2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota

The 2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota 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 South Dakota

November 2, 2004
 
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 232,584 149,244
Percentage 59.91% 38.44%

County Results

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

South Dakota was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 21.5 point 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. Since 1940, the state has voted for the Republican nominee in every presidential election, except 1964.

Primaries

  • South Dakota 2004 Democratic primary

Campaign

Predictions

There were twelve 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: Solid Republican
  2. Associated Press: Solid Bush
  3. CNN: Bush
  4. Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
  5. Newsweek: Solid Bush
  6. New York Times: Solid 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

Bush won every pre-election by a double-digit margin. The final three poll average showed Bush with 55% to Kerry at 39 percent[2]

Fundraising

Bush raised $399,805.[3] Kerry raised $71,553.[4]

Advertising and visits

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

Analysis

South Dakota politics are generally dominated by the Republican Party, and the state has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 — even George McGovern, the Democratic nominee in 1972 and himself a South Dakotan, did not carry the state.[7][8] Additionally, a Democrat has not won the governorship since 1978. As of 2006, Republicans held a ten percent voter registration advantage over Democrats[9] and hold majorities in both the state House of Representatives[10] and Senate.[11]

Despite the state's general Republican and conservative leanings, Democrats have found success in various statewide elections, most notably in those involving South Dakota's congressional representatives in Washington. Two of the three members of the state's congressional delegation at the time were Democrats, and until his electoral defeat in 2004 Senator Tom Daschle was the Senate minority leader (and briefly its majority leader during Democratic control of the Senate in 2001-02).[12]

Opposition to the Iraq War in this isolationist state[13] did allow Kerry to improve upon Al Gore’s performance in 2000 by two percentage points. Kerry won four counties – Corson, Day, Roberts and Ziebach – that Gore had not carried in 2000.

Results

Presidential Candidate Running Mate Party Electoral Vote (EV) Popular Vote (PV)
George W. Bush Richard Cheney Republican 3 232,584 59.91%
John Kerry John Edwards Democrat 0 149,244 38.44%
Ralph Nader Peter Camejo Independent 0 4,320 1.11%
Michael Peroutka Chuck Baldwin Constitution 0 1,103 0.28%
Michael Badnarik Richard Campagna Libertarian 0 964 0.25%

