2004 United States presidential election in Kansas
The 2004 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 2, 2004 as part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 6 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
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 County Results
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| Elections in Kansas |
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Kansas was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 25.4% 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. On election day, it trended Republican from the 2000 election by a swing margin of almost 5%. He won every single congressional district and county, excluding just 2: Wyandotte County and Douglas County.
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.[1]
- D.C. Political Report: Solid Republican
- Associated Press: Solid Bush
- CNN: Bush
- Cook Political Report: Solid 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 every single pre-election poll, and won each by a double-digit margin of victory and with at least 56% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Bush leading 58% to 37% for Kerry and 3% for Nader.[2]
Analysis
Kansas has always been a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, voting for GOP nominees in all but seven elections since statehood. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry the Sunflower State was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide in 1964. A combination of rural counties embedded with deep pockets of evangelical Christianity/social conservatism and moderate, fiscally conservative residents in Johnson County, Kansas nearly always votes Republican.
Results
| 2004 United States presidential election in Kansas[7][8] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | George W. Bush (Inc.) | 736,456 | 62.00% | 6 | |
| Democratic | John Kerry | 434,993 | 36.62% | 0 | |
| Reform Party | Ralph Nader | 9,348 | 0.79% | 0 | |
| Independent | Michael Badnarik | 4,013 | 0.34% | 0 | |
| Independent | Michael Peroutka | 2,899 | 0.24% | 0 | |
| Write In | David Cobb | 33 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Write In | John Joseph Kennedy | 5 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Write In | Bill Van Auken | 5 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Write In | Walt Brown | 4 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Totals | 1,187,756 | 100.00% | 6 | ||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 58.6% | ||||
Results breakdown
By county
| County | Bush # | Bush % | Kerry # | Kerry % | Others # | Others % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allen | 3,808 | 65.92% | 1,885 | 32.63% | 84 | 1.45% | 5,777 |
| Anderson | 2,490 | 64.74% | 1,291 | 33.57% | 65 | 1.69% | 3,846 |
| Atchison | 3,769 | 54.54% | 3,028 | 43.81% | 114 | 1.65% | 6,911 |
| Barber | 1,749 | 73.89% | 585 | 24.71% | 33 | 1.39% | 2,367 |
| Barton | 8,545 | 74.00% | 2,837 | 24.57% | 165 | 1.43% | 11,547 |
| Bourbon | 4,268 | 65.36% | 2,167 | 33.19% | 95 | 1.45% | 6,530 |
| Brown | 3,034 | 70.18% | 1,234 | 28.54% | 55 | 1.27% | 4,323 |
| Butler | 16,331 | 71.26% | 6,292 | 27.46% | 293 | 1.28% | 22,916 |
| Chase | 1,043 | 70.28% | 413 | 27.83% | 28 | 1.89% | 1,484 |
| Chautauqua | 1,496 | 77.84% | 400 | 20.81% | 26 | 1.35% | 1,922 |
| Cherokee | 6,045 | 61.38% | 3,694 | 37.51% | 109 | 1.11% | 9,848 |
| Cheyenne | 1,346 | 80.02% | 317 | 18.85% | 19 | 1.13% | 1,682 |
| Clark | 998 | 78.46% | 254 | 19.97% | 20 | 1.57% | 1,272 |
| Clay | 3,119 | 79.20% | 777 | 19.73% | 42 | 1.07% | 3,938 |
| Cloud | 3,134 | 71.49% | 1,179 | 26.89% | 71 | 1.62% | 4,384 |
