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| Turnout | 72.6% (of registered voters) 57.7% (of voting age population) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Congressional district resultsBush 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
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| Elections in Utah | ||||||
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Ballot measures
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The2004 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 2, 2004. It was part of the2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Utah was won by incumbent PresidentGeorge W. Bush by a 45.5% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all leading news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a safered state. It is a stronglyRepublican state and has supported the party's nominee in every presidential election since1968. With 71.54 percent of the popular vote, Utah was Bush's strongest state in the 2004 election.[1]
This was the first of five instances in which a presidential candidate gained over 70% of a state's vote afterRonald Reagan's1984 landslide. The others areMitt Romney in Utah in2012,Barack Obama inHawaii in2008 and2012 andDonald Trump inWyoming in2024. Three of these involved a candidate with a close tie to the state: Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, and Mitt Romney, as the firstMormon on a major-party presidential ticket, was popular in Mormon-majority Utah and wouldlater represent the state in theUnited States Senate.
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 R |
| Cook Political Report | Solid R |
| Research 2000 | Solid R |
| Zogby International | Likely R |
| Washington Post | Likely R |
| Washington Dispatch | Likely R |
| Washington Times | Solid R |
| The New York Times | Solid R |
| CNN | Likely R |
| Newsweek | Solid R |
| Associated Press | Solid R |
| Rasmussen Reports | Likely R |
The final three polls averaged Bush with 67 percent to Kerry with 25 percent.[3]
Bush raised $561,645.[4] Kerry raised $262,031.[5]
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.[6][7]
Republicans dominate Utah state politics because of the very high Mormon population that accounts for almost seventy percent of the residents throughout the state.Mormons have been known for having veryconservative values. While every county voted for Bush, areas such asSummit County (ski resort),Moab (becoming an outpost for environmental activists),Carbon County (largely blue collar),Salt Lake City (urban area with some diversity) andSan Juan County (economically distressed and mostly Native American) did give a somewhat greater proportion of their votes to Kerry. However, other areas were uniformlyRepublican in voting. Utah County's (home of Provo and Brigham Young University) Republican vote (86%) was by far the largest percentage of any county its size in America.
| 2004 United States presidential election in Utah[8][9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | George W. Bush (incumbent) | 663,742 | 71.54% | 5 | |
| Democratic | John Kerry | 241,199 | 26.00% | 0 | |
| Unaffiliated | Ralph Nader | 11,305 | 1.22% | 0 | |
| Constitution Party | Michael Peroutka | 6,841 | 0.74% | 0 | |
| Libertarian Party | Michael Badnarik | 3,375 | 0.36% | 0 | |
| Personal Choice Party | Charles Jay | 946 | 0.10% | 0 | |
| Socialist Workers Party | Roger Calero | 393 | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Green Party | David Cobb | 39 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Write Ins | 4 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 927,844 | 100.00% | 5 | ||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 57.7% | ||||
| County[8] | George W. Bush Republican | John Kerry Democratic | Ralph Nader Unaffiliated | Michael Peroutka Constitution | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Beaver | 2,023 | 79.52% | 493 | 19.38% | 12 | 0.47% | 9 | 0.35% | 7 | 0.28% | 1,530 | 60.14% | 2,544 |
