2004 in politics

Events

• January 1- Adnan Pachachi becomes president of the Iraq Interim Governing Council and will serve for the duration of the month.
• January 1- Joseph Deiss takes office as President of the Confederation in Switzerland, Samuel Schmid as vice-president.
• January 4- Texas Congressman Ralph Hall switches to the Republicans. Hall had been a Democrat.
• January 4- Mikhail Saakashvili is elected as President of Georgia.
• January 6- 2000 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bill Bradley endorses fellow Democrat Howard Dean for President.
• January 8- Gavin Newsom is sworn in as Mayor of San Francisco.
• January 8- Roosevelt Skerrit is sworn in as Prime Minister of Dominica following the death of Pierre Charles on January 6.
• January 12- Kathleen Babineaux Blanco is sworn in as Governor of Louisiana.
• January 13- Haley Barbour is sworn in as Governor of Mississippi.
• January 13- Howard Dean wins a non-binding primary in Washington, DC with 43% of the vote. Al Sharpton comes in second with 34% of the vote.
• January 13- Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill contributes to a book that claims that George W. Bush wanted to attack Iraq since January 2001 and not after the September 11th terrorist attacks as had been believed.
• January 15- Carol Moseley Braun drops out of the 2004 Presidential race and endorses Howard Dean.
• January 19- The Iowa Caucuses are held. John Kerry wins with 38%. John Edwards comes second with 32%. Howard Dean comes in third with 18%. Richard Gephardt comes in fourth with 11%.
• January 20- Richard Gephardt quits the 2004 Presidential race after a poor showing in the Iowa Caucuses.
• January 20- Bill Janklow's resignation from Congress takes effect. Janklow had been convicted of a felony in December 2003.
• January 25- Mikhail Saakashvili is sworn in as President of Georgia.
• January 27- John Kerry wins the New Hampshire Primary with 38% of the vote. Howard Dean gets 26% of the vote.
• January 27 - Don Brash Speech Orewa Rotary Club on Nationhood against Maori racial separatism in New Zealand
• February 3-John Edwards wins a primary in South Carolina with 46% of the vote. Wesley Clark wins the Oklahoma primary with 30% of the vote. John Kerry wins primaries and caucuses in Arizona with 43% of the vote, Delaware with 50% of the vote, Missouri with 51% of the vote, New Mexico with 42% of the vote, and North Dakota with 50% of the vote.
• February 3- Joe Lieberman quits the Presidential race after poor results in primaries and caucuses in South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, North Dakota, and New Mexico.
• February 6- Richard Gephardt endorses John Kerry for President.
• February 7- John Kerry wins a primary in Michigan with 52% of the vote. Kerry also wins the Washington primary with 49% of the vote.
• February 7 - Peter Beattie (of the Australian Labor Party) wins a 3rd term as Premier of Queensland, again winning over two-thirds of the seats.
• February 8- John Kerry wins the Maine Caucuses with 45% of the vote.
• February 10- John Kerry wins primaries in Tennessee and Virginia with 41% and 52% of the vote, respectfully.
• February 11- Wesley Clark quits the quits the Presidential race after poor results in the Virginia and Tennessee primaries.
• February 13- Wesley Clark endorses John Kerry.
• February 14- John Kerry wins a caucus in Washington, DC with 47% of the vote. Kerry wins the Nevada caucus with 63% of state party delegates.
• February 17- Democrat Ben Chandler defeats Republican Alice Forgy Kerr in a Congressional special election in Kentucky with 55% of the vote compared to Forgy Kerr's 43%.
• February 17- John Kerry wins 40% of the vote in the Wisconsin primary.
• February 18- Howard Dean quits the Presidential race after a poor showing in Wisconsin.
• February 21- Ralph Nader enters the Presidential race as an Independent.
• March 2 - "Super Tuesday" U.S. presidential primaries or caucuses take place in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. John Kerry wins in 9 states, and a dejected John Edwards quits the race.
• March 4 - The national parliament and all state assemblies of Malaysia, except Sarawak's were dissolved by the Prime Minister, paving the way for the general election.
• March 13 - Nomination day for the Malaysian general election. Barisan Nasional wins 15 parliamentary seats and 7 state assembly seats uncontested. The Islamic Party of Malaysia settles for one seat in the state of Johor.
• March 21 - The National Front scores a landslide victory in the Malaysian general election.
• April 1 - Paolo Bollini and Marino Riccardi take office as Captains Regent of San Marino.

• U.S. presidential election, 2004