Stone	1,502	26.68%	4,072	72.33%	56	0.99%	5,630
Sunflower	6,057	62.68%	3,492	36.14%	114	1.18%	9,663
Tallahatchie	3,377	54.81%	2,725	44.23%	59	0.96%	6,161
Tate	4,279	38.90%	6,663	60.57%	59	0.54%	11,001
Tippah	2,983	32.73%	6,048	66.37%	82	0.90%	9,113
Tishomingo	2,775	33.99%	5,288	64.76%	102	1.25%	8,165
Tunica	1,934	68.70%	845	30.02%	36	1.28%	2,815
Union	2,710	26.57%	7,422	72.77%	67	0.66%	10,199
Walthall	2,550	39.48%	3,873	59.96%	36	0.56%	6,459
Warren	8,244	40.98%	11,773	58.52%	100	0.50%	20,117
Washington	10,562	59.09%	7,031	39.33%	282	1.58%	17,875
Wayne	3,193	36.30%	5,562	63.24%	40	0.45%	8,795
Webster	1,318	26.35%	3,668	73.33%	16	0.32%	5,002
Wilkinson	2,794	63.67%	1,563	35.62%	31	0.71%	4,388
Winston	3,978	42.25%	5,386	57.21%	51	0.54%	9,415
Yalobusha	2,656	44.48%	3,278	54.90%	37	0.62%	5,971
Yazoo	4,798	44.87%	5,595	52.32%	301	2.81%	10,694

By congressional district[]

Bush won 3 out of Mississippi's 4 congressional districts.

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
1st	62%	37%	Roger Wicker
2nd	40%	57%	Bennie G. Thompson
3rd	65%	34%	Chip Pickering
4th	68%	31%	Gene Taylor

Electors[]

Mississippi was assigned 6 electors to cast votes to the Electoral college. Given that Mississippi voted for Bush, all electors were pledged to cast their ballots for Bush. The electors were:^[10]

1. Kelly Segars
2. John Phillips
3. Wayne Parker
4. Jimmy Creekmore
5. Victor Mavar
6. Billy Mounger

References[]