2004 United States presidential election in Utah

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2004 United States presidential election in Utah
Flag of Utah (1922-2011).svg
  2000 November 2, 2004 2008  
Turnout72.6% (of registered voters)
57.7% (of voting age population)
  George-W-Bush.jpeg John F. Kerry.jpg
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards
Electoral vote50
Popular vote663,742241,199
Percentage71.54%26.00%

Utah Presidential Election Results 2004.svg
County Results
Bush
  50-60%
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%

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

Contents

Utah was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 45.5% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. It is a strongly Republican state and has supported the party’s nominee in every presidential election since 1968. With 71.54 percent of the popular vote, Utah was Bush's strongest state in the 2004 election. [1]

This was the first of four instances in which a presidential candidate gained over 70% of a state's vote after Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide. The others are Mitt Romney in Utah in 2012 and Barack Obama in Hawaii in 2008 and 2012. These last three all involved a candidate with a close tie to the state: Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, and Mitt Romney, as the first Mormon on a major-party presidential ticket, was popular in Mormon-majority Utah and would later represent the state in the United States Senate.

Primaries

Campaign

Predictions

There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day. [2]

SourceRanking
D.C. Political ReportSolid R
Cook Political ReportSolid R
Research 2000Solid R
Zogby InternationalLikely R
Washington PostLikely R
Washington DispatchLikely R
Washington TimesSolid R
The New York TimesSolid R
CNNLikely R
NewsweekSolid R
Associated PressSolid R
Rasmussen ReportsLikely R

Polling

The final three polls averaged Bush with 67 percent to Kerry with 25 percent. [3]

Fundraising

Bush raised $561,645. [4] Kerry raised $262,031. [5]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election. [6] [7]

Analysis

Republicans dominate Utah state politics because of the very high Mormon population that accounts for almost seventy percent of the residents throughout the state. Mormons have been known for having very conservative values. While every county voted for Bush, areas such as Summit County (ski resort), Moab (becoming an outpost for environmental activists), Carbon County (largely blue collar), Salt Lake City (urban area with some diversity) and San Juan County (economically distressed and mostly Native American) did give a somewhat greater proportion of their votes to Kerry. However, other areas were uniformly Republican in voting. Utah County's (home of Provo and Brigham Young University) Republican vote (86%) was by far the largest percentage of any county its size in America.

Results

2004 United States presidential election in Utah [8]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican George W. Bush (incumbent)663,74271.54%5
Democratic John Kerry 241,19926.00%0
Unaffiliated Ralph Nader 11,3051.22%0
Constitution Party Michael Peroutka 6,8410.74%0
Libertarian Party Michael Badnarik 3,3750.36%0
Personal Choice Party Charles Jay 9460.10%0
Socialist Workers Party Roger Calero 3930.04%0
Green Party David Cobb 390.00%0
Write Ins40.00%0
Totals927,844100.00%5
Voter turnout (Voting age population)57.7%

Results by county

CountyGeorge W. Bush
Republican
John Kerry
Democratic
Ralph Nader [9]
Unaffiliated
Michael Peroutka [9]
Constitution
Various candidates [9]
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Beaver 2,02379.52%49319.38%120.47%90.35%70.28%1,53060.14%2,544
Box Elder 15,75185.75%2,24412.22%1450.79%1440.78%840.46%13,50773.53%18,368
Cache 32,48681.76%6,37516.05%4131.04%2740.69%1830.46%26,11165.71%39,731
Carbon 4,95058.18%3,41540.14%830.98%220.26%380.45%1,53518.04%8,508
Daggett 38076.15%10821.64%61.20%30.60%20.20%27254.51%499
Davis 86,18778.88%20,89319.12%1,0550.97%6950.64%4380.41%65,29459.76%109,268
Duchesne 4,74285.35%73813.28%270.49%320.58%170.31%4,00472.07%5,556
Emery 3,78180.83%83117.76%230.49%290.62%140.30%2,95063.07%4,678
Garfield 1,84885.48%26412.21%221.02%160.74%120.56%1,58473.27%2,162
Grand 2,13051.14%1,85844.61%1182.83%200.48%390.94%2726.53%4,165
Iron 12,81582.97%2,26714.68%1110.72%1691.09%840.54%10,54868.29%15,446
Juab 2,68178.46%60517.71%200.59%982.87%130.38%2,07660.75%3,417
Kane 2,41479.12%57618.88%250.82%190.62%170.55%1,83860.24%3,051
Millard 4,08483.74%62612.84%280.57%1182.42%210.43%3,45870.90%4,877
Morgan 3,30185.94%47212.29%250.65%240.62%190.49%2,82973.65%3,841
Piute 64683.57%12315.91%30.39%10.13%00.00%52367.66%773
Rich 92288.91%10910.51%50.48%10.10%00.00%81378.40%1,037
Salt Lake 215,72859.57%135,94937.54%6,0251.66%2,1990.61%2,2370.62%79,77922.03%362,138
San Juan 2,97160.02%1,90638.51%300.61%240.48%190.38%1,06521.51%4,950
Sanpete 7,00482.33%1,18913.98%580.68%2172.55%390.46%5,81568.35%8,507
Sevier 6,59786.34%92012.04%370.48%600.79%270.35%5,67774.30%7,641
Summit 7,93651.83%6,97745.57%2651.73%360.24%980.64%9596.26%15,312
Tooele 12,18173.10%4,13024.78%1500.90%1110.67%920.55%8,05148.32%16,664
Uintah 8,51885.55%1,26612.71%420.42%990.99%320.32%7,25272.84%9,957
Utah 128,26985.99%17,35711.64%1,2890.86%1,6211.09%6370.43%110,91274.35%149,173
Wasatch 5,50373.26%1,85424.68%600.80%650.87%300.40%3,64948.58%7,512
Washington 35,63380.95%7,51317.07%3010.68%3620.82%2090.47%28,12063.88%44,018
Wayne 1,06278.09%27920.51%100.74%50.37%40.29%78357.58%1,360
Weber 51,19970.43%19,86227.32%9171.26%3680.51%3450.47%31,33743.11%72,691
Totals663,74271.54%241,19926.00%11,3051.22%6,8410.74%4,7570.51%422,54345.54%927,844

Results by congressional district

Bush won all 3 congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.

DistrictBushKerryRepresentative
1st 73%25% Rob Bishop
2nd 66%31% Jim Matheson
3rd 77%20% Chris Cannon

Electors

Technically the voters of Utah cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Utah is allocated five electors because it has three congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of five electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins a plurality of votes in the state is awarded all five 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 5 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:

  1. Olene S. Walker
  2. Gayle McKeachnie
  3. Lewis K. Billings
  4. Joseph A. Cannon
  5. Scott F. Simpson

See also

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References

  1. "2004 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. "Archived copy". dcpoliticalreport.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Election 2004 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Archived from the original on June 2, 2006.
  4. "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President".
  5. "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President".
  6. "CNN.com Specials". CNN .
  7. "CNN.com Specials". CNN .
  8. "2004 Presidential General Election Results – Utah".
  9. 1 2 3 Our Campaigns; UT US Presidential Election November 02 2004