2004 United States elections
The 2004 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004, during the early years of the war on terror and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Republican President George W. Bush won re-election and Republicans retained control of Congress.
| ← 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 → Presidential election year | |
| Election day | November 2 |
|---|---|
| Incumbent president | George W. Bush (Republican) |
| Next Congress | 109th |
| Presidential election | |
| Partisan control | Republican hold |
| Popular vote margin | Republican +2.4% |
| Electoral vote | |
| George W. Bush (R) | 286 |
| John Kerry (D) | 251 |
| 2004 presidential election results map. Red denotes states/districts won by Republican George W. Bush, and Blue denotes those won by Democrat John Kerry. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state. | |
| Senate elections | |
| Overall control | Republican hold |
| Seats contested | 34 of 100 seats |
| Net seat change | Republican +4 |
| 2004 Senate election results map | |
| House elections | |
| Overall control | Republican hold |
| Popular vote margin | Republican +2.6% |
| Net seat change | Republican +3 |
| 2004 House election results map | |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 13 (11 states, 2 territories) |
| Net seat change | None |
| 2004 Gubernatorial election results map | |
| Legend | |
| Democratic gain Republican gain Democratic hold Republican hold Popular Democratic hold Nonpartisan | |
Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts won his party's nomination after defeating Senator John Edwards and several other candidates in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries. In the general election, Bush won 286 of the 538 electoral votes and 50.7 percent of the popular vote. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the war on terrorism and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Riding Bush's coattails, the Republicans picked up net gains of four Senate seats and three House seats. In the gubernatorial elections, neither party won a net gain of seats. Bush became the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1980 to see his party gain seats in both Houses of Congress during a presidential election year. Republicans would not win another trifecta until 2016.
Future President Barack Obama was elected to the United States Senate in Illinois, and he was elected president in the next presidential election.
As of 2020, this is the last time the incumbent party retained control over the presidency and Congress after a single term.