2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming

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.

2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming

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 167,629 70,776
Percentage 68.86% 29.07%

County Results

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

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, 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.

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

Campaign

Predictions

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

  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: Leans 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

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

Fundraising

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

Advertising and visits

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

Analysis

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 seat was Teno Roncalio in 1978. 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 elect Democratic governors from 1974 to 2010 with only an eight-year interruption of Jim Geringer's tenure from 1995 to 2003.

In presidential elections, Wyoming is probably the most reliable red state 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

2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming[9]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George W. Bush (Inc.) Dick Cheney 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%

Results breakdown

By county

Bush won all but one county.[10]

County John F. Kerry George W. Bush Others Margin Total Votes
#  % #  % #  % # %
Albany7,03243.02%8,87954.32%4342.66%1,847 11.30% 16,345
Big Horn96018.18%4,23280.15%881.67%3,272 61.97% 5,280
Campbell2,46416.33%12,40782.25%2141.42%9,943 65.91% 15,085
Carbon2,15730.55%4,75867.39%1452.05%2,601 36.84% 7,060
Converse1,18320.69%4,44677.74%901.57%3,263 57.06% 5,719
Crook50014.74%2,83683.63%551.62%2,336 68.89% 3,391
Fremont5,33731.27%11,42866.95%3051.79%6,091 35.68% 17,070
Goshen1,56627.00%4,11470.94%1192.05%2,548 43.94% 5,799
Hot Springs62325.12%1,81173.02%461.85%1,188 47.90% 2,480
Johnson73618.20%3,23179.88%781.93%2,495 61.68% 4,045
Laramie13,17033.09%25,94765.19%6841.72%12,777 32.10% 39,801
Lincoln1,36317.24%6,42481.28%1171.48%5,061 64.03% 7,904
Natrona9,85230.85%21,50367.34%5781.81%11,651 36.49% 31,933
Niobrara23017.52%1,06481.04%191.45%834 63.52% 1,313
Park2,93921.19%10,66076.85%2731.97%7,721 55.66% 13,872
Platte1,31829.06%3,12868.97%891.96%1,810 39.91% 4,535
Sheridan4,04129.02%9,63569.19%2491.79%5,594 40.17% 13,925
Sublette73020.01%2,84677.99%732.00%2,116 57.99% 3,649
Sweetwater5,20132.10%10,63865.65%3642.25%5,437 33.56% 16,203
Teton5,97152.68%5,12445.21%2392.11%-847 -7.47% 11,334
Uinta1,81222.46%6,08075.38%1742.16%4,268 52.91% 8,066
Washakie85520.78%3,20077.76%601.46%2,345 56.99% 4,115
Weston58017.13%2,73980.89%671.98%2,159 63.76% 3,386
Total 70,620 29.14% 167,130 68.97% 4,560 1.88% 96,510 39.83% 242,310

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

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

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.[11]

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

See also

References

  1. "2004 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  2. "Archived copy". dcpoliticalreport.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 17 January 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 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  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. "CNN.com Election 2004". www.cnn.com.
  11. "Wyoming Secretary of State". Archived from the original on 2008-11-30. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
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