U.S. presidential election, 2004 |
This article deals with a current or ongoing event. Information
may be changing rapidly.
The next U.S. presidential election is
scheduled to occur on Tuesday, November
2, 2004. After the formality of a meeting of the U.S. Electoral College, the winner will be inaugurated President on January 20, 2005.
The entire House of
Representatives and approximately one-third of the Senate are also elected. See the U.S. House election, 2004 and the U.S. Senate election, 2004 for more information.
Presidential candidates by political party
On March 9, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush of Texas officially clinched the number of
delegates needed to be nominated at the August 2004 Republican National Convention
in New York City. Should something happen to Bush before or after the
convention, the Republican National
Committee would most likely be the main body involved in choosing an alternative nominee. Bush has publicly stated that he
will, once again, select Vice President Dick Cheney as his
running mate in 2004.
See George W.
Bush presidential campaign, 2004 and U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination, 2004
On March 11, 2004, after meetings with
Democratic superdelegates in Washington and with former opponents Howard Dean and
John Edwards, U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts accumulated the 2,162 delegates required to clinch the nomination.
The Democratic National Committee's
website now officially acknowledges Senator Kerry as the party's nominee. If something happens to Sen. Kerry before or after the
convention, the Democratic National
Committee will likely be the main body involved in choosing an alternate nominee—most likely Sen. Kerry's running mate.
Sen. Kerry and his running mate will be formally nominated by the Democratic Party at the July 2004 Democratic
National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
See John Kerry
presidential campaign, 2004 and U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination, 2004
Michael Badnarik was nominated by delegates to the Libertarian Party National Convention on
May 30, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia.
The candidates debated each other at various state Libertarian Party conventions leading up to the national convention. The
debate held at the Libertarian Party of California convention (this year March 12-14 in San Jose) is normally aired by C-SPAN. State parties
often conduct non-binding straw polls following their debate and may then vote to endorse a candidate. However, as is normal
practice, delegates to the national convention voted freely for the candidate of their choice.
- Filed:
- Withdrew:
- Clyde Cleveland, former
candidate for Governor of Iowa (withdrew February 2004)
- David Hollist, from
California
- Ken Krawchuk, former
candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania (withdrew April 2003)
- Declined:
The candidate will be chosen by delegates committed during the primaries to the Green Party National Convention on June 25, 2004 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Announced:
- Carol Miller, campaigner for
Native American rights, New Mexico
- David Cobb, legal advisor to the party and former candidate for Texas attorney general
- Dr. Kent P. Mesplay,
biologist and air quality specialist, California
- Lorna Salzman,
environmental activist, New York
- Paul Glover, creator of Ithaca Hours, former mayoral candidate from Ithaca, New York
- Dr. Jonathan Farley,
mathematics professor, former Congressional candidate, Tennessee
- Declined:
- Peter Camejo, recent California gubernatorial candidate. Camejo advocates that the Green Party endorse Ralph Nader for President. He
has, however, consented for his name to be placed on state primary ballots, in order to "be able to vote for delegates that go
uncommitted to the national convention so that we can figure out what is best for the party in June."[1]
- Cynthia McKinney, former Congresswoman from Georgia
- Ralph Nader, consumer rights advocate and 1996 and 2000 nominee. Nader
announced that he would run as an independent on February 22, 2004. In March, 2004, Nader stated that he will accept the "endorsement" but not the "nomination"
of the Green Party, as well of other minor parties.
- Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys and candidate for the 2000 nomination
- Joel Kovel, New York, runner-up
candidate for the 2000 nomination
Independent (not affiliated with any party)
- Announced:
- Ralph Nader, consumer rights advocate and 1996 and 2000 Green Party
nominee
Timeline
See U.S.
presidential election, 2004 timeline
Electoral College changes from 2000
The U.S. Population is continuously shifting, and some states grow in population faster than others. With the completion of
the 2000 census, Congressional re-apportionment took
place, moving some representative districts from the slowest growing states to the fastest growing. As a result, some states will
send a different number of electors to the U.S. Electoral
College, since the number of electors allotted to a state is equal to the sum of the number of Senators and Representatives from that state. Since the results were so close in 2000, this
could potentially impact the outcome of the 2004 election.
The following table shows the change in electors from the 2000 election. Red states represent those
that Bush won in 2000 and blue states Gore won. All the states listed use a
winner-take-all allocation of
electors. The net change is a 14 electoral vote advantage for the Red states.
| Gained votes |
Lost votes |
- Arizona (+2)
- Florida (+2)
- Georgia (+2)
- Texas (+2)
- California (+1)
- Colorado (+1)
- North Carolina (+1)
- Nevada (+1)
|
- New York (-2)
- Pennsylvania (-2)
- Connecticut (-1)
- Mississippi (-1)
- Ohio (-1)
- Oklahoma (-1)
- Wisconsin (-1)
- Illinois (-1)
- Indiana (-1)
- Michigan (-1)
|
New during this campaign
Electronic voting
Some states are rushing to have new electronic voting systems
operational for the 2004 election.
Campaign law changes
Due to Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 campaign
finance reforms, advertisements from a candidate's campaign have to include the candidate stating that they approved the
message.
External links and references
Election video archive
Election 2004 link directories
Election analysis
Election 2004 global debate and voting
Election news wires
News articles
Election campaign funding
Table
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