United States presidential election in Idaho, 2004

United States presidential election in Idaho, 2004

November 2, 2004

Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 409,235 181,098 Percentage 68.4% 30.3%

County Results   Kerry—50-60%   Bush—<50%   Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%   Bush—80-90%   Bush—>90%

President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President George W. Bush Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 2, 2004 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2004 presidential election. Voters chose 4 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Idaho was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 38.1% 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. No Democratic presidential nominee won the state since 1964. In 2004, President George W. Bush easily won the state and every congressional district and county, except the Democratic stronghold of Blaine County.

Caucuses

• Idaho Democratic caucuses, 2004

Campaign

Predictions

There were 12 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.^[1]

1. D.C. Political Report: Solid Republican
2. Associated Press: Solid Bush
3. CNN: Bush
4. Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
5. Newsweek: Solid Bush
6. New York Times: Solid Bush
7. Rasmussen Reports: Bush
8. Research 2000: Solid Bush
9. Washington Post: Bush
10. Washington Times: Solid Bush
11. Zogby International: Bush
12. Washington Dispatch: Bush

Polling

Only one pre-election poll was taken, which gave Bush 59%, Kerry 30%, and Nader 3%.^[2]

Fundraising

Bush raised $371,495.^[3] Kerry raised $359,011.^[4]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign visited or campaigned here during the fall election.^[5][6]

Analysis

With a substantial Mormon population, Idaho is one of the most reliably GOP bastions in the country. Both senators and representatives are Republican. It has not supported a Democratic presidential canddidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Democrats have not held the state legislature since 1958, though Democrats did hold the governorship from 1971 to 1995. Voters tend to be extremely conservative on fiscal and social issues.

Results

United States presidential election in Idaho, 2004[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush	409,235	68.4%	4
	Democratic	John Kerry	181,098	30.3%	0
	Libertarian	Michael Badnarik	3,844	0.6%	0
	Write In	Michael Peroutka	3038	0.5%	0
	Write In	Ralph Nader	1115	0.2%	0
	Write In	David Cobb	58	0.0%	0
	Write In	John Joseph Kennedy	9	0.0%	0
	Write In	Walt Brown	3	0.0%	0
Totals			598,447	100.00%	4
Voter turnout (Voting age population)					60.2%

Results breakdown

By county

County	Kerry%	Kerry#	Bush%	Bush#	Others%	Others#
Ada	37.7%	58,523	61.0%	94,641	1.2%	1,866
Adams	26.9%	555	71.2%	1,468	1.9%	40
Bannock	37.0%	12,903	61.6%	21,479	1.3%	462
Bear Lake	16.3%	494	82.4%	2,506	1.3%	40
Benewah	28.3%	1,148	69.7%	2,823	2.0%	79
Bingham	21.8%	3,605	76.9%	12,734	1.4%	226
Blaine	59.1%	5,992	39.8%	4,034	1.2%	121
Boise	27.5%	970	70.9%	2,501	1.6%	56
Bonner	37.6%	6,649	60.5%	10,697	1.9%	338
Bonneville	21.5%	8,356	77.3%	30,048	1.2%	467
Boundary	29.0%	1,268	68.8%	3,012	2.3%	99
Butte	22.8%	321	76.6%	1,077	0.6%	8
Camas	23.4%	139	75.6%	450	1.0%	6
Canyon	24.1%	13,415	74.7%	41,599	1.2%	684
Caribou	15.0%	491	83.9%	2,753	1.1%	37
Cassia	14.7%	1,153	83.9%	6,562	1.4%	106
Clark	13.0%	46	85.6%	302	1.4%	5
Clearwater	27.7%	1,117	70.4%	2,839	1.9%	78
Custer	23.7%	559	74.7%	1,762	1.6%	37
Elmore	24.3%	1,959	74.6%	6,011	1.1%	91
Franklin	9.0%	456	89.6%	4,527	1.4%	71
Fremont	12.8%	741	86.1%	4,965	1.1%	63
Gem	22.8%	1,628	75.9%	5,416	1.3%	90
Gooding	24.0%	1,278	74.6%	3,973	1.4%	74
Idaho	21.2%	1,689	75.5%	6,017	3.3%	264
Jefferson	12.2%	1,084	86.5%	7,703	1.3%	119
Jerome	20.4%	1,344	78.7%	5,177	0.9%	59
Kootenai	32.2%	17,584	66.2%	36,173	1.5%	846
Latah	48.0%	8,430	49.5%	8,686	2.5%	437
Lemhi	22.6%	915	75.9%	3,079	1.5%	61
Lewis	24.2%	440	74.7%	1,359	1.2%	21
Lincoln	24.8%	466	74.0%	1,388	1.2%	22
Madison	7.1%	826	91.9%	10,693	1.0%	118
Minidoka	18.5%	1,331	80.5%	5,797	1.0%	73
Nez Perce	36.6%	6,476	62.2%	11,009	1.2%	215
Oneida	14.3%	304	83.9%	1,789	1.9%	40
Owyhee	19.1%	685	79.6%	2,859	1.3%	46
Payette	22.6%	1,848	76.5%	6,256	0.9%	77
Power	28.0%	829	71.2%	2,105	0.8%	24
Shoshone	43.7%	2,331	54.7%	2,922	1.6%	84
Teton	38.4%	1,416	60.6%	2,235	1.1%	39
Twin Falls	24.4%	6,458	74.4%	19,672	1.2%	305
Valley	38.6%	1,843	60.0%	2,863	1.4%	68
Washington	23.7%	1,033	75.1%	3,274	1.2%	52

By congressional district

Bush won both congressional districts.

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
1st	69%	30%	Butch Otter
2nd	69%	30%	Mike Simpson

Electors

Technically the voters of Idaho cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Idaho is allocated 4 electors because it has 2 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 4 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 4 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 Idaho. All were pledged to and voted for George Bush and Dick Cheney.

1. Pete T. Cenarrusa
2. Debbie Field
3. Sandra Patano
4. John Sandy

References

3. "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
4. "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
5. "Specials". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
6. "Specials". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
7. Archived May 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

• Uselectionatlas.org
• Archives.gov