2004 United States presidential election in Florida

2004 United States presidential election in Florida

November 2, 2004
Turnout74%
 
Nominee George W. Bush John Kerry
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dick Cheney John Edwards
Electoral vote 27 0
Popular vote 3,964,522 3,583,544
Percentage 52.10% 47.09%


President before election

George W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The 2004 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 2, 2004, as part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 27 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Florida was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 5.01% margin of victory. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this a tossup, or swing state, but was eventually described as leaning towards Bush near the end of the campaign. Once again, Florida was under the national spotlight due to its high number of electoral votes and the fresh memory of the controversy surrounding the 2000 Florida vote. Turnout was much higher, going from an estimated 6 million voters in 2000 to over 7.5 million voters showing up to vote in 2004.

Bush's more comfortable victory in Florida this time around was attributed to the popularity of his brother, Jeb, who the state's governor and had approval ratings greater than 60%. Kerry became the first Democrat since Michael Dukakis in the 1988 election to not flip a single county in the state, although he did improve on Al Gore's margins in Gadsden County and Jefferson County. This was the last time a Republican won a majority of the state's popular vote until 2020.