2004 United States presidential election in Kansas explained

See main article: 2004 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	2004 United States presidential election in Kansas
Country:	Kansas
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2000 United States presidential election in Kansas
Previous Year:	2000
Next Election:	2008 United States presidential election in Kansas
Next Year:	2008
Election Date:	November 2, 2004
Image1:	George-W-Bush.jpeg
Nominee1:	George W. Bush
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:	Texas
Running Mate1:	Dick Cheney
Electoral Vote1:	6
Popular Vote1:	736,456
Percentage1:	62.00%
Nominee2:	John Kerry
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Massachusetts
Running Mate2:	John Edwards
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	434,993
Percentage2:	36.62%
Map Size:	300px
President
Before Election:	George W. Bush
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	George W. Bush
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)
Turnout:	70.1% (of registered voters) 58.6% (of voting age population)

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

Kansas was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 25.4% 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. On election day, it trended Republican from the 2000 election by a swing margin of almost 5%. He won every single congressional district and county, excluding two: Wyandotte County and Douglas County.

Caucuses

• 2004 Kansas Democratic presidential caucuses

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]

!Source!Ranking

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

Polling

Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each by a double-digit margin of victory and with at least 56% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Bush leading 58% to 37% for Kerry and 3% for Nader.^[2]

Fundraising

Bush raised $980,035.^[3] Kerry raised $387,484.^[4]

Advertising and visits

Neither presidential candidate advertised or visited this state. However, John Edwards visited the city of Lawrence in Douglas County briefly.^{[5] [6]}

Analysis

Apart from its flirtation with William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson, Kansas has always been a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, voting for GOP nominees in all but seven elections since statehood. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry Kansas was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide in 1964. A combination of rural counties embedded with deep pockets of evangelical Christianity/social conservatism and moderate, fiscally conservative residents in Johnson County, Kansas nearly always votes Republican.

Results

2004 United States presidential election in Kansas^[7] ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush (Inc.)	736,456	62.00%	6
	Democratic	John Kerry	434,993	36.62%	0
	Reform	Ralph Nader	9,348	0.79%	0
	Libertarian	Michael Badnarik	4,013	0.34%	0
	Independent	Michael Peroutka	2,899	0.24%	0
	Write In	David Cobb	33	0.00%	0
	Write In	John Joseph Kennedy	5	0.00%	0
	Write In	Bill Van Auken	5	0.00%	0
	Write In	Walt Brown	4	0.00%	0
Totals			1,187,756	100.00%	6
Voter turnout (Voting age population)					58.6%

