2004 United States Senate election in New York

The 2004 United States Senate election in New York took place on November 2, 2004, along with elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as the presidential election, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Senator Chuck Schumer won re-election to a second term with 71.2% of the vote,^[1] at the time the highest margin of victory for any statewide candidate in New York's history, and winning every county except Hamilton.

2004 United States Senate election in New York

← 1998 November 2, 2004 2010 →

Nominee Chuck Schumer Howard Mills Party Democratic Republican Alliance Parties Independence Working Families Popular vote 4,769,824 1,625,069 Percentage 71.16% 24.24%

County results Schumer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Mills:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Chuck Schumer Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer Democratic

Schumer's vote share would not be surpassed until 2012 when fellow Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand won her first full term with 72% of the vote.

Candidates

Democratic

Declared

• Chuck Schumer, incumbent U.S. Senator

Republican

Declared

• Howard Mills III, State Assemblyman and former Town Supervisor of Wallkill

Declined

• Randy Daniels, New York Secretary of State^[2]
• Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City^[2]
• Peter T. King, U.S. Representative for NY-03^[2]
• George Pataki, Governor of New York^[2]

Conservative

Declared

• Marilyn O'Grady, Long Island ophthalmologist and activist

Green

Declined

• David McReynolds, socialist activist and two-time candidate for President with the Socialist Party USA

Libertarian

Declared

• Don Silberger, math professor at State University of New York at New Paltz

Builders

Declared

• Abraham Hirschfeld, real estate developer

Socialist Workers

Declared

• Martin Koppel, writer for The Militant and activist

General election

Campaign

The Conservative Party of New York opposed Republican nominee Assemblyman Howard Mills, due to his support of civil unions and abortion rights.^[3] Instead, they supported ophthalmologist Marilyn O'Grady, a failed candidate for New York's 4th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in 2002.

Perennial candidate Abraham Hirschfeld, then 84 years old, ran for the office on a minor party line. It was the last campaign of his life, and he would die less than a year later.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[4]	Safe D	November 1, 2004

Results

Source: New York State Board of Elections General Election Results, Certified December 14, 2006

2004 United States Senate election, New York^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chuck Schumer	4,384,907	65.42%
	Independence	Chuck Schumer	216,198	3.23%
	Working Families	Chuck Schumer	168,719	2.52%
	total	Chuck Schumer (Incumbent)	4,769,824	71.16%	+16.54%
	Republican	Howard Mills	1,625,069	24.24%	−19.84%
	Conservative	Marilyn O'Grady	220,960	3.30%
	Green	David McReynolds	36,942	0.55%	+0.23%
	Libertarian	Don Silberger	19,073	0.28%	+0.10%
	Builders Party	Abe Hirschfeld	16,196	0.24%
	Socialist Workers	Martin Koppel	14,811	0.22%	+0.14%
Majority			3,144,755	46.92%
Turnout			6,702,875
	Democratic hold		Swing

Per New York State law, Schumer's totals include minor party-line votes: Independence Party (216,198) and Working Families Party (168,719) for Schumer. Source:^[1]

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Alleghany (largest municipality: Wellsville)
• Broome (largest municipality: Binghamton)
• Cattaraugus (largest municipality: Olean)
• Cayuga (largest municipality: Auburn)
• Chautauqua (largest municipality: Jamestown)
• Chemung (largest municipality: Elmira)
• Chenango (largest municipality: Norwich)
• Clinton (largest municipality: Plattsburgh)
• Columbia (largest municipality: Hudson)
• Cortland (largest municipality: Cortland)
• Delaware (largest municipality: Sidney)
• Dutchess (County Seat: Poughkeepsie)
• Essex (largest municipality: Ticonderoga)
• Franklin (largest municipality: Malone)
• Fulton (largest municipality: Gloversville)
• Genesee (largest municipality: Batavia)
• Greene (largest municipality: Catskill)
• Herkimer (largest municipality: German Flatts)
• Jefferson (largest municipality: Le Ray)
• Lewis (largest municipality: Lowville)
• Livingston (largest municipality: Geneseo)
• Madison (largest municipality: Oneida)
• Montgomery (largest municipality: Amsterdam)
• Nassau (largest municipality: Hempstead)
• Oneida (largest municipality: Utica)
• Onondaga (largest municipality: Syracuse)
• Ontario (largest municipality: Geneva)
• Orange (largest municipality: Kiryas Joel)
• Orleans (largest municipality: Albion)
• Oswego (largest municipality: Oswego)
• Otsego (largest municipality: Oneonta)
• Putnam (largest municipality: Lake Carmel)
• Rockland (County Seat: New City)
• Rensselaer (County Seat: Troy)
• Richmond (Staten Island, borough of New York City)
• Steuben (largest municipality: Corning)
• St. Lawrence (largest municipality: Massena)
• Saratoga (largest municipality: Saratoga Springs)
• Schoharie (largest municipality: Cobleskill)
• Schuyler (largest municipality: Watkins Glen)
• Seneca (largest municipality: Seneca Falls)
• Suffolk (largest municipality: Brookhaven)
• Sullivan (largest municipality: Monticello)
• Tioga (largest municipality: Waverly)
• Ulster (largest municipality: Kingston)
• Warren (largest municipality: Glens Falls)
• Washington (largest municipality: Hudson Falls)
• Wayne (largest municipality: Newark)
• Yates (largest municipality: Penn Yan)
• Wyoming (largest municipality: Perry)

See also

• 2004 United States Senate elections