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2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia

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Field	Value
election_name	2004 United States presidential election in West Virginia
country	West Virginia
flag_year	2004
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	2000 United States presidential election in West Virginia
previous_year	2000
next_election	2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia
next_year	2008
election_date	November 2, 2004
turnout	65.85% (of registered voters)
54.74% (of voting age population)
image_size	200x200px
image1	George-W-Bush (cropped).jpeg
nominee1	George W. Bush
party1	Republican Party (United States)
home_state1	Texas
running_mate1	Dick Cheney
electoral_vote1	5
popular_vote1	423,778
percentage1	56.06%
image2	John F. Kerry (wide crop).jpg
nominee2	John Kerry
party2	Democratic Party (United States)
home_state2	Massachusetts
running_mate2	John Edwards
electoral_vote2	0
popular_vote2	326,541
percentage2	43.20%
title	President
before_election	George W. Bush
before_party	Republican Party (United States)
after_election	George W. Bush
after_party	Republican Party (United States)
map_image	{{Switcher

Main article: 2004 United States presidential election

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. In all subsequent U.S. presidential races since 2004, the Republican nominee won West Virginia while the Democratic nominee won Virginia. This is the last presidential election in which Fayette County, Brooke County, Logan County, and Mingo County voted Democratic. Bush was the first Republican since William McKinley in 1900 to carry West Virginia twice.

Campaign

Predictions

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

Early on, pre-election polling showed the election as a pure toss up. But after September 14, Bush pulled ahead and reached 50% or higher in the polls. The average of the final three polls showed Bush leading 50% to 44%.

Fundraising

Bush raised $527,380. Kerry raised $627,425.

Advertising and visits

Bush visited the state eight times; Kerry visited the state six times. A total of between $100,000 and $550,000 was spent each week. As the election went on, both tickets spent less and less here each week.

Analysis

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. The state 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

