2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia
The 2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 5 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 West Virginia |
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West Virginia was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 12.86% margin of victory. Prior to the election, 8 of 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a red state, while others considered it as a swing state. Democratic President Bill Clinton easily won this state in 1992 and 1996, but Bush carried the state in 2000 with just 51.92% of the vote. On election day, President Bush won here with a 6.53% better margin than his performance in 2000, signaling that the state was trending Republican at the presidential level. This was despite the fact that over 50% of the state's population were registered Democrats and both senators were Democrats.
This also marked the last election in which West Virginia voted for the same presidential candidate as neighbouring Virginia. Since then, West Virginia would vote for the Republican presidential candidate whilst neighboring Virginia would vote for the Democratic candidate. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Fayette County, Brooke County, Logan County, and Mingo County voted for the Democratic candidate. Bush was the first Republican president since William McKinley to win re-election nationwide while carrying West Virginia in both elections.
Overall, this was the last election where West Virginia was considered remotely competitive for the Democratic Party.
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: Lean Republican
- Associated Press: Toss-up
- CNN: Bush
- Cook Political Report: Lean Republican
- Newsweek: Lean Bush
- New York Times: Leans Bush
- Rasmussen Reports: Bush
- Research 2000: Toss-up
- Washington Post: Battleground
- Washington Times: Battleground
- Zogby International: Bush
- Washington Dispatch: Bush
Polling
Early on, pre-election polling showed the election as a pure toss up. But after September 14, Bush pulled away and reached 50% or higher in the polls. The final 3 poll average showed Bush leading 50% to 44%.[2]
Analysis
More than any other state, West Virginia highlighted Kerry's trouble in Appalachian America. It swung heavily to the Democrats during the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and remained reliably Democratic for most of the next 68 years. It often voted for Democrats (such as Jimmy Carter and Mike Dukakis) who went on to big national defeats. This was largely due to its blue-collar, heavily unionized workers, especially coal miners, who favored Democratic economic policy. Starting with Al Gore, however, the state's voters became more concerned with environmental policies advocated by the Democrats, especially regarding coal, which is a large source of jobs in the state. This made them more receptive to Republicans.
Results
| 2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia[7] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Swing | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | ||||||
| Republican | George W. Bush of Texas | Dick Cheney of Wyoming | 423,778 | 56.06% | 5 | 100.00% |  4.14% | ||
| Democratic | John Kerry of Massachusetts | John Edwards of North Carolina | 326,541 | 43.20% | 0 | 0.00% |  2.39% | ||
| Independent | Ralph Nader of Connecticut | Peter Camejo of California | 4,063 | 0.54% | 0 | 0.00% | 0.54% | ||
| Libertarian | Michael Badnarik of Texas | Richard Campagna of Iowa | 1,405 | 0.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 0.11% | ||
| Independent | John Kennedy (write-in) of - | - of - | 13 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |  | ||
| Mountain | David Cobb (write-in) of Texas | Pat LaMarche of Maine | 5 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1.65% | ||
| Total | 755,887 | 100.00% | 5 | 100.00% | |||||
Results breakdown
By county
| County | Bush # | Bush % | Kerry # | Kerry % | Other # | Other % | Total # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbour | 3,975 | 59.77% | 2,636 | 39.63% | 40 | 0.60% | 6651 |
| Berkeley | 20,724 | 63.09% | 11,888 | 36.19% | 236 | 0.72% | 32848 |
| Boone | 4,163 | 41.18% | 5,890 | 58.26% | 57 | 0.56% | 10110 |
| Braxton | 2,964 | 49.33% | 3,014 | 50.17% | 30 | 0.50% | 6008 |
| Brooke | 5,147 | 48.13% | 5,460 | 51.06% | 86 | 0.80% | 10693 |
| Cabell | 20,777 | 55.51% | 16,328 | 43.63% | 323 | 0.86% | 37428 |
