U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination, 2004

The 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination was won by U.S. Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts, who selected John Edwards from North Carolina as his running mate. The nomination process was a series of primaries and caucuses culminating in the Democratic National Convention. By this process, Kerry and Edwards were chosen to represent the Democrats in the 2004 election for President and Vice President of the United States.

Candidates

Below is a list of candidates that ran for the 2004 nomination, as well as credible candidates who officially declined to run:

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• Filed:
• U.S. Senator John F. Kerry (Mass.)
• Political activist Lyndon LaRouche of Virginia also ran as a nominal Democrat, although the Democratic party did not award LaRouche convention delegates or recognize his candidacy.
• Withdrew:
• U.S. Senator D. Robert Graham (Fla.) (October 7, 2003)
• Former Ambassador and former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun (Ill.) (January 15, 2004) endorsed Howard Dean
• U.S. Rep. Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt (Mo.) (January 20, 2004) endorsed John Kerry
• U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) (February 3, 2004)
• Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark of Arkansas (February 11, 2004) endorsed John Kerry
• Former Vermont Gov. Howard B. Dean III, M.D., (February 18, 2004) endorsed John Kerry on March 25, 2004
• U.S. Senator John R. Edwards (N.C.) (March 3, 2004) endorsed John Kerry
• the Rev. Alfred Sharpton Jr. of New York (March 15, 2004) endorsed John Kerry¹
• U.S. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) (July 23, 2004) endorsed John Kerry¹

¹: Sharpton and Kucinich dropped out of the race on these dates, but did not formally withdraw or stop accepting delegates until after the convention. Kucinich received somewhat less than one percent of the delegates' votes, the only candidate but Kerry to be so recognized.

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• Declined:
• Albert A. Gore Jr. (Former Vice President and Democratic candidate in the U.S. presidential election, 2000)
• U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), former First Lady
• U.S. Senator Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.), Senate Minority Leader
• U.S. Senator Russell D. Feingold (Wis.)
• U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.)
• U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.)
• Joseph G. "Gray" Davis Jr., former Governor of California
• William W. Bradley, former U.S. senator from New Jersey and candidate for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. presidential election, 2000
• Gary W. Hart former U.S. senator from Colorado and candidate for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. presidential election, 1988