Results by county

County^[9]	George W. Bush Republican		John Kerry Democratic		Ralph Nader Reform		Michael James Badnarik Libertarian		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Allen		3,867		65.84%		1,922		32.73%		53		0.90%		20		0.34%		11		0.19%		1,945		33.11%		5,873
	Anderson		2,500		64.72%		1,295		33.52%		40		1.04%		13		0.34%		15		0.39%		1,205		31.20%		3,863
	Atchison		3,880		54.51%		3,120		43.83%		65		0.91%		29		0.41%		24		0.34%		760		10.68%		7,118
	Barber		1,782		74.16%		588		24.47%		19		0.79%		4		0.17%		10		0.42%		1,194		49.69%		2,403
	Barton		8,666		74.03%		2,874		24.55%		106		0.91%		30		0.26%		30		0.26%		5,792		49.48%		11,706
	Bourbon		4,372		65.39%		2,216		33.14%		64		0.96%		23		0.34%		11		0.16%		2,156		32.25%		6,686
	Brown		3,092		69.99%		1,268		28.70%		35		0.79%		12		0.27%		11		0.25%		1,824		41.29%		4,418
	Butler		18,438		70.16%		7,495		28.52%		174		0.66%		92		0.35%		81		0.31%		10,943		41.64%		26,280
	Chase		1,055		70.29%		418		27.85%		12		0.80%		9		0.60%		7		0.47%		637		42.44%		1,501
	Chautauqua		1,529		78.01%		404		20.61%		10		0.51%		10		0.51%		7		0.36%		1,125		57.40%		1,960
	Cherokee		6,083		61.36%		3,726		37.59%		69		0.70%		23		0.23%		12		0.12%		2,357		23.77%		9,913
	Cheyenne		1,353		79.96%		320		18.91%		9		0.53%		7		0.41%		3		0.18%		1,033		61.05%		1,692
	Clark		1,014		78.54%		257		19.91%		8		0.62%		4		0.31%		8		0.62%		757		58.63%		1,291
	Clay		3,174		79.15%		793		19.78%		22		0.55%		12		0.30%		9		0.22%		2,381		59.37%		4,010
	Cloud		3,221		71.53%		1,210		26.87%		42		0.93%		17		0.38%		13		0.29%		2,011		44.66%		4,503
	Coffey		3,259		73.93%		1,093		24.80%		33		0.75%		12		0.27%		11		0.25%		2,166		49.13%		4,408
	Comanche		770		78.49%		200		20.39%		3		0.31%		4		0.41%		4		0.41%		570		58.10%		981
	Cowley		9,407		65.11%		4,818		33.35%		121		0.84%		60		0.42%		41		0.28%		4,589		31.76%		14,447
	Crawford		8,626		52.19%		7,617		46.09%		181		1.10%		60		0.36%		43		0.26%		1,009		6.10%		16,527
	Decatur		1,355		77.87%		355		20.40%		20		1.15%		8		0.46%		2		0.11%		1,000		57.47%		1,740
	Dickinson		6,295		71.61%		2,364		26.89%		72		0.82%		35		0.40%		25		0.28%		3,931		44.72%		8,791
	Doniphan		2,491		69.14%		1,065		29.56%		25		0.69%		14		0.39%		8		0.22%		1,426		39.58%		3,603
	Douglas		20,544		41.00%		28,634		57.14%		624		1.25%		209		0.42%		100		0.20%		-8,090		-16.14%		50,111
	Edwards		1,084		72.46%		386		25.80%		19		1.27%		3		0.20%		4		0.27%		698		46.66%		1,496
	Elk		1,119		73.86%		369		24.36%		17		1.12%		2		0.13%		8		0.53%		750		49.50%		1,515
	Ellis		7,891		64.75%		4,033		33.09%		158		1.30%		61		0.50%		44		0.36%		3,858		31.66%		12,187
	Ellsworth		2,259		72.82%		801		25.82%		23		0.74%		13		0.42%		6		0.19%		1,458		47.00%		3,102
	Finney		7,479		75.29%		2,351		23.67%		64		0.64%		18		0.18%		21		0.21%		5,128		51.62%		9,933
	Ford		6,632		73.56%		2,286		25.35%		61		0.68%		17		0.19%		20		0.22%		4,346		48.21%		9,016
	Franklin		7,391		64.40%		3,921		34.17%		106		0.92%		31		0.27%		27		0.24%		3,470		30.23%		11,476
	Geary		4,703		64.18%		2,531		34.54%		58		0.79%		21		0.29%		15		0.20%		2,172		29.64%		7,328
	Gove		1,196		81.53%		247		16.84%		12		0.82%		5		0.34%		7		0.48%		949		64.69%		1,467
	Graham		1,082		75.14%		334		23.19%		10		0.69%		6		0.42%		8		0.56%		748		51.95%		1,440
	Grant		2,169		78.64%		561		20.34%		11		0.40%		11		0.40%		6		0.22%		1,608		58.30%		2,758
	Gray		1,816		80.89%		408		18.17%		17		0.76%		4		0.18%		0		0.00%		1,408		62.72%		2,245
	Greeley		584		79.46%		138		18.78%		9		1.22%		3		0.41%		1		0.14%		446		60.68%		735
	Greenwood		2,282		70.35%		911		28.08%		30		0.92%		8		0.25%		13		0.40%		1,371		42.27%		3,244
	Hamilton		888		78.58%		229		20.27%		5		0.44%		7		0.62%		1		0.09%		659		58.31%		1,130
	Harper		2,154		73.52%		727		24.81%		30		1.02%		9		0.31%		10		0.34%		1,427		48.71%		2,930
	Harvey		9,534		63.10%		5,331		35.28%		171		1.13%		46		0.30%		28		0.19%		4,203		27.82%		15,110
	Haskell		1,356		84.80%		227		14.20%		10		0.63%		5		0.31%		1		0.06%		1,129		70.60%		1,599
	Hodgeman		953		80.56%		223		18.85%		6		0.51%		1		0.08%		0		0.00%		730		61.71%		1,183
	Jackson		3,730		63.35%		2,064		35.05%		44		0.75%		21		0.36%		29		0.49%		1,666		28.30%		5,888
	Jefferson		5,408		61.50%		3,253		37.00%		79		0.90%		32		0.36%		21		0.24%		2,155		24.50%		8,793
	Jewell		1,495		78.07%		385		20.10%		13		0.68%		10		0.52%		12		0.63%		1,110		57.97%		1,915
	Johnson		158,103		61.12%		97,866		37.83%		1,420		0.55%		992		0.38%		306		0.12%		60,237		23.29%		258,687
	Kearny		1,177		80.89%		272		18.69%		4		0.27%		1		0.07%		1		0.07%		905		62.20%		1,455
	Kingman		2,801		74.42%		904		24.02%		27		0.72%		14		0.37%		18		0.48%		1,897		50.40%		3,764
	Kiowa		1,275		81.47%		256		16.36%		19		1.21%		5		0.32%		10		0.64%		1,019		65.11%		1,565
	Labette		5,400		59.09%		3,615		39.56%		76		0.83%		28		0.31%		20		0.22%		1,785		19.53%		9,139
	Lane		823		81.16%		181		17.85%		4		0.39%		3		0.30%		3		0.30%		642		63.31%		1,014
	Leavenworth		15,949		58.35%		11,039		40.39%		191		0.70%		86		0.31%		66		0.24%		4,910		17.96%		27,331