Results by county

County[14] George Walker Bush
Republican
John Forbes Kerry
Democratic
Ralph Nader
Independent
Michael Anthony Peroutka
Constitution
Michael J. Badnarik
Libertarian
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Aurora 1,009 61.19% 620 37.60% 15 0.91% 4 0.24% 1 0.06% 389 23.59% 1,649
Beadle 4,917 57.98% 3,443 40.60% 77 0.91% 19 0.22% 24 0.28% 1,474 17.38% 8,480
Bennett 833 51.10% 759 46.56% 16 0.98% 11 0.67% 11 0.67% 74 4.54% 1,630
Bon Homme 2,063 60.53% 1,293 37.94% 36 1.06% 5 0.15% 11 0.32% 770 22.59% 3,408
Brookings 7,662 57.29% 5,443 40.70% 190 1.42% 31 0.23% 49 0.37% 2,219 16.59% 13,375
Brown 10,386 55.84% 7,943 42.71% 197 1.06% 34 0.18% 39 0.21% 2,443 13.14% 18,599
Brule 1,544 58.73% 1,040 39.56% 30 1.14% 9 0.34% 6 0.23% 504 19.17% 2,629
Buffalo 223 26.52% 603 71.70% 10 1.19% 2 0.24% 3 0.36% -380 -45.18% 841
Butte 3,166 74.13% 1,009 23.62% 45 1.05% 35 0.82% 16 0.37% 2,157 50.50% 4,271
Campbell 708 73.83% 239 24.92% 4 0.42% 7 0.73% 1 0.10% 469 48.91% 959
Charles Mix 2,556 53.27% 2,155 44.91% 73 1.52% 5 0.10% 9 0.19% 401 8.36% 4,798
Clark 1,435 61.67% 875 37.60% 11 0.47% 5 0.21% 1 0.04% 560 24.07% 2,327
Clay 2,692 43.87% 3,315 54.03% 95 1.55% 9 0.15% 25 0.41% -623 -10.15% 6,136
Codington 7,778 61.00% 4,803 37.67% 135 1.06% 19 0.15% 16 0.13% 2,975 23.33% 12,751
Corson 720 41.76% 972 56.38% 14 0.81% 12 0.70% 6 0.35% -252 -14.62% 1,724
Custer 2,922 67.89% 1,272 29.55% 58 1.35% 36 0.84% 16 0.37% 1,650 38.34% 4,304
Davison 5,561 62.12% 3,263 36.45% 94 1.05% 18 0.20% 16 0.18% 2,298 25.67% 8,952
Day 1,671 47.20% 1,817 51.33% 32 0.90% 5 0.14% 15 0.42% -146 -4.12% 3,540
Deuel 1,406 58.29% 961 39.84% 25 1.04% 8 0.33% 12 0.50% 445 18.45% 2,412
Dewey 921 35.92% 1,606 62.64% 26 1.01% 8 0.31% 3 0.12% -685 -26.72% 2,564
Douglas 1,596 79.32% 393 19.53% 14 0.70% 5 0.25% 4 0.20% 1,203 59.79% 2,012
Edmunds 1,434 64.19% 765 34.24% 19 0.85% 12 0.54% 4 0.18% 669 29.95% 2,234
Fall River 2,413 62.76% 1,326 34.49% 67 1.74% 23 0.60% 16 0.42% 1,087 28.27% 3,845
Faulk 945 69.03% 418 30.53% 5 0.37% 1 0.07% 0 0.00% 527 38.50% 1,369
Grant 2,392 58.48% 1,633 39.93% 43 1.05% 12 0.29% 10 0.24% 759 18.56% 4,090
Gregory 1,685 66.18% 813 31.93% 36 1.41% 6 0.24% 6 0.24% 872 34.25% 2,546
Haakon 1,007 81.21% 219 17.66% 7 0.56% 6 0.48% 1 0.08% 788 63.55% 1,240
Hamlin 1,946 64.63% 1,015 33.71% 37 1.23% 7 0.23% 6 0.20% 931 30.92% 3,011
Hand 1,482 67.76% 668 30.54% 29 1.33% 4 0.18% 4 0.18% 814 37.22% 2,187
Hanson 1,379 64.14% 745 34.65% 23 1.07% 2 0.09% 1 0.05% 634 29.49% 2,150
Harding 704 86.38% 94 11.53% 13 1.60% 3 0.37% 1 0.12% 610 74.85% 815
Hughes 6,017 68.10% 2,697 30.53% 76 0.86% 22 0.25% 23 0.26% 3,320 37.58% 8,835
Hutchinson 2,899 69.91% 1,177 28.38% 49 1.18% 8 0.19% 14 0.34% 1,722 41.52% 4,147
Hyde 631 70.11% 259 28.78% 6 0.67% 2 0.22% 2 0.22% 372 41.33% 900
Jackson 726 57.12% 508 39.97% 21 1.65% 11 0.87% 5 0.39% 218 17.15% 1,271
Jerauld 736 59.55% 482 39.00% 13 1.05% 3 0.24% 2 0.16% 254 20.55% 1,236
Jones 565 78.80% 134 18.69% 11 1.53% 2 0.28% 5 0.70% 431 60.11% 717
Kingsbury 1,804 59.85% 1,163 38.59% 34 1.13% 4 0.13% 9 0.30% 641 21.27% 3,014
Lake 3,359 55.92% 2,509 41.77% 108 1.80% 12 0.20% 19 0.32% 850 14.15% 6,007
Lawrence 7,489 64.45% 3,857 33.20% 176 1.51% 46 0.40% 51 0.44% 3,632 31.26% 11,619
Lincoln 11,161 65.40% 5,703 33.42% 141 0.83% 32 0.19% 29 0.17% 5,458 31.98% 17,066
Lyman 1,029 53.04% 872 44.95% 21 1.08% 12 0.62% 6 0.31% 157 8.09% 1,940
Marshall 1,242 52.54% 1,099 46.49% 14 0.59% 3 0.13% 6 0.25% 143 6.05% 2,364
McCook 2,017 61.66% 1,201 36.72% 38 1.16% 9 0.28% 6 0.18% 816 24.95% 3,271
