The 2004 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the
2004 United States presidential election. State voters chose 34 representatives, or electors to the
Electoral College, who voted for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
.
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
was won by incumbent
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
by a margin of 22.87%. Prior to the election, all 12 major U.S. news organizations expected Texas to vote for Bush, considering it to be a safe
red state
Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...
.
Texas has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
, and has been a Republican stronghold since the 1980s. A former governor of the state, Bush’s performance stands as a high water mark for Republican presidential candidates in Texas, and remains the last time that a Republican has won more than 60% of the state’s vote, or that a Democrat has won less than 40%. Bush is the last Republican to win any of the following counties in a presidential election:
Bexar,
Cameron,
Culberson,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, and
Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...
. The 1,067,968 ballots cast in Harris County also marked the first time that any Texas county would cast more than one million votes. However, this is also the last election where Harris County would vote to the left of any of the top 5 most populous counties in the state, with the exception of Tarrant County. Harris county in this election voted to the left of Bexar by approximately only 0.2% of the votes. This is also the last election where the Republican candidate would win Tarrant County with at least 60% of the vote. Starting from 2008, Republicans would win Tarrant county with less than 60% of the vote, and in 2020 Joe Biden would eventually win Tarrant County.
Bush, who made historic gains with
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
voters in 2004, drew even with Kerry among Texas Latinos, winning 49% to Kerry's 50%. As of 2022, this election is the closest a Republican has come to carrying the Latino vote in Texas.
This is the last presidential election in which Texas voted to the right of
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
, or
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. This is also the only time since
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
in which a Republican candidate has gotten over 60% of the vote due to the increasing Democratic shift in many of the urban counties Bush carried in this election. All of these counties would swing hard towards
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
.
Primaries
*
2004 Texas Democratic presidential primary
A presidential primary for the Democratic Party was held in Texas in 2004 as part of the selection process for the Democratic candidate for the presidential elections that year.
Results
See also
* 2004 Texas Republican presidential primary
* ...
*
2004 Texas Republican presidential primary
The 2004 Texas Republican presidential primary was held on March 9 in the U.S. state of Texas as one of the 2004 Republican Party presidential primaries, Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 2004 United States presidentia ...
Campaign
Predictions
There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.
# D.C. Political Report: Solid Republican
#
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
: Solid Bush
#
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
: Bush
#
Cook Political Report
''The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter'' is an American online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the U.S. Presidency, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and U.S. governors' offices. Sel ...
: Solid Republican
#
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
: Solid Bush
#
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
: Solid Bush
#
Rasmussen Reports
Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...
: Bush
#
Research 2000
Research 2000 was a U.S. opinion polling and marketing research company based in Olney, Maryland. It began doing research on upcoming elections in 1999 after its President, Del Ali, moved on from Mason-Dixon Political Media Research. Research ...
: Solid Bush
#
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
: Bush
#
Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
: Solid Bush
#
Zogby International
John J. Zogby (born September 3, 1948) is an American public opinion pollster, author, and public speaker. He is founder of the Zogby International poll, and he serves as a senior partner at John Zogby Strategies, a full-service marketing and p ...
: Bush
# Washington Dispatch: Bush
Polling
Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each with at least 55% of the vote and a double-digit margin of victory. The final three polls averaged Bush leading 59% to 37%.
Fundraising
Bush raised $23,776,943. Kerry raised $5,554,831.
Advertising and visits
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.
Analysis
Texas, located in the South, has become a consistently Republican state at all levels. Economically and racially diverse, Texas includes a huge swath of the
Bible Belt
The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States in which socially conservative Protestant Christianity plays a strong role in society and politics, and church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's a ...
where many voters, especially those in rural Texas, identify as born-again or evangelical Christians and therefore tend to vote Republican due to the party's opposition to
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
. Although once part of the
Solid South
The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in those states. The Southern bloc existed especial ...
, the last time Texas voted for a Democratic presidential nominee was
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
in 1976. George Bush achieved his party's best result in Texas since Ronald Reagan's second landslide in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
.
President Bush carried 236 of the state's 254 counties, improving on his performance from 2000.
East Texas
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region cons ...
, historically the most Democratic region in the state, solidified its support for the Republican Party with only
Jefferson County, home to
Beaumont
Beaumont may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beaumont, Alberta
* Beaumont, Quebec
England
* Beaumont, Cumbria
* Beaumont, Essex
** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s
* Beaumont Street, Oxford
France (communes)
* Beaumont, Ardèche
* ...
, voting for John Kerry.
South Texas, while still voting heavily for Senator Kerry, swung towards Bush as well.
Despite Bush's increased margin in the state compared to 2000, Kerry made major inroads in the state's suburban areas, especially in
Metro Houston, the
Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, and the
Austin area. Kerry narrowed Bush's 2000 margins in
Collin,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Denton,
Fort Bend,
Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...
,
Hays,
Travis, and
Williamson Counties. Out of those, however, only
Travis County
Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...
, home to Austin, flipped into the Democratic column, in part due to the city's strong liberal leanings and opposition to the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
. Bush had won a plurality in the county in 2000 in part due to the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
's
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...
winning 11% of the County's vote. Although Bush carried
Dallas County Dallas County may refer to:
Places in the USA:
* Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name
* Dallas County, Arkansas
* Dallas County, Iowa
* Dallas County, Missouri
* Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...
by a narrow margin of 50% to Kerry's 49%, the city of
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
proper voted heavily for Kerry, giving him 57% of the vote.
Results
By county
By congressional district
Bush won 25 of 32 congressional districts, including four held by Democrats.
Electors
Technically the voters of Texas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the
Electoral College. Texas is allocated 34 electors because it has 32
congressional districts
Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...
and 2
senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 34 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 34 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
In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...
.
The electors of each state and the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
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 34 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:
# Royce Hayes
# Tom Cotter
# Jay Pierce
# Marjorie Chandler
# Lance Lenz
# Barbara Grusendorf
# Bill Borden
# Jim Wiggins
# Anna Rice
# Jan Galbraith
# Sue Brannon
# Cheryl Surber
# Mike Ussery
# Sid Young
# Frank Morris
# Roger O'Dell
# Christopher DeCluitt
# Martha Greenlaw
# Marcus Anderson
# Mike Provost
# Bennie Bock
# Kathy Haigler
# Kim Hesley
# Peter Wrench
# Morris Woods
# Rhealyn Samuelson
# Nancy Stevens
# Loyce McCarter
# Larry Bowles
# Dan Mosher
# Glenn Warren
# Kristina Kiik
#
Susan Weddington
# Charles Burchett
See also
*
United States presidential elections in Texas
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Texas, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1845, Texas has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the 1864 election during the American Civil War, ...
*
Presidency of George W. Bush
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic i ...
References
{{Elections in Texas footer
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
2004
United States presidential