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The 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination process was a series of primaries and caucuses culminating in the Democratic National Convention that decided which pair of candidates would represent the Democrats in the 2004 election for President and Vice President of the United States.
On March 11, after meetings with Democratic superdelegates in Washington and with former opponents Howard B. Dean III and John Edwards, U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts accumulated the 2,162 delegates required to clinch the nomination. Kerry was then officially acknowledged as the nominee on the Democratic National Committee website. Kerry and his chosen running mate, Senator Edwards, were formally nominated by the Democratic Party on July 28, 2004 at the Democratic National Convention in Kerry's hometown of Boston, Massachusetts; Kerry gave his acceptance speech the next day. See 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry for more on Mr. Kerry's platform and views.
If something happens to Kerry before the election, the Democratic National Committee will likely be the main body involved in choosing an alternate nominee - most likely Mr. Kerry's Vice Presidential running mate.
¹: Sharpton and Kucinich dropped out of the race on these dates, but did not formally withdraw or stop accepting delegates until after the convention. Kucinich received somewhat less than 1 percent of the delegates' votes, the only candidate but Kerry to be so recognized.
Senator John Edwards of North Carolina was designated by presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry as his Vice Presidential choice on July 6, 2004.
Among those considered in the running for the post, but ultimately not selected by Kerry included:
There were 4,353 total delegates to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, of which 802 were "superdelegates": party leaders, even including some of the candidates, who were not bound by any state's primary or caucus votes and could change their support at any time. A candidate needed 2,162 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 offered delegates to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
John Kerry won 4,255 votes at the Convention, including those won by all of his former rivals except Dennis Kucinich, who received 37 votes.
| Carol Moseley Braun | Wesley Clark | Howard Dean | John Edwards | Richard Gephardt | John Kerry | Dennis Kucinich | Joseph Lieberman | Al Sharpton | |||||||||||
| Total Delegates¹ | -- | 60 | 167.5 | 559 | -- | 2573.5 | 40 | -- | 26 | ||||||||||
| Superdelegates¹ | -- | -- | 53 | 23 | -- | 381 | 2 | -- | 5 | ||||||||||
| Jan. 14 | District of Columbia² (primary) | 12% | -- | 43% | -- | -- | -- | 8% | -- | 34% | |||||||||
| Jan. 19 | Iowa³ (caucus) | -- | -- | 18% (5) | 32% (10) | 11% | 38% (30) | 1% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Jan. 27 | New Hampshire (primary) | -- | 12%4 | 26% (9) | 12% | -- | 38%4 (13) | 1% | 9% | -- | |||||||||
| Feb. 3 (Mini Tuesday) | Arizona (primary) | -- | 27% (14) | 14% (3) | 7% | -- | 43% (38) | 2% | 7% | -- | |||||||||
| Delaware (primary) | -- | 9%4 | 10% | 11% | 1%4 | 50% (14) | 1% | 11% | 6% (1) | ||||||||||
| Missouri (primary) | -- | 4% | 9% | 25% (26) | 2% | 51% (48) | 1% | 4% | 3% | ||||||||||
| New Mexico (caucus) | -- | 21% (8) | 16% (4) | 11% | 1%4 | 42% (14) | 6% | 3% | -- | ||||||||||
| North Dakota (caucus) | -- | 24% (5) | 12% | 10% | 1% | 51%4 (9) | 3% | 1% | -- | ||||||||||
| Oklahoma (primary) | -- | 30% (15) | 4% | 30% (13) | 1%4 | 27% (12) | 1% | 7%4 | 1% | ||||||||||
| South Carolina (primary) | -- | 7% | 5% | 45% (27) | -- | 30% (17) | -- | 2% | 10% (1) | ||||||||||
| Feb. 7 | Michigan (caucus) | -- | 7% | 17% (24) | 13% (6) | 1%4 | 52% (91) | 3% | -- | 7% (7) | |||||||||
| Washington (caucus) | -- | 3% | 30% (29) | 7% | -- | 48%4 (47) | 8% | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Feb. 8 | Maine (caucus) | -- | 4% | 27%4 (9) | 8% | -- | 45% (15) | 16% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Feb. 10 | Tennessee (primary) | 1%4 | 23% (18) | 4% | 26% (20) | -- | 41% (31) | 1% | 1% | 2% | |||||||||
| Virginia (primary) | -- | 9% | 7% | 27% (29) | -- | 52% (53) | 1% | 1% | 3% | ||||||||||
| Feb. 14 | District of Columbia² (caucus) | -- | 1%4 | 17%4 (3) | 10% | -- | 47% (9) | 3% | -- | 20% (4) | |||||||||
| Nevada (caucus) | -- | -- | 17% (2) | 10% | -- | 63% (18) | 7% | -- | 1% | ||||||||||
| Feb. 17 | Wisconsin (primary) | -- | 2% | 18% (13) | 34% (24) | -- | 40% (30) | 3% | -- | 2% | |||||||||