	Lincoln		1,368		76.00%		391		21.72%		23		1.28%		11		0.61%		7		0.39%		977		54.28%		1,800
	Linn		3,048		64.29%		1,631		34.40%		37		0.78%		14		0.30%		11		0.23%		1,417		29.89%		4,741
	Logan		1,255		82.40%		248		16.28%		13		0.85%		3		0.20%		4		0.26%		1,007		66.12%		1,523
	Lyon		7,951		59.16%		5,234		38.94%		154		1.15%		48		0.36%		53		0.39%		2,717		20.22%		13,440
	Marion		4,516		73.32%		1,536		24.94%		69		1.12%		14		0.23%		24		0.39%		2,980		48.38%		6,159
	Marshall		3,261		63.84%		1,789		35.02%		39		0.76%		6		0.12%		13		0.25%		1,472		28.82%		5,108
	McPherson		9,595		71.78%		3,589		26.85%		114		0.85%		44		0.33%		25		0.19%		6,006		44.93%		13,367
	Meade		1,748		82.41%		356		16.78%		12		0.57%		3		0.14%		2		0.09%		1,392		65.63%		2,121
	Miami		9,013		64.31%		4,838		34.52%		90		0.64%		30		0.21%		45		0.32%		4,175		29.79%		14,016
	Mitchell		2,609		77.90%		693		20.69%		26		0.78%		10		0.30%		11		0.33%		1,916		57.21%		3,349
	Montgomery		9,598		67.99%		4,338		30.73%		98		0.69%		44		0.31%		38		0.27%		5,260		37.26%		14,116
	Morris		1,961		66.79%		931		31.71%		28		0.95%		6		0.20%		10		0.34%		1,030		35.08%		2,936
	Morton		1,287		81.66%		276		17.51%		5		0.32%		4		0.25%		4		0.25%		1,011		64.15%		1,576
	Nemaha		4,027		73.71%		1,355		24.80%		39		0.71%		19		0.35%		23		0.42%		2,672		48.91%		5,463
	Neosho		4,705		65.07%		2,424		33.52%		69		0.95%		19		0.26%		14		0.19%		2,281		31.55%		7,231
	Ness		1,407		77.39%		382		21.01%		17		0.94%		4		0.22%		8		0.44%		1,025		56.38%		1,818
	Norton		2,092		80.49%		473		18.20%		21		0.81%		8		0.31%		5		0.19%		1,619		62.29%		2,599
	Osage		4,800		64.32%		2,537		33.99%		77		1.03%		27		0.36%		22		0.29%		2,263		30.33%		7,463
	Osborne		1,587		76.48%		454		21.88%		25		1.20%		5		0.24%		4		0.19%		1,133		54.60%		2,075
	Ottawa		2,333		78.53%		595		20.03%		26		0.88%		8		0.27%		9		0.30%		1,738		58.50%		2,971
	Pawnee		2,172		72.69%		773		25.87%		26		0.87%		8		0.27%		9		0.30%		1,399		46.82%		2,988
	Phillips		2,256		79.24%		557		19.56%		20		0.70%		6		0.21%		8		0.28%		1,699		59.68%		2,847
	Pottawatomie		6,326		71.70%		2,176		24.66%		91		1.03%		30		0.34%		200		2.27%		4,150		47.04%		8,823
	Pratt		3,121		71.19%		1,200		27.37%		38		0.87%		18		0.41%		7		0.16%		1,921		43.82%		4,384
	Rawlins		1,414		82.21%		289		16.80%		9		0.52%		6		0.35%		2		0.12%		1,125		65.41%		1,720
	Reno		17,748		64.95%		9,114		33.36%		275		1.01%		91		0.33%		96		0.35%		8,634		31.59%		27,324
	Republic		2,238		77.47%		607		21.01%		20		0.69%		11		0.38%		13		0.45%		1,631		56.46%		2,889
	Rice		3,182		72.71%		1,130		25.82%		41		0.94%		3		0.07%		20		0.46%		2,052		46.89%		4,376
	Riley		12,672		60.60%		7,908		37.82%		224		1.07%		63		0.30%		44		0.21%		4,764		22.78%		20,911
	Rooks		2,121		78.27%		534		19.70%		37		1.37%		6		0.22%		12		0.44%		1,587		58.57%		2,710
	Rush		1,226		68.53%		517		28.90%		27		1.51%		9		0.50%		10		0.56%		709		39.63%		1,789
	Russell		2,671		75.77%		810		22.98%		24		0.68%		8		0.23%		12		0.34%		1,861		52.79%		3,525
	Saline		15,111		65.58%		7,524		32.65%		251		1.09%		78		0.34%		77		0.33%		7,587		32.93%		23,041
	Scott		1,924		83.69%		347		15.09%		17		0.74%		5		0.22%		6		0.26%		1,577		68.60%		2,299
	Sedgwick		110,381		62.12%		64,839		36.49%		1,345		0.76%		695		0.39%		419		0.24%		45,542		25.63%		177,679
	Seward		4,272		78.54%		1,122		20.63%		24		0.44%		8		0.15%		13		0.24%		3,150		57.91%		5,439
	Shawnee		44,188		54.17%		36,264		44.45%		687		0.84%		236		0.29%		202		0.25%		7,924		9.72%		81,577
	Sheridan		1,144		81.37%		239		17.00%		13		0.92%		2		0.14%		8		0.57%		905		64.37%		1,406
	Sherman		2,088		75.60%		632		22.88%		25		0.91%		13		0.47%		4		0.14%		1,456		52.72%		2,762
	Smith		1,803		76.08%		540		22.78%		17		0.72%		4		0.17%		6		0.25%		1,263		53.30%		2,370
	Stafford		1,649		75.43%		506		23.15%		20		0.91%		4		0.18%		7		0.32%		1,143		52.28%		2,186
	Stanton		796		82.40%		165		17.08%		4		0.41%		1		0.10%		0		0.00%		631		65.32%		966
	Stevens		1,936		85.47%		310		13.69%		12		0.53%		4		0.18%		3		0.13%		1,626		71.78%		2,265
	Sumner		7,092		67.62%		3,217		30.67%		92		0.88%		38		0.36%		49		0.47%		3,875		36.95%		10,488
	Thomas		3,007		77.70%		816		21.09%		28		0.72%		6		0.16%		13		0.34%		2,191		56.61%		3,870
	Trego		1,225		72.66%		434		25.74%		21		1.25%		4		0.24%		2		0.12%		791		46.92%		1,686
	Wabaunsee		2,531		70.23%		1,001		27.77%		36		1.00%		10		0.28%		26		0.72%		1,530		42.46%		3,604
	Wallace		742		84.70%		112		12.79%		13		1.48%		6		0.68%		3		0.34%		630		71.91%		876
	Washington		2,498		78.31%		643		20.16%		31		0.97%		6		0.19%		12		0.38%		1,855		58.15%		3,190
	Wichita		869		81.83%		183		17.23%		6		0.56%		4		0.38%		0		0.00%		686		64.60%		1,062
	Wilson		3,263		74.19%		1,060		24.10%		41		0.93%		13		0.30%		21		0.48%		2,203		50.09%		4,398
	Woodson		1,204		68.29%		530		30.06%		19		1.08%		3		0.17%		7		0.40%		674		38.23%		1,763
	Wyandotte		17,919		33.56%		34,923		65.40%		331		0.62%		123		0.23%		105		0.20%		-17,004		-31.84%		53,401
Totals	736,456		62.00%!	434,993	36.62%	9,348	0.79%	4,013	0.34%	2,946	0.25%	301,463	25.38%	1,187,756

