2004 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: General Election 2004

2004 Governor's Chairs
by State

11 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2004

11 Elected

39 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2004

3 Open Governor's Chairs (voluntary retirement, seeking other political office, term limits)

6 Incumbents renominated by same party

1 Incumbent lost bid for Renomination

1 Democrat

1 Incumbent failed to qualify for Primary

1 Republican

46 Candidates seeking a Governor's Chair

This is a list of the current Governors' chairs, the incumbents occupying them, and the candidacy status of said incumbents. Chairs up for election in the year 2004 are marked as such.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Gubernatorial Links



Delaware 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
	Democrat	185,687	50.87%	Governor Ruth Ann Minner
	Republican	167,115	45.78%	William S. "Bill" Lee
	Independent	12,206	3.34%	Frank Infante • On the ballot as Libertarian (1,450 votes) and Independent Party of Delaware (10,756 votes)
Total		365,008	100.00%

Indiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
	Republican	1,302,912	53.21%	Mitchell E. "Mitch" Daniels
	Democrat	1,113,900	45.49%	Governor Joseph E. "Joe" Kernan
	Libertarian	31,664	1.29%	Kenn Gividen
	Write-In	22	0.00%	Velko Kapetanov • Party: Independent
Total		2,448,498	100.00%

Missouri 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Republican	1,382,419	50.83%	Matt Blunt • Son of Republican Congressman Roy Blunt (CD 7)
	Democrat	1,301,442	47.85%	Auditor Claire McCaskill
	Libertarian	24,378	0.90%	John M. Swenson
	Constitution	11,299	0.42%	Robert Wells
	Write-In	61	0.00%	Kenneth J. Johnson
Total		2,719,599	100.00%

Montana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 4-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democrat	225,016	50.44%	Brian Schweitzer • Lieutenant Governor: John C. Bohlinger
	Republican	205,313	46.02%	Secretary of State Bob Brown • Lieutenant Governor: Dave Lewis
	Green	8,393	1.88%	Bob Kelleher • Lieutenant Governor: Colleen Little Thunder
	Libertarian	7,424	1.66%	Stanley R. Jones • Lieutenant Governor: Mike Kaszula
Total		446,146	100.00%

New Hampshire 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2004. Term Limit: None. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democrat	339,927	51.03%	John Lynch
	Republican	325,514	48.86%	Governor Craig R. Benson
	--scatter--	740	0.11%	Scatter
Total		666,181	100.00%

New Jersey 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2001, 2005. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
	Democrat			(pending) • U.S. Senator Jon Corzine formally announced his candidacy, 2 December 2004; another likely candidate is acting Governor Richard Codey
	Republican			(Douglas Forrester - pending)

New Mexico 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
	No Party Affiliation			(Christina M. Vahlsing - pending) • added 27 May 2003

North Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
	Democrat	1,939,154	55.62%	Governor Mike Easley
	Republican	1,495,021	42.88%	Patrick J. Ballantine • No candidate received 40% of the vote in the 20 July Republican Primary for Governor. Normally, the two leading candidates would compete in a Tuesday 17 August 2004 runoff. However, on 22 July Richard Vinroot, who came in second place, withdrew from the race giving the nomination to first place winner Patrick J. Ballatine. Results of the 20 July Primary: Patrick J. Ballantine (30.40%); Richard Vinroot (29.95%); Bill Cobey (27%); Commissioner Dan Barrett (5%); State Senator Fern H. Shubert (4%); George W. Little (4%)
	Libertarian	52,513	1.51%	Barbara Howe
Total		3,486,688	100.00%

North Dakota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: North Dakota passed an initiative in November 2022 to amend the state's Constitution to add Gubernatorial term limits of 2 4 year terms. Applies to individuals elected after 1 January 2023
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Republican	220,803	71.26%	Governor John Hoeven • Lt. Governor: Lt. Governor Jack Dalrymple
	Democrat	84,877	27.39%	Joseph A. Satrom • Lt. Governor: Deb Mathern
	Independent	4,193	1.35%	Roland Riemers • Lt. Governor: Mitchell S. Sanderson
Total		309,873	100.00%

Utah 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Republican	531,190	57.74%	Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. • Lt. Governor: Gary Herbert
	Democrat	380,359	41.35%	Scott M. Matheson, Jr. • Lt. Governor: Karen Hale
	Personal Choice	8,399	0.91%	Ken Larsen • Lt. Governor: Talea Shadowind
	Write-In	12	0.00%	Stone "Stoney" Teiko Fonua • Constitution Party
Total		919,960	100.00%

Vermont 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2004. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Republican	181,540	58.70%	Governor James H. "Jim" Douglas
	Democrat	117,327	37.93%	Peter Clavelle
	Marijuana	4,221	1.36%	Cris Ericson
	Independent	2,431	0.79%	Patricia Hejny
	Libertarian	2,263	0.73%	Hardy Machia
	Liberty Union	1,298	0.42%	Peter Diamondstone
	--scatter--	205	0.07%	Write-in Votes
Total		309,285	100.00%

Washington 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democrat	1,373,361	48.87%	Attorney General Christine Gregoire
	Republican	1,373,232	48.87%	Dino Rossi
	Libertarian	63,465	2.26%	Ruth Bennett
Total		2,810,058	100.00%

West Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democrat	472,758	63.51%	Secretary of State Joe Manchin, III
	Republican	253,131	34.00%	Monty Warner
	Mountain	18,430	2.48%	Jesse Johnson
	Write-In	114	0.02%	Simon McClure
Total		744,433	100.00%