From January 14 to June 8, 2004, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2004 United States presidential election.
The 2004 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were an election held on January 19 as part of the United States presidential primary. They were the first major test of some of the leading contenders for the Democratic Party's nomination as its candidate for the 2004 United States presidential election.
Mini-Tuesday was the name given to the February 3, 2004 U.S. presidential primary where several states, which to that point had participated in "Super Tuesday," cast their votes for the Presidential nominees of the 2004 Presidential election. Mini-Tuesday was also called Super Tuesday I. With the large number of states moving their election dates up to Mini-Tuesday for the 2008 election cycle, pundits have largely shied away from using the term again, instead choosing to reappropriate the term "Super Tuesday" to better represent the primaries held on that approximate date. The date is also known as "Super Duper Tuesday," "Giga Tuesday," and "Tsunami Tuesday," among others, with the term "Mini Tuesday" falling to apparent disuse for the time being.
The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, the longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, began when he formed an exploratory committee on December 1, 2002. On September 2, 2003, he formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. After beating John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and other candidates in the primaries, he became the Democratic nominee, challenging Republican incumbent George W. Bush in the general election. Kerry selected Edwards as his running mate.
The following is a timeline of events during the 2004 U.S. presidential election:
This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2004 election. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry won the 2004 Democratic nomination for President of the United States, and chose North Carolina Senator John Edwards as his running mate on July 6, 2004. The Kerry–Edwards ticket would go on to lose the 2004 election to the Bush–Cheney ticket.
Howard Brush Dean III is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009. Dean was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election. Later, his implementation of the fifty-state strategy as head of the DNC is credited with the Democratic victories in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Afterward, he became a political commentator and consultant to McKenna Long & Aldridge, a law and lobbying firm.
The Draft Mark Warner for President committee was an effort to promote the candidacy of former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner. It was founded the day after the 2004 presidential election by Democratic Party activist Eddie Ratliff of Virginia. On October 23, 2007, the Draft Warner for President Committee received a letter from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in response to the committee's declaration of intent to cease operations, dated October 2, 2007, and was allowed to terminate its affairs and cease filing with the FEC. Warner had announced his intent to become a Senate candidate prior to the committee's letter to the FEC.
The 2004 Missouri Democratic presidential primary on February 3, 2004 determined the recipient of the state's 88 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in the process to elect the democratic nominee for President of the United States. It was an open primary.
The 2004 Arizona Democratic presidential primary took place on February 3, 2004, as part of the 2004 United States Democratic presidential primaries. The delegate allocation is Proportional. the candidates are awarded delegates in proportion to the percentage of votes received and is open to registered Democrats only. A total of 55 delegates are awarded proportionally. A 15 percent threshold is required to receive delegates. Frontrunner John Kerry won the primary with former general Wesley Clark coming second.
The 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean, 79th Governor of Vermont, began when he formed an exploratory committee to evaluate a presidential election campaign on May 31, 2002. Dean then formally announced his intention to compete in the 2004 Democratic primaries to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President on June 23, 2003. Dean dropped out of the race in February 2004 after a poor showing in the Wisconsin primary.
The 2004 presidential campaign of Dick Gephardt, former House Minority Leader and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, began on January 5, 2003 with the filing of papers with the Federal Election Commission that established an exploratory committee. He formally announced his entry into the race for the Democratic nomination on February 19, 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri. The day after the Iowa caucuses, Gephardt dropped out of the race on January 20, 2004.
The District of Columbia held a primary on January 13, 2004 and caucuses on February 14, 2004 during the 2004 Democratic presidential primary season. Delegates were only allocated in the February 14 caucuses.
The 2004 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses were held on February 3 along with six other states. Frontrunner John Kerry had earlier won New Mexico, Missouri, Arizona and Delaware by large margins. Army General Wesley Clark had hoped to win some primaries this day but got only second and third place finishes. Howard Dean just months earlier Dean had narrowly been leading in polls over Wesley Clark. The endorsements were former governor George A. Sinner who endorsed Wesley Clark. The results were Kerry with 51% to Wesley 24% and Dean at 12%.
The 2004 Oklahoma Democratic presidential primary, part of the process of selecting that party's nominee for President of the United States, took place on February 3, one of the seven nominating contests of 2004's "Mini-Tuesday". The primary election chose 40 pledged delegates to represent Oklahoma at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The remainder of Oklahoma's 47 delegates consisted of unpledged superdelegates not bound by the results of the primary. The election was a closed primary, meaning that only registered Democrats could vote in this election. Wesley Clark won the primary by a razor-thin margin over John Edwards.
The 2004 California Democratic presidential primary was held on March 2, 2004, the same day as the Republican primary. Senator John Kerry overwhelmingly won the primary over rivals Senator John Edwards, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and Reverend Al Sharpton. The primary was open to both registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters. 440 delegates were at stake, with 370 tied to the March primary.
The 2004 presidential campaign of Wesley Clark, a retired U.S. Army general who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACE) from 1997 to 2000, officially began on September 17, 2003. A movement to draft Clark for the Democratic nomination began in April 2003, and was led by activists who felt Clark's military service and criticism of the War in Iraq made him a strong candidate. Prior to announcing his campaign, Clark was not known to have publicly identified with either party.
The 2004 Vermont Democratic presidential primary took place on March 2, 2004, as part of Super Tuesday along with other primaries and caucuses held throughout the country. Vermont's 15 pledged delegates were allocated based on the results of the primary.
This is a list of endorsements for declared candidates in the Democratic primaries for the 2004 United States presidential election.
