2004 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

The 2004 United States presidential election in Oklahoma took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 7 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Main article: 2004 United States presidential election

2004 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

November 2, 2004

Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards Electoral vote 7 0 Popular vote 959,792 503,966 Percentage 65.57% 34.43%

County Results Bush   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%

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

Oklahoma was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 31.14% 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 won this state, every single county, and congressional district. Giving Bush 65.57% of the vote, it was the most Republican state in the south and Bush's fifth best performances in the country after Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Nebraska.[1] In addition, he performed nine points better here than he had four years earlier, indicating the state is trending Republican.

Oklahoma has been a Republican-leaning state since 1952, and a Republican stronghold since 1980, with no counties voting Democratic since 2000.

Primaries

• 2004 Oklahoma Democratic primary

Campaign

Predictions

There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.[2]

1. D.C. Political Report: Solid Republican
2. Associated Press: Solid Bush
3. CNN: Bush
4. Cook Political Report: Solid 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, each with a double-digit margin and with at least 53% of the vote, except for the first poll. Many polls had Bush winning with a 30% margin or even higher. The final 3 poll average had Bush leading 63% to 32%.[3]

Fundraising

Bush raised $1,194,549.[4] Kerry raised $357,038.[5]

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall campaign.[6][7]

Analysis

Bush won here in 2000 with just 60% of the vote, and losing several counties in the eastern part of the state. However, the major difference between 2000 and 2004 is that in 2000 the Reform Party and Libertarian Party candidates were on the ballot. Oklahoma now has the toughest laws for a third-party candidate to get ballot access, as no independent has gotten ballot access here since 2000. Bush won every single county in 2004, including winning statewide with over 65% of the vote, which is one of Bush's best performances in the nation. Bush's key to victory was gaining the heavily populated counties of Tulsa County and Oklahoma County with over 64% of the vote in each.

Results

2004 United States presidential election in Oklahoma[8]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush	Dick Cheney	959,792	65.57%	7
	Democratic	John Kerry	John Edwards	503,966	34.43%	0
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						55.6%

Results breakdown

By county

County	Bush#	Bush%	Kerry#	Kerry%
Adair	4,970	66%	2,560	34%
Alfalfa	2,201	82%	470	18%
Atoka	3,140	62%	1,946	38%
Beaver	2,271	88%	297	12%
Beckham	5,454	74%	1,931	26%
Blaine	3,199	72%	1,222	28%
Bryan	8,614	60%	5,742	40%
Caddo	6,491	62%	3,916	38%
Canadian	33,297	77%	9,712	23%
Carter	12,173	65%	6,464	35%
Cherokee	9,563	53%	8,622	47%
Choctaw	3,168	55%	2,639	45%
Cimarron	1,242	87%	184	13%
Cleveland	65,666	66%	33,984	34%
Coal	1,396	54%	1,203	46%
Comanche	21,163	64%	12,020	36%
Cotton	1,742	66%	898	34%
Craig	3,894	61%	2,504	39%
Creek	18,845	66%	9,927	35%
Custer	7,839	74%	2,801	26%
Delaware	10,016	64%	5,591	36%
Dewey	1,843	82%	408	18%
Ellis	1,685	81%	395	19%
Garfield	17,685	76%	5,586	24%
Garvin	7,610	67%	3,706	33%
Grady	14,129	70%	5,969	30%
Grant	1,950	77%	571	23%
Greer	1,529	68%	719	32%
Harmon	838	70%	354	30%
Harper	1,397	84%	268	16%
Haskell	2,946	55%	2,378	45%
Hughes	3,066	57%	2,286	43%
Jackson	7,024	76%	2,232	24%
Jefferson	1,546	59%	1,057	41%
Johnston	2,634	61%	1,711	39%
Kay	14,177	70%	5,956	30%
Kingfisher	5,629	85%	1,022	15%
Kiowa	2,608	65%	1,413	35%
Latimer	2,535	57%	1,945	43%
LeFlore	10,681	61%	6,740	39%
Lincoln	10,149	72%	4,041	28%
Logan	11,467	70%	4,869	30%
Love	2,295	60%	1,538	40%
Major	3,120	85%	537	15%
Marshall	3,363	62%	2,088	38%
Mayes	9,946	59%	6,933	41%
McClain	10,038	73%	3,742	27%
McCurtain	7,472	67%	3,684	33%
McIntosh	4,692	51%	4,488	49%
Murray	3,665	61%	2,310	39%
Muskogee	15,121	55%	12,585	45%
Noble	3,993	75%	1,335	25%
Nowata	2,805	63%	1,659	37%
Okfuskee	2,542	59%	1,743	41%
Oklahoma	174,707	64%	97,283	36%
Okmulgee	8,363	53%	7,367	47%
Osage	11,467	59%	8,068	41%
Ottawa	7,439	59%	5,084	41%
Pawnee	4,412	63%	2,563	37%
Payne	19,560	66%	10,101	34%
Pittsburg	11,134	60%	7,452	40%
Pontotoc	9,642	65%	5,165	35%
Pottawatomie	17,212	67%	8,636	33%
Pushmataha	2,862	60%	1,934	40%
Roger	1,388	78%	382	22%
Rogers	24,981	68%	11,917	32%
Seminole	5,623	61%	3,648	39%
Sequoyah	8,865	60%	5,910	40%
Stephens	13,645	71%	5,514	29%
Texas	5,449	84%	1,016	16%
Tillman	2,273	66%	1,175	34%
Tulsa	163,434	64%	90,204	36%
Wagoner	19,081	68%	9,157	32%
Washington	16,551	71%	6,862	29%
Washita	3,705	73%	1,340	27%
Woods	3,165	77%	930	23%
Woodward	6,188	81%	1,457	19%

By congressional district

Bush won all five congressional districts.[9]

District	Bush	Kerry	Representative
1st	65%	35%	John Sullivan
2nd	59%	41%	Brad Carson
			Dan Boren
3rd	72%	28%	Frank Lucas
4th	67%	33%	Tom Cole
5th	64%	36%	Ernest Istook

Electors

Main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Oklahoma cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Oklahoma is allocated 7 electors because it has 5 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 7 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 7 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 7 were pledged for Bush/Cheney:

1. George Wiland
2. Paul Hollrah
3. Colby Schwartz
4. Diana Gunther
5. Ken Bartlett
6. Donald Burdick
7. Bob Hudspeth

The slate for the Democrats, which was not elected, consisted of George Krumme, Edwynne Krumme, Maxine Horner, Jim Hamilton, Bernice Mitchell, Betty McElderry, Bob Lemon[10]

References

1. "2004 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
2. http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/members/2004/Pred2.htm#NW%5B%5D
3. http://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/GENERAL/CAMPAIGN/2004/polls.php?fips=40
4. http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/george_w_bush.asp?cycle=04
5. http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/john_f_kerry.asp?cycle=04
6. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/tracking/10.11.html
7. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/campaign.ads/
8. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/
9. http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/4161/
10. https://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/08electr.pdf