2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia

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Election in West Virginia

2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Turnout 64.7% (of registered voters)
53.3% (of voting age population)
West Virginia Presidential Election Results 2004.svg

County Results

The 2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 5 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

West Virginia was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 12.86% margin of victory. Prior to the election, 8 of 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a red state, while others considered it a swing state. Democratic President Bill Clinton easily won this state in 1992 and 1996, but Bush carried the state in 2000 with just 51.92% of the vote. West Virginia is the only state to vote against George H. W. Bush both times and vote for George W. Bush both times. On election day, President Bush won here with a 6.53% better margin than his performance in 2000, signaling that the state was trending Republican at the presidential level. This was despite the fact that more than 50% of the state’s population were registered Democrats, and both senators were Democrats.

This also marked the last election in which West Virginia voted for the same presidential candidate as neighboring Virginia, and the first election since 1944 in which West Virginia voted more Republican than Virginia. Since then, West Virginia has voted for the Republican presidential candidate while neighboring Virginia has voted for the Democratic candidate. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Fayette County, Brooke County, Logan County, and Mingo County voted for the Democratic candidate. Bush was the first Republican since William McKinley to carry West Virginia twice.

Campaign[edit]

Predictions[edit]

There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.[1]

Polling[edit]

Early on, pre-election polling showed the election as a pure toss up. But after September 14, Bush pulled away and reached 50% or higher in the polls. The final 3 poll average showed Bush leading 50% to 44%.[2]

Fundraising[edit]

Bush raised $527,380.[3] Kerry raised $627,425.[4]

Advertising and visits[edit]

Bush visited the state 8 times. Kerry visited the state 6 times.[5] A total of between $100,000 to $550,000 was spent each week. As the election went on, both tickets spent less and less here each week.[6]

Analysis[edit]

More than any other state, West Virginia highlighted Kerry’s trouble in Appalachian America. It swung heavily to the Democrats during the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and remained reliably Democratic for most of the next 68 years. It often voted for Democrats (such as Jimmy Carter and Mike Dukakis) who went on to big national defeats. This was largely due to its blue-collar, heavily unionized workers, especially coal miners, who favored Democratic economic policy. Starting with George W. Bush, however, the state’s voters became more receptive to Republicans.

Results[edit]

By county[edit]

