1804 United States presidential election

1804 United States presidential election

← 1800 November 2 – December 5, 1804 1808 →
176 members of the Electoral College 89 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	23.8%[1] 8.5 pp
Nominee Thomas Jefferson Charles C. Pinckney Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Home state Virginia South Carolina Running mate George Clinton Rufus King Electoral vote 162 14 States carried 15 2 Popular vote 104,110 38,919 Percentage 72.8% 27.2%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson and Orange denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
President before election Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican Elected President Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican

The 1804 United States presidential election was the fifth quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 2, to Wednesday, December 5, 1804. Incumbent Democratic-Republican president Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.

Jefferson was re-nominated by his party's congressional nominating caucus without opposition, and the party nominated Governor George Clinton of New York to replace Aaron Burr as Jefferson's running mate. With former president John Adams in retirement, the Federalists turned to Pinckney, a former ambassador and Revolutionary War hero who had been Adams's running mate in the 1800 election.

Though Jefferson had only narrowly defeated Adams in 1800, he was widely popular due to the Louisiana Purchase and a strong economy. He carried almost every state, including most states in the Federalist stronghold of New England.