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| Turnout | 71.41%[1] ( 3.21%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Municipality results Congressional district results Precinct results
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The2004 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Massachusetts was won by Democratic nominee and its U.S. SenatorJohn Kerry by a 25.2% margin of victory. Kerry took 61.94% of the vote to RepublicanGeorge W. Bush's 36.78%. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a safeblue state. Kerry's vote share was later surpassed byJoe Biden in2020, who won 65.60% of the vote that year.
Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since1928, and a Democratic stronghold since1960, and has kept up its intense level of the sizable Democratic margins since1996. No Republican has won even a single county or congressional district in a presidential election since Bush's fatherGeorge H. W. Bush in1988, and no Republican has won statewide sinceRonald Reagan's landslide victory in1984. In the 2004 presidential election it was also the home state of Democratic candidateJohn Kerry, who at the time represented Massachusetts in theU.S. Senate.
Massachusetts weighed in as about 27% more Democratic than the national average in 2004, making it the most Democratic state in the union, and the only state where Kerry won with more than 60% of the vote.
To date, this is the last election where the towns ofOrange, andWebster backed the national losing candidate, and the last time a Democrat won the towns ofDracut,Halifax,Hanson,Millville, andRochester.
There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.[2]
| Source | Ranking |
|---|---|
| D.C. Political Report | Solid D |
| Cook Political Report | Solid D |
| Research 2000 | Solid D |
| Zogby International | Likely D |
| Washington Post | Solid D |
| Washington Dispatch | Likely D |
| Washington Times | Solid D |
| The New York Times | Solid D |
| CNN | Solid D |
| Newsweek | Solid D |
| Associated Press | Solid D |
| Rasmussen Reports | Solid D |
Kerry won every pre-election poll, and each with a double-digit margin and with at least 50% of the vote. The final 3 poll average showed Kerry with a strong lead of 57% to 31%.[3]
Bush raised $4,060,356.[4] Kerry raised $18,565,872, which was 10% of all the money he raised in 2004, and the third highest amount below onlyNew York andCalifornia.[5]
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.[6][7]
Massachusetts was (and is) one of the bluest states in the nation. Massachusetts has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since1960 except forRonald Reagan's landslide victories of1980 and 1984. In1972, only Massachusetts and theDistrict of Columbia voted for DemocraticU.S. SenatorGeorge McGovern as RepublicanRichard M. Nixon won reelection.
Kerry defeatedGeorge W. Bush in Massachusetts by 25%, a similar margin to that ofAl Gore in2000. He won every county and Congressional district easily. The2004 Democratic National Convention took place at theTD Banknorth Garden, then called FleetCenter inBoston, the state capital.
| 2004 United States presidential election in Massachusetts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | John Kerry | 1,803,800 | 61.94% | 12 | |
| Republican | George W. Bush (incumbent) | 1,071,109 | 36.78% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Michael Badnarik | 15,022 | 0.52% | 0 | |
| Green-Rainbow | David Cobb | 10,623 | 0.36% | 0 | |
| Independent | Others(Write-In) | 7,028 | 0.24% | 0 | |
| Independent | Ralph Nader(Write-In) | 4,806 | 0.17% | 0 | |
| Total votes | 2,912,388 | 100.00% | 12 | ||
| County | John Kerry Democratic | George W. Bush Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Barnstable | 72,156 | 54.60% | 58,527 | 44.29% | 1,465 | 1.11% | 13,629 | 10.31% | 132,148 |
| Berkshire | 47,743 | 73.12% | 16,806 | 25.74% | 742 | 1.13% | 30,937 | 47.38% | 65,291 |
| Bristol | 147,854 | 63.49% | 82,524 | 35.44% | 2,500 | 1.07% | 65,330 | 28.05% | 232,878 |
| Dukes | 7,265 | 72.67% | 2,602 | 26.03% | 130 | 1.30% | 4,663 | 46.64% | 9,997 |
| Essex | 194,068 | 58.24% | 135,114 | 40.55% | 4,051 | 1.41% | 58,954 | 17.69% | 333,233 |
| Franklin | 25,550 | 68.35% | 11,058 | 29.58% | 773 | 2.07% | 14,492 | 38.77% | 37,381 |
| Hampden | 113,710 | 60.93% | 70,925 | 38.00% | 2,004 | 1.07% | 42,785 | 22.93% | 186,639 |
| Hampshire | 51,680 | 69.44% | 21,315 | 28.64% | 1,427 | 1.91% | 30,365 | 40.80% | 74,422 |
| Middlesex | 440,862 | 63.99% | 237,815 | 34.52% | 10,283 | 1.49% | 203,047 | 29.47% | 688,960 |
| Nantucket | 3,608 | 63.03% | 2,040 | 35.64% | 76 | 1.32% | 1,568 | 27.39% | 5,724 |
| Norfolk | 199,392 | 60.21% | 127,763 | 38.58% | 3,982 | 1.21% | 71,629 | 21.63% | 331,137 |
| Plymouth | 125,178 | 53.66% | 105,603 | 45.27% | 2,516 | 1.08% | 19,575 | 8.39% | 233,297 |
| Suffolk | 182,592 | 75.88% | 54,923 | 22.82% | 3,130 | 1.30% | 127,669 | 53.06% | 240,645 |
| Worcester | 192,142 | 56.41% | 144,094 | 42.30% | 4,400 | 1.29% | 48,048 | 14.11% | 340,636 |
| Totals | 1,803,800 | 61.94% | 1,071,109 | 36.78% | 37,479 | 1.28% | 732,691 | 25.16% | 2,912,388 |
Kerry won all ten congressional districts.
| District | Bush | Kerry | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 35% | 63% | John Olver |
| 2nd | 40% | 59% | Richard Neal |
| 3rd | 40% | 59% | Jim McGovern |
| 4th | 33% | 65% | Barney Frank |
| 5th | 41% | 57% | Marty Meehan |
| 6th | 41% | 58% | John Tierney |
| 7th | 33% | 66% | Ed Markey |
| 8th | 19% | 79% | Mike Capuano |
| 9th | 36% | 63% | Stephen Lynch |
| 10th | 43% | 56% | William Delahunt |
Technically the voters of Massachusetts cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. Massachusetts is allocated 12 electors because it has 10congressional districts and 2senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 12 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 12 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 afaithless elector.
The electors of each state and theDistrict 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 12 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards:
State and district results of the2004 United States presidential election | ||
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