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United States presidential election, 2004

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
  George-W-Bush.jpeg John F. Kerry.jpg
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry
Party Republican Democrat
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards
Electoral vote 286 251
States carried 31 19+DC
Popular vote 62,040,610 59,028,444
Percentage 50.7% 48.3%

ElectoralCollege2004.svg
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Cheney (31), Blue denotes those won by Kerry/Edwards (19+DC). The split vote in Minnesota denotes a faithless elector's vote counted for John Edwards. Each number represents the electoral votes a state gave to one candidate.

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The United States presidential election, 2004 is a political event which took place on November 2, 2004. During that day the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States were selected. President George W. Bush won against Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Foreign policy was the biggest issue during the election campaign, mainly, the War on Terrorism and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Since the last presidential election, there were concerns about voting. The winner was not determined until the following day, when Kerry decided not to dispute Bush's win in the state of Ohio. The state held enough electoral votes to determine the winner of the presidency. Both Kerry and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have stated their opinion that voting in Ohio did not proceed fairly and that, had it done so, the Democratic ticket might have won that state and therefore the election.

Only three states changed political parties. New Mexico and Iowa voted Democratic in 2000, but those states Republican in 2004. New Hampshire voted Republican in 2000 but the state voted Democratic in 2004. In the Electoral College, Bush received 286 votes, and Kerry received 252 votes.

Candidates

Republican

Nominees

Republican Party (United States)
Republican Party Ticket, 2004
George W. Bush Dick Cheney
for President for Vice President
George-W-Bush.jpeg
46 Dick Cheney 3x4.jpg
43rd President of the United States
(2001–incumbent)
46th Vice President of the United States
(2001–incumbent)
Campaign
Bush2004.png

Democrats

Nominees

Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party Ticket, 2004
John Kerry John Edwards
for President for Vice President
John F. Kerry.jpg
John Edwards, official Senate photo portrait.jpg
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
(1985–incumbent)
U.S. Senator from North Carolina
(1999–incumbent)
Campaign

Withdraw candidates

  • John Edwards, U.S. Senator from North Carolina (withdrew on March 2, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont (withdrew on February 18, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Wesley Clark, retired U.S. General from Arkansas (withdrew on February 11, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative from Ohio (withdrew on July 22, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Al Sharpton, Reverend and civil rights activist from New York (withdrew on March 15, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Joe Lieberman, U.S. Senator from Connecticut, 2000 US Election Democratic Vice Presidential nominee (withdrew on February 3, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Dick Gephardt, U.S. Representative from Missouri (withdrew on January 20, 2004 and endorsed John Kerry)
  • Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. Senator from Illinois (withdrew on January 15, 2004 and endorsed Howard Dean. She then endorsed John Kerry)
  • Bob Graham, U.S. Senator from Florida (withdrew on October 6, 2003 and endorsed John Kerry)

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos de 2004 para niños

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