2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state) explained

See main article: 2004 United States presidential election.

The 2004 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The State of Washington was considered a competitive swing state in 2004, and on election day, Kerry won the state with a margin of 7.2%. This is the most recent presidential election in which Washington was considered a swing state.^[2], this remains the last time the state's margin of victory was in single digits and the last time a Republican received more than 45% of the state's vote. This was the only time since statehood that any president was elected twice without carrying Washington either time, a feat that lasted until 2024.

Caucuses

• 2004 Washington Democratic presidential 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.^[3]

!Source!Ranking

D.C. Political Report
Cook Political Report
Newsweek
Zogby International
The Washington Post	Washington Post
Research 2000
Washington Times
Washington Dispatch
The New York Times
CNN
Associated Press
Rasmussen Reports

Polling

Kerry won every single pre-election except one tie. The final 3 poll average had Kerry winning with 50% to 45%.^[4]

Fundraising

Bush raised $3,263,363.^[5] Kerry raised $5,337,921.^[6]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.^{[7] [8]}

Analysis

A Democratic leaning swing state at the time, Washington has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every presidential election since 1988. Like Oregon, the state is divided politically by the urban/rural divide and geographically by the Cascade Mountains. Most of the state's population resides in Western Washington along the Pacific Coast and in highly urbanized areas like Seattle; this part of the state votes overwhelmingly Democratic. The other side of the mountains in Eastern Washington is much more rural and conservative and therefore heavily Republican. While polling showed that voters trusted Bush more than Kerry on the issue of terrorism, the Iraq War and Bush's domestic policies were unpopular in the state.^[9], this is the last election in which Clark County, Island County, and Skagit County voted for the Republican candidate.

Results

2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	John Forbes Kerry	John Reid Edwards	1,510,201	52.77%	11
	Republican	George Walker Bush (incumbent)	Richard Bruce Cheney (incumbent)	1,304,894	45.60%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	Peter Camejo	23,283	0.81%	0
	Libertarian	Michael Badnarik	Richard Campagna	11,955	0.42%	0
	Constitution			3,922	0.14%	0
	Green		Pat LaMarche	2,974	0.10%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins		2,629	0.09%	0
	Workers World	John Parker	Teresa Gutierrez	1,077	0.04%	0
			Margaret Trowe	547	0.02%	0
			Jim Lawrence	231	0.01%	0
Totals				2,859,084	100.00%	11
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						61.7%

