2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota explained

See main article: 2004 United States presidential election.

Election Name:2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota
Country:South Dakota
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2000 United States presidential election in South Dakota
Previous Year:2000
Next Election:2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota
Next Year:2008
Election Date:November 2, 2004
Image1:File:George-W-Bush.jpeg
Nominee1:George W. Bush
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:Texas
Running Mate1:Dick Cheney
Electoral Vote1:3
Popular Vote1:232,584
Percentage1:59.91%
Nominee2:John Kerry
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Massachusetts
Running Mate2:John Edwards
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:149,244
Percentage2:38.44%
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:77.3%

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

South Dakota was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 21.5 point 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. Since 1940, the state has voted for the Republican nominee in every presidential election, except 1964.

Primaries

Campaign

Predictions

There were twelve 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 PostWashington Post
Washington Dispatch
Washington Times
The New York Times
CNN
Newsweek
Associated Press
Rasmussen Reports

Polling

Bush won every pre-election by a double-digit margin. The final three poll average showed Bush with 55% to Kerry at 39 percent[2]

Fundraising

Bush raised $399,805.[3] Kerry raised $71,553.[4]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall campaign season.[5] [6]

Analysis

South Dakota politics are generally dominated by the Republican Party, and the state has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 — even George McGovern, the Democratic nominee in 1972 and himself a South Dakotan, did not carry the state.[7] [8] Additionally, a Democrat has not won the governorship since 1978. As of 2006, Republicans held a ten percent voter registration advantage over Democrats[9] and hold majorities in both the state House of Representatives[10] and Senate.[11]

Despite the state's general Republican and conservative leanings, Democrats have found success in various statewide elections, most notably in those involving South Dakota's congressional representatives in Washington. Two of the three members of the state's congressional delegation at the time were Democrats, and Senator Tom Daschle was the Senate minority leader (and briefly its majority leader during Democratic control of the Senate in 2001–02).[12]

Opposition to the Iraq War in this isolationist state[13] did allow Kerry to improve upon Al Gore’s performance in 2000 by two percentage points. Kerry's gains may also be attributed to Daschle's efforts to get Native American votes during his narrow defeat to John Thune in the concurrent Senate election. As a result, Kerry won four counties – Corson, Day, Roberts and Ziebach – that Gore had not carried in 2000.

Results

Presidential CandidateRunning MatePartyElectoral Vote (EV)Popular Vote (PV)
George W. Bush (incumbent)Richard Cheney (incumbent)Republican3232,58459.91%
John KerryDemocrat0149,24438.44%
Peter CamejoIndependent04,3201.11%
Constitution01,1030.28%
Libertarian09640.25%

