2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming

2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming

← 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 3 0 Popular vote 167,629 70,776 Percentage 68.86% 29.07%

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

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

Elections in Wyoming
Federal government President 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 Dem GOP 2012 2016 Dem GOP 2020 Dem GOP U.S. Senate 1890 1895 1895 (sp) 1899 1901 1905 1907 1911 1913 1916 1918 1922 1924 1928 1930 1930 (sp) 1934 1934 (sp) 1936 1940 1942 1946 1948 1952 1954 1954 (sp) 1958 1960 1962 (sp) 1964 1966 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2008 (sp) 2012 2014 2018 2020 2024 U.S. House 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 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1989 (sp) 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State government General elections 1890 1894 1898 1902 1904 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1952 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2016 2018 2020 Gubernatorial elections 1890 1892 (sp) 1894 1898 1902 1904 (sp) 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1924 (sp) 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Senate elections 2016 2018 2020 2022 House of Representatives elections 2018 2020
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The 2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Wyoming was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 39.8% 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. This was based on pre-election polling, the fact that the last Democrat to win here was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and how Bush carried this state in 2000 with almost 68% of the vote. On election day Bush won every county with over 65% except for Teton County, which Kerry won with 53% and Albany County, which Bush won with 54% of the vote.

With 68.86% of the popular vote, Wyoming would prove to be Bush's second strongest state in the 2004 election after neighboring Utah.^[1]

Caucuses[]

• 2004 Wyoming 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.^[2]

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: Leans 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[]

Only one pre-election poll was conducted. It showed Bush leading Kerry 65% to 29%.^[3]

Fundraising[]

Bush raised $531,380.^[4] Kerry raised $466,535.^[5]

Advertising and visits[]

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall campaign.^[6][7]

Analysis[]

Wyoming is a Republican bastion. The last Democrat to win a senate election was Gale W. McGee in 1970. The last Democrat to win the at-large seat was Teno Roncalio in 1978. The last time the Democrats controlled the Wyoming House of Representatives was 1966. The last time Democrats controlled the Wyoming Senate was 1938. The state, however, did elect Democratic governors from 1974 to 2010 with only an eight-year interruption of Jim Geringer's tenure from 1995 to 2003.

In presidential elections, Wyoming is probably the most reliable red state in the country. The last Democrat to carry the state, or even crack the 40% mark, was LBJ in 1964, and before that was Harry Truman in 1948. Since 1968, every Republican carried this state by a double-digit margin of victory, except in 1992. As far as popular vote percentage, the 2004 results were the third best performance by the Republican party since 1964, behind only Richard Nixon (69.0%) in 1972 and Ronald Reagan (70.5%) in 1984. With regards to the margin of victory, the 2004 election (at 39.8%) was also the third best performance, behind only George W. Bush (40.1%) in 2000 and Ronald Reagan (42.3%) in 1984.

CNN exit polls showed 72% of the state approved of Bush, and 69% approved of his decision to go to war.^[8]

Results[]

2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming[9]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush (Inc.)	Dick Cheney	167,629	68.86%	3
	Democratic	John Kerry	John Edwards	70,776	29.07%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	Peter Camejo	2,741	1.13%	0
	Libertarian	Michael Badnarik	Richard Campagna	1,171	0.48%	0
	Independent	Michael Peroutka	Chuck Baldwin	631	0.26%	0
	Write Ins			480	0.20%	0
Totals				243,428	100.00%	3
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						64.1%

Results breakdown[]

By county[]

Bush won all but one county.^[10]

County	Bush	Votes	Kerry	Votes	Others	Votes	Total
Albany	8,879	54.32%	7,032	43.02%	434	2.66%	16,345
Big Horn	4,232	80.15%	960	18.18%	88	1.67%	5,280
Campbell	12,407	82.25%	2,464	16.33%	214	1.42%	15,085
Carbon	4,758	67.39%	2,157	30.55%	145	2.05%	7,060
Converse	4,446	77.74%	1,183	20.69%	90	1.57%	5,719
Crook	2,836	83.63%	500	14.74%	55	1.62%	3,391
Fremont	11,428	66.95%	5,337	31.27%	305	1.79%	17,070
Goshen	4,114	70.94%	1,566	27.00%	119	2.05%	5,799
Hot Springs	1,811	73.02%	623	25.12%	46	1.85%	2,480
Johnson	3,231	79.88%	736	18.20%	78	1.93%	4,045
Laramie	25,947	65.19%	13,170	33.09%	684	1.72%	39,801
Lincoln	6,424	81.28%	1,363	17.24%	117	1.48%	7,904
Natrona	21,503	67.34%	9,852	30.85%	578	1.81%	31,933
Niobrara	1,064	81.04%	230	17.52%	19	1.45%	1,313
Park	10,660	76.85%	2,939	21.19%	273	1.97%	13,872
Platte	3,128	68.97%	1,318	29.06%	89	1.96%	4,535
Sheridan	9,635	69.19%	4,041	29.02%	249	1.79%	13,925
Sublette	2,846	77.99%	730	20.01%	73	2.00%	3,649
Sweetwater	10,638	65.65%	5,201	32.10%	364	2.25%	16,203
Teton	5,124	45.21%	5,971	52.68%	239	2.11%	11,334
Uinta	6,080	75.38%	1,812	22.46%	174	2.16%	8,066
Washakie	3,200	77.76%	855	20.78%	60	1.46%	4,115
Weston	2,739	80.89%	580	17.13%	67	1.98%	3,386

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[]

• Teton (largest city: Jackson)

By congressional district[]

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district, called the At-Large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
At-large	68.9%	29.1%	Barbara Cubin

Electors[]

Technically the voters of Wyoming cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Wyoming is allocated three electors because it has one congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of three 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 three 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 three were pledged for Bush/Cheney.^[11]

1. Linda Barker
2. Jack Van Mark
3. Mike Baker

References[]