By county

County	John Kerry Democratic		George W. Bush Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,315		25.65%		3,751		73.16%		61		1.19%		-2,436		-47.51%		5,127
	Asotin		3,319		37.78%		5,320		60.55%		147		1.67%		-2,001		-22.77%		8,786
	Benton		21,549		32.21%		44,350		66.30%		993		1.48%		-22,801		-34.09%		66,892
	Chelan		10,471		35.58%		18,482		62.80%		477		1.62%		-8,011		-27.22%		29,430
	Clallam		17,049		46.37%		18,871		51.33%		846		2.30%		-1,822		-4.96%		36,766
	Clark		79,538		46.65%		88,646		51.99%		2,311		1.36%		-9,108		-5.34%		170,495
	Columbia		605		28.71%		1,470		69.77%		32		1.52%		-865		-41.06%		2,107
	Cowlitz		21,589		50.76%		20,217		47.54%		724		1.71%		1,372		3.22%		42,530
	Douglas		4,306		32.20%		8,900		66.56%		166		1.25%		-4,594		-34.36%		13,372
	Ferry		1,201		35.92%		2,019		60.38%		124		3.71%		-818		-24.46%		3,344
	Franklin		5,188		32.11%		10,757		66.57%		214		1.32%		-5,569		-34.46%		16,159
	Garfield		365		27.65%		935		70.83%		20		1.51%		-570		-43.18%		1,320
	Grant		7,779		29.92%		17,799		68.47%		417		1.60%		-10,020		-38.55%		25,995
	Grays Harbor		14,583		52.17%		12,871		46.05%		499		1.78%		1,712		6.12%		27,953
	Island		18,216		47.22%		19,754		51.20%		610		1.58%		-1,538		-3.98%		38,580
	Jefferson		11,610		62.25%		6,650		35.66%		390		2.09%		4,960		26.59%		18,650
	King		580,378		64.87%		301,043		33.65%		13,307		1.48%		279,335		31.22%		894,728
	Kitsap		60,796		51.23%		55,608		46.86%		2,266		1.91%		5,188		4.37%		118,670
	Kittitas		6,731		41.77%		9,052		56.17%		331		2.05%		-2,321		-14.40%		16,114
	Klickitat		4,036		43.63%		5,016		54.23%		198		2.15%		-980		-10.60%		9,250
	Lewis		10,726		33.08%		21,042		64.89%		660		2.04%		-10,316		-31.81%		32,428
	Lincoln		1,706		29.36%		4,015		69.09%		90		1.56%		-2,309		-39.73%		5,811
	Mason		12,894		50.78%		11,987		47.20%		513		2.01%		907		3.58%		25,394
	Okanogan		6,309		38.61%		9,636		58.96%		397		2.43%		-3,327		-20.35%		16,342
	Pacific		5,570		53.40%		4,634		44.43%		227		2.17%		936		8.97%		10,431
	Pend Oreille		2,310		37.27%		3,693		59.58%		195		3.14%		-1,383		-22.31%		6,198
	Pierce		158,231		50.43%		150,783		48.05%		4,779		1.53%		7,448		2.38%		313,793
	San Juan		6,589		65.21%		3,290		32.56%		225		2.23%		3,299		32.65%		10,104
	Skagit		25,131		48.05%		26,139		49.98%		1,029		1.96%		-1,008		-1.93%		52,299
	Skamania		2,374		46.02%		2,695		52.24%		90		1.74%		-321		-6.22%		5,159
	Snohomish		156,468		52.97%		134,317		45.47%		4,629		1.57%		22,151		7.50%		295,414
	Spokane		87,490		43.19%		111,606		55.09%		3,491		1.72%		-24,116		-11.90%		202,587
	Stevens		6,822		33.54%		13,015		63.99%		503		2.47%		-6,193		-30.45%		20,340
	Thurston		62,650		55.55%		47,992		42.55%		2,147		1.90%		14,658		13.00%		112,789
	Wahkiakum		1,021		45.68%		1,171		52.39%		43		1.92%		-150		-6.71%		2,235
	Walla Walla		8,257		36.02%		14,323		62.48%		345		1.50%		-6,066		-26.46%		22,925
	Whatcom		48,268		53.40%		40,296		44.58%		1,830		2.02%		7,972		8.82%		90,394
	Whitman		8,287		46.01%		9,397		52.17%		328		1.83%		-1,110		-6.16%		18,012
	Yakima		28,474		39.12%		43,352		59.56%		964		1.32%		-14,878		-20.44%		72,790
Totals	1,510,201	52.77%	1,304,894	45.60%	46,618	1.63%	205,307	7.17%	2,861,713

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Whatcom (Largest city: Bellingham)

By congressional district

Kerry won 6 of 9 congressional districts. Both candidates won a district held by the other party.^[10]

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
		42%	56%		Jay Inslee
		47%	51%		Rick Larsen
		50%	48%		Brian Baird
		63%	35%		Doc Hastings
	57%	41%		George Nethercutt
			Cathy McMorris Rodgers
		45%	53%		Norman D. Dicks
		19%	79%		Jim McDermott
	48%	51%		Jennifer Dunn
			Dave Reichert
		46%	53%		Adam Smith

Electors

See main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors.

Technically the voters of Washington cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Washington is allocated 11 electors because it has 9 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 11 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards:

1. David Peterson
2. Mary Ervin
3. Valeria Ogden
4. Patsy Whitefoot
5. Larry Armstrong
6. Ken Bumgarner
7. Richard Kelley
8. Sarah Chandler
9. Greg Markley
10. Alan Johanson
11. Mary Crosby

See also

• United States presidential elections in Washington (state)
• Presidency of George W. Bush

Notes and References

1. Web site: Voter Turnout by Election . Secretary of State: Kim Wyman . www.sos.wa.gov . 2020-05-25.
2. Web site: How New Mexico Lost Its Swing. Levien, Andrea. October 4, 2012. FairVote. November 24, 2020.
3. http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW Members
4. Web site: 2004 Presidential Election Polls. Washington Polls. US Election Atlas.
5. Web site: George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President.
6. Web site: John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President.
7. Web site: America votes 2004: Candidate tracker . . 2022-05-27.
8. News: America votes 2004: Campaign ad buys . CNN . 2022-05-27 . 2021-04-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210422073439/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/campaign.ads/ . live .
9. Web site: Election 2004: Exit polls . Cnn.com . 1970-04-13 . 2022-05-27.
10. Web site: Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008 – Swing State Project.