| Box Elder | 15,751 | 85.75% | 2,244 | 12.22% | 145 | 0.79% | 144 | 0.78% | 84 | 0.46% | 13,507 | 73.53% | 18,368 |
| Cache | 32,486 | 81.76% | 6,375 | 16.05% | 413 | 1.04% | 274 | 0.69% | 183 | 0.46% | 26,111 | 65.71% | 39,731 |
| Carbon | 4,950 | 58.18% | 3,415 | 40.14% | 83 | 0.98% | 22 | 0.26% | 38 | 0.45% | 1,535 | 18.04% | 8,508 |
| Daggett | 380 | 76.15% | 108 | 21.64% | 6 | 1.20% | 3 | 0.60% | 2 | 0.20% | 272 | 54.51% | 499 |
| Davis | 86,187 | 78.88% | 20,893 | 19.12% | 1,055 | 0.97% | 695 | 0.64% | 438 | 0.41% | 65,294 | 59.76% | 109,268 |
| Duchesne | 4,742 | 85.35% | 738 | 13.28% | 27 | 0.49% | 32 | 0.58% | 17 | 0.31% | 4,004 | 72.07% | 5,556 |
| Emery | 3,781 | 80.83% | 831 | 17.76% | 23 | 0.49% | 29 | 0.62% | 14 | 0.30% | 2,950 | 63.07% | 4,678 |
| Garfield | 1,848 | 85.48% | 264 | 12.21% | 22 | 1.02% | 16 | 0.74% | 12 | 0.56% | 1,584 | 73.27% | 2,162 |
| Grand | 2,130 | 51.14% | 1,858 | 44.61% | 118 | 2.83% | 20 | 0.48% | 39 | 0.94% | 272 | 6.53% | 4,165 |
| Iron | 12,815 | 82.97% | 2,267 | 14.68% | 111 | 0.72% | 169 | 1.09% | 84 | 0.54% | 10,548 | 68.29% | 15,446 |
| Juab | 2,681 | 78.46% | 605 | 17.71% | 20 | 0.59% | 98 | 2.87% | 13 | 0.38% | 2,076 | 60.75% | 3,417 |
| Kane | 2,414 | 79.12% | 576 | 18.88% | 25 | 0.82% | 19 | 0.62% | 17 | 0.55% | 1,838 | 60.24% | 3,051 |
| Millard | 4,084 | 83.74% | 626 | 12.84% | 28 | 0.57% | 118 | 2.42% | 21 | 0.43% | 3,458 | 70.90% | 4,877 |
| Morgan | 3,301 | 85.94% | 472 | 12.29% | 25 | 0.65% | 24 | 0.62% | 19 | 0.49% | 2,829 | 73.65% | 3,841 |
| Piute | 646 | 83.57% | 123 | 15.91% | 3 | 0.39% | 1 | 0.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 523 | 67.66% | 773 |
| Rich | 922 | 88.91% | 109 | 10.51% | 5 | 0.48% | 1 | 0.10% | 0 | 0.00% | 813 | 78.40% | 1,037 |
| Salt Lake | 215,728 | 59.57% | 135,949 | 37.54% | 6,025 | 1.66% | 2,199 | 0.61% | 2,237 | 0.62% | 79,779 | 22.03% | 362,138 |
| San Juan | 2,971 | 60.02% | 1,906 | 38.51% | 30 | 0.61% | 24 | 0.48% | 19 | 0.38% | 1,065 | 21.51% | 4,950 |
| Sanpete | 7,004 | 82.33% | 1,189 | 13.98% | 58 | 0.68% | 217 | 2.55% | 39 | 0.46% | 5,815 | 68.35% | 8,507 |
| Sevier | 6,597 | 86.34% | 920 | 12.04% | 37 | 0.48% | 60 | 0.79% | 27 | 0.35% | 5,677 | 74.30% | 7,641 |
| Summit | 7,936 | 51.83% | 6,977 | 45.57% | 265 | 1.73% | 36 | 0.24% | 98 | 0.64% | 959 | 6.26% | 15,312 |
| Tooele | 12,181 | 73.10% | 4,130 | 24.78% | 150 | 0.90% | 111 | 0.67% | 92 | 0.55% | 8,051 | 48.32% | 16,664 |
| Uintah | 8,518 | 85.55% | 1,266 | 12.71% | 42 | 0.42% | 99 | 0.99% | 32 | 0.32% | 7,252 | 72.84% | 9,957 |
| Utah | 128,269 | 85.99% | 17,357 | 11.64% | 1,289 | 0.86% | 1,621 | 1.09% | 637 | 0.43% | 110,912 | 74.35% | 149,173 |
| Wasatch | 5,503 | 73.26% | 1,854 | 24.68% | 60 | 0.80% | 65 | 0.87% | 30 | 0.40% | 3,649 | 48.58% | 7,512 |
| Washington | 35,633 | 80.95% | 7,513 | 17.07% | 301 | 0.68% | 362 | 0.82% | 209 | 0.47% | 28,120 | 63.88% | 44,018 |
| Wayne | 1,062 | 78.09% | 279 | 20.51% | 10 | 0.74% | 5 | 0.37% | 4 | 0.29% | 783 | 57.58% | 1,360 |
| Weber | 51,199 | 70.43% | 19,862 | 27.32% | 917 | 1.26% | 368 | 0.51% | 345 | 0.47% | 31,337 | 43.11% | 72,691 |
| Totals | 663,742 | 71.54% | 241,199 | 26.00% | 11,305 | 1.22% | 6,841 | 0.74% | 4,757 | 0.51% | 422,543 | 45.54% | 927,844 |
Bush won all three congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.
| District | Bush | Kerry | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 73% | 25% | Rob Bishop |
| 2nd | 66% | 31% | Jim Matheson |
| 3rd | 77% | 20% | Chris Cannon |
Technically the voters of Utah cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. Utah is allocated five electors because it has threecongressional districts and twosenators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of five electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins a plurality of votes in the state is awarded all five 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 5 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:
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