1804 United States presidential election

For related races, see 1804 United States elections.

Presidential elections were held in the United States from November 2 to December 5, 1804. Incumbent Democratic-Republican president Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.

1804 United States presidential election

← 1800 November 2 – December 5, 1804 1808 →
176 members of the Electoral College 89 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	23.8%[1] 8.5 pp
Nominee Thomas Jefferson Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Home state Virginia South Carolina Running mate George Clinton Rufus King Electoral vote 162 14 States carried 15 2 Popular vote 105,524 38,519 Percentage 73.2% 26.7%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson and Salmon denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
President before election Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican Elected President Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican

Jefferson was renominated by his party's congressional nominating caucus without opposition, and the party nominated Governor George Clinton of New York to replace Aaron Burr as Jefferson's running mate. With former president John Adams in retirement, the Federalists turned to Pinckney, a former ambassador and Revolutionary War hero who had been Adams's running mate in the 1800 election.

Though Jefferson had only narrowly defeated Adams in 1800, he was widely popular due to the Louisiana Purchase and a strong economy. He carried almost every state, including most states in the Federalist stronghold of New England.

Background

Although the 1800 presidential election was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe, and the Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.

Nominations

Democratic-Republican Party nomination

Democratic-Republican Party Democratic-Republican Party Ticket, 1804
Thomas Jefferson	George Clinton
for President	for Vice President
3rd President of the United States (1801–1809)	1st Governor of New York (1777–1795, 1801–1804)

The congressional nominating caucus of the Democratic-Republican Party was held in February 1804, with 108 members of the United States Congress in attendance and Senator Stephen R. Bradley as its chair. Jefferson was renominated by acclamation while Vice President Aaron Burr was not considered for renomination. The caucus selected to give the vice-presidential nomination to Governor George Clinton whose main opponent was Senator John Breckinridge. A thirteen-member committee was selected to manage Jefferson's presidential campaign.^[2][3]

Vice-presidential candidates

• John Breckinridge (Kentucky), U.S. Senator
• George Clinton (New York), Governor
• Gideon Granger (Connecticut), Postmaster General
• John Langdon (New Hampshire), former U.S. Senator
• Levi Lincoln (Massachusetts), U.S. Attorney General
• William Maclay (Pennsylvania), former U.S. Senator

• 
  Senator
  John Breckinridge
  from Kentucky
• 
  Governor
  George Clinton
  of New York
• 
  Postmaster General
  Gideon Granger
  from Connecticut
• 
  Former Senator
  John Langdon
  from New Hampshire
• 
  Attorney General
  Levi Lincoln
  from Massachusetts
• 
  Former Senator
  William Maclay
  from Pennsylvania

Balloting

Presidential ballot	Total	Vice-presidential ballot	Total
Thomas Jefferson	108	George Clinton	67
		John Breckinridge	20
		Levi Lincoln	9
		John Langdon	7
		Gideon Granger	4
		William Maclay	1

Federalist Party nomination

Federalist Party Federalist Party Ticket, 1804
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Rufus King
for President	for Vice President
6th U.S. Minister to France (1796–1797)	3rd U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1796–1803)

The Federalists did not hold a nominating caucus, but Federalist congressional leaders informally agreed to nominate a ticket consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former Senator Rufus King of New York.^[2] Pinckney's public service during and after the American Revolutionary War had won him national stature, and Federalists hoped that Pinckney would win some Southern votes away from Jefferson, who had dominated the Southern vote in the previous election.^[4]

General election

Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton's death in July 1804 following the Burr–Hamilton duel destroyed whatever hope the Federalists had of defeating the popular Jefferson. Leaderless and disorganized, the Federalists failed to attract much support outside of New England. The Federalists attacked the Louisiana Purchase as unconstitutional, criticized Jefferson's gunboat navy, and alleged that Jefferson had fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings, but the party failed to galvanize opposition to Jefferson. Jefferson's policies of expansionism and reduced government spending were widely popular. Jefferson was aided by an effective Democratic-Republican party organization, which had continued to develop since 1800, especially in the Federalist stronghold of New England.^[2]

Jefferson's victory was overwhelming, and he even won four of the five New England states. Pinckney won only two states, Connecticut and Delaware. This was the first election where the Democratic-Republicans won in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

As of 2024, Jefferson was the first of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Jefferson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, and Trump were also their respective party's nominees for three consecutive elections.

