2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island explained

See main article: 2004 United States presidential election.

Election Name:2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
Country:Rhode Island
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2000 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
Previous Year:2000
Next Election:2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
Next Year:2008
Turnout:62.1%[1] 0.7 pp
Election Date:November 2, 2004
Image1:File:John F. Kerry.jpg
Nominee1:John Kerry
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Massachusetts
Running Mate1:John Edwards
Electoral Vote1:4
Popular Vote1:259,760
Percentage1:59.42%
Nominee2:George W. Bush
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Texas
Running Mate2:Dick Cheney
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:169,046
Percentage2:38.67%
President
Before Election:George W. Bush
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:George W. Bush
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

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

Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 20.75% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Even though President George W. Bush fared better than he had in four years earlier, he was overwhelmingly defeated in a traditional Democratic stronghold, winning only 38% of the vote to 59% for Kerry.

As of 2020, this remains the only time in history that a Republican president has been re-elected without carrying Rhode Island.

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]

!Source!Ranking
D.C. Political Report
Cook Political Report
Research 2000
Zogby International
The Washington PostWashington Post
Washington Dispatch
Washington Times
The New York Times
CNN
Newsweek
Associated Press
Rasmussen Reports

Polling

Kerry won every single pre-election poll, each with a double-digit margin and with at least 49% of the vote. The final 3 poll average showed Kerry leading 55% to 38%.[3]

Fundraising

Bush raised $282,237.[4] Kerry raised $977,390.[5]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited here in the fall campaign.[6] [7]

Analysis

Federally, Rhode Island is one of the most reliably Democratic states during presidential elections, regularly giving the Democratic nominees one of their best showings. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only six states to vote against Ronald Reagan. Reagan did carry Rhode Island in his 49-state victory in 1984, but the state was the second weakest of the states Reagan won. Rhode Island was the Democrats' leading state in 1988 and 2000, and second-best in 1996 and 2004.

Historically, the state was devoted to Republicans until 1908, but has only strayed from the Democrats seven times in the 24 elections that have followed. In 2004, Rhode Island gave John Kerry more than a 20% margin of victory (the third-highest of any state), with 59.4% of its vote. All but three of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate. The only exceptions were East Greenwich, West Greenwich and Scituate.

Having some of the highest taxes in the nation, Rhode Island is considered to be a liberal bastion. In addition, Rhode Island has abolished capital punishment, making it one of 15 states that have done so. Rhode Island abolished the death penalty very early, just after Michigan (the first state to abolish it), and carried out its last execution in the 1840s.

Results

2004 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticJohn Kerry259,76059.42%4
RepublicanGeorge W. Bush (incumbent)169,04638.67%0
IndependentRalph Nader4,6511.06%0
GreenDavid Cobb1,333 0.30%0
LibertarianMichael Badnarik9070.2%0
IndependentWrite Ins8450.21%0
ConstitutionMichael Peroutka3390.08%0
Workers WorldJohn Parker2530.06%0

By county

CountyJohn Kerry
Democratic
George W. Bush
Republican
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%
Bristol14,44858.42%9,85539.85%4291.73%4,59318.57%24,732
Kent42,83054.90%33,69943.19%1,4891.91%9,13111.71%78,018
Newport22,99256.87%16,62241.12%8122.00%6,37015.75%40,426
Providence144,81162.60%82,33735.59%4,1761.81%62,47427.01%231,324
Washington34,67955.37%26,53342.36%1,4222.27%8,14613.01%62,634
Totals259,76059.42%169,04638.67%8,3281.91%90,71420.75%437,134

By congressional district

Kerry won both congressional districts.

DistrictBushKerryRepresentative
36%62%Patrick J. Kennedy
41%57%James Langevin

Electors

See main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors.

Technically the voters of Rhode Island cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Rhode Island 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 the state. All 4 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards.

  1. Teresa Paiva-Weed
  2. Elizabeth Dennigan
  3. John C. Lynch
  4. Mark Weiner

See also

Notes and References

  1. This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in 2004 (440,372) by an estimate of the number of registered voters in Rhode Island in 2004 (709,050). See Web site: Presidential Turnout History. February 6, 2018. Rhode Island Board of Elections.
  2. http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW
  3. Web site: 2004 Presidential Election Polls . uselectionatlas.org.
  4. Web site: George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President.
  5. Web site: John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President.
  6. Web site: America votes 2004: Candidate tracker . . 2022-05-27.
  7. News: America votes 2004: Campaign ad buys . CNN . 2022-05-27 . 2021-04-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210422073439/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/campaign.ads/ . live .