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2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota

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Turnout	77.3%
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 232,584 149,244 Percentage 59.91% 38.44%
County Results Bush   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Kerry   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President George W. Bush Republican

Elections in South Dakota
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Rapid City City elections 2020 2022 2024 2026 Mayoral elections 2022
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The 2004 United States presidential election in South Dakota took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Dakota was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 21.5 point margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Starting in 1940, the state has voted for the Republican nominee in every presidential election, except 1964.

Primaries

• 2004 South Dakota Democratic presidential primary

Campaign

Predictions

There were twelve news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.

Polling

Bush won every pre-election by a double-digit margin. The final three poll average showed Bush with 55% to Kerry at 39 percent

Fundraising

Bush raised $399,805. Kerry raised $71,553.

Advertising and visits

Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall campaign season.

Analysis

South Dakota politics are generally dominated by the Republican Party, and the state has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 — even George McGovern, the Democratic nominee in 1972 and himself a South Dakotan, did not carry the state. Additionally, a Democrat has not won the governorship since 1978. As of 2006, Republicans held a ten percent voter registration advantage over Democrats and hold majorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate.

Despite the state's general Republican and conservative leanings, Democrats have found success in various statewide elections, most notably in those involving South Dakota's congressional representatives in Washington. Two of the three members of the state's congressional delegation at the time were Democrats, and Senator Tom Daschle was the Senate minority leader (and briefly its majority leader during Democratic control of the Senate in 2001–02).

Opposition to the Iraq War in this isolationist state did allow Kerry to improve upon Al Gore’s performance in 2000 by two percentage points. Kerry's gains may also be attributed to Daschle's efforts to get Native American votes during his narrow defeat to John Thune in the concurrent Senate election. As a result, Kerry won four counties – Corson, Day, Roberts and Ziebach – that Gore had not carried in 2000.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Corson (Largest city: McLaughlin)
• Day (Largest city: Webster)
• Roberts (Largest city: Sisseton)
• Ziebach (Largest city: Dupree)

By congressional district

Due to the state's small population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district, called the at-large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.

Electors

Technically the voters of SD cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. SD is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 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 3 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 a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District 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 3 were pledged for Bush/Cheney.

1. Dennis Daugaard
2. Larry Long
3. Mike Rounds

See also

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

References

1. Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Election 2004 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Archived from the original on November 16, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
3. "George W Bush - $374,659,453 raised, '04 election cycle, Republican Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
4. "John F Kerry - $345,826,176 raised, '04 election cycle, Democratic Party, President". Campaignmoney.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
5. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
6. "CNN.com Specials". CNN.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
7. "McGOVERN, George Stanley, (1922-)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
8. "Presidential General Election Graph Comparison - South Dakota". www.uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
9. "South Dakota Voter Registration Statistics". South Dakota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
10. "Official List of South Dakota Representatives". State of South Dakota. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
11. "Official List of South Dakota Senators". State of South Dakota. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
12. "Daschle Loses S.D. Senate Seat to Thune". Fox News. November 3, 2004. Archived from the original on May 23, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
13. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
14. Our Campaigns; SD US Presidential Election Race, November 02, 2004
15. "NARA | Federal Register | U.S. Electoral College". Archives.gov. Retrieved May 20, 2015.

v t e State and district results of the 2004 United States presidential election
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• 2004 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in South Dakota
• 2004 South Dakota elections