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176 members of theElectoral College 89 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 23.8%[1] 8.5pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map.Green denotes states won by Jefferson andSalmon denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in theUnited States from November 2 to December 5, 1804. IncumbentDemocratic-RepublicanpresidentThomas Jefferson defeatedFederalistCharles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of theTwelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.
Jefferson was renominated by his party'scongressional nominating caucus without opposition, and the party nominated GovernorGeorge Clinton of New York to replaceAaron Burr as Jefferson's running mate. With formerpresidentJohn Adams in retirement, the Federalists turned to Pinckney, a former ambassador andRevolutionary War hero who had been Adams's running mate in the 1800 election.
Though Jefferson had only narrowly defeated Adams in 1800, he was widely popular due to theLouisiana Purchase and a strong economy. He carried almost every state, including most states in the Federalist stronghold ofNew England.
Although the1800 presidential election was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during theFrench Revolutionary Wars inEurope, and theLouisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.
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| Thomas Jefferson | George Clinton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 3rd President of the United States (1801–1809) | 1st Governor of New York (1777–1795, 1801–1804) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thecongressional nominating caucus of theDemocratic-Republican Party was held in February 1804, with 108 members of theUnited States Congress in attendance and SenatorStephen R. Bradley as its chair. Jefferson was renominated by acclamation while Vice PresidentAaron Burr was not considered for renomination. The caucus selected to give the vice-presidential nomination to GovernorGeorge Clinton whose main opponent was SenatorJohn Breckinridge. A thirteen-member committee was selected to manage Jefferson's presidential campaign.[2][3]
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| Presidential ballot | Total | Vice-presidential ballot | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Jefferson | 108 | George Clinton | 67 |
| John Breckinridge | 20 | ||
| Levi Lincoln | 9 | ||
| John Langdon | 7 | ||
| Gideon Granger | 4 | ||
| William Maclay | 1 |
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| Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | Rufus King | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 6th U.S. Minister to France | 3rd U.S. Minister to Great Britain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Federalists did not hold a nominating caucus, but Federalist congressional leaders informally agreed to nominate a ticket consisting ofCharles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former SenatorRufus King of New York.[2] Pinckney's public service during and after theAmerican Revolutionary War had won him national stature, and Federalists hoped that Pinckney would win some Southern votes away from Jefferson, who had dominated the Southern vote in the previous election.[4]
Federalist leaderAlexander Hamilton's death in July 1804 following theBurr–Hamilton duel destroyed whatever hope the Federalists had of defeating the popular Jefferson. Leaderless and disorganized, the Federalists failed to attract much support outside ofNew England. The Federalists attacked the Louisiana Purchase as unconstitutional, criticized Jefferson'sgunboat navy, and alleged that Jefferson had fathered children with hisslave,Sally Hemings, but the party failed to galvanize opposition to Jefferson. Jefferson's policies of expansionism and reduced government spending were widely popular. Jefferson was aided by an effective Democratic-Republican party organization, which had continued to develop since 1800, especially in the Federalist stronghold ofNew England.[2]
Jefferson's victory was overwhelming, and he even won four of the five New England states. Pinckney won only two states,Connecticut andDelaware. This was the first election where the Democratic-Republicans won in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
As of 2024, Jefferson was the first of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Jefferson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, and Trump were also their respective party's nominees for three consecutive elections. Jefferson is also the first President to receive at least 100,000 votes.
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote(a), (b) | Electoral vote | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
| Thomas Jefferson (incumbent) | Democratic-Republican | Virginia | 105,524 | 73.2% | 162 | George Clinton | New York | 162 |
| Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | Federalist | South Carolina | 38,519 | 26.7% | 14 | Rufus King | New York | 14 |
| Unpledged electors | None | N/A | 95 | 0.1% | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0 |
| Total | 144,138 | 100% | 176 | 176 | ||||
| Needed to win | 89 | 89 | ||||||
Source (Popular Vote):A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825[5]
Source (electoral vote):"Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996".National Archives and Records Administration. RetrievedJuly 30, 2005.
(a)Only 11 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote.
(b)Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.
The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of North Carolina and Tennessee appear to be incomplete.
| State | Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican | Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Federalist | Other | Margin | Citation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Kentucky | 5,080 | 100.00% | No ballots | No ballots | 5,080 | 100.00% | [6] | ||
| Maryland | 7,304 | 75.92% | 2,306 | 23.97% | 11 | 0.11% | 4,987 | 51.84% | [7] |
| Massachusetts | 29,599 | 53.58% | 25,644 | 46.42% | 2 | <0.01% | 3,953 | 7.16% | [8] |
| New Hampshire | 9,088 | 52.01% | 8,386 | 47.99% | 0[a] | 0.00% | 702 | 4.02% | [9] |
| New Jersey | 13,119 | 99.79% | 19 | 0.14% | 8 | 0.06% | 13,092 | 99.59% | [10] |
| North Carolina | 1,644[b][c] | 486[b][c] | No ballots | [11] | |||||
| Ohio | 2,593 | 87.69% | 364 | 12.31% | No ballots | 2,229 | 75.38% | [12] | |
| Pennsylvania | 22,081 | 94.69% | 1,239 | 5.31% | No ballots | 20,842 | 89.38% | [13] | |
| Rhode Island | 1,312 | 100.00% | No ballots | No ballots | 1,312 | 100.00% | [14] | ||
| Tennessee | 778[d] | 100.00% | No ballots | No ballots | [15] | ||||
| Virginia | 12,926 | 98.86% | 75 | 0.57% | 74 | 0.57% | 12777 | 97.72% | [16] |
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States where the margin of victory was under 5%:
States where the margin of victory was under 10%:
| Method of choosing electors | State(s) |
|---|---|
| Each elector appointed by state legislature | |
| Each elector chosen by voters statewide | |
| State is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district | |
State is divided into two electoral districts and half the electors are chosen from each district. | Kentucky |
| Massachusetts |
| Candidates |  | |
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| General articles | ||
| Local results | ||
| Other 1804 elections | ||
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