| Coffey | 3,204 | 73.93% | 1,076 | 24.83% | 54 | 1.25% | 4,334 |
| Comanche | 765 | 78.54% | 198 | 20.33% | 11 | 1.13% | 974 |
| Cowley | 9,237 | 65.06% | 4,747 | 33.44% | 213 | 1.50% | 14,197 |
| Crawford | 8,423 | 52.09% | 7,470 | 46.20% | 277 | 1.71% | 16,170 |
| Decatur | 1,354 | 77.86% | 355 | 20.41% | 30 | 1.73% | 1,739 |
| Dickinson | 6,186 | 71.69% | 2,316 | 26.84% | 127 | 1.47% | 8,629 |
| Doniphan | 2,460 | 69.24% | 1,049 | 29.52% | 44 | 1.24% | 3,553 |
| Douglas | 19,923 | 41.44% | 27,282 | 56.74% | 875 | 1.82% | 48,080 |
| Edwards | 1,072 | 72.43% | 383 | 25.88% | 25 | 1.69% | 1,480 |
| Elk | 1,114 | 73.87% | 367 | 24.34% | 27 | 1.79% | 1,508 |
| Ellis | 7,683 | 64.70% | 3,938 | 33.16% | 254 | 2.14% | 11,875 |
| Ellsworth | 2,246 | 72.90% | 794 | 25.77% | 41 | 1.33% | 3,081 |
| Finney | 7,361 | 75.39% | 2,303 | 23.59% | 100 | 1.02% | 9,764 |
| Ford | 6,413 | 73.66% | 2,195 | 25.21% | 98 | 1.13% | 8,706 |
| Franklin | 7,278 | 64.34% | 3,874 | 34.25% | 159 | 1.41% | 11,311 |
| Geary | 4,553 | 64.33% | 2,436 | 34.42% | 89 | 1.26% | 7,078 |
| Gove | 1,182 | 81.46% | 245 | 16.88% | 24 | 1.65% | 1,451 |
| Graham | 1,067 | 75.09% | 330 | 23.22% | 24 | 1.69% | 1,421 |
| Grant | 2,082 | 78.39% | 549 | 20.67% | 25 | 0.94% | 2,656 |
| Gray | 1,730 | 80.92% | 387 | 18.10% | 21 | 0.98% | 2,138 |
| Greeley | 577 | 79.59% | 137 | 18.90% | 11 | 1.52% | 725 |
| Greenwood | 2,247 | 70.28% | 899 | 28.12% | 51 | 1.60% | 3,197 |
| Hamilton | 874 | 78.88% | 222 | 20.04% | 12 | 1.08% | 1,108 |
| Harper | 2,123 | 73.54% | 717 | 24.84% | 47 | 1.63% | 2,887 |
| Harvey | 9,364 | 63.08% | 5,237 | 35.28% | 244 | 1.64% | 14,845 |
| Haskell | 1,309 | 84.67% | 221 | 14.29% | 16 | 1.03% | 1,546 |
| Hodgeman | 949 | 80.63% | 222 | 18.86% | 6 | 0.51% | 1,177 |
| Jackson | 3,682 | 63.47% | 2,026 | 34.93% | 93 | 1.60% | 5,801 |
| Jefferson | 5,345 | 61.43% | 3,226 | 37.08% | 130 | 1.49% | 8,701 |
| Jewell | 1,494 | 78.10% | 384 | 20.07% | 35 | 1.83% | 1,913 |
| Johnson | 153,718 | 61.16% | 95,002 | 37.80% | 2,624 | 1.04% | 251,344 |
| Kearny | 1,160 | 80.67% | 272 | 18.92% | 6 | 0.42% | 1,438 |
| Kingman | 2,795 | 74.41% | 902 | 24.01% | 59 | 1.57% | 3,756 |
| Kiowa | 1,248 | 81.36% | 253 | 16.49% | 33 | 2.15% | 1,534 |
| Labette | 5,345 | 59.05% | 3,582 | 39.58% | 124 | 1.37% | 9,051 |
| Lane | 815 | 81.18% | 179 | 17.83% | 10 | 1.00% | 1,004 |
| Leavenworth | 15,609 | 58.37% | 10,802 | 40.39% | 332 | 1.24% | 26,743 |
| Lincoln | 1,350 | 75.80% | 390 | 21.90% | 41 | 2.30% | 1,781 |
| Linn | 2,954 | 64.12% | 1,592 | 34.56% | 61 | 1.32% | 4,607 |
| Logan | 1,252 | 82.37% | 248 | 16.32% | 20 | 1.32% | 1,520 |
| Lyon | 7,604 | 59.18% | 5,003 | 38.93% | 243 | 1.89% | 12,850 |
| Marion | 4,393 | 73.30% | 1,496 | 24.96% | 104 | 1.74% | 5,993 |
| Marshall | 3,217 | 63.98% | 1,754 | 34.88% | 57 | 1.13% | 5,028 |
| McPherson | 9,353 | 71.68% | 3,520 | 26.98% | 176 | 1.35% | 13,049 |
| Meade | 1,721 | 82.46% | 349 | 16.72% | 17 | 0.81% | 2,087 |
| Miami | 8,645 | 64.14% | 4,681 | 34.73% | 153 | 1.14% | 13,479 |
| Mitchell | 2,577 | 77.88% | 687 | 20.76% | 45 | 1.36% | 3,309 |
| Montgomery | 9,435 | 68.06% | 4,254 | 30.69% | 174 | 1.26% | 13,863 |
| Morris | 1,945 | 66.88% | 921 | 31.67% | 42 | 1.44% | 2,908 |
| Morton | 1,258 | 81.37% | 275 | 17.79% | 13 | 0.84% | 1,546 |
| Nemaha | 3,966 | 73.68% | 1,336 | 24.82% | 81 | 1.50% | 5,383 |
| Neosho | 4,530 | 65.23% | 2,318 | 33.38% | 97 | 1.40% | 6,945 |
| Ness | 1,387 | 77.36% | 379 | 21.14% | 27 | 1.51% | 1,793 |
| Norton | 2,069 | 80.35% | 472 | 18.33% | 34 | 1.32% | 2,575 |
| Osage | 4,698 | 64.36% | 2,482 | 34.00% | 119 | 1.63% | 7,299 |
