2004 United States presidential election in Colorado

2004 United States presidential election in Colorado

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
Turnout	88.6% (of registered voters) 62.7% (of voting age population)
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards Electoral vote 9 0 Popular vote 1,101,255 1,001,732 Percentage 51.69% 47.02%
County Results Bush   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Kerry   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President George W. Bush Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Colorado was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 4.67% margin of victory. Prior to the election, ten of twelve news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a red state, although both campaigns targeted it as the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, was born in Colorado. On election day, Bush did carry Colorado, but by only about half the 8.4% margin he won over Al Gore in 2000. Additionally, Colorado voters decided not to pass a referendum that would have split their electoral vote for this and future presidential elections.

This is the last time that Pueblo County voted for the losing candidate, and as of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time the Republican nominee carried Colorado in a presidential election, as well as Arapahoe County, Jefferson County, Larimer County, and Ouray County.^[1] This is also the only presidential election that Broomfield County, created in 2001, has voted Republican.^[1] It was also the first time any candidate received a million votes in the state. It was also the last time Colorado voted to the right of the nation as a whole in a presidential election. Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Clear Creek, Eagle, Gunnison, or Routt Counties since William Howard Taft in 1908, as well as the first to do so without carrying La Plata County since Calvin Coolidge in 1924, and the first to do so without carrying San Juan County since Herbert Hoover in 1928. It also marked the only time since 1972 that the Democratic nominee lost their birth state.

Colorado was 1 of 9 states to back George W. Bush twice that only backed George H. W. Bush once, and 1 of 2 states to back George W. Bush twice but have not been won by a Republican since, the other being Virginia.

• 2004 Colorado Democratic primary

Elections in Colorado
Federal government Presidential elections 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential caucuses and primaries Democratic 2000 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Republican 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 U.S. Senate elections 1876 1879 1883 sp 1885 1889 1891 1895 1897 1901 1903 1907 1909 1913 1913 sp 1914 1918 1920 1924 1924 sp 1926 1930 1932 1932 sp 1936 1938 1942 1942 sp 1944 1948 1950 1954 1956 1960 1962 1966 1968 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 2026 2028 U.S. House of Representatives elections 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1927 1st sp 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 3rd sp 1941 4th sp 1942 1944 1st sp 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1983 6th sp 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 4th sp
State government General elections 2010 2014 2018 2020 2022 Gubernatorial elections 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Secretary of State elections 2022 Attorney General elections 2014 2018 2022 Treasurer elections 2022 Colorado State Board of Regent elections 2016 Senate elections 2013 (recall) 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 House of Representatives elections 2018 2020 2022 2024
Ballot measures List of Colorado ballot measures 1893 2 1972 8 1974 1 1982 1 1992 2 2000 20 2004 36 2006 38 41 42 43 44 E F G H I J K 2008 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 54 58 59 L 2010 62 2012 64 2018 A 2020 B C EE 113 114 2022 125 126 FF 2023 HH II 2024 79 80 I J 127 128 129 131
Colorado Springs Local elections 2019 Mayoral elections 1995 1997 sp 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Denver Mayoral elections 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
El Paso County Local elections 2018
Pueblo Mayoral elections 2023–24
v t e

There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.^[2]

Although considered a battleground state, Bush won almost every pre-election poll. The final three polls averaged Bush leading with 51% to 44%.^[3]

Bush raised $2,598,226.^[4] Kerry raised $3,229,631.^[5]

In the fall election campaign, the Republican ticket visited Colorado 5 times. The Democratic ticket visited 7 times.^[6] Bush and Kerry also heavily advertised each week. Bush spent just over $400,000 each week. Kerry spent over $500,000 each week.^[7]

The key to Bush's victory in the state was winning most of the largely populated counties, such as Jefferson County, Douglas County, El Paso County, Arapahoe County, and Larimer County. Combined with his strength in rural Colorado, this offset Kerry's strength in Denver and Boulder County and in several smaller counties hosting ski resorts, such as Gunnison (Crested Butte), Eagle (Vail), Routt (Steamboat Springs), and La Plata (Purgatory Resort).

Nevertheless, Bush's margin in Colorado was reduced substantially with respect to 2000, even as nationally he improved from losing the popular vote by 0.5% to winning it by 2.5%. Kerry flipped seven counties—Gunnison, Eagle, Routt, La Plata, Clear Creek, Conejos, and San Juan, the last of which voted Democratic for the first time since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide.^[a][8] Most critically, however, Bush's vote share in the city of Denver dipped from 30.9% to 29.3%--a lower vote share than Dole had received in the city in 1996—and his margin of defeat in Denver swelled from 31.0% to 40.3%, as Kerry won the highest vote share in the city of any nominee in over a century. Similarly, in Boulder County, the other large blue jurisdiction in the state at the time, Bush's vote share dipped from 36.4% to 32.4%--again, below Dole's in 1996—and Kerry expanded Gore's 13.7% margin to 33.9%, as he posted the best showing in the county of any nominee since Eisenhower in 1956. Meanwhile, Bush's margin shrank markedly in Jefferson, Arapahoe, and Larimer Counties, in all of which Kerry gained substantially on Gore. Bush's vote share actually receded slightly in Arapahoe and Larimer. All of these trends continued into 2008 and beyond, contributing to making Colorado a lean-Democratic, and, by 2020, a relatively solidly Democratic, state. Despite what at the time was a historically low vote share in Denver, Bush remains, as of 2020, the last Republican to have cracked even a quarter of the vote in Denver.

At the same time, Bush also had areas of improvement in Colorado. He increased his margin in then-staunchly Republican El Paso County by 1.5%, and cut Kerry's margin in Pueblo County, historically the largest Democratic stronghold in the state, from 11.3% to 6.3%, posting the best showing for a Republican in the county since 1984. He also flipped Huerfano County, becoming the first Republican to carry it since Nixon's 1972 landslide;^[8] his win there reflected what was, for a Republican, his strong appeal amongst Hispanic voters, which also helped him narrowly carry New Mexico and boosted his margin in his home state of Texas.

Bush carried Colorado despite it being Kerry's birth state. Ironically, Bush simultaneously lost his own birth state of Connecticut, making this the only election since 1864 where neither candidate carried their birth state.

• Huerfano (largest municipality: Walsenburg)

• Clear Creek (largest municipality: Idaho Springs)
• Conejos (largest municipality: Manassa)
• Eagle (largest municipality: Edwards)
• Gunnison (largest municipality: Gunnison)
• La Plata (largest municipality: Durango)
• Routt (largest municipality: Steamboat Springs)
• San Juan (largest municipality: Silverton)

Bush won 4 of 7 congressional districts. Both candidates won a district held by the other party.^[10]

Technically the voters of Colorado cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Colorado is allocated 9 electors because it has seven congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of nine 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 nine 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 were pledged to and voted for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.^[11]

1. Theodore S. Halaby
2. Robert A. Martinez
3. Lilly Y. Nunez
4. Cynthia H. Murphy
5. Sylvia Morgan-Smith
6. Diane B. Gallagher
7. Vicki A. Edwards
8. Frances W. Owens
9. Booker T. Graves

There was a Constitutional amendment put on the ballot in the state to alter the way the state's electors would be distributed among presidential candidates, but was rejected by the voters in 2004.