By county

County	George W. Bush
Republican	John Kerry
Democratic	Various candidates
Other parties	Margin	Total	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Totals	423,778	56.06%	326,541	43.20%	5,568	0.74%	97,237	12.86%	755,887
	Barbour		4,004		60.17%		2,610		39.22%		41		0.62%		1,394		20.95%		6,655
	Berkeley		21,293		63.03%		12,244		36.24%		248		0.73%		9,049		26.79%		33,785
	Boone		4,207		41.25%		5,933		58.18%		58		0.57%		-1,726		-16.93%		10,198
	Braxton		2,986		49.35%		3,035		50.16%		30		0.50%		-49		-0.81%		6,051
	Brooke		5,189		48.17%		5,493		50.99%		91		0.85%		-304		-2.82%		10,773
	Cabell		21,035		55.43%		16,583		43.70%		332		0.87%		4,452		11.73%		37,950
	Calhoun		1,588		54.97%		1,266		43.82%		35		1.22%		322		11.15%		2,889
	Clay		2,198		53.98%		1,835		45.06%		39		0.95%		363		8.92%		4,072
	Doddridge		2,362		74.30%		800		25.17%		17		0.54%		1,562		49.13%		3,179
	Fayette		7,881		46.45%		8,971		52.87%		115		0.68%		-1,090		-6.42%		16,967
	Gilmer		1,665		58.38%		1,159		40.64%		28		0.99%		506		17.74%		2,852
	Grant		4,063		80.50%		963		19.08%		21		0.42%		3,100		61.42%		5,047
	Greenbrier		8,358		57.43%		6,084		41.81%		111		0.77%		2,274		15.62%		14,553
	Hampshire		5,489		68.65%		2,455		30.70%		52		0.65%		3,034		37.95%		7,996
	Hancock		7,298		50.96%		6,906		48.22%		117		0.82%		392		2.74%		14,321
	Hardy		3,635		68.90%		1,617		30.65%		24		0.46%		2,018		38.25%		5,276
	Harrison		17,111		55.94%		13,238		43.28%		239		0.79%		3,873		12.66%		30,588
	Jackson		7,686		58.41%		5,384		40.92%		88		0.66%		2,302		17.49%		13,158
	Jefferson		10,539		52.71%		9,301		46.52%		153		0.77%		1,238		6.19%		19,993
	Kanawha		44,430		50.53%		43,010		48.92%		488		0.55%		1,420		1.61%		87,928
	Lewis		4,445		63.51%		2,475		35.36%		79		1.13%		1,970		28.15%		6,999
	Lincoln		4,102		49.35%		4,048		48.70%		162		1.95%		54		0.65%		8,312
	Logan		7,047		47.02%		7,877		52.56%		63		0.42%		-830		-5.54%		14,987
	Marion		12,150		48.23%		12,771		50.69%		273		1.08%		-621		-2.46%		25,194
	Marshall		8,516		56.50%		6,435		42.70%		121		0.80%		2,081		13.80%		15,072
	Mason		6,487		54.10%		5,408		45.10%		95		0.80%		1,079		9.00%		11,990
	McDowell		2,762		37.84%		4,501		61.67%		36		0.49%		-1,739		-23.83%		7,299
	Mercer		13,057		58.34%		9,178		41.01%		144		0.64%		3,879		17.33%		22,379
	Mineral		7,854		68.53%		3,518		30.70%		89		0.78%		4,336		37.83%		11,461
	Mingo		4,612		43.28%		5,983		56.15%		60		0.56%		-1,371		-12.87%		10,655
	Monongalia		17,670		51.51%		16,313		47.55%		323		0.95%		1,357		3.96%		34,306
	Monroe		3,590		60.33%		2,311		38.83%		50		0.84%		1,279		21.50%		5,951
	Morgan		4,511		65.88%		2,272		33.18%		64		0.93%		2,239		32.70%		6,847
	Nicholas		5,485		52.99%		4,788		46.26%		78		0.75%		697		6.73%		10,351
	Ohio		11,694		57.35%		8,543		41.89%		155		0.76%		3,151		15.46%		20,392
	Pendleton		2,146		60.55%		1,381		38.97%		17		0.48%		765		21.58%		3,544
	Pleasants		2,061		60.00%		1,349		39.27%		25		0.73%		712		20.73%		3,435
	Pocahontas		2,295		58.58%		1,573		40.15%		50		1.27%		722		18.43%		3,918
	Preston		7,855		65.85%		3,963		33.22%		111		0.93%		3,892		32.63%		11,929
	Putnam		15,716		62.49%		9,301		36.98%		134		0.53%		6,415		25.51%		25,151
	Raleigh		18,519		60.67%		11,815		38.71%		191		0.62%		6,704		21.96%		30,525
	Randolph		6,512		56.68%		4,892		42.58%		86		0.75%		1,620		14.10%		11,490
	Ritchie		3,086		73.55%		1,070		25.50%		40		0.95%		2,016		48.05%		4,196
	Roane		3,440		56.39%		2,612		42.82%		48		0.79%		828		13.57%		6,100
	Summers		2,978		53.91%		2,504		45.33%		42		0.76%		474		8.58%		5,524
	Taylor		3,893		59.43%		2,617		39.95%		41		0.62%		1,276		19.48%		6,551
	Tucker		2,179		60.53%		1,400		38.89%		21		0.58%		779		21.64%		3,600
	Tyler		2,798		65.91%		1,401		33.00%		46		1.09%		1,397		32.91%		4,245
	Upshur		6,191		66.62%		3,034		32.65%		68		0.73%		3,157		33.97%		9,293
	Wayne		10,070		54.11%		8,411		45.20%		128		0.69%		1,659		8.91%		18,609
	Webster		1,724		46.42%		1,965		52.91%		25		0.67%		-241		-6.49%		3,714
	Wetzel		3,656		51.95%		3,330		47.31%		52		0.74%		326		4.64%		7,038
	Wirt		1,727		65.07%		896		33.76%		31		1.17%		831		31.31%		2,654
	Wood		24,948		63.60%		14,025		35.75%		254		0.65%		10,923		27.85%		39,227
	Wyoming		4,985		57.18%		3,694		42.37%		39		0.45%		1,291		14.81%		8,718

County Flips: {{col-begin}}

Democratic Republican ]]

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Harrison (Largest city: Clarksburg)
Kanawha (Largest city: Charleston)
Lincoln (Largest city: Hamlin)
Wyoming (Largest city: Mullens)

By congressional district

Bush won all three congressional districts, including two held by Democrats.

District	Bush	Representative
58%	42%	Alan Mollohan
57%	42%	Shelley Moore Capito
53%	46%	Nick Rahall

Electors

Main article: List of 2004 United States presidential electors

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:

Rob Capehart
Doug McKinney
Dan Moore
Richie Robb
Larry Faircloth

References

"West Virginia Blue Book - 2005 - Page 819".
"Archived copy".
"Election 2004 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
"George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President". Campaignmoney.com.
"John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President". Campaignmoney.com.
"Specials". Cnn.com.
"Specials". Cnn.com.
"Official General Election Results for US president (2004)".
"Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008". Swing State Project.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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