2004 Vermont gubernatorial election

2004 Vermont gubernatorial election
	Douglas: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90%; Clavelle: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%; Tie: 50-60%
Governor before election; Jim Douglas; Republican	Elected Governor ; Jim Douglas; Republican

The 2004 Vermont gubernatorial election took place November 2, 2004 for the post of Governor of Vermont. Incumbent Republican governor Jim Douglas was re-elected. Douglas defeated Peter Clavelle, the Progressive Mayor of Burlington who ran as a Democrat.

Democratic primary

Peter Clavelle, Mayor of Burlington, switched party affiliation from Progressive to Democratic to run in this election, and was cross-nominated by the Progressive Party.

Democratic primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Peter Clavelle	23,218	94.65
	Democratic	Write-ins	1,313	5.35
Total votes			24,531	100.00

Republican primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Douglas (inc.)	15,806	98.74
	Republican	Write-ins	202	1.26
Total votes			16,008	100.00

Clavelle attempted to link Douglas and President George W. Bush with bumper stickers saying "Jim = George".^[2] Douglas countered this by a willingness to criticize the national Republican Party, such as over the Bush administration's environmental policies.^[3]

The two main candidates faced each other in 18 debates during the campaign.^[4]

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[5]	Likely R	November 1, 2004

2004 Vermont gubernatorial election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Douglas (inc.)	181,540	58.70%	+13.76%
	Democratic	Peter Clavelle^[a]	117,327	37.93%	−4.45%
	Marijuana	Cris Ericson	4,221	1.36%	+0.61%
	Independent	Patricia Hejny	2,431	0.79%
	Libertarian	Hardy Machia	2,263	0.73%	+0.32%
	Liberty Union	Peter Diamondstone	1,298	0.42%	+0.15%
	Write-ins	Write-ins	205	0.07%
Majority			64,213	20.76%	+18.21%
Turnout			309,285
	Republican hold		Swing

^ Originally was a Progressive; ran in the Democratic primary, and was cross nominated by the Progressive Party.

^ ^a ^b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Anger at Bush, Iraq war big motivators of Vermont voters". USA Today. November 2, 2004. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
^ "Vermont". The New York Times. November 4, 2004. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
^ Mayer, Dennis (October 14, 2004). "VERMONT: Issues to Get a Full Airing With 18 Debates on Tap". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
^ "The Final Predictions". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 10, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)