There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.
D.C. Political Report: Leans Republican
Associated Press: Leans Bush
CNN: Bush
Cook Political Report: Lean Republican
Newsweek: Solid Bush
New York Times: Solid Bush
Rasmussen Reports: Bush
Research 2000: Solid Bush
Washington Post: Bush
Washington Times: Solid Bush
Zogby International: Bush
Washington Dispatch: Bush
Polling
Bush won every single pre-election poll, and won each by at least 48 percent of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Bush leading 51 to 39 percent.
Fundraising
Bush raised $1,933,549. Kerry raised $1,303,859.
Advertising and visits
Neither campaign advertised or visited this state during the fall election.
Analysis
Bush performed here better than he did in 2000. He won four more parishes: Caddo, Bienville, St. Landry, and West Baton Rouge, but he won each with very slim margins of victory of less than two percent, except for WBR which he won with 54% of the vote, indicating that the parish is trending Republican. In the northern portion of the state, he barely lost in Madison and Tensas. The only two parishes in which he got less than 40% of the vote in were East Carroll and Orleans. Bush also won six of seven congressional districts in the state, each with at least 58% of the vote. The Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which covers the parish and city of Orleans, was won by Kerry with 70% of the vote. In other words, no CD in the state was competitive., this is the last election in which East Baton Rouge Parish and Caddo Parish voted for the Republican candidate. Conversely, this is the last election in which Assumption Parish and Pointe Coupee Parish voted for the Democratic candidate.
Results
Results breakdown
By parish
By congressional district
Bush won 6 of 7 congressional districts.
District
Bush
Kerry
Representative
71%
28%
David Vitter
71%
28%
Bobby Jindal
24%
75%
William J. Jefferson
58%
41%
Billy Tauzin
58%
41%
Charlie Melancon
59%
40%
Jim McCrery
62%
37%
Rodney Alexander
59%
40%
Richard H. Baker
70%
30%
Chris John
70%
30%
Charles Boustany
Electors
Technically the voters of Louisiana cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Louisiana is allocated 9 electors because it has 7 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 9 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 9 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector. The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 13, 2004, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols. The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 9 were pledged to Bush/Cheney:
