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| Turnout | 82.05% (of registered voters) 6.59%[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Congressional district results
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The2004 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
The State ofWashington was considered a competitiveswing state in 2004, and on election day, Kerry won the state with a margin of 7.2%. This is the most recent presidential election in which Washington was considered aswing state.[2] As of the2024 presidential election[update], this remains the last time the state's margin of victory was in single digits and the last time a Republican received more than 45% of the state's vote. This was the only time since statehood that any president was elected twice without carrying Washington either time, a feat that lasted until2024.
There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.[3]
| Source | Ranking |
|---|---|
| D.C. Political Report | Solid D |
| Cook Political Report | Solid D |
| Newsweek | Solid D |
| Zogby International | Likely D |
| Washington Post | Likely D |
| Research 2000 | Solid D |
| Washington Times | Solid D |
| Washington Dispatch | Likely D |
| The New York Times | Solid D |
| CNN | Likely D |
| Associated Press | Solid D |
| Rasmussen Reports | Likely D |
Kerry won every single pre-election except one tie. The final 3 poll average had Kerry winning with 50% to 45%.[4]
Bush raised $3,263,363.[5] Kerry raised $5,337,921.[6]
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.[7][8]
A Democratic leaning swing state at the time, Washington has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every presidential election since1988. Like Oregon, the state is divided politically by the urban/rural divide and geographically by theCascade Mountains. Most of the state's population resides in Western Washington along thePacific Coast and in highly urbanized areas like Seattle; this part of the state votes overwhelmingly Democratic. The other side of the mountains in Eastern Washington is much morerural and conservative and therefore heavily Republican. While polling showed that voters trusted Bush more than Kerry on the issue of terrorism, theIraq War and Bush's domestic policies were unpopular in the state.[9] As of the2024 presidential election[update], this is the last election in whichClark County,Island County, andSkagit County voted for the Republican candidate.
| 2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | John Forbes Kerry | John Reid Edwards | 1,510,201 | 52.77% | 11 | |
| Republican | George Walker Bush (incumbent) | Richard Bruce Cheney (incumbent) | 1,304,894 | 45.60% | 0 | |
| Independent | Ralph Nader | Peter Camejo | 23,283 | 0.81% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Michael Badnarik | Richard Campagna | 11,955 | 0.42% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Michael Peroutka | Chuck Baldwin | 3,922 | 0.14% | 0 | |
| Green | David Cobb | Pat LaMarche | 2,974 | 0.10% | 0 | |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 2,629 | 0.09% | 0 | ||
| Workers World | John Parker | Teresa Gutierrez | 1,077 | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Socialist Workers | Roger Calero | Margaret Trowe | 547 | 0.02% | 0 | |
| Socialist Equality | Bill Van Auken | Jim Lawrence | 231 | 0.01% | 0 | |
| Totals | 2,859,084 | 100.00% | 11 | |||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 61.7% | |||||
| County | John Kerry Democratic | George W. Bush Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 1,315 | 25.65% | 3,751 | 73.16% | 61 | 1.19% | -2,436 | -47.51% | 5,127 |
| Asotin | 3,319 | 37.78% | 5,320 | 60.55% | 147 | 1.67% | -2,001 | -22.77% | 8,786 |
| Benton | 21,549 | 32.21% | 44,350 | 66.30% | 993 | 1.48% | -22,801 | -34.09% | 66,892 |
| Chelan | 10,471 | 35.58% | 18,482 | 62.80% | 477 | 1.62% | -8,011 | -27.22% | 29,430 |
| Clallam | 17,049 | 46.37% | 18,871 | 51.33% | 846 | 2.30% | -1,822 | -4.96% | 36,766 |
| Clark | 79,538 | 46.65% | 88,646 | 51.99% | 2,311 | 1.36% | -9,108 | -5.34% | 170,495 |
