U.S. presidential election, 2004

The U.S. presidential election of 2004 was won by the incumbent President, Republican George W. Bush, who defeated his main rival, Democratic Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. The election was fought primarily on the issue of the conduct of the War on Terror. Bush defended the actions of his administration, while Kerry contended that the war had been fought incompetently, and that the Iraq War was a distraction from the War on Terror, not a part of it.

Battleground states

See 2004 swing state section in Swing states.

Related Topics:
2004 swing state section - Swing state

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During the campaign and as the results came in on the night of the election there was much focus on Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. These three "swing" states were seen as evenly divided, and with each casting 20 electoral votes or more they had the power to decide the election. As the final results came in, Kerry took Pennsylvania and then Bush took Florida, focusing all attention on Ohio.

Related Topics:
Ohio - Florida - Pennsylvania

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The morning after the election both candidates were virtually neck and neck and it was clear that the result in Ohio, which along with two other states (New Mexico and Iowa) had still not declared, would decide the winner. Bush had established a lead of around 130,000 votes but the Democrats pointed to provisional ballots that had yet to be counted, initially reported to number as high as 200,000. Bush had preliminary leads of less than 5 percent of the vote in only four states, but even if Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico had all eventually gone to Kerry, a Bush win in Ohio would have created a 269?269 tie in the Electoral College, resulting in the House of Representatives voting to decide the winner, with each state, regardless of its population, casting one vote. That scenario would almost certainly have resulted in a Bush victory, because Republicans control more House delegations. Therefore, the outcome of the election hinged solely on the result in Ohio, regardless of the final totals elsewhere. In the afternoon Ohio's Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, announced that it was statistically impossible for the Democrats to make up enough valid votes in the provisional ballots, now reportedly numbering 140,000 (and later still estimated to be only 135,000), to win, and John Kerry conceded defeat.

Related Topics:
New Mexico - Iowa - Provisional ballot - Nevada - Voting - Kenneth Blackwell

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The upper Midwest bloc of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin is also notable, casting a sum of 27 electoral votes. However, all the swing states are important. The following is list of the states considered swing states in the 2004 election by most news organizations and which candidate they eventually went for. The two major parties chose to focus their advertising on these states:

Related Topics:
Minnesota - Iowa - Wisconsin

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Bush:

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• Colorado
• Florida
• Iowa
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• Ohio
• West Virginia

Kerry:

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• Maine
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin