| [[File:Tennessee Presidential Election Results 2004.svg|350px]]
| County results
| [[File:TN-2004-pres-districts.svg|350px]]
| Congressional district results
| [[File:2004 TN Pres.svg|350px]]
| Precinct results
BushKerryTie/No Data
The 2004 United States presidential election in Tennessee was held on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Tennessee was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 14.30% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise a red state. In the past 14 presidential elections, the Republican nominee won ten of them. The state trended more Republican by 10.43 points from Bush's performance in 2000. Bush won most of the counties and congressional districts in the state. Third-party and independent candidates made up just 0.68% of the vote.
As of 2024, this is the last time that the following counties have voted Democratic in a presidential election: Trousdale County, Humphreys County, Grundy County, Lake County, Benton County, Overton County, Smith County, Lauderdale County, Van Buren County, Stewart County, Perry County, and Clay County.
There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.
Source
Ranking
D.C. Political Report
Associated Press
CNN
Cook Political Report
Newsweek
New York Times
Rasmussen Reports
Research 2000
Washington Post
Washington Times
Zogby International
Washington Dispatch
Polling
Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each with at least 49%. The final 3 polls averaged Bush leading 56% to 40%.
Fundraising
Bush raised $4,636,916. Kerry raised $1,187,742.
Advertising and visits
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.
United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2004
Party
Candidate
Running mate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
**Republican**
**George W. Bush** **(incumbent)**
**Dick Cheney** **(incumbent)**
**1,384,375**
**56.81%**
**11**
Democratic
John Kerry
John Edwards
1,036,477
42.51%
0
Independent
Ralph Nader
Peter Camejo
8,992
0.37%
0
Libertarian
Michael Badnarik
Richard Campagna
4,866
0.20%
0
Constitution Party
Michael Peroutka
Chuck Baldwin
2,570
0.11%
0
Green Party
David Cobb
Pat LaMarche
33
0.00%
0
Socialist
Walt Brown
Mary Alice Herbert
6
0.00%
0
**Totals**
2,437,919
**100.00%**
**11**
Voter turnout (Voting age population)
54.8%
By county
County
George W. Bush
Republican
John Kerry
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin
Total
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Totals
1,383,336
56.81%
1,035,160
42.51%
16,453
0.68%
348,176
14.30%
2,434,949
Anderson
18,510
58.42%
12,896
40.70%
276
0.87%
5,614
17.72%
31,682
Bedford
8,351
60.93%
5,268
38.44%
87
0.63%
3,083
22.49%
13,706
Benton
3,161
44.58%
3,869
54.57%
60
0.85%
-708
-9.99%
7,090
Bledsoe
2,849
59.24%
1,927
40.07%
33
0.69%
922
19.17%
4,809
Blount
33,241
68.24%
15,047
30.89%
424
0.88%
18,194
37.35%
48,712
Bradley
25,951
72.82%
9,431
26.46%
255
0.72%
16,520
46.36%
35,637
Campbell
7,859
55.67%
6,163
43.65%
96
0.68%
1,696
12.02%
14,118
Cannon
2,931
53.48%
2,515
45.89%
35
0.64%
416
7.59%
5,481
Carroll
6,605
56.18%
5,070
43.12%
82
0.70%
1,535
13.06%
11,757
Carter
15,768
70.67%
6,395
28.66%
150
0.67%
9,373
42.01%
22,313
Cheatham
9,676
61.64%
5,918
37.70%
103
0.66%
3,758
23.94%
15,697
Chester
4,086
64.28%
2,242
35.27%
29
0.45%
1,844
29.01%
6,357
Claiborne
6,448
61.18%
4,034
38.27%
58
0.55%
2,414
22.91%
10,540
Clay
1,650
49.15%
1,675
49.90%
32
0.96%
-25
-0.75%
3,357
Cocke
8,297
67.40%
3,935
31.96%
79
0.65%
4,362
35.44%
12,311
Coffee
11,793
58.48%
8,243
40.87%
131
0.65%
3,550
17.61%
20,167
Crockett
3,242
56.66%
2,459
42.97%
21
0.37%
783
13.69%
5,722
Cumberland
15,144
64.07%
8,327
35.23%
166
0.70%
6,817
28.84%
23,637
Davidson
107,839
44.51%
132,737
54.78%
1,726
0.71%
-24,898
-10.27%
242,302
Decatur
2,566
52.59%
2,268
46.48%
45
0.92%
298
6.11%
4,879
DeKalb
3,685
51.37%
3,445
48.03%
43
0.60%
240
3.34%
7,173
Dickson
10,567
54.76%
8,597
44.55%
134
0.69%
1,970
10.21%
19,298
Dyer
8,447
61.17%
5,287
38.29%
75
0.54%
3,160
22.88%
13,809
Fayette
8,962
60.81%
5,696
38.65%
79
0.53%
3,266
22.16%
14,737
Fentress
4,293
64.07%
2,371
35.39%
36
0.54%
1,922
28.68%
6,700
Franklin
9,129
53.46%
7,800
45.68%
148
0.87%
1,329
7.78%
17,077
Gibson
10,596
55.13%
8,511
44.28%
114
0.59%
2,085
10.85%
19,221
Giles
6,163
53.42%
5,273
45.71%
101
0.87%
890
7.71%
11,537
Grainger
4,907
65.19%
2,569
34.13%
51
0.68%
2,338
31.06%
7,527
Greene
16,382
67.71%
7,635
31.56%
177
0.73%
8,747
36.15%
24,194
Grundy
2,107
42.75%
2,789
56.58%
33
0.67%
-682
-13.83%
4,929
Hamblen
14,742
66.05%
7,433
33.30%
143
0.64%
7,309
32.75%
22,318
Hamilton
78,547
57.36%
57,302
41.85%
1,087
0.79%
21,245
15.51%
136,936
Hancock
1,756
68.84%
777
30.46%
18
0.69%
979
38.38%
2,551
Hardeman
4,704
44.95%
5,685
54.32%
77
0.74%
-981
-9.37%
10,466
Hardin
6,087
61.15%
3,834
38.52%
33
0.33%
2,253
22.63%
9,954
Hawkins
13,447
66.46%
6,684
33.04%
102
0.51%
6,763
33.42%
20,233
Haywood
3,140
41.60%
4,359
57.75%
49
0.65%
-1,219
-16.15%
7,548
Henderson
6,585
65.22%
3,448
34.15%
63
0.63%
3,137
31.07%
10,096
Henry
7,340
55.70%
5,732
43.50%
105
0.80%
1,608
12.20%
13,177
Hickman
4,359
50.26%
4,263
49.15%
51
0.59%
96
1.11%
8,673
Houston
1,440
40.02%
2,126
59.09%
32
0.89%
-686
-19.07%
3,598
Humphreys
3,261
41.85%
4,485
57.55%
47
0.60%
-1,224
-15.70%
7,793
Jackson
2,026
40.07%
2,998
59.30%
32
0.64%
-972
-19.23%
5,056
Jefferson
11,625
67.53%
5,469
31.77%
121
0.70%
6,156
35.76%
17,215
Johnson
4,634
71.51%
1,812
27.96%
34
0.53%
2,822
43.55%
6,480
Knox
110,803
62.10%
66,013
37.00%
1,603
0.90%
44,790
25.10%
178,419
Lake
1,039
43.84%
1,317
55.57%
14
0.59%
-278
-11.73%
2,370
Lauderdale
4,164
47.96%
4,474
51.53%
44
0.51%
-310
-3.57%
8,682
Lawrence
9,959
59.79%
6,592
39.57%
107
0.64%
3,367
20.22%
16,658
Lewis
2,819
55.78%
2,192
43.37%
43
0.85%
627
12.41%
5,054
Lincoln
7,829
62.85%
4,546
36.49%
82
0.66%
3,283
26.36%
12,457
Loudon
14,041
70.69%
5,708
28.74%
115
0.58%
8,333
41.95%
19,864
McMinn
11,980
66.54%
5,891
32.72%
132
0.73%
6,089
33.82%
18,003
McNairy
5,787
58.31%
4,101
41.32%
36
0.36%
1,686
16.99%
9,924
Macon
4,670
62.83%
2,738
36.84%
25
0.34%
1,932
25.99%
7,433
Madison
21,679
56.05%
16,840
43.54%
156
0.40%
4,839
12.51%
38,675
Marion
5,862
51.01%
5,548
48.28%
82
0.71%
314
2.73%
11,492
Marshall
5,825
54.88%
4,722
44.48%
68
0.64%
1,103
10.40%
10,615
Maury
17,505
58.27%
12,379
41.20%
159
0.53%
5,126
17.07%
30,043
Meigs
2,500
60.50%
1,595
38.60%
37
0.90%
905
21.90%
4,132
Monroe
10,123
65.02%
5,354
34.39%
91
0.58%
4,769
30.63%
15,568
Montgomery
28,627
58.42%
20,070
40.96%
301
0.61%
8,557
17.46%
48,998
Moore
1,668
60.13%
1,084
39.08%
22
0.79%
584
21.05%
2,774
Morgan
4,401
59.80%
2,924
39.73%
35
0.48%
1,477
20.07%
7,360
Obion
7,859
58.06%
5,549
41.00%
127
0.94%
2,310
17.06%
13,535
Overton
3,941
46.31%
4,518
53.09%
51
0.60%
-577
-6.78%
8,510
Perry
1,522
48.32%
1,579
50.13%
49
1.55%
-57
-1.81%
3,150
Pickett
1,600
60.49%
1,033
39.05%
12
0.46%
567
21.44%
2,645
Polk
3,924
58.57%
2,724
40.66%
52
0.77%
1,200
17.91%
6,700
Putnam
15,637
59.14%
10,566
39.96%
239
0.91%
5,071
19.18%
26,442
Rhea
7,301
66.05%
3,665
33.16%
88
0.79%
3,636
32.89%
11,054
Roane
14,467
61.99%
8,706
37.30%
165
0.70%
5,761
24.69%
23,338
Robertson
15,331
60.54%
9,865
38.96%
127
0.50%
5,466
21.58%
25,323
Rutherford
52,200
61.84%
31,647
37.49%
562
0.67%
20,553
24.35%
84,409
Scott
4,509
59.11%
3,086
40.46%
33
0.44%
1,423
18.65%
7,628
Sequatchie
2,951
59.22%
1,986
39.86%
46
0.92%
965
19.36%
4,983
Sevier
22,143
71.50%
8,621
27.84%
206
0.67%
13,522
43.66%
30,970
Shelby
158,137
41.91%
216,945
57.50%
2,200
0.58%
-58,808
-15.59%
377,282
Smith
3,739
47.76%
4,044
51.66%
45
0.57%
-305
-3.90%
7,828
