United States presidential election in Vermont, 2004

United States presidential election in Vermont, 2004
Vermont
November 2, 2004

 
Nominee John Kerry George W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Massachusetts Texas
Running mate John Edwards Dick Cheney
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 184,067 121,180
Percentage 58.94% 38.80%

County Results
  Kerry—60-70%
  Kerry—50-60%
  Bush—50-60%

President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election in Vermont 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 3 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Vermont is the home state of U.S. presidential candidate and anti-war advocate Howard Dean, its former governor. It was also the only state in the U.S. to elect a socialist representative (Bernie Sanders).

Vermont voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, over incumbent Republican President George W. Bush of Texas.

Kerry received 58.94% of the vote to Bush's 38.80%, a Democratic victory margin of 20.14%. [1]

Kerry also swept 13 of the state's 14 counties, breaking 60% in 6 of them. Kerry's strongest county was Windham County, which he won with 66.43% of the vote to Bush's 31.22%. Only one county voted for Bush, sparsely populated Essex County in the far northeast of the state, which Bush won with 54.17% of the vote.

A state with strong liberal and anti-war tendencies, Vermont registered as the third most Democratic state in the nation in the 2004 election, its results making the state about 23% more Democratic than the nation. It also had the strongest Democratic swing of any state in the nation against Bush compared to the 2000 result. Even as Bush increased his nationwide popular vote support from a 0.52% loss to Al Gore in 2000 to a 2.46% nationwide victory in 2004, Vermont swung 10.20% against Bush, making the state trend 13.18% Democratic relative to the nation. This portended the future trend of the state toward dominance by the Democratic Party, as Democrat Barack Obama would carry the state in a 67-30 landslide four years later in 2008 and again in 2012.

Kerry, from neighboring Massachusetts, was the first Northern Democrat ever to carry Vermont. The previous three Democratic presidential candidates to carry the state were all from the South (Lyndon B. Johnson was from Texas, Bill Clinton from Arkansas and Al Gore from Tennessee).

Democratic Primary

Primary date: March 2, 2004

Vermont Democratic presidential primary, 2004[2]
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Howard Dean 44,393 53.6% 9
John Kerry 26,171 31.6% 6
Dennis Kucinich 3,396 4.1% 0
Wesley Clark 2,749 3.3% 0
Others 1,059 1.3% 0
Total - 100.00% 28

Results

Presidential Candidate Party Electoral Vote (EV) Popular Vote Percentage
John Kerry Democratic 3 184,067 58.94%
George W. Bush Republican 0 121,180 38.80%
Ralph Nader Independent 0 4,494 1.44%
Michael Badnarik Libertarian 0 1,102 0.35%
Write ins 0 957 0.31%
Others 0 509 0.16%

Results Breakdown

By county

County John F. Kerry George W. Bush Others
Windham 66.4% 15,489 31.2% 7,280 2.3% 547
Chittenden 63.5% 49,369 34.0% 26,422 2.5% 1,905
Lamoille 62.7% 7,636 35.0% 4,260 2.3% 285
Washington 61.0% 19,177 36.4% 11,461 2.6% 810
Windsor 60.3% 18,561 37.3% 11,491 2.3% 715
Addison 60.0% 11,147 38.1% 7,077 1.9% 355
Bennington 58.1% 11,069 39.9% 7,616 2.0% 380
Grand Isle 55.1% 2,246 43.0% 1,754 1.9% 77
Orange 54.8% 8,159 43.1% 6,421 2.1% 315
Franklin 53.2% 10,598 44.9% 8,936 1.9% 386
Orleans 51.7% 6,330 46.3% 5,666 2.0% 246
Rutland 51.3% 15,904 46.6% 14,440 2.0% 631
Caledonia 50.0% 7,106 47.6% 6,765 2.4% 340
Essex 43.4% 1,276 54.2% 1,591 2.4% 70

References

See also