2004United States presidential election in Texas

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
Turnout	56.57% (of registered voters) 46.11% (of voting age population)[1]
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards Electoral vote 34 0 Popular vote 4,526,917 2,832,704 Percentage 61.09% 38.22%
County results Precinct results Bush   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Kerry   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100%
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President George W. Bush Republican

The2004 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the2004 United States presidential election. State voters chose 34 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.

Texas was won by incumbentRepublicanPresidentGeorge W. Bush by a margin of 22.87%. Prior to the election, all 12 major U.S. news organizations expected Texas to vote for Bush, considering it to be a safered state. Texas has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since1976, and has been a Republican stronghold since the 1980s. A former governor of the state, Bush's performance stands as a high-water mark for Republican presidential candidates in Texas, and remains the last time that a Republican has won more than 60% of the state's vote, or that a Democrat has won less than 40%. The 1,067,968 ballots cast in Harris County also marked the first time that any Texas county would cast more than one million votes. This is also the most recent election in which the Republican candidate would win Tarrant County with at least 60% of the vote, as of the2024 election.

Bush, who made historic gains withHispanic and Latino voters in 2004,^[2] drew even with Kerry among Texan Hispanics, winning 49% to Kerry's 50%.^[3] Bush's performance with Texas Hispanics would later be surpassed by RepublicanDonald Trump in2024, who won a majority of Hispanics in the state and nearly allSouth Texas counties that year, which even Bush was unable to do.^[4]

In2008 there would be a shift in many of the urban counties Bush carried in this election toward Democratic candidateBarack Obama, though the state would still be won by his Republican opponent,John McCain.

• 2004 Texas Democratic presidential primary
• 2004 Texas Republican presidential primary

There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.^[5]

Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each with at least 55% of the vote and a double-digit margin of victory. The final three polls averaged Bush leading 59% to 37%.^[6]

Bush raised $23,776,943.^[7] Kerry raised $5,554,831.^[8]

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.^[9][10]

Texas, located in the South, has become a consistently Republican state at all levels. Economically and racially diverse, Texas includes a huge swath of theBible Belt where many voters, especially those in rural Texas, identify as born-again or evangelical Christians and therefore tend to vote Republican due to the party's opposition toabortion. Although once part of theSolid South, the last time Texas voted for a Democratic presidential nominee wasJimmy Carter in 1976.^[11] George Bush achieved his party's best result in Texas since Ronald Reagan's second landslide in1984.

President Bush carried 236 of the state's 254 counties, improving on his performance from 2000.East Texas, historically the most Democratic region in the state, solidified its support for the Republican Party with onlyJefferson County, home toBeaumont, voting for John Kerry.South Texas, while still voting heavily for Senator Kerry, swung towards Bush as well. Despite Bush's increased margin in the state compared to 2000, Kerry made major inroads in the state's suburban areas, especially inMetro Houston, theDallas Fort Worth Metroplex, and theAustin area. Kerry narrowed Bush's 2000 margins inCollin,Dallas,Denton,Fort Bend,Harris,Hays,Travis, andWilliamson Counties. Out of those, however, onlyTravis County, home to Austin, flipped into the Democratic column, in part due to the city's strong liberal leanings and opposition to theIraq War. Bush had won a plurality in the county in 2000 in part due to theGreen Party'sRalph Nader winning 11% of the county's vote. With Bush carryingDallas County by a narrow margin of 1.40%, the city ofDallas nearly voted for Kerry, with him winning its urban core with 57% of the vote.

Bush is the last Republican to win any of the following counties in a presidential election:Bexar (home ofSan Antonio),Dallas (home ofDallas), andHarris (home ofHouston).Frio,Kleberg,Reeves,Val Verde counties would not vote Republican again until2020.Cameron andCulberson counties would not vote Republican again until2024.

• Cameron (Largest city:Brownsville)
• Culberson (Largest city:Van Horn)
• Frio (Largest city:Pearsall)
• Morris (Largest city:Daingerfield)
• Newton (Largest city:Newton)
• Reeves (Largest city:Pecos)
• Robertson (Largest city:Hearne)

• Travis (Largest city:Austin)

Bush won 25 of 32 congressional districts, including four held by Democrats.^[14]

Technically the voters of Texas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. Texas is allocated 34 electors because it has 32congressional districts and 2senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 34 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 34 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 34 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:^[15][16]

1. Royce Hayes
2. Tom Cotter
3. Jay Pierce
4. Marjorie Chandler
5. Lance Lenz
6. Barbara Grusendorf
7. Bill Borden
8. Jim Wiggins
9. Anna Rice
10. Jan Galbraith
11. Sue Brannon
12. Cheryl Surber
13. Mike Ussery
14. Sid Young
15. Frank Morris
16. Roger O'Dell
17. Christopher DeCluitt
18. Martha Greenlaw
19. Marcus Anderson
20. Mike Provost
21. Bennie Bock
22. Kathy Haigler
23. Kim Hesley
24. Peter Wrench
25. Morris Woods
26. Rhealyn Samuelson
27. Nancy Stevens
28. Loyce McCarter
29. Larry Bowles
30. Dan Mosher
31. Glenn Warren
32. Kristina Kiik
33. Susan Weddington
34. Charles Burchett

• United States presidential elections in Texas
• Presidency of George W. Bush

• 2004 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in Texas
• 2004 Texas elections

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