2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming

2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
Turnout104.7% (of registered voters)
64.1% (of voting age population)
 
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 167,629 70,776
Percentage 68.86% 29.07%

County results

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming 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.

Wyoming was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 39.8% 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. This was based on pre-election polling, the fact that the last Democrat to win here was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, the presence of Wyoming native Dick Cheney on the ticket, and how Bush carried this state in 2000 with almost 68% of the vote. On election day Bush won every county with over 65% except for Teton County, which Kerry won with 53% and Albany County, which Bush won with 54% of the vote. Bush thus became the first ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Teton County.

With 68.86% of the popular vote, Wyoming would prove to be Bush's second strongest state in the 2004 election after neighboring Utah.[1]

Caucuses

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Campaign

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Predictions

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There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.[2]

Source Ranking
D.C. Political Report Solid R
Associated Press Solid R
CNN Likely R
Cook Political Report Solid R
Newsweek Solid R
New York Times Solid R
Rasmussen Reports Likely R
Research 2000 Solid R
Washington Post Likely R
Washington Times Solid R
Zogby International Likely R
Washington Dispatch Likely R

Polling

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Only one pre-election poll was conducted. It showed Bush leading Kerry 65% to 29%.[3]

Fundraising

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Bush raised $531,380.[4] Kerry raised $466,535.[5]

Advertising and visits

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Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall campaign.[6][7]

Analysis

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Wyoming is a Republican bastion. The last Democrat to win a senate election was Gale W. McGee in 1970. The last Democrat to win the at-large House seat was Teno Roncalio in 1976. The last time the Democrats controlled the Wyoming House of Representatives was 1966. The last time Democrats controlled the Wyoming Senate was 1938. The state, however, did continuously have Democratic governors from 1975 to 2011 with only an eight-year interruption of Jim Geringer's tenure from 1995 to 2003.

In presidential elections, Wyoming is one of the most reliable red states in the country. The last Democrat to carry the state, or even crack the 40% mark, was LBJ in 1964, and before that was Harry S. Truman in 1948. Since 1968, every Republican carried this state by a double-digit margin of victory, except in 1992. As far as popular vote percentage, the 2004 results were the third best performance by the Republican party since 1964, behind only Richard Nixon (69.0%) in 1972 and Ronald Reagan (70.5%) in 1984. With regards to the margin of victory, the 2004 election (at 39.8%) was also the third best performance, behind only George W. Bush (40.1%) in 2000 and Ronald Reagan (42.3%) in 1984.

CNN exit polls showed 72% of the state approved of Bush, and 69% approved of his decision to go to war.[8]

Results

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2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming[9]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George W. Bush (Inc.) Dick Cheney (incumbent) 167,629 68.86% 3
Democratic John Kerry John Edwards 70,776 29.07% 0
Independent Ralph Nader Peter Camejo 2,741 1.13% 0
Libertarian Michael Badnarik Richard Campagna 1,171 0.48% 0
Independent Michael Peroutka Chuck Baldwin 631 0.26% 0
Write Ins 480 0.20% 0
Totals 243,428 100.00% 3
Voter turnout (Voting age population) 64.1%

By county

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County George W. Bush
Republican
John Kerry
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Albany 9,006 54.17% 7,117 42.81% 501 3.01% 1,889 11.36% 16,624
Big Horn 4,232 80.11% 960 18.17% 91 1.72% 3,272 61.94% 5,283
Campbell 12,415 82.22% 2,464 16.32% 220 1.46% 9,951 65.90% 15,099
Carbon 4,758 67.23% 2,158 30.49% 161 2.27% 2,600 36.74% 7,077
Converse 4,447 77.68% 1,184 20.68% 94 1.64% 3,263 57.00% 5,725
Crook 2,836 83.51% 501 14.75% 59 1.74% 2,335 68.76% 3,396
Fremont 11,429 66.85% 5,338 31.22% 329 1.92% 6,091 35.63% 17,096
Goshen 4,114 71.19% 1,566 27.10% 99 1.71% 2,548 44.09% 5,779
Hot Springs 1,812 73.06% 623 25.12% 45 1.81% 1,189 47.94% 2,480
Johnson 3,231 80.96% 676 16.94% 84 2.10% 2,555 64.02% 3,991
Laramie 25,951 65.07% 13,171 33.03% 757 1.90% 12,780 32.04% 39,879
Lincoln 6,423 81.16% 1,364 17.24% 127 1.60% 5,059 63.92% 7,914
Natrona 21,512 67.08% 9,863 30.76% 693 2.16% 11,649 36.32% 32,068
Niobrara 1,064 80.97% 230 17.50% 20 1.52% 834 63.47% 1,314
Park 10,917 76.71% 3,007 21.13% 307 2.16% 7,910 55.58% 14,231
Platte 3,149 68.85% 1,328 29.03% 97 2.12% 1,821 39.82% 4,574
Sheridan 9,689 69.06% 4,066 28.98% 274 1.95% 5,623 40.08% 14,029
Sublette 2,847 77.98% 730 19.99% 74 2.03% 2,117 57.99% 3,651
Sweetwater 10,653 65.47% 5,208 32.01% 411 2.53% 5,445 33.46% 16,272
Teton 5,124 45.11% 5,972 52.58% 263 2.32% -848 -7.47% 11,359
Uinta 6,081 75.25% 1,815 22.46% 185 2.29% 4,266 52.79% 8,081
Washakie 3,200 77.78% 855 20.78% 59 1.43% 2,345 57.00% 4,114
Weston 2,739 80.75% 580 17.10% 73 2.15% 2,159 63.65% 3,392
Total 167,629 68.86% 70,776 29.07% 5,023 2.06% 96,853 39.79% 243,428
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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By congressional district

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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 68.9% 29.1% Barbara Cubin

Electors

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Technically the voters of Wyoming cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Wyoming is allocated three electors because it has one congressional districts 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 the state. All three were pledged for Bush/Cheney.[10]

  1. Linda Barker
  2. Jack Van Mark
  3. Mike Baker

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2004 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". dcpoliticalreport.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Election 2004 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Archived from the original on November 28, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  4. ^ "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President". www.campaignmoney.com.
  5. ^ "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President". www.campaignmoney.com.
  6. ^ "CNN.com Specials". www.cnn.com.
  7. ^ "CNN.com Specials". www.cnn.com.
  8. ^ "CNN.com Election 2004". www.cnn.com.
  9. ^ "CNN.com Election 2004". www.cnn.com.
  10. ^ "Wyoming Secretary of State". Archived from the original on November 30, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2009.