2004 Republican Party presidential primaries


The 2004 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 U.S. 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. 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. He would later change his party affiliation to Democratic and run in that party's 2016 presidential primaries.

Candidates

Nominee

CandidateCurrent officeHome stateEstimated delegate count Campaign statusStates wonStates - second placeStates - third place

George W. Bush		President of the United StatesTexas
2,508
Nominee
46+3
Iowa, New Hampshire,,
Oklahoma, South Carolina ),, Nevada, Wisconsin, Kansas,,, Illinois, Colorado, North Carolina, Utah, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Arizona,, Delaware, Maine,, Michigan, Idaho,, Hawaii,
Non-states: Guam,, United States Virgin Islands )
' '
none
' '
none

Challengers

On the ballot in two or more primaries



Candidatehome statetotal votes%
Uncommitted
–
91,9261.1%
various49,2810.8%
Bill WyattCalifornia10,8470%
Blake AshbyMissouri1.1450%

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

CandidateHome statetotal votes%
Richard BosaNew Hampshire8411.2%
John BuchananGeorgia8361.2%
John RigazioNew Hampshire8031.2%
Robert HainesNew Hampshire5790.9%
Michael CallisNew Hampshire3880.6%
Millie HowardOhio2390.4%
Tom LaughlinCalifornia1540.2%
Jim Taylor1240.2%
Mark "Dick" Harnes870.1%
Cornelius E. O'Connor,770.1%
George Gostigian,520.1%
Jack FellureWest Virginia140

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.

Counties carried