United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, 2004

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By voting for Senator John F. Kerry, Pennsylvania was the only major swing state of three to choose the Democratic challenger (Ohio and Florida, the other two extremely pivotal states, both went for Bush.) Kerry won only 12 of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania, but these 12 counties have the highest populations in the commonwealth. This Kerry victory can be attributed to the overwhelmingly Democratic cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Erie. While it should be noted that smaller Kerry-held cities which voted for the Senator by narrow margins assisted him in advancing his margin over President Bush, many political anaylsts underscored the fact that if Philadelphia were excluded, President George W. Bush would have won Pennsylvania by a fairly slim margin, with 2,663,748 versus 2,395,890 for Kerry. Interestingly, though Pennsylvania is closely divided in most elections, it has not voted Republican in a Presidential election since 1988.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were the biggest contributors to Kerry's victory in Pennsylvania. However, many liberal Republicans in suburban Philadelphia counties (Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery, and somewhat in Chester) voted for Kerry, which may well have been the deciding factor. Kerry also had narrow margins of victory around cities like Allentown, Scranton, Erie, and the traditionally Democratic Pittsburgh suburbs; he also garnered many votes in certain rural areas such as parts of the Poconos and the Laurel Highlands, and in cities like Reading, Johnstown, Harrisburg, and State College. Bush's margins were extremely large in Central Pennsylvania and the sparsely populated Northern Tier, with traditional GOP cities such as Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Altoona, and Williamsport strongly throwing their support behind him. This area, along with rural Western Maryland, was clearly the most conservative in the Northeast.


Presidential Candidate Running Mate Party Electoral Vote (EV) Popular Vote (PV)
The cities of Philadelphia, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Erie went Democratic, while the entire rest of the state voted Bush, by varying margins
The cities of Philadelphia, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Erie went Democratic, while the entire rest of the state voted Bush, by varying margins
John Kerry of Massachusetts John Edwards of North Carolina Democrat 21 2,938,095 50.92%
George W. Bush of Texas Richard Cheney of Wyoming Republican 0 2,793,847 48.42%
Michael Badnarik of Texas Richard Campagna of Iowa Libertarian 0 21,185 0.37%
Others - - 0 16,463 0.29%
Other elections: 2000, 2004, 2008

Statewide winner in bold. See main article : U.S. presidential election, 2004.

[edit] Results by county

County John Kerry George Bush Other
Percentage Count Percentage Count Percentage Count
Adams 32.6% 13,764 66.9% 28,247 0.5% 217
Allegheny 57.2% 368,912 42.1% 271,925 0.7% 4,632
Armstrong 38.7% 12,025 60.9% 18,925 0.5% 147
Beaver 51.1% 42,146 48.4% 39,916 0.6% 481
Bedford 26.5% 6,016 73.2% 16,606 0.3% 57
Berks 46.4% 76,309 53.0% 87,122 0.6% 1,056
Blair 33.4% 18,105 66.0% 35,751 0.6% 322
Bradford 33.5% 8,590 66.0% 16,942 0.5% 120
Bucks 51.1% 163,438 48.3% 154,469 0.6% 1,909
Butler 35.2% 30,090 64.3% 54,959 0.4% 376
Cambria 48.7% 32,591 50.8% 34,048 0.5% 344
Cameron 33.0% 794 66.5% 1,599 0.5% 13
Carbon 48.8% 12,223 50.0% 12,519 1.2% 301
Centre 47.8% 30,733 51.6% 33,133 0.6% 387
Chester 47.5% 109,708 52.0% 120,036 0.5% 1,079
Clarion 35.2% 6,049 64.4% 11,063 0.4% 72
Clearfield 39.5% 13,518 60.0% 20,533 0.5% 182
Clinton 41.7% 5,823 57.5% 8,035 0.8% 109
Columbia 39.7% 10,679 59.7% 16,052 0.5% 138
Crawford 41.8% 16,013 57.3% 21,965 0.9% 344
Cumberland 35.8% 37,928 63.8% 67,648 0.5% 506
Dauphin 45.6% 55,299 53.9% 65,296 0.5% 613
Delaware 57.1% 162,601 42.3% 120,425 0.5% 1,512
Elk 45.4% 6,602 54.1% 7,872 0.5% 76
Erie 53.9% 67,921 45.6% 57,372 0.5% 605
Fayette 53.2% 29,120 45.8% 25,045 1.0% 542
Forest 38.4% 989 61.1% 1,571 0.5% 13
Franklin 28.3% 16,562 71.4% 41,817 0.3% 190
Fulton 23.5% 1,475 76.1% 4,772 0.4% 24
Greene 49.3% 7,674 50.0% 7,786 0.7% 105
Huntingdon 32.6% 5,879 67.2% 12,126 0.3% 53
Indiana 43.7% 15,831 55.9% 20,254 0.4% 163
Jefferson 31.0% 6,073 68.4% 13,371 0.6% 116
Juniata 28.0% 2,797 71.4% 7,144 0.6% 65
Lackawanna 56.3% 59,573 42.3% 44,766 1.4% 1,480
Lancaster 33.6% 74,328 65.8% 145,591 0.6% 1,359
Lawrence 49.2% 21,387 50.5% 21,938 0.3% 117
Lebanon 32.5% 18,109 66.6% 37,089 0.8% 467
Lehigh 51.0% 73,940 48.4% 70,160 0.7% 991
Luzerne 51.1% 69,573 47.7% 64,953 1.1% 1,502
Lycoming 31.3% 15,681 67.9% 33,961 0.8% 407
McKean 36.1% 6,294 62.8% 10,941 1.1% 191
Mercer 48.2% 24,831 51.0% 26,311 0.8% 422
Mifflin 29.1% 4,889 69.8% 11,726 1.1% 187
Monroe 49.6% 27,967 49.6% 27,971 0.7% 404
Montgomery 55.6% 222,048 44.0% 175,741 0.5% 1,802
Montour 35.0% 2,666 64.3% 4,903 0.7% 55
Northampton 50.1% 63,446 49.0% 62,102 0.9% 1,192
Northumberland 39.3% 14,602 60.0% 22,262 0.7% 270
Perry 27.9% 5,423 71.6% 13,919 0.4% 85
Philadelphia 80.4% 542,205 19.3% 130,099 0.3% 1,765
Pike 40.6% 8,656 58.4% 12,444 0.9% 199
Potter 28.5% 2,268 70.8% 5,640 0.7% 54
Schuylkill 44.8% 29,231 54.6% 35,640 0.6% 398
Snyder 29.0% 4,348 70.5% 10,566 0.5% 69
Somerset 34.9% 12,842 64.7% 23,802 0.4% 134
Sullivan 36.9% 1,213 62.6% 2,056 0.5% 16
Susquehanna 38.6% 7,351 60.8% 11,573 0.6% 116
Tioga 30.9% 5,437 68.4% 12,019 0.7% 115
Union 35.4% 5,700 64.1% 10,334 0.6% 89
Venango 38.1% 9,024 61.2% 14,472 0.7% 163
Warren 41.7% 8,044 57.1% 10,999 1.2% 230
Washington 50.1% 48,225 49.6% 47,673 0.3% 279
Wayne 36.7% 8,060 62.4% 13,713 0.9% 194
Westmoreland 43.5% 77,774 56.0% 100,087 0.5% 835
Wyoming 38.8% 4,982 60.6% 7,782 0.5% 68
York 35.5% 63,701 63.7% 114,270 0.7% 1,298
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