| Osborne | 1,552 | 76.45% | 444 | 21.87% | 34 | 1.67% | 2,030 |
| Ottawa | 2,330 | 78.56% | 595 | 20.06% | 41 | 1.38% | 2,966 |
| Pawnee | 2,144 | 72.78% | 759 | 25.76% | 43 | 1.46% | 2,946 |
| Phillips | 2,206 | 79.07% | 550 | 19.71% | 34 | 1.22% | 2,790 |
| Pottawatomie | 6,210 | 71.58% | 2,147 | 24.75% | 319 | 3.68% | 8,676 |
| Pratt | 3,075 | 71.21% | 1,181 | 27.35% | 62 | 1.44% | 4,318 |
| Rawlins | 1,408 | 82.29% | 288 | 16.83% | 15 | 0.88% | 1,711 |
| Reno | 17,139 | 65.11% | 8,739 | 33.20% | 444 | 1.69% | 26,322 |
| Republic | 2,205 | 77.42% | 601 | 21.10% | 42 | 1.47% | 2,848 |
| Rice | 3,124 | 72.62% | 1,116 | 25.94% | 62 | 1.44% | 4,302 |
| Riley | 12,415 | 60.53% | 7,774 | 37.91% | 320 | 1.56% | 20,509 |
| Rooks | 2,116 | 78.40% | 529 | 19.60% | 54 | 2.00% | 2,699 |
| Rush | 1,224 | 68.53% | 516 | 28.89% | 46 | 2.58% | 1,786 |
| Russell | 2,628 | 75.82% | 795 | 22.94% | 43 | 1.24% | 3,466 |
| Saline | 14,758 | 65.54% | 7,365 | 32.71% | 395 | 1.75% | 22,518 |
| Scott | 1,897 | 83.79% | 339 | 14.97% | 28 | 1.24% | 2,264 |
| Sedgwick | 101,111 | 62.46% | 58,619 | 36.21% | 2,161 | 1.33% | 161,891 |
| Seward | 3,894 | 78.71% | 1,012 | 20.46% | 41 | 0.83% | 4,947 |
| Shawnee | 43,467 | 54.34% | 35,438 | 44.30% | 1,090 | 1.36% | 79,995 |
| Sheridan | 1,133 | 81.63% | 232 | 16.71% | 23 | 1.66% | 1,388 |
| Sherman | 2,063 | 75.46% | 630 | 23.04% | 41 | 1.50% | 2,734 |
| Smith | 1,780 | 75.58% | 538 | 22.85% | 37 | 1.57% | 2,355 |
| Stafford | 1,636 | 75.29% | 506 | 23.29% | 31 | 1.43% | 2,173 |
| Stanton | 780 | 82.54% | 160 | 16.93% | 5 | 0.53% | 945 |
| Stevens | 1,912 | 85.40% | 308 | 13.76% | 19 | 0.85% | 2,239 |
| Sumner | 6,997 | 67.69% | 3,163 | 30.60% | 177 | 1.71% | 10,337 |
| Thomas | 2,925 | 77.92% | 786 | 20.94% | 43 | 1.15% | 3,754 |
| Trego | 1,219 | 72.56% | 434 | 25.83% | 27 | 1.61% | 1,680 |
| Wabaunsee | 2,464 | 70.10% | 982 | 27.94% | 69 | 1.96% | 3,515 |
| Wallace | 741 | 84.78% | 112 | 12.81% | 21 | 2.40% | 874 |
| Washington | 2,436 | 78.18% | 632 | 20.28% | 48 | 1.54% | 3,116 |
| Wichita | 861 | 81.69% | 183 | 17.36% | 10 | 0.95% | 1,054 |
| Wilson | 3,204 | 74.27% | 1,037 | 24.04% | 73 | 1.69% | 4,314 |
| Woodson | 1,201 | 68.36% | 527 | 29.99% | 29 | 1.65% | 1,757 |
| Wyandotte | 17,312 | 34.19% | 32,781 | 64.75% | 535 | 1.06% | 50,628 |
By congressional district
Bush won all four congressional districts.[9]
| District | Bush | Kerry | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 72% | 26% | Jerry Moran |
| 2nd | 59% | 39% | Jim Ryun |
| 3rd | 55% | 44% | Dennis Moore |
| 4th | 64% | 34% | Todd Tiahrt |
Electors
Technically the voters of Kansas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kansas is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 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 6 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 6 were pledged to Bush/Cheney.[10]
- Ruth Garvey Fink
- Bud Hentzen
- Dennis Jones
- Wanda Konold
- Jack Ranson
- Patricia Pitney Smith
References
- http://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/GENERAL/CAMPAIGN/2004/polls.php?fips=1
- http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/george_w_bush.asp?cycle=04
- http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/john_f_kerry.asp?cycle=04
- http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/campaign.ads/
- http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/tracking/10.25.html
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "2004 Presidential General Election Results - Kansas".
- http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/4161/
- http://www.kssos.org/other/2004_Presidential_Electors.html