McPherson 1,180 74.73% 369 23.37% 18 1.14% 7 0.44% 5 0.32% 811 51.36% 1,579
Meade 8,347 72.56% 2,941 25.57% 117 1.02% 77 0.67% 22 0.19% 5,406 46.99% 11,504
Mellette 553 59.40% 361 38.78% 10 1.07% 5 0.54% 2 0.21% 192 20.62% 931
Miner 810 55.10% 641 43.61% 13 0.88% 5 0.34% 1 0.07% 169 11.50% 1,470
Minnehaha 44,189 56.92% 32,314 41.62% 804 1.04% 171 0.22% 154 0.20% 11,875 15.30% 77,632
Moody 1,790 51.87% 1,609 46.62% 36 1.04% 10 0.29% 6 0.17% 181 5.24% 3,451
Pennington 29,976 66.66% 14,213 31.61% 541 1.20% 102 0.23% 136 0.30% 15,763 35.05% 44,968
Perkins 1,329 73.30% 418 23.06% 25 1.38% 34 1.88% 7 0.39% 911 50.25% 1,813
Potter 1,143 70.64% 463 28.62% 9 0.56% 2 0.12% 1 0.06% 680 42.03% 1,618
Roberts 2,396 48.09% 2,527 50.72% 49 0.98% 4 0.08% 6 0.12% -131 -2.63% 4,982
Sanborn 817 57.29% 581 40.74% 19 1.33% 3 0.21% 6 0.42% 236 16.55% 1,426
Shannon 526 12.48% 3,566 84.62% 70 1.66% 41 0.97% 11 0.26% -3,040 -72.14% 4,214
Spink 2,259 59.86% 1,478 39.16% 27 0.72% 5 0.13% 5 0.13% 781 20.69% 3,774
Stanley 1,129 69.56% 464 28.59% 20 1.23% 4 0.25% 6 0.37% 665 40.97% 1,623
Sully 702 76.55% 201 21.92% 12 1.31% 2 0.22% 0 0.00% 501 54.63% 917
Todd 889 25.23% 2,543 72.16% 46 1.31% 32 0.91% 14 0.40% -1,654 -46.94% 3,524
Tripp 2,230 68.72% 972 29.95% 29 0.89% 10 0.31% 4 0.12% 1,258 38.77% 3,245
Turner 3,084 63.80% 1,646 34.05% 82 1.70% 13 0.27% 9 0.19% 1,438 29.75% 4,834
Union 3,987 56.57% 3,000 42.57% 43 0.61% 6 0.09% 12 0.17% 987 14.00% 7,048
Walworth 1,967 68.30% 878 30.49% 20 0.69% 12 0.42% 3 0.10% 1,089 37.81% 2,880
Yankton 6,003 57.55% 4,237 40.62% 129 1.24% 27 0.26% 35 0.34% 1,766 16.93% 10,431
Ziebach 447 40.05% 641 57.44% 17 1.52% 7 0.63% 4 0.36% -194 -17.38% 1,116
Totals232,58459.91%149,24438.44%4,3201.11%1,1030.28%9640.25%83,34021.47%388,215

By congressional district

Due to the state's small 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 59.9% 38.4% Stephanie Herseth Sandlin

Electors

Technically the voters of SD cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. SD is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 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 3 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 3 were pledged for Bush/Cheney.[15]

  1. Dennis Daugaard
  2. Larry Long
  3. Mike Rounds

References

  1. Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-16. Retrieved 2009-10-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  4. "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  5. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  6. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  7. "McGOVERN, George Stanley, (1922-)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  8. "Presidential General Election Graph Comparison - South Dakota". www.uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  9. "South Dakota Voter Registration Statistics". South Dakota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  10. "Official List of South Dakota Representatives". State of South Dakota. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  11. "Official List of South Dakota Senators". State of South Dakota. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  12. "Daschle Loses S.D. Senate Seat to Thune". www.foxnews.com. 2004-11-03. Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  13. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  14. Our Campaigns; SD US Presidential Election Race, November 02, 2004
  15. "NARA | Federal Register | U.S. Electoral College". Archives.gov. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
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