| Columbia | 605 | 28.71% | 1,470 | 69.77% | 32 | 1.52% | -865 | -41.06% | 2,107 |
| Cowlitz | 21,589 | 50.76% | 20,217 | 47.54% | 724 | 1.71% | 1,372 | 3.22% | 42,530 |
| Douglas | 4,306 | 32.20% | 8,900 | 66.56% | 166 | 1.25% | -4,594 | -34.36% | 13,372 |
| Ferry | 1,201 | 35.92% | 2,019 | 60.38% | 124 | 3.71% | -818 | -24.46% | 3,344 |
| Franklin | 5,188 | 32.11% | 10,757 | 66.57% | 214 | 1.32% | -5,569 | -34.46% | 16,159 |
| Garfield | 365 | 27.65% | 935 | 70.83% | 20 | 1.51% | -570 | -43.18% | 1,320 |
| Grant | 7,779 | 29.92% | 17,799 | 68.47% | 417 | 1.60% | -10,020 | -38.55% | 25,995 |
| Grays Harbor | 14,583 | 52.17% | 12,871 | 46.05% | 499 | 1.78% | 1,712 | 6.12% | 27,953 |
| Island | 18,216 | 47.22% | 19,754 | 51.20% | 610 | 1.58% | -1,538 | -3.98% | 38,580 |
| Jefferson | 11,610 | 62.25% | 6,650 | 35.66% | 390 | 2.09% | 4,960 | 26.59% | 18,650 |
| King | 580,378 | 64.87% | 301,043 | 33.65% | 13,307 | 1.48% | 279,335 | 31.22% | 894,728 |
| Kitsap | 60,796 | 51.23% | 55,608 | 46.86% | 2,266 | 1.91% | 5,188 | 4.37% | 118,670 |
| Kittitas | 6,731 | 41.77% | 9,052 | 56.17% | 331 | 2.05% | -2,321 | -14.40% | 16,114 |
| Klickitat | 4,036 | 43.63% | 5,016 | 54.23% | 198 | 2.15% | -980 | -10.60% | 9,250 |
| Lewis | 10,726 | 33.08% | 21,042 | 64.89% | 660 | 2.04% | -10,316 | -31.81% | 32,428 |
| Lincoln | 1,706 | 29.36% | 4,015 | 69.09% | 90 | 1.56% | -2,309 | -39.73% | 5,811 |
| Mason | 12,894 | 50.78% | 11,987 | 47.20% | 513 | 2.01% | 907 | 3.58% | 25,394 |
| Okanogan | 6,309 | 38.61% | 9,636 | 58.96% | 397 | 2.43% | -3,327 | -20.35% | 16,342 |
| Pacific | 5,570 | 53.40% | 4,634 | 44.43% | 227 | 2.17% | 936 | 8.97% | 10,431 |
| Pend Oreille | 2,310 | 37.27% | 3,693 | 59.58% | 195 | 3.14% | -1,383 | -22.31% | 6,198 |
| Pierce | 158,231 | 50.43% | 150,783 | 48.05% | 4,779 | 1.53% | 7,448 | 2.38% | 313,793 |
| San Juan | 6,589 | 65.21% | 3,290 | 32.56% | 225 | 2.23% | 3,299 | 32.65% | 10,104 |
| Skagit | 25,131 | 48.05% | 26,139 | 49.98% | 1,029 | 1.96% | -1,008 | -1.93% | 52,299 |
| Skamania | 2,374 | 46.02% | 2,695 | 52.24% | 90 | 1.74% | -321 | -6.22% | 5,159 |
| Snohomish | 156,468 | 52.97% | 134,317 | 45.47% | 4,629 | 1.57% | 22,151 | 7.50% | 295,414 |
| Spokane | 87,490 | 43.19% | 111,606 | 55.09% | 3,491 | 1.72% | -24,116 | -11.90% | 202,587 |
| Stevens | 6,822 | 33.54% | 13,015 | 63.99% | 503 | 2.47% | -6,193 | -30.45% | 20,340 |
| Thurston | 62,650 | 55.55% | 47,992 | 42.55% | 2,147 | 1.90% | 14,658 | 13.00% | 112,789 |
| Wahkiakum | 1,021 | 45.68% | 1,171 | 52.39% | 43 | 1.92% | -150 | -6.71% | 2,235 |
| Walla Walla | 8,257 | 36.02% | 14,323 | 62.48% | 345 | 1.50% | -6,066 | -26.46% | 22,925 |
| Whatcom | 48,268 | 53.40% | 40,296 | 44.58% | 1,830 | 2.02% | 7,972 | 8.82% | 90,394 |
| Whitman | 8,287 | 46.01% | 9,397 | 52.17% | 328 | 1.83% | -1,110 | -6.16% | 18,012 |
| Yakima | 28,474 | 39.12% | 43,352 | 59.56% | 964 | 1.32% | -14,878 | -20.44% | 72,790 |
| Totals | 1,510,201 | 52.77% | 1,304,894 | 45.60% | 46,618 | 1.63% | 205,307 | 7.17% | 2,861,713 |
| Democratic Hold Gain from Republican | Republican Hold |
Kerry won six of nine congressional districts. Both candidates won a district held by the other party.[10]
| District | Bush | Kerry | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 42% | 56% | Jay Inslee |
| 2nd | 47% | 51% | Rick Larsen |
| 3rd | 50% | 48% | Brian Baird |
| 4th | 63% | 35% | Doc Hastings |
| 5th | 57% | 41% | George Nethercutt |
| Cathy McMorris Rodgers | |||
| 6th | 45% | 53% | Norm Dicks |
| 7th | 19% | 79% | Jim McDermott |
| 8th | 48% | 51% | Jennifer Dunn |
| Dave Reichert | |||
| 9th | 46% | 53% | Adam Smith |
Technically the voters of Washington cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. Washington is allocated 11 electors because it has 9congressional districts and 2senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 11 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards:
State and district results of the2004 United States presidential election | ||
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