
But in that state, as elsewhere, a poor showing in rural counties doomed the Democratic nominee. The Electoral College that year looked a lot like 2000, and Kerry could have won had he carried Ohio. John Kerry, who sought to style himself as a hunter and gun owner but nonetheless supported the ban and its renewal.

In 2004, when the Republican Congress refused to renew the assault weapons ban, the Democrats' presidential nominee was Massachusetts Sen. Gore surely paid a price for his stances on coal and other issues as well, but much of the blame for his narrow Electoral College loss fell on voters' response to his positions on guns. National El Paso Mass Shooting Meant To Galvanize Other White Nationalists
