Wisconsin Presidential Preference Primary, Feb. 17, 2004

Wisconsin Presidential Preference Primary
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
2003 Wisconsin Act 24 changed the date of the state's presidential preference primary from the first Tuesday in April of presidential election years to the third Tuesday in February. (The Assembly passed AB112 by a vote of 83-13 on March 12, 2003; the Senate followed in an 18-13 vote on May 6, 2003, and the Governor approved the bill later that month. Note that this was not the first time the legislature had taken the matter up; on January 23, 2002, the Assembly voted 94-5 to pass a virtually identical measure, 2001 AB548. However, the Senate passed an amended version on March 12, 2002 in a 33-0 vote, and this effectively killed the bill since the Assembly didn't have time to take it up again).

DEAN EDWARDS KERRY KUCINICH former GEPHARDT LIEBERMAN CLARK

Major Event
"Wisconsin Presidential Debate 2004" sponsored by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) and Journal Communications at Marquette University's Alumni Memorial Union in Milwaukee on Sunday, February 15, 2004; broadcast on WTMJ-TV, MSNBC and WTMJ-AM (620). >

The Dean campaign made its last stand in Wisconsin. "Wisconsin voters have a history of bucking conventional wisdom and electing underdog candidates," stated a February 10 2004 memo from Dean Wisconsin State Director Michael Tate. By the time the February 17 primary arrived, Dean, the erstwhile frontrunner, was a decided underdog after a string of losses. The campaign had been organizing in Wisconsin since August, and put significant resources into the state in the closing weeks, but Dean finished third and withdrew the next day. Sen. John Kerry, riding on electability and endorsements, wrapped up another victory, finishing first in most of the state's 72 counties. In Milwaukee County, the most populous county, Kerry finished 18,517 votes ahead of Edwards out of 189,135 votes cast. In Dane County (Madison) Kerry finished 4,217 votes ahead out of 125,363 votes cast. Sen. John Edwards, benefitting from the endorsements of the Capital Times (Feb. 14, 2004) and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Feb. 16, 2004), came in a strong second, finishing ahead in a dozen counties, the largest of which were Waukesha, Sheboygan, and LaCrosse. (Kerry and Edwards tied in Clark county). Gen. Wesley Clark, who withdrew on February 11, had built up a strong organization in the state chaired by Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton.

ballot

Official Results details | by CD

Total Vote

Percent

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
1,629

0.20%

John Edwards
283,376

34.30%

Howard Dean
150,548

18.22%

+John F. Kerry
327,438

39.63%

Wesley K. Clark w
12,683

1.54%

Al Sharpton
14,691

1.78%

Dick Gephardt w
1,259

0.15%

Carol Moseley Braun w
1,589

0.19%

Dennis J. Kucinich
27,306

3.30%

Joe Lieberman w
3,928

0.48%

Uninstructed Del.
1,141

0.14%

Scattering
662

0.08%

Total
826,250