2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

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For the 2004 presidential election in Washington, D.C., see 2004 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia.
Main article: 2004 United States presidential election
2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
Turnout82.05% (of registered voters) Increase6.59%[1]
  John F. Kerry.jpg George-W-Bush.jpeg
Nominee John Kerry George W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Massachusetts Texas
Running mate John Edwards Dick Cheney
Electoral vote 11 0
Popular vote 1,510,201 1,304,894
Percentage 52.82% 45.64%
Washington Presidential Election Results 2004.svg
County Results
President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

Elections in Washington
Federal elections
State elections
Ballot measures
Seattle
Spokane
  • v
  • t

The 2004 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The State of Washington was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 7.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a likely blue state. This is the most recent presidential election in which Washington was considered a swing state.[2] As of 2020, this was the last time that Washington was decided by a single-digit margin, that the Republican nominee received more than 45% of the vote.

Caucuses[]

  • 2004 Washington Democratic 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.[3]

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

Polling[]

Kerry won every single pre-election except one tie. The final 3 poll average had Kerry winning with 50% to 45%.[4]

Fundraising[]

Bush raised $3,263,363.[5] Kerry raised $5,337,921.[6]

Advertising and visits[]

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.[7][8]

Analysis[]

A solidly blue state, Washington has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every presidential election since 1988. Neither candidate seriously contested the state as it was viewed as a safe blue state. Like Oregon, the state is divided politically by the urban/rural divide and geographically by the Cascade Mountains. Most of the state's population resides in Western Washington along the Pacific Coast and in highly urbanized areas like Seattle; this part of the state votes overwhelmingly Democratic. The other side of the mountains in Eastern Washington is much more rural and conservative and therefore heavily Republican. While polling showed that voters trusted Bush more than Kerry on the issue of terrorism, the Iraq War and Bush's domestic policies were unpopular in the state.[9] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Clark County, Island County, and Skagit County voted for the Republican candidate.

Results[]

2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic John Forbes Kerry John Reid Edwards 1,510,201 52.82% 11
Republican George Walker Bush (Incumbent) Richard Bruce Cheney (Incumbent) 1,304,894 45.64% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Peter Camejo 23,283 0.81% 0
Libertarian Michael Badnarik Richard Campagna 11,955 0.42% 0
Constitution Michael Peroutka Chuck Baldwin 3,922 0.14% 0
Green David Cobb Darrell Castle 2,974 0.10% 0
Workers World John Parker Teresa Gutierrez 1,077 0.04% 0
Socialist Workers Roger Calero Margaret Trowe 547 0.02% 0
Socialist Equality Bill Van Auken Jim Lawrence 231 0.01% 0
Totals 2,859,084 100.00% 11
Voter turnout (Voting age population) 61.7%

Results breakdown[]

By county[]

County Kerry% Kerry# Bush% Bush# Others% Others#
Adams 25.6% 1,315 73.2% 3,751 1.2% 61
Asotin 37.8% 3,319 60.6% 5,320 1.7% 147
Benton 32.2% 21,549 66.3% 44,350 1.5% 987
Chelan 35.6% 10,471 62.9% 18,482 1.5% 443
Clallam 46.4% 17,049 51.3% 18,871 2.3% 846
Clark 46.7% 79,538 52.0% 88,646 1.3% 2,255
Columbia 28.7% 605 69.8% 1,470 1.5% 32
Cowlitz 50.8% 21,589 47.6% 20,217 1.6% 667
Douglas 32.2% 4,306 66.6% 8,900 1.2% 166
Ferry 35.9% 1,201 60.4% 2,019 3.6% 121
Franklin 32.1% 5,188 66.6% 10,757 1.3% 214
Garfield 27.7% 365 70.8% 935 1.5% 20
Grant 29.9% 7,779 68.5% 17,799 1.6% 417
Grays Harbor 52.2% 14,583 46.0% 12,871 1.8% 499
Island 47.2% 18,216 51.2% 19,754 1.5% 589
Jefferson 62.4% 11,610 35.7% 6,650 1.9% 356
King 65.0% 580,378 33.7% 301,043 1.4% 12,113
Kitsap 51.3% 60,796 46.9% 55,608 1.7% 2,049
Kittitas 41.8% 6,731 56.3% 9,052 1.9% 301
Klickitat 43.7% 4,036 54.3% 5,016 2.0% 185
Lewis 33.1% 10,726 64.9% 21,042 2.0% 660
Lincoln 29.4% 1,706 69.1% 4,015 1.5% 90
Mason 50.8% 12,894 47.2% 11,987 2.0% 513
Okanogan 38.6% 6,309 59.0% 9,636 2.4% 397
Pacific 53.4% 5,570 44.4% 4,634 2.2% 227
Pend Oreille 37.3% 2,310 59.6% 3,693 3.1% 195
Pierce 50.5% 158,231 48.1% 150,783 1.4% 4,317
San Juan 65.3% 6,589 32.6% 3,290 2.1% 209
Skagit 48.1% 25,131 50.0% 26,139 1.8% 960
Skamania 46.0% 2,374 52.2% 2,695 1.7% 90
Snohomish 53.0% 156,468 45.5% 134,317 1.4% 4,212
Spokane 43.2% 87,490 55.1% 111,606 1.7% 3,491
Stevens 33.5% 6,822 64.0% 13,015 2.5% 503
Thurston 55.5% 62,650 42.6% 47,992 1.9% 2,147
Wahkiakum 45.7% 1,021 52.4% 1,171 1.9% 43
Walla Walla 36.0% 8,257 62.5% 14,323 1.5% 345
Whatcom 53.4% 48,268 44.6% 40,296 2.0% 1,830
Whitman 46.0% 8,287 52.2% 9,397 1.8% 328
Yakima 39.1% 28,474 59.6% 43,352 1.3% 964

By congressional district[]

Kerry won 6 of 9 congressional districts.[10]

District Bush Kerry Representative
1st 42% 56% Jay Inslee
2nd 47% 51% Rick Larsen
3rd 50% 48% Brian Baird
4th 63% 35% Doc Hastings
5th 57% 41% George Nethercutt
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
6th 45% 53% Norman D. Dicks
7th 19% 79% Jim McDermott
8th 48% 51% Jennifer Dunn
Dave Reichert
9th 46% 53% Adam Smith

Electors[]

Main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Washington cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Washington is allocated 11 electors because it has 9 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 11 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards:

  1. David Peterson
  2. Mary Ervin
  3. Valeria Ogden
  4. Patsy Whitefoot
  5. Larry Armstrong
  6. Ken Bumgarner
  7. Richard Kelley
  8. Sarah Chandler
  9. Greg Markley
  10. Alan Johanson
  11. Mary Crosby

References[]

  1. ^ Secretary of State: Kim Wyman. "Voter Turnout by Election". www.sos.wa.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  2. ^ Levien, Andrea (October 4, 2012). "How New Mexico Lost Its Swing". FairVote. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  3. ^ http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ http://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/GENERAL/CAMPAIGN/2004/polls.php?fips=53
  5. ^ http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/george_w_bush.asp?cycle=04
  6. ^ http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/john_f_kerry.asp?cycle=04
  7. ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/tracking/
  8. ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/campaign.ads/
  9. ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004//pages/results/states/WA/P/00/epolls.0.html
  10. ^ http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/4161/
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