United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2004

United States presidential election in Louisiana, 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 9 0 Popular vote 1,102,169 820,299 Percentage 56.7% 42.2%

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

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

The 2004 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 2, 2004 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 9 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Louisiana was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 14.5% 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. Bush's performance was much wider margin than that of his 2000 results which was 6.8% less. The state, like other states in the Deep South, is racially polarized when it comes to presidential elections, as a wide majority of the white population votes Republican, and a wide majority of the black population votes Democratic.

Primaries

• Louisiana Democratic primary, 2004

Campaign

Predictions

Elections in Louisiana
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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: Leans Republican
2. Associated Press: Leans Bush
3. CNN: Bush
4. Cook Political Report: Lean 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

Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each by at least 48% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Bush leading 51% to 39%.^[2]

Fundraising

Bush raised $1,933,549.^[3] Kerry raised $1,303,859.^[4]

Advertising and visits

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

Analysis

Bush performed here better than he did in 2000. He won four more parishes: Caddio, Bienville, St. Landry, and West Baton Rague (WBR), but he won each with very slim margins of victory of less than two percent, except for WBR which he won with 54% of the vote indicating that the parish is trending Republican. In the northern portion of the state, he barely lost in Madison and Tensas. The only two parishes in which he got less than 40% of the vote in were East Carroll and Orleans. Bush also won six of seven congressional districts in the state, each with at least 58% of the vote. The Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which covers the parish and city of Orleans, was won by Kerry with 70% of the vote. In other words, no CD in the state was competitive.

Results

Results breakdown

By parish

By congressional district

Bush won 6 of 7 congressional districts.

Electors

Technically the voters of Louisiana cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Louisiana is allocated 9 electors because it has 7 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 9 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 9 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 9 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:

1. Tom Angers
2. Michael Bayham
3. David R. Carroll
4. Archie Corder
5. Floyd Gonzalez
6. Gerald Hebert
7. John H. Musser
8. Sal Palmisano
9. Ruth L. Ulrich

References

See also

State results of the United States presidential election, 2004 Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming