Delaware was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 7.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations handicapping the election predicted that Kerry would win Delaware, though with varying degrees of confidence; the First State was a key bellwether for much of the 20th century, but Al Gore's comfortable victory four years earlier amidst a national loss marked its move towards the Democratic Party. Kerry won Delaware without either campaign seriously contesting it, but with a 5.5% swing to Bush compared to Gore's performance in 2000. The swing was largely concentrated in Kent and Sussex Counties, in which Bush's margins increased by double digits; New Castle County, the state's most populous, only swung about a point to Bush, continuing its consolidation as the state's Democratic base.
As of 2024, this is the last election in which Delaware was decided by a single-digit margin, and the first time since 1948 that Delaware has not backed the national popular vote winner. Bush became the first Republican since 1880 to win the popular vote without Delaware, and the last to win 60% of the vote in any county in the state (namely Sussex). Bush was the first Republican since Abraham Lincoln to win two terms without ever carrying the state.
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.
Technically the voters of Delaware cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Delaware is allocated three electors because it has one congressional district 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 Delaware. All were pledged to and voted for John Kerry and John Edwards:[8]
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