From January 19 to June 8, 2004, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 2004 United States presidential election. Incumbent President George W. Bush was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2004 Republican National Convention held from August 30 to September 2, 2004, in New York City.
Primary race overview Incumbent President George W. Bush announced in mid-2003 that he would campaign for re-election; he faced no major challengers. He then went on, throughout early 2004, to win every nomination contest, including a sweep of Super Tuesday, beating back the vacuum of challengers and maintaining the recent tradition of an easy primary for incumbent Presidents (the last time an incumbent was seriously challenged in a presidential primary contest was when Senator Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination in 1980).
Bush won every state with comfortable margins: his worst performance was in New Hampshire, where he received 79.8% of the vote. The only human challenger to receive over 5% of the vote in any state was Bill Wyatt from California, who received 10% of the vote in Oklahoma in a minor upset. "Uncommitted" also received over 5% of the vote in Massachusetts (8.7%), Rhode Island (12.4%) and Texas (7.5%).
Bush managed to raise US$130 million in 2003 alone, and expected to set a national primary fund-raising record of $200 million by the time of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.
Several states and territories canceled their respective Republican primaries altogether, citing Bush being the only candidate to qualify on their respective ballot, including Connecticut, Florida, Mississippi, New York, Puerto Rico, and South Dakota.
Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, an opponent of the war in Iraq, Bush's tax cuts, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and much of Bush's social agenda, considered challenging Bush in the New Hampshire primary in the fall of 2003. He decided not to run after the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003.Chafee, Lincoln, Against the Tide: How A Compliant Congress Empowered A Reckless President, p.119-120 He would later change his party affiliation to Democratic and run in that party's 2016 presidential primaries.
As of the 2024 presidential election, Bush is the last incumbent president, Democrat or Republican, to win all the delegates going into the national convention.
Candidates
Nominee
CandidateMost recent officeHome stateCampaign Withdrawal datePopular voteContests wonRunning mateGeorge W. BushPresident of the United States(2001–2009)(Campaign • Positions)Secured nomination: March 10, 20047,853,863(98.01%)49Dick Cheney
Challengers
On the ballot in two or more primaries William Tsangares ran for president under the pseudonym "Bill Wyatt." The then-43-year-old T-shirt maker left the Democratic Party to become a Republican after Democrats voted for the war in Iraq, an action he saw as a betrayal. Tsangares traveled 12,000 miles and spent an estimated $20,000 on his presidential campaign. He managed to get on the ballot in New Hampshire, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, and even the Democratic Primary ballot in Arizona. He finished tenth in the New Hampshire primary with 0.23% of the vote (153 votes), placed second in Missouri, where he received 1,268 votes (1.03%). However, a minor upset occurred on Mini-Tuesday when Tsangares won just over 10% of the vote in Oklahoma and 4% in Louisiana. He also received 233 votes (0.10%) in the Arizona Democratic primary. Blake Ashby, a Republican entrepreneur frustrated with the explosion of debt under President Bush, ran as a protest candidate in the Republican primaries. On the ballot in New Hampshire and Missouri, he spent approximately $20,000 on his campaign, visiting New Hampshire and campaigning in his home state of Missouri and participated in the C-SPAN Minor Candidates Forum. He finished seventh in New Hampshire with 264 votes, and third in Missouri with 981 votes.
Candidate home state total votes %Uncommitted 91,926 1.1%(others) various 49,281 0.8%Bill Wyatt California 10,847 0%Blake Ashby Missouri 1.145 0%
On the ballot in one primary All but one of the following were on the ballot only in the state of New Hampshire.
Declined to be candidates
Candidate Home state total votes %Richard Bosa New Hampshire 841 1.2%John Buchanan Georgia 836 1.2%John Rigazio New Hampshire 803 1.2%Robert Haines New Hampshire 579 0.9%Michael Callis New Hampshire 388 0.6%Millie Howard Ohio 239 0.4% Tom Laughlin California 154 0.2%Jim Taylor 124 0.2%Mark "Dick" Harnes 87 0.1%Cornelius E. O'Connor 77 0.1%George Gostigian 52 0.1%Jack Fellure West Virginia 14 0%
Results There were 2,509 total delegates to the 2004 Republican National Convention, of which 650 were so-called "superdelegates" who were not bound by any particular state's primary or caucus votes and could change their votes at any time. A candidate needs 1,255 delegates to become the nominee. Except for the Northern Mariana Islands and Midway Atoll, all states, territories, and other inhabited areas of the United States offer delegates to the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Contested primaries For brevity, states that did not hold a contest or had Bush as the only option on the ballot are omitted. Only candidates who placed third or better in a primary are included. Legend: 1st place(popular vote) 2nd place(popular vote) 3rd place(popular vote) Candidate haswithdrawn Candidate unable to appear on ballot
DatePledged delegatesContestGeorge W. Bush BWBill WyattJack FellureOtherUncommittedTotal votes castJanuary 2729New Hampshire79.8%0.2%Not on ballot 20.0%Not on ballot67,833 votesFebruary 357Missouri95.1%1.0%Not on ballot0.8%3.1% 123,086 votes26North Dakota99.1%Not on ballot0.7%0.2%Not on ballot 2,020 votes41Oklahoma90.0%10.0%Not on ballot 66,198 votes February 1052Tennessee95.4%Not on ballot4.6% 99,061 votes February 17 37Wisconsin99.2%Not on ballot0.8% 159,884 votes March 2 41Massachusetts90.6%Not on ballot0.7%8.7% 69,278 votes 18Rhode Island84.9%Not on ballot2.7%12.4% 2,535 votes March 9 45Louisiana96.1%3.9%Not on ballot 72,010 votes 135Texas92.5%Not on ballot7.5% 2,535 votes March 16 60Illinois100%Not on ballotNot on ballot 583,575 votes May 18 35Arkansas97.1%Not on ballot2.9% 38,363 votes 43Kentucky92.5%Not on ballot7.5% 117,379 votes28Oregon94.9%Not on ballot5.1% 309,506 votesMay 2526Idaho89.5%Not on ballot10.5% 123,793 votesJune 145Alabama92.8%Not on ballot7.2% 201,487 votesTotals votes from contested states71816 contests95.3%0.4%0.000%0.53%5.2%2,723,637 votesConvention roll call100%0%
Counties carried
See also 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries
References
Notes