2004 United States presidential election in Delaware

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.

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

Delaware was won by Democrat nominee John Kerry by a 7.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. The state was once a bellwether state, but has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. Kerry easily won this state, but with a reduced margin compared to Al Gore's margin four years earlier. This is the last election in which Delaware was decided by a single digit margin, and the first time since 1948 when Delaware did not go for the popular vote winner.

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]

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

Polling

Just two pre-election polls were taken (specifically in September), and Kerry won both of them with 45% and 50% respectively.[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]

Analysis

Delaware, a blue state in presidential elections, had not voted for a Republican presidential nominee for 16 years going into 2004. The last Republican to win Delaware was Bush's father George H. W. Bush in 1988. Since then, the state has consistently delivered to the Democrats at the presidential level.

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%

Results breakdown

By county

County Kerry% Kerry# Bush% Bush# Others% Others#
New Castle 60.5% 146,179 38.5% 93,079 0.9% 2,203
Kent 42.6% 23,875 56.4% 31,578 0.9% 527
Sussex 38.7% 30,098 60.5% 47,003 0.8% 648

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 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
Specific
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