County Bush # Bush % Kerry # Kerry % Other # Other % Total #
Barbour 3,975 59.77% 2,636 39.63% 40 0.60% 6651
Berkeley 20,724 63.09% 11,888 36.19% 236 0.72% 32848
Boone 4,163 41.18% 5,890 58.26% 57 0.56% 10110
Braxton 2,964 49.33% 3,014 50.17% 30 0.50% 6008
Brooke 5,147 48.13% 5,460 51.06% 86 0.80% 10693
Cabell 20,777 55.51% 16,328 43.63% 323 0.86% 37428
Calhoun 1,569 54.92% 1,253 43.86% 35 1.23% 2857
Clay 2,183 53.95% 1,824 45.08% 39 0.96% 4046
Doddridge 2,340 73.96% 792 25.03% 32 1.01% 3164
Fayette 7,767 46.40% 8,860 52.93% 112 0.67% 16739
Gilmer 1,660 58.43% 1,153 40.58% 28 0.99% 2841
Grant 4,005 80.62% 944 19.00% 19 0.38% 4968
Greenbrier 6,743 57.06% 4,988 42.21% 87 0.74% 11818
Hampshire 5,465 68.66% 2,444 30.70% 51 0.64% 7960
Hancock 7,224 50.98% 6,829 48.19% 117 0.83% 14170
Hardy 3,600 68.83% 1,606 30.71% 24 0.46% 5230
Harrison 16,913 55.93% 13,102 43.32% 227 0.75% 30242
Jackson 7,604 58.43% 5,332 40.97% 77 0.59% 13013
Jefferson 10,442 52.76% 9,202 46.50% 147 0.74% 19791
Kanawha 43,777 50.57% 42,321 48.89% 472 0.55% 86570
Lewis 4,445 63.51% 2,475 35.36% 79 1.13% 6999
Lincoln 4,102 49.35% 4,048 48.70% 162 1.95% 8312
Logan 6,513 45.44% 7,760 54.14% 59 0.41% 14332
Marion 11,501 48.23% 12,771 50.59% 273 1.08% 24545
Marshall 8,443 56.51% 6,379 42.70% 118 0.79% 14940
Mason 6,451 54.13% 5,374 45.09% 93 0.78% 11918
McDowell 2,729 37.76% 4,464 61.76% 35 0.48% 7228
Mercer 12,914 58.41% 9,052 40.94% 142 0.64% 22108
Mineral 7,640 68.42% 3,444 30.84% 83 0.74% 11167
Mingo 4,544 43.21% 5,912 56.22% 60 0.57% 10516
Monongalia 17,459 51.48% 16,136 47.58% 317 0.93% 33912
Monroe 3,596 60.22% 2,321 38.87% 54 0.90% 5971
Morgan 3,978 64.99% 2,086 34.08% 57 0.93% 6121
Nicholas 5,389 52.92% 4,718 46.33% 76 0.75% 10183
Ohio 11,539 57.42% 8,406 41.83% 152 0.76% 20097
Pendleton 2,120 60.50% 1,367 39.01% 17 0.49% 3504
Pleasants 2,023 59.87% 1,333 39.45% 23 0.68% 3379
Pocahontas 2,282 58.56% 1,565 40.16% 50 1.28% 3897
Preston 7,813 65.85% 3,944 33.24% 107 0.90% 11864
Putnam 15,587 62.50% 9,223 36.98% 129 0.52% 24939
Raleigh 18,072 60.70% 11,522 38.70% 180 0.60% 29774
Randolph 6,495 56.70% 4,880 42.60% 80 0.70% 11455
Ritchie 3,060 73.58% 1,060 25.49% 39 0.94% 4159
Roane 3,424 56.42% 2,599 42.82% 46 0.76% 6069
Summers 2,963 53.94% 2,489 45.31% 41 0.75% 5493
Taylor 3,893 59.43% 2,617 39.95% 41 0.63% 6551
Tucker 2,151 60.54% 1,382 38.90% 20 0.56% 3553
Tyler 2,770 65.97% 1,386 33.01% 43 1.02% 4199
Upshur 6,134 66.68% 2,998 32.59% 67 0.73% 9199
Wayne 9,998 54.08% 8,363 45.23% 128 0.69% 18489
Webster 1,706 46.45% 1,943 52.90% 24 0.65% 3673
Wetzel 3,609 51.90% 3,293 47.35% 52 0.75% 6954
Wirt 1,351 64.58% 714 34.13% 27 1.29% 2092
Wood 22,788 63.06% 13,111 36.28% 239 0.66% 36138
Wyoming 4,930 57.09% 3,666 42.46% 39 0.45% 8635

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican[edit]

By congressional district[edit]

Bush won all 3 congressional districts, including two held by Democrats.[8]

Electors[edit]

Technically the voters of WV cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. WV is allocated 5 electors because it has 3 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 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 5 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 5 were pledged for Bush/Cheney:

  1. Rob Capehart
  2. Doug McKinney
  3. Dan Moore
  4. Richie Robb
  5. Larry Faircloth

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Archived copy”. dcpoliticalreport.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ “Election 2004 Polls – Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections”. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012.
  3. ^ “George W Bush – $374,659,453 raised, ’04 election cycle, Republican Party, President”. Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  4. ^ “John F Kerry – $345,826,176 raised, ’04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President”. Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  5. ^ “Specials”. Cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  6. ^ “Specials”. Cnn.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  7. ^ “Official General Election Results for US president (2004)” (PDF). p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  8. ^ “Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008”. Swing State Project. Retrieved 2015-05-20.



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