Kerry Wins in Virginia and the Volunteer State, Bush Runs Third in Tennessee
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry moved closer to the Democratic presidential nomination by winning respectable victories in two of the states of the confederacy: Tennessee and Virginia. George W. Bush ran third in Tennessee.
Kerry defeated fellow Senator John Edwards of North Carolina by almost 2 to 1 in Virginia and by better than 3 to 2 in Tennessee. It is difficult to understate the significance of Kerry's victories in the south. For all intents and purposes, Kerry is the nominee of the Democratic Party. The only question now is whether John Edwards will be the Vice-Presidential candidate.
Kerry's southern victories show, first of all, that Americans are not going to be divided by region this year, which makes sense seeing as the country is at war. Kerry's victory in Tennessee (Gore's home state), is a sign that the Democrats are putting the Clinton - Gore years in the past. The collapse of the Dean campaign, more than anything else, marks the end of the public career of Al Gore.
So, it's on to November and the General Election.
| Tennessee | Percentage | Virginia | Both States | |
| Kerry | 151,436 | 32.38% | 203,486 | 354,922 |
| Edwards | 97,746 | 20.9% | 104,782 | 202,528 |
| Bush | 94,310 | 20.2% | - | - |
| Clark | 85,182 | 18.2% | 36,461 | 121,643 |
| Dean | 16,094 | 3.4% | 27,582 | 43,676 |
| Sharpton | 6,105 | 1.3% | 12,822 | 18,927 |
| Lieberman | 3,191 | 0.6% | 2,889 | 6,080 |
| Uncommitted | 7,179 | 1.5% | - | - |
| Moseley-Braun | 2,435 | 0.5% | - | - |
| Kucinich | 2,277 | 0.4% | 5,074 | 7,351 |
| Gephardt | 1,406 | 0.3% | 581 | 1,987 |
| Larouche | 297 | 0.1% | 1,043 | 1,340 |
| Total | 467,658 | 394,829 |