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

Utah was won by incumbent President George W. Bush by a 45.5% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all leading news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. It is a strongly Republican state and has supported the party's nominee in every presidential election since 1968. With 71.54 percent of the popular vote, Utah was Bush's strongest state in the 2004 election.

This was the first of five instances in which a presidential candidate gained over 70% of a state's vote after Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide. The others are Mitt Romney in Utah in 2012, Barack Obama in Hawaii in 2008 and 2012 and Donald Trump in Wyoming in 2024. Three of these involved a candidate with a close tie to the state: Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, and Mitt Romney, as the first Mormon on a major-party presidential ticket, was popular in Mormon-majority Utah and would later represent the state in the United States Senate.

Primaries 2004 Utah Democratic presidential primary

Campaign Predictions There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.

+SourceRankingD.C. Political ReportCook Political ReportResearch 2000Zogby InternationalWashington PostWashington DispatchWashington TimesThe New York TimesCNNNewsweekAssociated PressRasmussen Reports

Polling The final three polls averaged Bush with 67 percent to Kerry with 25 percent.

Fundraising Bush raised $561,645. Kerry raised $262,031.

Advertising and visits Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.

Analysis Republicans dominate Utah state politics because of the very high Mormon population that accounts for almost seventy percent of the residents throughout the state. Mormons have been known for having very conservative values. While every county voted for Bush, areas such as Summit County (ski resort), Moab (becoming an outpost for environmental activists), Carbon County (largely blue collar), Salt Lake City (urban area with some diversity) and San Juan County (economically distressed and mostly Native American) did give a somewhat greater proportion of their votes to Kerry. However, other areas were uniformly Republican in voting. Utah County's (home of Provo and Brigham Young University) Republican vote (86%) was by far the largest percentage of any county its size in America.

Results 2004 United States presidential election in UtahPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican George W. Bush (incumbent) 663,742 71.54% 5 Democratic John Kerry 241,199 26.00% 0 Unaffiliated Ralph Nader 11,305 1.22% 0 Constitution Party Michael Peroutka 6,841 0.74% 0 Libertarian Party Michael Badnarik 3,375 0.36% 0 Personal Choice Party Charles Jay 946 0.10% 0 Socialist Workers Party Roger Calero 393 0.04% 0 Green Party David Cobb 39 0.00% 0 Write Ins 4 0.00% 0 Totals 927,844 100.00% 5 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 57.7%

Results by county CountyGeorge W. BushRepublicanJohn KerryDemocraticRalph NaderUnaffiliatedMichael PeroutkaConstitutionVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Beaver2,02379.52%49319.38%120.47%90.35%70.28%1,53060.14%2,544Box Elder15,75185.75%2,24412.22%1450.79%1440.78%840.46%13,50773.53%18,368Cache32,48681.76%6,37516.05%4131.04%2740.69%1830.46%26,11165.71%39,731Carbon4,95058.18%3,41540.14%830.98%220.26%380.45%1,53518.04%8,508Daggett38076.15%10821.64%61.20%30.60%20.20%27254.51%499Davis86,18778.88%20,89319.12%1,0550.97%6950.64%4380.41%65,29459.76%109,268Duchesne4,74285.35%73813.28%270.49%320.58%170.31%4,00472.07%5,556Emery3,78180.83%83117.76%230.49%290.62%140.30%2,95063.07%4,678Garfield1,84885.48%26412.21%221.02%160.74%120.56%1,58473.27%2,162Grand2,13051.14%1,85844.61%1182.83%200.48%390.94%2726.53%4,165Iron12,81582.97%2,26714.68%1110.72%1691.09%840.54%10,54868.29%15,446Juab2,68178.46%60517.71%200.59%982.87%130.38%2,07660.75%3,417Kane2,41479.12%57618.88%250.82%190.62%170.55%1,83860.24%3,051Millard4,08483.74%62612.84%280.57%1182.42%210.43%3,45870.90%4,877Morgan3,30185.94%47212.29%250.65%240.62%190.49%2,82973.65%3,841Piute64683.57%12315.91%30.39%10.13%00.00%52367.66%773Rich92288.91%10910.51%50.48%10.10%00.00%81378.40%1,037Salt Lake215,72859.57%135,94937.54%6,0251.66%2,1990.61%2,2370.62%79,77922.03%362,138San Juan2,97160.02%1,90638.51%300.61%240.48%190.38%1,06521.51%4,950Sanpete7,00482.33%1,18913.98%580.68%2172.55%390.46%5,81568.35%8,507Sevier6,59786.34%92012.04%370.48%600.79%270.35%5,67774.30%7,641Summit7,93651.83%6,97745.57%2651.73%360.24%980.64%9596.26%15,312Tooele12,18173.10%4,13024.78%1500.90%1110.67%920.55%8,05148.32%16,664Uintah8,51885.55%1,26612.71%420.42%990.99%320.32%7,25272.84%9,957Utah128,26985.99%17,35711.64%1,2890.86%1,6211.09%6370.43%110,91274.35%149,173Wasatch5,50373.26%1,85424.68%600.80%650.87%300.40%3,64948.58%7,512Washington35,63380.95%7,51317.07%3010.68%3620.82%2090.47%28,12063.88%44,018Wayne1,06278.09%27920.51%100.74%50.37%40.29%78357.58%1,360Weber51,19970.43%19,86227.32%9171.26%3680.51%3450.47%31,33743.11%72,691Totals663,74271.54%241,19926.00%11,3051.22%6,8410.74%4,7570.51%422,54345.54%927,844

Results by congressional district Bush won all three congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat. District Bush Kerry Representative 73% 25%Rob Bishop 66% 31%Jim Matheson 77% 20%Chris Cannon

Electors

Technically the voters of Utah cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Utah is allocated five electors because it has three congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of five electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins a plurality of votes in the state is awarded all five 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 5 were pledged to Bush/Cheney: Olene S. Walker Gayle McKeachnie Lewis K. Billings Joseph A. Cannon Scott F. Simpson

See also United States presidential elections in Utah Presidency of George W. Bush

References

Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas Official 2004 Utah General Election Results