2004 Missouri gubernatorial election

2004 Missouri gubernatorial election

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
 
Nominee Matt Blunt Claire McCaskill
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,382,419 1,301,442
Percentage 50.83% 47.85%

County results
Blunt:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
McCaskill:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election

Bob Holden
Democratic

Elected Governor

Matt Blunt
Republican

The 2004 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2004, for the post of Governor of Missouri. The Republican nominee, Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt, defeated Democratic state auditor Claire McCaskill. This gave the Republican Party control of both the governorship and the Missouri General Assembly for the first time in 80 years.[1]

McCaskill had earlier defeated incumbent governor Bob Holden in the Democratic primary. This was the first time a sitting governor of Missouri had been defeated in a primary and the first time any United States governor had lost in a primary since the 1994 elections.[2]

Coincidentally, McCaskill's mother Betty Anne had previously been defeated by Blunt's grandfather, Leroy Blunt, in a 1978 General Assembly election. Blunt's father Roy Blunt was a Congressman and served with McCaskill in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2019.

  1. ^ "The Midwest". The Washington Post. November 4, 2004. Retrieved February 24, 2008.[permanent dead link][permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Blunt wins Missouri governor's race". USA Today. November 3, 2004. Retrieved February 24, 2008.