Stewart
2,675
47.91%
2,860
51.23%
48
0.86%
-185
-3.32%
5,583
Sullivan
42,555
67.94%
19,637
31.35%
447
0.72%
22,918
36.59%
62,639
Sumner
40,181
64.84%
21,458
34.63%
329
0.53%
18,723
30.21%
61,968
Tipton
14,178
65.41%
7,379
34.04%
120
0.56%
6,799
31.37%
21,677
Trousdale
1,314
41.18%
1,851
58.01%
26
0.82%
-537
-16.83%
3,191
Unicoi
5,030
67.40%
2,374
31.81%
59
0.80%
2,656
35.59%
7,463
Union
4,145
61.77%
2,524
37.62%
41
0.61%
1,621
24.15%
6,710
Van Buren
1,120
47.72%
1,209
51.51%
18
0.76%
-89
-3.79%
2,347
Warren
7,503
52.10%
6,808
47.28%
89
0.62%
695
4.82%
14,400
Washington
29,735
66.07%
14,944
33.20%
327
0.73%
14,791
32.87%
45,006
Wayne
3,999
66.83%
1,951
32.60%
34
0.56%
2,048
34.23%
5,984
Weakley
7,817
57.92%
5,588
41.40%
91
0.67%
2,229
16.52%
13,496
White
5,269
55.49%
4,147
43.68%
79
0.84%
1,122
11.81%
9,495
Williamson
57,451
72.13%
21,732
27.28%
467
0.59%
35,719
44.85%
79,650
Wilson
28,924
65.07%
15,277
34.37%
251
0.56%
13,647
30.70%
44,452
County Flips: {{col-begin}}
DemocraticRepublican
]]
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Bedford (Largest city: Shelbyville)
Campbell (Largest city: LaFollette)
Cannon (Largest city: Woodbury)
Crockett (Largest city: Bells)
Decatur (Largest city: Parsons)
DeKalb (Largest city: Smithville)
Dickson (Largest city: Dickson)
Franklin (Largest city: Winchester)
Gibson (Largest city: Humboldt)
Giles (Largest city: Pulaski)
Henry (Largest city: Paris)
Hickman (Largest city: Centerville)
Lewis (Largest city: Hohenwald)
Marion (Largest city: Jasper)
Marshall (Largest city: Lewisburg)
Robertson (Largest city: Springfield)
Warren (Largest city: McMinnville)
White (Largest city: Sparta)
By congressional district
Bush won seven of nine congressional districts, including three held by Democrats.
District
Bush
Kerry
Representative
**68%**
31%
William L Jenkins
**64%**
35%
John J. Duncan Jr.
**61%**
38%
Zach Wamp
**58%**
41%
Lincoln Davis
48%
**52%**
Jim Cooper
**60%**
40%
Bart Gordon
**66%**
33%
Marsha Blackburn
**53%**
47%
John S. Tanner
30%
**70%**
Harold Ford Jr.
Electors
Main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors
Technically the voters of Tennessee cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Tennessee is allocated 11 electors because it has 9 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 9 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:
Susan Anderson
Betty Cannon
Winfield Dunn
Geneva Williams Harrison
Brock Hill
Bruce Montgomery
Claude Ramsey
Bob Rial
John Ryder
Mark Tipps
Sally Wall
Analysis
While the Republicans control slightly more than half of the state, Democrats have strong support in the cities of Memphis and Nashville and in parts of Middle Tennessee and in West Tennessee north and east of Memphis The latter area includes a large rural African-American population.
Despite Tennessee being a swing state from the 1950s to the 2000s, it was not seriously contested in 2004. Vice President Al Gore, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, lost his home state in 2000 albeit by a thin margin. The majority of voters support for Republican George W. Bush increased in 2004, with his margin of victory in the state increasing from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2004. Southern Democratic nominees (e.g., Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton) usually fare better in Tennessee, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas.
, this is the last election in which Trousdale County, Humphreys County, Grundy County, Lake County, Benton County, Overton County, Smith County, Lauderdale County, Van Buren County, Stewart County, Perry County, and Clay County voted for the Democratic candidate, as John McCain would outperform Bush in the state four years later.
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