The 2004 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

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2004 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
Turnout	82.05% (of registered voters) 6.59%[1]
Nominee John Kerry George W. Bush Party Democratic Republican Home state Massachusetts Texas Running mate John Edwards Dick Cheney Electoral vote 11 0 Popular vote 1,510,201 1,304,894 Percentage 52.82% 45.64%
County Results Kerry   50-60%   60-70% Bush   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%
President before election George W. Bush Republican Elected President George W. Bush Republican

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The State of Washington was considered a competitive swing state in 2004, and on election day, Kerry won the state with a margin of 7.2%. This is the most recent presidential election in which Washington was considered a swing state.^[2] As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this remains the last time the state's margin of victory was in single digits and the last time a Republican received more than 45% of the state's vote. This also remains the only time since statehood that any president was elected twice without carrying Washington either time.

• 2004 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses

A Democratic leaning swing state at the time, Washington has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every presidential election since 1988. Like Oregon, the state is divided politically by the urban/rural divide and geographically by the Cascade Mountains. Most of the state's population resides in Western Washington along the Pacific Coast and in highly urbanized areas like Seattle; this part of the state votes overwhelmingly Democratic. The other side of the mountains in Eastern Washington is much more rural and conservative and therefore heavily Republican. While polling showed that voters trusted Bush more than Kerry on the issue of terrorism, the Iraq War and Bush's domestic policies were unpopular in the state.^[9] As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Clark County, Island County, and Skagit County voted for the Republican candidate.

Technically the voters of Washington cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Washington is allocated 11 electors because it has 9 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 11 were pledged for Kerry/Edwards:

1. David Peterson
2. Mary Ervin
3. Valeria Ogden
4. Patsy Whitefoot
5. Larry Armstrong
6. Ken Bumgarner
7. Richard Kelley
8. Sarah Chandler
9. Greg Markley
10. Alan Johanson
11. Mary Crosby

• United States presidential elections in Washington (state)
• Presidency of George W. Bush