| Calhoun | 1,569 | 54.92% | 1,253 | 43.86% | 35 | 1.23% | 2857 |
| Clay | 2,183 | 53.95% | 1,824 | 45.08% | 39 | 0.96% | 4046 |
| Doddridge | 2,340 | 73.96% | 792 | 25.03% | 32 | 1.01% | 3164 |
| Fayette | 7,767 | 46.40% | 8,860 | 52.93% | 112 | 0.67% | 16739 |
| Gilmer | 1,660 | 58.43% | 1,153 | 40.58% | 28 | 0.99% | 2841 |
| Grant | 4,005 | 80.62% | 944 | 19.00% | 19 | 0.38% | 4968 |
| Greenbrier | 6,743 | 57.06% | 4,988 | 42.21% | 87 | 0.74% | 11818 |
| Hampshire | 5,465 | 68.66% | 2,444 | 30.70% | 51 | 0.64% | 7960 |
| Hancock | 7,224 | 50.98% | 6,829 | 48.19% | 117 | 0.83% | 14170 |
| Hardy | 3,600 | 68.83% | 1,606 | 30.71% | 24 | 0.46% | 5230 |
| Harrison | 16,913 | 55.93% | 13,102 | 43.32% | 227 | 0.75% | 30242 |
| Jackson | 7,604 | 58.43% | 5,332 | 40.97% | 77 | 0.59% | 13013 |
| Jefferson | 10,442 | 52.76% | 9,202 | 46.50% | 147 | 0.74% | 19791 |
| Kanawha | 43,777 | 50.57% | 42,321 | 48.89% | 472 | 0.55% | 86570 |
| Lewis | 4,445 | 63.51% | 2,475 | 35.36% | 79 | 1.13% | 6999 |
| Lincoln | 4,102 | 49.35% | 4,048 | 48.70% | 162 | 1.95% | 8312 |
| Logan | 6,513 | 45.44% | 7,760 | 54.14% | 59 | 0.41% | 14332 |
| Marion | 12,717 | 50.73% | 12,082 | 48.20% | 267 | 1.07% | 25066 |
| Marshall | 8,443 | 56.51% | 6,379 | 42.70% | 118 | 0.79% | 14940 |
| Mason | 6,451 | 54.13% | 5,374 | 45.09% | 93 | 0.78% | 11918 |
| McDowell | 2,729 | 37.76% | 4,464 | 61.76% | 35 | 0.48% | 7228 |
| Mercer | 12,914 | 58.41% | 9,052 | 40.94% | 142 | 0.64% | 22108 |
| Mineral | 7,640 | 68.42% | 3,444 | 30.84% | 83 | 0.74% | 11167 |
| Mingo | 4,544 | 43.21% | 5,912 | 56.22% | 60 | 0.57% | 10516 |
| Monongalia | 17,459 | 51.48% | 16,136 | 47.58% | 317 | 0.93% | 33912 |
| Monroe | 3,596 | 60.22% | 2,321 | 38.87% | 54 | 0.90% | 5971 |
| Morgan | 3,978 | 64.99% | 2,086 | 34.08% | 57 | 0.93% | 6121 |
| Nicholas | 5,389 | 52.92% | 4,718 | 46.33% | 76 | 0.75% | 10183 |
| Ohio | 11,539 | 57.42% | 8,406 | 41.83% | 152 | 0.76% | 20097 |
| Pendleton | 2,120 | 60.50% | 1,367 | 39.01% | 17 | 0.49% | 3504 |
| Pleasants | 2,023 | 59.87% | 1,333 | 39.45% | 23 | 0.68% | 3379 |
| Pocahontas | 2,282 | 58.56% | 1,565 | 40.16% | 50 | 1.28% | 3897 |
| Preston | 7,813 | 65.85% | 3,944 | 33.24% | 107 | 0.90% | 11864 |
| Putnam | 15,587 | 62.50% | 9,223 | 36.98% | 129 | 0.52% | 24939 |
| Raleigh | 18,072 | 60.70% | 11,522 | 38.70% | 180 | 0.60% | 29774 |
| Randolph | 6,495 | 56.70% | 4,880 | 42.60% | 80 | 0.70% | 11455 |
| Ritchie | 3,060 | 73.58% | 1,060 | 25.49% | 39 | 0.94% | 4159 |
| Roane | 3,424 | 56.42% | 2,599 | 42.82% | 46 | 0.76% | 6069 |
| Summers | 2,963 | 53.94% | 2,489 | 45.31% | 41 | 0.75% | 5493 |
| Taylor | 3,893 | 59.43% | 2,617 | 39.95% | 41 | 0.63% | 6551 |
| Tucker | 2,151 | 60.54% | 1,382 | 38.90% | 20 | 0.56% | 3553 |
| Tyler | 2,770 | 65.97% | 1,386 | 33.01% | 43 | 1.02% | 4199 |
| Upshur | 6,134 | 66.68% | 2,998 | 32.59% | 67 | 0.73% | 9199 |
| Wayne | 9,998 | 54.08% | 8,363 | 45.23% | 128 | 0.69% | 18489 |
| Webster | 1,706 | 46.45% | 1,943 | 52.90% | 24 | 0.65% | 3673 |
| Wetzel | 3,609 | 51.90% | 3,293 | 47.35% | 52 | 0.75% | 6954 |
| Wirt | 1,351 | 64.58% | 714 | 34.13% | 27 | 1.29% | 2092 |
| Wood | 22,788 | 63.06% | 13,111 | 36.28% | 239 | 0.66% | 36138 |
| Wyoming | 4,930 | 57.09% | 3,666 | 42.46% | 39 | 0.45% | 8635 |
By congressional district
Bush won all three congressional districts.[8]
| District | Bush | Kerry | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 58% | 42% | Alan Mollohan |
| 2nd | 57% | 42% | Shelley Moore Capito |
| 3rd | 53% | 46% | Nick Rahall |
Electors
Technically the voters of WV cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. WV is allocated 5 electors because it has 3 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 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 5 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 5 were pledged for Bush/Cheney:
- Rob Capehart
- Doug McKinney
- Dan Moore
- Richie Robb
- Larry Faircloth
References
- "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
- "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
- "Specials". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
- "Specials". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
- "Official General Election Results for US president (2004)" (PDF). p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- "Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008". Swing State Project. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
