2004 Delaware gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2004 United States gubernatorial elections.

2004 Delaware gubernatorial election
November 2, 2004
 
Nominee Ruth Ann Minner Bill Lee
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 185,548 167,008
Percentage 50.9% 45.8%
Minner:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Lee:      40–50%      50–60%
Governor before election

Ruth Ann Minner
Democratic

Elected Governor

Ruth Ann Minner
Democratic

The 2004 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004, coinciding with the U.S. presidential election. Incumbent Governor Ruth Ann Minner faced a serious challenge from retired Superior Court Judge Bill Lee but managed a five-point victory on election day. As of 2025, this is the last time Kent County voted Republican in a gubernatorial election, and the last time the Republican gubernatorial nominee won a majority of Delaware's counties.

Primaries

Democratic Party

Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ruth Ann Minner (incumbent) 41,671 100.00

Republican Party

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Lee 15,270 70.47
Republican Michael D. Protack 5,108 23.57
Republican David Charles Graham 1,292 5.96
Total votes 21,670 100.00

Independent Party/Libertarian Party

Campaign

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[2] Likely D November 1, 2004

Results

Delaware gubernatorial election, 2004[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ruth Ann Minner (incumbent) 185,548 50.87% −8.38%
Republican Bill Lee 167,008 45.79% +6.04%
Independent Party Frank Infante 12,203 3.34% +1.8%
Majority 18,540 5.08% −14.42%
Turnout 364,759
Democratic hold Swing

By county

By county
County Ruth Ann Minner
Democratic 		William Lee
Republican 		All Others
# % # % # %
Kent 22,324 40.67 28,562 52.03 4,006 7.3
New Castle 128,953 55.26 99,479 42.63 4,942 2.12
Sussex 34,271 44.8 38,967 50.94 3,255 4.26
Totals 185,548 50.87 167,008 45.79 12,203 3.35

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

  1. ^ "State of Delaware - Department of Elections - State of Delaware". Archived from the original on July 8, 2012.
  2. ^ "The Final Predictions". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "State of Delaware - Department of Elections - State of Delaware". Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.