Alabama

ALABAMA

9 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Alabama Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 1, 2003 est.	4,500,752
Total Registration, Nov. 2004	2,856,647

Alabama has: 67 counties.
Largest counties: Jefferson, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa.
Largest cities: Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville.

Government
Governor: Bob Riley (R) elected Nov. 2002.
State Legislature: Alabama Legislature
Local: Cities or more local NACO Counties
U.S. House: 5R, 2D - 1. J.Bonner (R) | 2. T.Everett (R) | 3. M.Rogers (R) | 4. R.Aderholt (R) | 5. B.Cramer (D) | 6. S.Bachus (R) | 7. A.Davis (D).
U.S. Senate: Jeff Sessions (R) re-elected in 2002, Richard C. Shelby (R) re-elected in 2004.

Sen. Shelby cruised to re-election winning more than two-thirds of the vote. All U.S. House members were re-elected with more than 60 percent of the vote. Three seats on the state Supreme Court were up; Republicans swept all three thereby gaining control of all 9 seats.
Alabama Maps (U of A)

Heart of Dixie

State of Alabama
Secretary of State

AL Democratic Party
AL Green Party
AL Reform Party
AL Republican Party
Libertarian Party of AL
Natural Law Party of AL
Constitution Party of AL

Alabama Live
Media (Newsp.)
Media (TV)

Alabama Live Pol.
Politics1-AL

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voter registration cut-off is October 22, 2004.

Official Results
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	693,933	(36.84)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,176,394	(62.46)
Badnarik/Campagna (Ind.)	3,495	(0.19)
Nader/Pierce (Ind.)	6,701	(0.36)
Peroutka/Baldwin (Ind.)	1,994	(0.11)
w/ins	898	(0.05)
Total........1,883,415

Registered voters: 2,856,647

2004 Overview
The last Democrat to win in Alabama was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Bush-Cheney padded upon their 2000 showing and continued the Republican winning streak. Bush-Cheney gained a plurality of 482,461 votes (25.62 percentage points) over the Kerry-Edwards ticket and finished ahead in 56 of the state's 67 counties.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies | Bush-Cheney '04

Past Results

1996

Dole (Rep.)...........769,044	(50.12)
Clinton (Dem.)......662,165	(43.16)
Perot (Ind.).............92,149	(6.00)
Others (4+w/ins).....10,991	(0.72)
Total........1,534,349

1992

Bush (Rep.)..........804,283
(47.64)

Clinton (Dem.)......690,080
(40.88)

Perot (Ind.)...........183,109
(10.85)

Others (5+w/ins)....10,588
(0.63)

Total........1,688,060

2000

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	692,611	(41.57)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	5,893	(0.35)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	941,173	(56.48)
Buchanan/Foster (Ind.)	6,351	(0.38)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (Ind.)	447	(0.02)
Nader/LaDuke (Ind.)	18,323	(1.10)
Phillips/Frazier (Ind.)	775	(0.05)
Write-ins	699	(0.04)
Total........1,666,272

Voter Registration: 2,528,963
Turnout as a percentage of voting age population was 49.99%. (U.S. avg: 53.76%).

2000 Overview
Bush consistently had a comfortable lead in the polls, and there were no surprises on Election Day as the Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 248,562 votes (14.91 percentage points) and finished ahead of Gore-Lieberman in 49 of the state's 67 counties. In other races, "Ten Commandments" judge Roy Moore handily won the race for chief justice of the state Supreme Court, and voters approved Amendment 2 to remove the state's ban on interracial marriages.
General Election Activity

2004 State and Presidential Primary -- Tuesday, June 1, 2004

Specifications for presidential preference primary elections in Alabama are set out in Title 17, Chapter 16A of the Code of Alabama, under which the primary is held the first Tuesday in June 2004.

Democrats

To qualify for presidential preference primary ballot access, a prospective candidate must file a petition or petitions with the state party chair between March 1 and March 15, 2004. The party chair may prescribe the petition format (not less than 500 valid signatures or not less than 50 valid signatures from each CD).

	Votes	Percent
+John F. Kerry	164,021	75.04%
Dennis J. Kucinich	9,076	4.15%
Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.	7,254	3.32%
Uncommitted	38,223	17.49%
Total	218,574

62 Delegates (Pledged 54, Unpledged 8) and 9 Alternates.

Republicans
48 Delegates (21 CD and 27 AL)
George W. Bush 187,037 (92.83%) Uncomm.14,449 (7.17%) Total 201,487.

Note: During the 2001 Regular Session, Sen. Steve French (R/Birmingham) introduced a bill to create a separate presidential primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March (SB69). Then-Secretary of State Jim Bennett supported that effort. "During the 2000 presidential primary season, Alabama's primary was dead last among the 50 states," Bennett said. "By the time Alabama voters went to the polls, the nominees of both major parties had long been selected and were already preparing for the general election." [April 19, 2001 press release]. Bennett noted later, "Unfortunately, it did not travel far. The cost factor is the main deterrent. Alabama is facing some severe budget restraints. In our state, the taxpayers foot the bill for party primaries. I don't think this is a dead issue, however, and we may see it again."

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