Results by county

County[14] George W. Bush
Republican
John Kerry
Democratic
Ralph Nader
Independent
Michael Peroutka
Constitution
Michael J. Badnarik
Libertarian
MarginTotal votes cast
data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %
Aurora1,00961.19%62037.60%150.91%40.24%10.06%38923.59%1,649
Beadle4,91757.98%3,44340.60%770.91%190.22%240.28%1,47417.38%8,480
Bennett83351.10%75946.56%160.98%110.67%110.67%744.54%1,630
Bon Homme2,06360.53%1,29337.94%361.06%50.15%110.32%77022.59%3,408
Brookings7,66257.29%5,44340.70%1901.42%310.23%490.37%2,21916.59%13,375
Brown10,38655.84%7,94342.71%1971.06%340.18%390.21%2,44313.13%18,599
Brule1,54458.73%1,04039.56%301.14%90.34%60.23%50419.17%2,629
Buffalo22326.52%60371.70%101.19%20.24%30.36%-380-45.18%841
Butte3,16674.13%1,00923.62%451.05%350.82%160.37%2,15750.51%4,271
Campbell70873.83%23924.92%40.42%70.73%10.10%46948.91%959
Charles Mix2,55653.27%2,15544.91%731.52%50.10%90.19%4018.36%4,798
Clark1,43561.67%87537.60%110.47%50.21%10.04%56024.07%2,327
Clay2,69243.87%3,31554.03%951.55%90.15%250.41%-623-10.16%6,136
Codington7,77861.00%4,80337.67%1351.06%190.15%160.13%2,97523.33%12,751
Corson72041.76%97256.38%140.81%120.70%60.35%-252-14.62%1,724
Custer2,92267.89%1,27229.55%581.35%360.84%160.37%1,65038.34%4,304
Davison5,56162.12%3,26336.45%941.05%180.20%160.18%2,29825.67%8,952
Day1,67147.20%1,81751.33%320.90%50.14%150.42%-146-4.13%3,540
Deuel1,40658.29%96139.84%251.04%80.33%120.50%44518.45%2,412
Dewey92135.92%1,60662.64%261.01%80.31%30.12%-685-26.72%2,564
Douglas1,59679.32%39319.53%140.70%50.25%40.20%1,20359.79%2,012
Edmunds1,43464.19%76534.24%190.85%120.54%40.18%66929.95%2,234
Fall River2,41362.76%1,32634.49%671.74%230.60%160.42%1,08728.27%3,845
Faulk94569.03%41830.53%50.37%10.07%00.00%52738.50%1,369
Grant2,39258.48%1,63339.93%431.05%120.29%100.24%75918.55%4,090
Gregory1,68566.18%81331.93%361.41%60.24%60.24%87234.25%2,546
Haakon1,00781.21%21917.66%70.56%60.48%10.08%78863.55%1,240
Hamlin1,94664.63%1,01533.71%371.23%70.23%60.20%93130.92%3,011
Hand1,48267.76%66830.54%291.33%40.18%40.18%81437.22%2,187
Hanson1,37964.14%74534.65%231.07%20.09%10.05%63429.49%2,150
Harding70486.38%9411.53%131.60%30.37%10.12%61074.85%815
Hughes6,01768.10%2,69730.53%760.86%220.25%230.26%3,32037.57%8,835
Hutchinson2,89969.91%1,17728.38%491.18%80.19%140.34%1,72241.53%4,147
Hyde63170.11%25928.78%60.67%20.22%20.22%37241.33%900
Jackson72657.12%50839.97%211.65%110.87%50.39%21817.15%1,271
Jerauld73659.55%48239.00%131.05%30.24%20.16%25420.55%1,236
Jones56578.80%13418.69%111.53%20.28%50.70%43160.11%717
Kingsbury1,80459.85%1,16338.59%341.13%40.13%90.30%64121.26%3,014
Lake3,35955.92%2,50941.77%1081.80%120.20%190.32%85014.15%6,007
Lawrence7,48964.45%3,85733.20%1761.51%460.40%510.44%3,63231.25%11,619
Lincoln11,16165.40%5,70333.42%1410.83%320.19%290.17%5,45831.98%17,066
Lyman1,02953.04%87244.95%211.08%120.62%60.31%1578.09%1,940
Marshall1,24252.54%1,09946.49%140.59%30.13%60.25%1436.05%2,364
McCook2,01761.66%1,20136.72%381.16%90.28%60.18%81624.94%3,271
McPherson1,18074.73%36923.37%181.14%70.44%50.32%81151.36%1,579
Meade8,34772.56%2,94125.57%1171.02%770.67%220.19%5,40646.99%11,504
Mellette55359.40%36138.78%101.07%50.54%20.21%19220.62%931
Miner81055.10%64143.61%130.88%50.34%10.07%16911.49%1,470
Minnehaha44,18956.92%32,31441.62%8041.04%1710.22%1540.20%11,87515.30%77,632
Moody1,79051.87%1,60946.62%361.04%100.29%60.17%1815.25%3,451
Pennington29,97666.66%14,21331.61%5411.20%1020.23%1360.30%15,76335.05%44,968
Perkins1,32973.30%41823.06%251.38%341.88%70.39%91150.24%1,813
Potter1,14370.64%46328.62%90.56%20.12%10.06%68042.02%1,618
Roberts2,39648.09%2,52750.72%490.98%40.08%60.12%-131-2.63%4,982
Sanborn81757.29%58140.74%191.33%30.21%60.42%23616.55%1,426
Shannon52612.48%3,56684.62%701.66%410.97%110.26%-3,040-72.14%4,214
Spink2,25959.86%1,47839.16%270.72%50.13%50.13%78120.70%3,774
Stanley1,12969.56%46428.59%201.23%40.25%60.37%66540.97%1,623
Sully70276.55%20121.92%121.31%20.22%00.00%50154.63%917
Todd88925.23%2,54372.16%461.31%320.91%140.40%-1,654-46.93%3,524
Tripp2,23068.72%97229.95%290.89%100.31%40.12%1,25838.77%3,245
Turner3,08463.80%1,64634.05%821.70%130.27%90.19%1,43829.75%4,834
Union3,98756.57%3,00042.57%430.61%60.09%120.17%98714.00%7,048
Walworth1,96768.30%87830.49%200.69%120.42%30.10%1,08937.81%2,880
Yankton6,00357.55%4,23740.62%1291.24%270.26%350.34%1,76616.93%10,431
Ziebach44740.05%64157.44%171.52%70.63%40.36%-194-17.39%1,116
Totals232,58459.91%149,24438.44%4,3201.11%1,1030.28%9640.25%83,34021.47%388,215

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Due to the state's small 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.

Electors

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

Technically the voters of SD cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. SD is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 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 3 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 3 were pledged for Bush/Cheney.[15]

  1. Dennis Daugaard
  2. Larry Long
  3. Mike Rounds

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW
  2. Web site: Election 2004 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections . 2009-10-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081116175541/http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/GENERAL/CAMPAIGN/2004/polls.php?fips=46 . 2008-11-16 . dead .
  3. Web site: George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President . Campaignmoney.com . 2015-05-20.
  4. Web site: John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President . Campaignmoney.com . 2015-05-20.
  5. News: CNN.com Specials. CNN.com . 2015-05-20.
  6. News: CNN.com Specials. CNN.com . 2015-05-20.
  7. Web site: McGOVERN, George Stanley, (1922-) . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress . 2007-10-05 .
  8. Web site: Presidential General Election Graph Comparison - South Dakota . www.uselectionatlas.org . 2007-10-05 .
  9. Web site: South Dakota Voter Registration Statistics . South Dakota Secretary of State . 2007-04-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722011751/http://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/pastelections_voterstats1988-2004.shtm . 2011-07-22 . dead .
  10. Web site: Official List of South Dakota Representatives . State of South Dakota . 2007-04-10 . August 10, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070810142020/http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2007/hourost.htm . dead .
  11. Web site: Official List of South Dakota Senators . State of South Dakota . 2007-04-10 . August 10, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070810142019/http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2007/senrost.htm . dead .
  12. News: Daschle Loses S.D. Senate Seat to Thune . www.foxnews.com . 2007-04-10 . 2004-11-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070523071147/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137397,00.html . 2007-05-23 . dead .
  13. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  14. Our Campaigns; SD US Presidential Election Race, November 02, 2004
  15. Web site: NARA | Federal Register | U.S. Electoral College . Archives.gov . 2015-05-20.