2004 United States presidential election in Maine

The 2004 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Starting which, Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that instead of all of the state's four electors of the Electoral College to vote based upon the statewide results of the voters, two of the individual electors vote based on their congressional district because Maine has two congressional districts. The other two electors vote based upon the statewide results.

Main article: 2004 United States presidential election
2004 United States presidential election in Maine
November 2, 2004
 
Nominee John Kerry George W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Massachusetts Texas
Running mate John Edwards Dick Cheney
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 396,842 330,201
Percentage 53.57% 44.58%
County Results
President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

 Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

Elections in Maine
Federal offices
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U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
State government
Gubernatorial elections
State Senate elections
State House elections
Ballot measures
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2009
Question 1
2011
Question 1
2018
Question 1 (Jun)
2020
Question 1
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2012
Question 1
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Question 1
2015
Question 1
2016
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
2017
Question 1
Question 2
2018
Question 1 (Nov)
2021
Question 1
Constitutional amendments
2021
Question 3
City of Portland
Mayoral elections

Maine was considered by some to be a swing state, because of the closeness of some polls.[1] However, the polls were consistently won by Kerry and neither campaign prioritized the state. On election day, Democrat John Kerry won the popular vote with 53.57% over George W. Bush with 44.58%. This is the most recent presidential election in which a losing Democrat won Maine's 2nd congressional district.

Caucuses

Campaign

Polling

Out of 15 pre-election polls, Kerry won thirteen of them. By the end of October, all polls showed Kerry over 50%. The final Real Clear Politics average showed Kerry leading 51% to 41.5% with a margin of 9.5%.[2] In three Survey USA polls taken in October, Kerry's numbers increased each time from 49% to 51% to 52%. Also, the final three polls averaged Kerry with 51% to Bush at 45%.[3]

Fundraising

Bush raised $362,522.[4] Kerry raised $1,057,209.[5]

Advertising and visits

Since March 3, 2004 Kerry didn't visit the state once, as Bush visited the state 5 times.[6] A rough total estimate of $400,000 was spent on advertising each week, excluding the last week.[7]

Analysis

Once a typical Yankee Republican state, Maine has not been carried by a Republican presidential nominee since George H. W. Bush did so in 1988. While the younger Bush did make a play for the state in 2004, John Kerry ultimately won it by a fairly comfortable 9-point margin, including its two Congressional districts. Maine is one of two states, the other being Nebraska, which allocate their electoral votes by Congressional district. A candidate is awarded an electoral vote for each district won, even if the candidate loses statewide, while the statewide winner is awarded two additional electoral votes. In 2016 and 2020, Republican Donald Trump won Maine's 2nd district despite losing the state overall, and thus he received one electoral vote from the state both times. This makes George W. Bush the last Republican, and the last candidate of either party until Joe Biden in 2020, to win a presidential election without carrying Maine's 2nd district.

Results

Statewide
2004 United States presidential election in Maine
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic John Kerry 396,842 53.57% 4
Republican George W. Bush (incumbent) 330,201 44.58% 0
Independent Ralph Nader 8,069 1.09% 0
Green David Cobb 2,936 0.40% 0
Libertarian Michael Badnarik 1,965 0.27% 0
Others - 739 0.10% 0
Totals 740,752 100.00% 4
Voter turnout 72.69% —

Congressional district

Kerry won both congressional districts.[8]

District Bush Kerry Representative
1st 43% 55% Tom Allen
2nd 46% 52% Michael Michaud

By county
County John F. Kerry George W. Bush Others Margin Total Votes
#  % #  % #  % # %
Androscoggin30,50354.40%24,51943.73%1,0451.86% 5,984 10.67%56,067
Aroostook19,56951.86%17,56446.55%6001.59% 2,005 5.31%37,733
Cumberland94,84658.20%65,38440.12%2,7321.68% 29,462 18.08%162,962
Franklin9,46554.83%7,37842.74%4182.42% 2,087 12.09%17,261
Hancock18,04854.49%14,40543.49%6692.02% 3,643 11.00%33,122
Kennebec35,61653.34%29,76144.57%1,3952.09% 5,855 8.77%66,772
Knox12,69054.59%10,10343.46%4541.95% 2,587 11.13%23,247
Lincoln11,35151.26%10,37046.83%4211.90% 981 4.43%22,142
Oxford16,61852.68%14,19645.00%7322.32% 2,422 7.68%31,546
Penobscot40,41749.22%40,31849.10%1,3771.68% 99 0.12%82,112
Piscataquis4,40944.36%5,29953.31%2322.33% -890 -8.95%9,940
Sagadahoc11,10752.69%9,49745.05%4752.25% 1,610 7.64%21,079
Somerset13,55550.00%12,95347.78%6002.21% 602 2.22%27,108
Waldo11,55551.77%10,30946.19%4542.03% 1,246 5.58%22,318
Washington8,39148.47%8,61949.79%3001.73% -228 -1.32%17,310
York58,70253.35%49,52645.01%1,8051.64% 9,176 8.34%110,033
Total 396,842 53.57% 330,201 44.58% 13,709 1.85% 66,641 9.00% 740,752

Electors
Main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Maine cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maine is allocated 4 electors because it has 2 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 4 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 just 2 of the electoral votes. The other 2 electoral votes are based upon the congressional district results. 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.[9] 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. Since Kerry won both congressional districts, all 4 were pledged to Kerry/Edwards.

  1. Lu Bauer, elector for the 1st Congressional district.
  2. David Garrity, elector for the 2nd Congressional district.
  3. Jill Duson, at-large elector.
  4. Samuel Shapiro, at-large elector.

See also

References
  1. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.
  2. "RealClear Politics - Polls".
  3. "Election 2004 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Archived from the original on 2006-06-02.
  4. "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President".
  5. "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President".
  6. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.
  7. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.
  8. "Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008 – Swing State Project".
  9. "Electoral College". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
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