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United States presidential election in Illinois, 2004

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21
  
0

54.82%
  
44.48%

2,891,550
  
2,345,946

Start date
  
November 2, 2004

United States presidential election in Illinois, 2004 httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Kerry—<50%   Kerry—50-60%   Kerry—70-80%
  
Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%

The 2004 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 2, 2004 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Contents

Illinois was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 10.3% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. A reliable blue state that no Republican has won since 1988, voted for Democratic Senator John Kerry in 2004 with almost 55% of the vote. Kerry's victory in Illinois was primarily due carrying 70% of the vote in the Chicago area's Cook County, where about 43% of Illinois' population resides. In the remaining 57% of the state, President George W. Bush won 54.6% (1,749,203 votes) to 45.3% (1,452,265 votes). President Bush was victorious in Chicago's collar counties, although the results in those counties were narrower than his victories downstate.

Primaries

  • Illinois Democratic primary, 2004

    • Predictions

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

    1. D.C. Political Report: Solid Democrat
    2. Associated Press: Solid Kerry
    3. CNN: Kerry
    4. Cook Political Report: Solid Democrat
    5. Newsweek: Solid Kerry
    6. New York Times: Solid Kerry
    7. Rasmussen Reports: Kerry
    8. Research 2000: Solid Kerry
    9. Washington Post: Kerry
    10. Washington Times: Solid Kerry
    11. Zogby International: Kerry
    12. Washington Dispatch: Kerry

    Polling

    Kerry won every single pre-election poll. Out of the 12 polls taken, Kerry won 9 of them with 52% or higher. The final 3 polls averaged Kerry leading 54% to Bush with 41%.

    Fundraising

    Bush raised $6,892,187. Kerry raised $7,100,400.

    Advertising and visits

    Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election season because it was expected not to be competitive and Kerry had a solid lead in the state.

    Analysis

    Illinois has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992, all by fairly comfortable margins. The blue trend in the Land of Lincoln in presidential elections can be largely attributed to Cook County which contains heavily Democratic Chicago and makes up about 41.2% of the state's total population. Additionally, the historically Republican "collar counties" near Chicago have become friendlier to Democrats at the national level. Kerry also performed well in St. Clair County home of East St. Louis. Kerry also performed well in Champaign, Aurora, and Carbondale.

    By congressional district

    Kerry won 10 of 19 congressional districts.

    Electors

    Technically the voters of Illinois cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Illinois is allocated 21 electors because it has 19 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 21 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 21 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 Illinois. All were pledged to and voted for Kerry and Edwards:

    1. Constance A. Howard
    2. Carrie Austin
    3. Shirley R. Madigan
    4. Tony Munoz
    5. James DeLeo
    6. Joan Brennan
    7. Vera Davis
    8. Linda Pasternak
    9. William Marovitz
    10. Dan Pierce
    11. Debbie Halvorson
    12. Molly McKenzie
    13. Beth Ann May
    14. Mary Lou Kearns
    15. Lynn Foster
    16. John Nelson
    17. Mary Boland
    18. Shirley McCombs
    19. Jerry Sinclair
    20. Barbara Flynn Currie
    21. John Daley

    References

    United States presidential election in Illinois, 2004 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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