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			Governor Ruth Ann Minner • Re-elected Tuesday 2 November 2004 • First elected: 2000; re-elected: 2004. • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Renominated - 11 September 2004 Primary
		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

		Democrat			Governor Joseph E. "Joe" Kernan • Succeeded to the office of Governor upon the death of Governor Frank O'Bannon, 13 September 2003 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Renominated - 4 May 2004 Primary
		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

		Democrat			Governor Bob Holden • First elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Lost Primary - 3 August 2004
			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

		Republican			Governor Judy Martz • First elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Open Chair - 13 August 2003: Governor Martz announced that she will not run for re-election in 2004.
			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

		Republican			Governor Craig R. Benson • First elected: 2002 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • Renominated - 14 September 2004 Primary
		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%

North Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat			Governor Mike Easley • Re-elected Tuesday 2 November 2004 • First elected: 2000; re-elected: 2004. • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Renominated - 20 July 2004 - Primary
		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			Governor John Hoeven • Re-elected Tuesday 2 November 2004 • First elected: 2000; re-elected: 2004 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Renominated - 8 June 2004 Primary
		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

		Republican			Governor Olene S. Walker • Succeeded to the Governor's chair upon the resignation of Governor Michael O. Leavitt: 2003. • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • Failed to qualify for Primary - not among the top two contenders in delegate voting on the Gubernatorial nomination at the 8 May 2004 Republican State Convention
			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			Governor James H. "Jim" Douglas • Re-elected Tuesday 2 November 2004 • First elected: 2002; re-elected: 2004. • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • Renominated - 14 September 2004 Primary
		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

		Democrat			Governor Gary Locke • First elected: 1996; re-elected: 2000. • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • Open Chair - 21 July 2003: Governor Locke announced that he will not seek re-election in 2004.
			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
	Manual Recount from an official source. Machine Recount from an official source. On Thursday 30 December 2004 the Secretary of State certified the manual recount results showing that Democrat Christine Gregoire won Governor's election by 129 votes out of 2,810,058. Mr. Rossi is considering contesting these results. History: Friday 3 December 2004- the Democrats officially challenged the certified machine recount Republican Dino Rossi won by 42 votes out of 2,808,342. Monday 6 December- Secretary of State Sam Reed issues a hand recount order. 23 December- the state Supreme Court rules that King County recount is to include 573 mistakenly rejected ballots and 162 misplaced ballots in the manual recount. Manual Recount: (30 December 2004): Democrat Christine Gregoire: 1,373,361; Republican Dino Rossi: 1,373,232; Libertarian Ruth Bennett: 63,465. Machine Recount (24 November 2004): Republican Dino Rossi: 1,372,484; Democrat Christine Gregoire: 1,372,442; Libertarian Ruth Bennett: 63,415. Original Count: Republican Dino Rossi: 1,371,414; Democrat Christine Gregoire: 1,371,153; Libertarian Ruth Bennett: 63,346.
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

		Democrat			Governor Robert E. Wise, Jr. • First elected: 2000. • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is unaffected by the State's term limit. • Open Chair - 12 August 2003: Governor Wise announced that he is not a candidate for re-election in 2004 (issue with marital infidelity).
			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%