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2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
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2004 United States presidential election
2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island Rhode Island presidential no 2000 United States presidential election in Rhode Island 2000 2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island 2008 62.1%This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in 2004 (440,372) by an estimate of the number of registered voters in Rhode Island in 2004 (709,050). See Presidential Turnout History http://www.elections.ri.gov/publications/Election_Publications/Election_Info/presidential_turnout_history.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20090709032259/http://www.elections.ri.gov/publications/Election_Publications/Election_Info/presidential_turnout_history.pdf dead July 9, 2009 February 6, 2018 Rhode Island Board of Elections 0.7 pp November 2, 2004 x200px John F. Kerry (wide crop).jpg John Kerry Democratic Party (United States) Massachusetts John Edwards 4 259,760 59.42% File:George-W-Bush (cropped).jpeg George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Texas Dick Cheney 0 169,046 38.67% 250px County results 250px Municipality results 250px Congressional district results
Kerry
#b9d7ff 40–50%
#86b6f2 50–60%
#4389e3 60–70%
#1666cb 70–80%
Bush
#e27f90 50–60% President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) George W. Bush Republican Party (United States)
The 2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 20.75% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Even though President George W. Bush fared better than he had in four years earlier, he was overwhelmingly defeated in a traditional Democratic stronghold, winning only 38% of the vote to 59% for Kerry.
Primaries
2004 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary
2004 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary
Campaign
Predictions
There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.Article title
+SourceRankingD.C. Political ReportSolid DCook Political ReportSolid DResearch 2000Solid DZogby InternationalLikely DWashington PostSolid DWashington DispatchLikely DWashington TimesSolid DThe New York TimesSolid DCNNSolid DNewsweekSolid DAssociated PressSolid DRasmussen ReportsSolid D
Polling
Kerry won every single pre-election poll, each with a double-digit margin and with at least 49% of the vote. The final three polls' average showed Kerry leading 55% to 38%.http://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/GENERAL/CAMPAIGN/2004/polls.php?fips=44 2004 Presidential Election Polls uselectionatlas.org
Fundraising
Bush raised $282,237.http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/george_w_bush.asp?cycle=04 George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President Kerry raised $977,390.http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/john_f_kerry.asp?cycle=04 John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President
Advertising and visits
Neither campaign advertised or visited here in the fall campaign.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/tracking/10.11.html America votes 2004: Candidate tracker CNN 2022-05-27http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/campaign.ads/ 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
Analysis
Federally, Rhode Island is one of the most reliably Democratic states during presidential elections, regularly giving the Democratic nominees one of their best showings. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only six states to vote against Ronald Reagan. Reagan did carry Rhode Island in his 49-state victory in 1984, but the state was the second weakest of the states Reagan won. Rhode Island was the Democrats' leading state in 1988 and 2000, and second-best in 1996 and 2004.
Historically, the state was devoted to Republicans until 1908, but has only strayed from the Democrats seven times in the 24 elections that have followed. In 2004, Rhode Island gave John Kerry more than a 20% margin of victory (the third-highest of any state), with 59.4% of its vote. All but three of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate. The only exceptions were East Greenwich, West Greenwich and Scituate.
Having some of the highest taxes in the nation, Rhode Island is considered to be a liberal bastion. In addition, Rhode Island has abolished capital punishment, making it one of 15 states that have done so. Rhode Island abolished the death penalty very early, just after Michigan (the first state to abolish it), and carried out its last execution in the 1840s.
Results
2004 United States presidential election in Rhode IslandPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic John Kerry 259,760 59.42% 4 Republican George W. Bush (incumbent) 169,046 38.67% 0 Reform Ralph Nader 4,651 1.06% 0 Green David Cobb 1,333 0.30% 0 Libertarian Michael Badnarik 907 0.21% 0 Independent Write Ins 840 0.21% 0 Constitution Michael Peroutka 339 0.08% 0 Workers World John Parker 253 0.06% 0
By county
County John KerryDemocratic George W. BushRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Bristol 14,448 58.42% 9,855 39.85% 429 1.73% 4,593 18.57% 24,732 Kent 42,830 54.90% 33,699 43.19% 1,489 1.91% 9,131 11.71% 78,018 Newport 22,992 56.87% 16,622 41.12% 812 2.00% 6,370 15.75% 40,426 Providence 144,811 62.60% 82,337 35.59% 4,176 1.81% 62,474 27.01% 231,324 Washington 34,679 55.37% 26,533 42.36% 1,422 2.27% 8,146 13.01% 62,634Totals259,76059.42%169,04638.67%8,3281.91%90,71420.75%437,134
right 250px Swing by county Legend #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5% #ff2a2a Republican — +10-12.5% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5-15% 250px Trend by county Legend #77e3ff Democratic — +5-7.5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5%
By congressional district
Kerry won both congressional districts.Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - County Data https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=2004&fips=44&f=0&off=0&elect=0&datatype=cd&def=1 2025-08-18 uselectionatlas.org
District Bush Kerry RepresentativeRhode Island 1 1st 37% 61%Patrick J. KennedyRhode Island 2 2nd 41% 57%James Langevin
Electors
List of 2004 United States presidential electors
Technically the voters of Rhode Island cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Rhode Island is allocated four electors because it has two congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of four electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all four 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 their 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 four were pledged for Kerry/Edwards.
Teresa Paiva-Weed
Elizabeth Dennigan
John C. Lynch
Mark Weiner
See also
United States presidential elections in Rhode Island
References
Rhode Island
2004
Presidential