California presidential election results 2004

John Kerry carried California by 9.95 points (1,235,659 votes), winning 55 electoral votes.

Electoral votes: 55
Votes counted: 12,421,852
CA result: D+9.9
Compared with the nation: 12.3 pts more Democratic
Swing since 2000: 1.9 pts to R

Statewide result

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Electoral votes
John Kerry	Democratic	6,745,485	54.30%	55
George W. Bush	Republican	5,509,826	44.40%	—
Total votes		12,421,852

Sources: 2004

County resultsMIT Election Lab

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MIT Election Data and Science Lab, County Presidential Election Returns 2000-2016 (compiled from official state election records)
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Each county coloured by its winner and shaded by margin. Tap one for its history.

County	John Kerry	George W. Bush	Others	Total	Margin
Alameda	422,585	130,911	7,246	560,742	52.0
Alpine	373	311	15	699	8.9
Amador	6,211	10,479	189	16,879	25.3
Butte	42,448	51,662	1,625	95,735	9.6
Calaveras	8,286	13,601	419	22,306	23.8
Colusa	1,947	4,142	77	6,166	35.6
Contra Costa	257,254	150,608	4,277	412,139	25.9
Del Norte	3,892	5,356	173	9,421	15.5
El Dorado	32,242	52,878	1,158	86,278	23.9
Fresno	103,154	141,988	2,018	247,160	15.7
Glenn	2,995	6,308	132	9,435	35.1
Humboldt	37,988	25,714	1,808	65,510	18.7
Imperial	13,955	11,628	319	25,902	9.0
Inyo	3,021	4,559	138	7,718	19.9
Kern	68,603	140,417	1,838	210,858	34.1
Kings	10,833	21,003	257	32,093	31.7
Lake	9,679	8,185	302	18,166	8.2
Lassen	3,158	8,126	153	11,437	43.4
Los Angeles	1,907,736	1,076,225	37,686	3,021,647	27.5
Madera	13,481	24,871	428	38,780	29.4
Marin	99,070	34,378	1,471	134,919	47.9
Mariposa	3,251	5,215	172	8,638	22.7
Mendocino	24,385	12,955	839	38,179	29.9
Merced	24,491	32,773	681	57,945	14.3
Modoc	1,149	3,235	72	4,456	46.8
Mono	2,628	2,621	81	5,330	0.1
Monterey	75,241	47,838	1,465	124,544	22.0
Napa	33,666	22,059	740	56,465	20.6
Nevada	24,220	28,790	729	53,739	8.5
Orange	419,239	641,832	12,225	1,073,296	20.7
Placer	55,573	95,969	1,403	152,945	26.4
Plumas	4,129	6,905	144	11,178	24.8
Riverside	228,806	322,473	5,603	556,882	16.8
Sacramento	236,657	235,539	4,569	476,765	0.2
San Benito	9,851	8,698	176	18,725	6.2
San Bernardino	227,789	289,306	5,682	522,777	11.8
San Diego	526,437	596,033	11,114	1,133,584	6.1
San Francisco	296,772	54,355	4,802	355,929	68.1
San Joaquin	87,012	100,978	1,515	189,505	7.4
San Luis Obispo	58,742	67,995	1,910	128,647	7.2
San Mateo	197,922	83,315	2,840	284,077	40.3
Santa Barbara	90,314	76,806	2,005	169,125	8.0
Santa Clara	386,100	209,094	7,420	602,614	29.4
Santa Cruz	89,102	30,354	2,277	121,733	48.3
Shasta	24,339	52,249	983	77,571	36.0
Sierra	646	1,249	50	1,945	31.0
Siskiyou	7,880	12,673	310	20,863	23.0
Solano	85,096	62,301	1,349	148,746	15.3
Sonoma	148,261	68,204	3,612	220,077	36.4
Stanislaus	58,829	85,407	1,278	145,514	18.3
Sutter	9,602	20,254	289	30,145	35.3
Tehama	7,504	15,572	329	23,405	34.5
Trinity	2,782	3,560	137	6,479	12.0
Tulare	32,494	65,399	846	98,739	33.3
Tuolumne	10,104	15,745	339	26,188	21.5
Ventura	148,859	160,314	3,736	312,909	3.7
Yolo	42,885	28,005	1,119	72,009	20.7
Yuba	5,687	12,076	257	18,020	35.5

Candidate votes as printed in the document. “Total” is the document’s total where it prints one, otherwise the sum of the candidate columns. Margin is the leading ticket’s lead in points over the second.

Notes on how this document was read

Secondary source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, County Presidential Election Returns 2000-2016 (compiled from official state election records).

Method: Machine-readable dataset; county sums checked against the state totals in The American Presidency Project summary (within 0.5% for both main tickets).

California in every election · 2004 primaries · 2004 Senate race · All states in 2004 · Report an error

Questions and answers

Who won California in 2004?

John Kerry won California by 9.95 percentage points (1,235,659 votes).

How many electoral votes did California have in 2004?

California cast 55 electoral votes in 2004.

How many people voted for president in California in 2004?

12,421,852 votes were counted for president.

How many counties did each candidate win in California in 2004?

George W. Bush 36, John Kerry 22 (out of 58 counties with results).

How did California change from 2000 to 2004?

The margin moved 1.9 points toward the Republican ticket, from Democratic by 11.8 points to Democratic by 9.9 points.

Official results As published by The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) and the state documents it links. How we use this data