Results by congressional district

Bush won all four congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.^[10]

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
		72%	26%		Jerry Moran
		59%	39%		Jim Ryun
		55%	44%		Dennis Moore
		64%	34%		Todd Tiahrt

Electors

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

Technically the voters of Kansas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kansas is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 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 6 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 6 were pledged to Bush/Cheney.^[11]

1. Ruth Garvey Fink
2. Bud Hentzen
3. Dennis Jones
4. Wanda Konold
5. Jack Ranson
6. Patricia Pitney Smith

See also

• United States presidential elections in Kansas
• Presidency of George W. Bush

Notes and References

1. Web site: Archived copy . dcpoliticalreport.com . 13 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101121204958/http://dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW . 21 November 2010 . dead.
2. Web site: 2004 Presidential Election Polls. Kansas Polls. US Election Atlas.
3. Web site: George W Bush — $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President.
4. Web site: John F Kerry — $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democrat Party, President.
5. 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 .
6. Web site: America votes 2004: Candidate tracker. . 2022-05-27.
7. Web site: Archived copy . July 17, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090513011625/http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2004/2004pres.pdf . May 13, 2009 .
8. Web site: 2004 Presidential General Election Results — Kansas.
9. Web site: Our Campaigns. KS US President Race — November 02, 2004.
10. Web site: Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008 – Swing State Project.
11. Web site: Kansas Secretary of State ± 2004 Presidential Electors.