North Carolina · 2004 presidential election

North Carolina presidential election results 2004

George W. Bush carried North Carolina by 12.43 points (435,317 votes), winning 15 electoral votes.

Electoral votes: 15
Votes counted: 3,501,007
NC result: R+12.4
Compared with the nation: 10.0 pts more Republican
Swing since 2000: 0.4 pts to D

Statewide result

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Electoral votes
George W. Bush	Republican	1,961,166	56.00%	15
John Kerry	Democratic	1,525,849	43.60%	—
Total votes		3,501,007

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
Alamance	20,686	33,302	187	54,175	23.3
Alexander	4,618	10,928	54	15,600	40.4
Alleghany	1,922	2,883	22	4,827	19.9
Anson	5,413	3,796	16	9,225	17.5
Ashe	4,477	7,292	54	11,823	23.8
Avery	1,805	5,678	41	7,524	51.5
Beaufort	7,025	12,432	65	19,522	27.7
Bertie	4,938	3,057	37	8,032	23.4
Bladen	6,109	6,174	30	12,313	0.5
Brunswick	14,903	22,925	149	37,977	21.1
Buncombe	51,868	52,491	654	105,013	0.6
Burke	11,728	18,922	112	30,762	23.4
Cabarrus	19,803	40,780	241	60,824	34.5
Caldwell	9,999	21,186	163	31,348	35.7
Camden	1,339	2,480	11	3,830	29.8
Carteret	7,732	17,716	127	25,575	39.0
Caswell	4,539	4,868	30	9,437	3.5
Catawba	18,858	39,602	228	58,688	35.3
Chatham	12,897	12,892	133	25,922	0.0
Cherokee	3,635	7,517	47	11,199	34.7
Chowan	2,406	2,967	13	5,386	10.4
Clay	1,628	3,209	29	4,866	32.5
Cleveland	14,215	22,750	114	37,079	23.0
Columbus	10,343	10,773	75	21,191	2.0
Craven	14,019	23,575	162	37,756	25.3
Cumberland	45,788	49,139	299	95,226	3.5
Currituck	2,909	6,013	54	8,976	34.6
Dare	6,136	9,345	67	15,548	20.6
Davidson	17,191	42,075	230	59,496	41.8
Davie	4,233	12,372	75	16,680	48.8
Duplin	6,923	9,611	49	16,583	16.2
Durham	74,524	34,614	513	109,651	36.4
Edgecombe	12,877	8,163	39	21,079	22.4
Forsyth	63,340	75,294	491	139,125	8.6
Franklin	9,286	11,540	92	20,918	10.8
Gaston	20,254	43,252	249	63,755	36.1
Gates	2,121	1,924	8	4,053	4.9
Graham	1,272	2,693	22	3,987	35.6
Granville	9,057	9,491	53	18,601	2.3
Greene	2,665	3,800	7	6,472	17.5
Guilford	100,042	98,254	1,018	199,314	0.9
Halifax	11,528	8,088	31	19,647	17.5
Harnett	11,563	20,922	86	32,571	28.7
Haywood	11,237	14,545	150	25,932	12.8
Henderson	15,003	28,025	206	43,234	30.1
Hertford	5,141	2,942	49	8,132	27.0
Hoke	5,794	5,257	37	11,088	4.8
Hyde	1,048	1,235	10	2,293	8.2
Iredell	18,065	38,675	233	56,973	36.2
Jackson	6,737	7,351	86	14,174	4.3
Johnston	17,266	36,903	188	54,357	36.1
Jones	1,893	2,607	13	4,513	15.8
Lee	7,657	11,834	52	19,543	21.4
Lenoir	10,207	12,939	33	23,179	11.8
Lincoln	9,434	20,052	93	29,579	35.9
Macon	5,489	9,448	87	15,024	26.4
Madison	4,234	5,175	54	9,463	9.9
Martin	5,102	5,334	16	10,452	2.2
McDowell	5,330	10,590	82	16,002	32.9
Mecklenburg	166,828	155,084	1,190	323,102	3.6
Mitchell	2,080	5,686	32	7,798	46.2
Montgomery	4,313	5,745	22	10,080	14.2
Moore	13,555	24,714	113	38,382	29.1
Nash	15,693	21,902	78	37,673	16.5
New Hanover	35,572	45,351	324	81,247	12.0
Northampton	5,584	3,176	10	8,770	27.5
Onslow	11,250	25,890	137	37,277	39.3
Orange	42,910	20,771	472	64,153	34.5
Pamlico	2,335	3,679	24	6,038	22.3
Pasquotank	6,984	6,609	55	13,648	2.7
Pender	6,999	10,037	49	17,085	17.8
Perquimans	1,971	2,965	22	4,958	20.0
Person	6,198	8,973	43	15,214	18.2
Pitt	24,924	28,590	129	53,643	6.8
Polk	3,787	5,140	94	9,021	15.0
Randolph	12,966	37,771	173	50,910	48.7
Richmond	8,383	7,709	53	16,145	4.2
Robeson	17,868	15,909	94	33,871	5.8
Rockingham	14,430	22,840	118	37,388	22.5
Rowan	16,735	34,915	217	51,867	35.1
Rutherford	8,184	16,343	131	24,658	33.1
Sampson	9,649	12,600	39	22,288	13.2
Scotland	6,386	5,141	20	11,547	10.8
Stanly	7,650	17,814	89	25,553	39.8
Stokes	5,767	13,583	64	19,414	40.3
Surry	8,304	17,587	101	25,992	35.7
Swain	2,419	2,593	32	5,044	3.4
Transylvania	6,097	9,386	105	15,588	21.1
Tyrrell	731	855	4	1,590	7.8
Union	17,974	42,820	207	61,001	40.7
Vance	8,762	6,884	31	15,677	12.0
Wake	169,909	177,324	1,611	348,844	2.1
Warren	5,171	2,840	16	8,027	29.0
Washington	2,969	2,484	18	5,471	8.9
Watauga	11,232	12,659	159	24,050	5.9
Wayne	15,076	24,883	87	40,046	24.5
Wilkes	7,862	19,197	95	27,154	41.7
Wilson	14,206	16,264	65	30,535	6.7
Yadkin	3,451	11,816	46	15,313	54.6
Yancey	4,434	4,940	57	9,431	5.4

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).

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

Questions and answers

Who won North Carolina in 2004?

George W. Bush won North Carolina by 12.43 percentage points (435,317 votes).

How many electoral votes did North Carolina have in 2004?

North Carolina cast 15 electoral votes in 2004.

How many people voted for president in North Carolina in 2004?

3,501,007 votes were counted for president.

How many counties did each candidate win in North Carolina in 2004?

George W. Bush 80, John Kerry 20 (out of 100 counties with results).

How did North Carolina change from 2000 to 2004?

The margin moved 0.4 points toward the Democratic ticket, from Republican by 12.8 points to Republican by 12.4 points.

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