2004 United States presidential election in Delaware
November 2, 2004
 
Nominee John Kerry George W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Massachusetts Texas
Running mate John Edwards Dick Cheney
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 200,152 171,660
Percentage 53.35% 45.75%
County Results
President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

 Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election in Delaware 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.

Delaware was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 7.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations handicapping the election predicted that Kerry would win Delaware, though with varying degrees of confidence; the First State was a key bellwether for much of the 20th century, but Al Gore's comfortable victory four years earlier amidst a national loss marked its move towards the Democratic Party. Kerry won Delaware without either campaign seriously contesting it, but with a 5.5% swing to Bush compared to Gore's performance in 2000. The swing was largely concentrated in Kent and Sussex Counties, in which Bush's margins increased by double digits; New Castle County, the state's most populous, only swung about a point to Bush, continuing its consolidation as the state's Democratic base.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Delaware was decided by a single-digit margin, and the only time since 1948 that Delaware has not backed the national popular vote winner. Bush became the only Republican since 1880 to win the popular vote without Delaware, and the last to win more than 60% of the vote in any county in the state (namely Sussex County). Bush was the first Republican since Abraham Lincoln to win two terms without ever carrying the state.

Primaries

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]

Source Ranking
D.C. Political Report Likely D
Associated Press Solid D
CNN Likely D
Cook Political Report Likely D
Newsweek Lean D
The New York Times Lean D
Rasmussen Reports Likely D
Research 2000 Solid D
The Washington Post Likely D
Washington Times Solid D
Zogby International Likely D
Washington Dispatch Likely D

Polling

Only two polls of the state were taken before the election, both of which Kerry won.[2]

Fundraising

Bush raised $523,150.[3] Kerry raised $260,657.[4]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall campaign.[5][6]

Results

2004 United States presidential election in Delaware[7]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic John Kerry John Edwards 200,152 53.35% 3
Republican George W. Bush (Inc.) Dick Cheney 171,660 45.75% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Peter Camejo 2,153 0.57% 0
Libertarian Michael Badnarik Wayne Allyn Root 586 0.16% 0
Constitution Chuck Baldwin Michael Peroutka 289 0.08% 0
Green David Cobb Rosa Clemente 250 0.07% 0
Natural Law Walt Brown Mary Alice Herbert 100 0.03% 0
Totals 375,190 100.00% 3
Voter turnout (Voting Age population) 60.6%

By county

County John Kerry
Democratic		 George W. Bush
Republican		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  %
Kent 23,875 42.64% 31,578 56.40% 538 0.96% -7,703 -13.76% 55,991
New Castle 146,179 60.52% 93,079 38.54% 2,269 0.94% 53,100 21.98% 241,527
Sussex 30,098 38.71% 47,003 60.45% 651 0.83% -16,905 -21.74% 77,752
Totals200,15253.34%171,66045.74%3,4580.92%28,4927.60%375,270

By congressional district

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district is 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 45.8% 53.4% Mike Castle

Electors

Technically the voters of Delaware cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Delaware is allocated three electors because it has one congressional district 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 Delaware. All were pledged to and voted for John Kerry and John Edwards:[8]

  1. James Johnson
  2. Nancy W. Cook
  3. Timothy G. Willard

See also

References

General
  1. ↑ http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW
  2. ↑ "2004 Presidential Election Polls". US Election Atlas.
  3. ↑ "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President".
  4. ↑ "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President".
  5. ↑ "CNN.com Specials". CNN.
  6. ↑ "CNN.com Specials". CNN.
  7. ↑ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
  8. ↑ "The Electoral College". May 20, 2019.
Specific
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