Setting a Date
A law signed by Gov. Bill Richardson in April 2003 gives the parties the option of selecting delegates through a presidential preference primary held on the same date as the state primary (in June) or "in accordance with the selection procedure" of the party.  In 2004 New Mexico Democrats held a "caucus" on the first Tuesday in February (according to the DNC it "was actually a Party-run primary").

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

-Voter registration closes Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004 at 5:00 p.m..
-Absentee voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004 continues through Saturday, Oct. 30, 2004.
-Early in-person voting begins Saturday, Oct. 16, 2004 continues through Saturday, Oct. 30, 2004.
 

Voters voting at regular precincts -  382,941  (49.39%) Voters voting by absentee -  156,020  (20.12%) Voters voting by early voting -  236,340  (30.48%) Total voters -  775,301

Results  Kerry/Edwards (Dem.) 370,942 (49.05) +Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 376,930 (49.84) Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 1,226 (0.16) Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.) 771 (0.10) Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 2,382 (0.31) Nader/Camejo (Indep.) 4,053 (0.54) Total.......756,304

2004 Overview New Mexico flipped to Bush.  The state, which in 2000 went to Gore with the narrowest vote margin, was again close; in the end Bush won with a plurality of 5,988 votes (0.79 percentage points).  Bush carried 21 counties to 12 for Kerry (results by county).  New Mexico Democratic Party state chair John V. Wertheim stated, "We got crushed in Southeast New Mexico and in the Four Corners area." General Election Details Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

[State Primary June 1, 2004]

Past Results

1996 Clinton (Dem.)........273,495 (49.18) Dole (Rep.)............232,751 (41.86) Perot (Ref.).............32,257 (5.80) Nader (Grn.)............13,218 (2.38) Others (3).................4,353 (0.79) Total........556,074 1992 Clinton (Dem.)........261,617 (45.90) Bush (Rep.)...........212,824 (37.34) Perot (Ind.)..............91,895 (16.12) Others (7)..................3,650  (0.64) Total........569,986	2000 Nader/LaDuke (Grn.) 21,251  (3.55) +Gore/Lieberman (Dem.) 286,783 (47.91) Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 286,417 (47.85) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 2,058 (0.34) Phillips/Frazier (Const.) 343 (0.06) Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP) 361 (0.06) Buchanan/Foster (Ref.) 1,392  (0.23) Total........598,605 Total Votes Cast: 615,607 Early voting started on Oct. 18, 2000 (20 days prior to the election).  110,746 such ballots were cast (18.0% of total) Regular absentee voting started 40 days prior to the election.  79,553 such ballots were cast (12.9% of total) Early/Absentee Total: 190,299 (30.9% of total votes cast)	2000 Overview Problems with the count in Bernalillo county left the outcome in New Mexico uncertain for days after the election, but Gore ultimately won the state's five electoral votes by a razor thin margin of 366 votes (0.06 percentage points).  Bush carried 20 counties to 13 for Gore. General Election Activity Although many news accounts attributed the Bernalillo counting problem to a "software glitch," in fact an administrative failure was to blame: the county clerk's office did not run the standard logic and accuracy test on the voting machines before the election.  The problem became apparent on Election Night, and the clerk's office withdrew about 67,000 early vote and absentee ballots from the tally.  On Nov. 9, workers in a warehouse in Albuquerque began the recount, hand-feeding the ballots into the voting machines.  By Nov. 11, Bush had gained a statewide lead of 17 votes, but some emergency ballots remained to be counted and totals were still fluctuating.  The State Canvassing Board finalized Gore as the winner with a plurality of 366 votes on Nov. 29.

Republican - Primary: Tuesday, June 1, 2004.  State Convention: June 10, 2004. 24 Delegates and 21 Alternates.
 

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Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.