| ‹ 2000 United States general election, 2004 (A United Kingdom of Scandinavia) 2008 › | ||||
| United States general election, 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2, 2004 | ||||
| File:George-W-Bush.jpeg | File:Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994.jpg | |||
| Party | Conservative Party of the United States | Democratic | ||
| Popular vote | 62,040,610 | 59,028,444 | ||
| Percentage | 50.7% | 48.3% | ||
The United States general election of 2004 was the 55th quadrennial federal election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Conservative candidate George W. Bush, former Governor of Texas defeated Democratic Party candidate and incumbent Prime Minister Al Gore.
Gore and Senator John Kerry (replacing Senator Joe Lieberman) were renominated by their party with no difficulty. John McCain was initially the frontrunner for the Conservative Party's nomination, but Bush won nearly all of the primaries and caucuses. Bush chose the former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, who had himself sought that party's 2004 federal nomination, to be his running mate.
Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Gore's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Domestic issues were debated as well, including the economy and jobs, health care, and moral values.
The electoral map closely resembled that of 2000, with only three states changing sides: New Mexico and Iowa voted Conservative in 2004 after having voted Democratic in 2000, while New Hampshire voted Democratic in 2004 after previously voting Conservative. In the Electoral College, Bush received 286 votes to Gore's 251.