2004 United States Senate election in South Dakota

The 2004 United States Senate election in South Dakota happened on November 2, 2004. The Republican candidate, John Thune, barely defeated the Democratic candidate, Tom Daschle, by less than 5,000 votes.

Tom Daschle was the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate. This was the only time since 1952 that a party leader in the Senate lost an election in United States history. Daschle was the only Senator to lose re-election in 2004.

This election happened at the same time as the 2004 United States presidential election.

 Candidates 
 Democratic: Tom Daschle. Daschle had worked in the United States Senate since 1987, and was trying to win a fourth term. He was also the minority leader in the Senate.
 Republican: John Thune. Thune represented South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003.

 Campaign 

John Thune, President George W. Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney said Daschle was the "chief obstructionist" of President Bush's goals and claimed he used filibusters to delay these goals. John Thune, the Republican candidate, showed his strong support for the war in Iraq. John Thune accused Tom Daschle of "emboldening the enemy." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist visited South Dakota to help John Thune, breaking a tradition that a leader of one party would not campaign for the defeat of the other party leader. Early in the race, Tom Daschle looked like he was going to win. However, by November 2004, many polls showed that Tom Daschle and John Thune were both equally likely to win the election.

 Results 

CandidateVotesPercentJohn Thune (Republican) 16px197,84850.58%Tom Daschle (Democratic)193,34049.42%Total391,188100.00%

 Related articles 
 2004 United States presidential election
 United States Senate
 References 

Category:South Dakota elections
Category:United States Senate elections
Category:2004 elections in the United States