Results

Electoral results

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote(a), (b)		Electoral vote	Running mate
			Count	Percentage		Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Thomas Jefferson (incumbent)	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	105,524	73.2%	162	George Clinton	New York	162
Charles C. Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	38,519	26.7%	14	Rufus King	New York	14
Unpledged electors	None	N/A	95	0.1%	0	N/A	N/A	0
Total			144,138	100%	176			176
Needed to win					89			89

Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825^[5]
Source (electoral vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 30, 2005.

^(a) Only 11 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote.
^(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.

Popular vote by state

The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of North Carolina and Tennessee appear to be incomplete.

State	Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican		Charles C. Pinckney Federalist		Other		Margin		Citation
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Kentucky	5,080	100.00%	No ballots		No ballots		5,080	100.00%	[6]
Maryland	7,304	75.92%	2,306	23.97%	11	0.11%	4,987	51.84%	[7]
Massachusetts	29,599	53.58%	25,644	46.42%	2	<0.01%	3,953	7.16%	[8]
New Hampshire	9,088	52.01%	8,386	47.99%	0[a]	0.00%	702	4.02%	[9]
New Jersey	13,119	99.79%	19	0.14%	8	0.06%	13,092	99.59%	[10]
North Carolina	1,644[b][c]		486[b][c]		No ballots				[11]
Ohio	2,593	87.69%	364	12.31%	No ballots		2,229	75.38%	[12]
Pennsylvania	22,081	94.69%	1,239	5.31%	No ballots		20,842	89.38%	[13]
Rhode Island	1,312	100.00%	No ballots		No ballots		1,312	100.00%	[14]
Tennessee	778[d]	100.00%	No ballots		No ballots				[15]
Virginia	12,926	98.86%	75	0.57%	74	0.57%	12777	97.72%	[16]

Popular vote Jefferson   73.2% Pinckney   26.7% Unpledged electors   0.1%

Electoral vote Jefferson   92.0% Pinckney   8.0%

States that flipped from Federalist to Democratic-Republican

• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• Rhode Island
• Vermont

Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. New Hampshire, 4.02% (702 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Massachusetts, 7.16% (3,953 votes)

Maps

• 
  Electoral College map
• 
  Map of presidential election results by county, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given candidate (includes rejected votes)
• 
  Map of presidential election results by electoral district, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given candidate. Electoral boundaries for Maryland could not be found (includes rejected votes)

Electoral College selection

Method of choosing electors	State(s)
Each elector appointed by state legislature	Connecticut Delaware Georgia New York South Carolina Vermont
Each elector chosen by voters statewide	New Hampshire New Jersey Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia
State is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district	North Carolina Maryland Tennessee
State is divided into two electoral districts and half the electors are chosen from each district.	Kentucky
Two electors chosen by voters statewide One elector chosen per congressional district in a statewide vote	Massachusetts

See also

• Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson
• History of the United States (1789–1849)
• Second inauguration of Thomas Jefferson
• 1804–05 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1804–05 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Unpledged elector John Bradley is reported with 1 vote in the town of Concord but is shown with no votes in the final official count. Similarly, the town of Portsmouth is reported with 27 votes under "scattering"
2. Only complete returns for the 8th and 10th electoral districts exist. Incomplete returns from the 3rd and 14th electoral districts also exist.
3. The Sheriffs of Currituck, Franklin, Martin, and Montgomery Counties failed to attend and compare the polls at the time and place appointed. This led to votes of these counties being rejected. Of the known rejected votes there were (best performing electors only) 258 Jefferson and 669 Pinckney votes. The rejection of these votes caused the 8th and 10th electoral districts to switch the winner from a Pinckney elector to a Jefferson elector. Also, the best performing Jefferson elector in the 8th electoral district switched from being Isaac Lanier to Robert Cochran
4. Returns only exist for the 5th electoral district