10 0 55.91% 42.93% | 1,334,493 1,024,703 Start date November 2, 2004 | |
 | ||
The 2004 United States presidential election in Maryland 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 10 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.
Contents
- Primaries
- Predictions
- Polling
- Fundraising
- Advertising and visits
- Analysis
- By congressional district
- Electors
- References
Maryland was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 13.0% 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. The last Republican to carry the state in a presidential election was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Primaries
Predictions
There were 12 news organizations who made state by state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.
- D.C. Political Report: Solid Democratic
- Associated Press: Solid Kerry
- CNN: Kerry
- Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
- Newsweek: Solid Kerry
- New York Times: Solid Kerry
- Rasmussen Reports: Kerry
- Research 2000: Solid Kerry
- Washington Post: Kerry
- Washington Times: Solid Kerry
- Zogby International: Kerry
- Washington Dispatch: Kerry
Polling
Kerry won every pre-election poll. The final 3 poll average showed Kerry leading 52% to 42%.
Fundraising
Bush raised $4,174,964. Kerry raised $7,553,542, which was 4% of the total money raised by Kerry in 2004.
Advertising and visits
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.
Analysis
Bush did win most of the counties in Maryland, but he lost the central part of the state (Washington DC suburbs and Baltimore), where most of the population is. The middle section is very urban and includes a large number of African Americans, many of whom are affluent (specifically in the Democratic stronghold of Prince George's County). Bush dominated Western Maryland and the state's Eastern Shore, which are very rural, but he carried only two congressional districts (see below). However, Kerry's margin of victory was slightly less than in 2000, when Gore won by 16%.
By congressional district
Kerry won 6 of 8 congressional districts.
Electors
Technically the voters of Maryland cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maryland is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 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 10 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 10 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards:
- Norman Conway
- Delores Kelley
- Lainey Lebow Sachs
- Pam Jackson
- Dorothy Chaney
- John Riley
- Wendy Fielde
- Daphne Bloomberg
- Tom Perez
- Gary Gensler