| Feb. 24 | Hawaii (caucus) | -- | 1%4 | 7%4 | 13%4 | -- | 47%4 (12) | 31%4 (8) | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Idaho³ (caucus) | -- | -- | 11% | 22% (6) | -- | 54% (12) | 6% | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Utah (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 4% | 30% (3) | -- | 55% (5) | 7% | 1%4 | -- | ||||||||||
| Mar. 2 (Super Tuesday) | California (primary) | 1%4 | 2%4 | 4% | 20% (82) | 1%4 | 64% (288) | 5% | 2%4 | 4% | |||||||||
| Connecticut (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 4% | 24% (14) | -- | 58% (35) | 3% | 5% | 3% | ||||||||||
| Georgia (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 2% | 42% (32) | -- | 47% (37) | 1% | 1%4 | 6% | ||||||||||
| Maryland (primary) | 1%4 | 1%4 | 3% | 26% (13) | -- | 60% (26) | 2% | 1%4 | 5% | ||||||||||
| Massachusetts (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 3% | 18% (13) | -- | 72% (80) | 4% | 1%4 | 1% | ||||||||||
| Minnesota (caucus) | -- | -- | 2% | 27% (22) | -- | 51% (41) | 17% (9) | -- | 1% | ||||||||||
| New York (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 3% | 20% (54) | 1%4 | 61% (174) | 5% | 1%4 | 8% (8) | ||||||||||
| Ohio (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 3% | 34% (55) | 1%4 | 52% (81) | 9% (4) | 1%4 | -- | ||||||||||
| Rhode Island (primary) | -- | 1%4 | 4% | 19% (4) | -- | 71% (17) | 3% | 1%4 | -- | ||||||||||
| Vermont (primary) | -- | 3%4 | 53%4 (9) | 6%4 | -- | 31%4 (6) | 4% | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Mar. 9 | American Samoa (caucus) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 83% (6) | 17% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Florida (primary) | 1% | 1% | 3% | 10% (3) | 1% | 77% (119) | 2% | 2% | 3% | ||||||||||
| Louisiana (primary) | -- | 4% | 5% | 16% (10) | -- | 70% (42) | 1% | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Mississippi (primary) | -- | 2% | 3% | 7% | -- | 78% (33) | 1% | 1% | 5% | ||||||||||
| Texas (primary) | -- | 2% | 5% | 14% (11) | 1% | 67% (62) | 2% | 3% | 4% | ||||||||||
| Mar. 13 | Kansas (caucus) | -- | 1% | 7% (1) | 9% | -- | 72% (32) | 10% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Mar. 16 | Illinois (primary) | 4% | 2% | 4% | 11% (2) | -- | 72% (154) | 2% | 2% | 3% | |||||||||
| Mar. 20 | Alaska (caucus) | -- | -- | 11% | 3% | -- | 48% (8) | 27% (5) | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Wyoming (caucus) | -- | -- | 3% | 5% | -- | 77% (13) | 6% | -- | 1% | ||||||||||
| Mar. 27 | Expatriates5 (caucus) | -- | 10% | 19% (2.5) | 9% | -- | 56% (4.5) | 5% | -- | 1% | |||||||||
| Apr. 13 | Colorado (caucus) | -- | -- | 2% | 1% | -- | 64% (39) | 13% (4) | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Apr. 17 | North Carolina (caucus) | -- | -- | 6% | 52% (57) | -- | 27% (29) | 12% (4) | -- | 3% | |||||||||
| Virgin Islands (caucus) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- (3) | -- | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Apr. 24 | Guam (caucus) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 77% (3) | -- | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Apr. 27 | Pennsylvania (primary) | -- | -- | 10% (1) | 10% | -- | 74% (120) | 4% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| May 4 | Indiana (primary) | -- | 6% | 7% | 11% | -- | 73% (62) | 2% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| May 11 | Nebraska (primary) | -- | -- | 7% | 14% | -- | 73% (24) | 2% | -- | 2% | |||||||||
| West Virginia (primary) | -- | 3% | 4% | 13% | -- | 70% (28) | 2% | 6% | -- | ||||||||||
| May 18 | Arkansas (primary) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 66% (29) | 5% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| Kentucky (primary) | -- | 3% | 4% | 14% | -- | 60% (44) | 2% | 5% | 2% | ||||||||||
| Oregon (primary) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 81% (38) | 17% (4) | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Jun. 1 | Alabama (primary) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 75% (47) | 4% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| South Dakota (primary) | -- | -- | 6% | -- | -- | 82% (14) | 2% | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Jun. 6 | Puerto Rico (caucus) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- (51) | -- | -- | ||||||||||
| Jun. 8 | Montana (primary) | -- | 4% | -- | 9% | -- | 68% (15) | 11% | -- | -- | |||||||||
| New Jersey (primary) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 92% (106) | 4% | -- | -- | ||||||||||
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Notes: