NMA chief Jack Gerard said preliminary data indicated the mining industry vote had a vital impact in Nevada, Ohio, West Virginia and New Mexico. He said the association’s “Mine the Vote” program played an important role by educating voters in mining communities about candidate positions on major mining issues.

In Nevada, which Bush won by a 51-to-48% margin, Elko County accounted for more than half of the president’s winning margin. Nevada eventually gave Bush the needed electoral votes to capture a second term. Overall, Elko County voters supported Bush by a 78% to 20% margin.

The results were similar in other major Nevada mining counties, among them Eureka, Humboldt, Lander and Nye.

In Ohio Bush won 72 of the state’s 88 counties and beat Senator John Kerry overall by 2 percentage points. Seven of the state’s 10 major coal producing counties went solidly for Bush, including Meigs, Perry, Noble, Muskingum, Guernsey, Harrison, and Tuscarawas.

Bush won 56% of the vote in West Virginia. He carried 17 of the state’s coal producing counties, including Kanawha, Marshall, Monongalia and Raleigh.

Three mining counties were crucial for Bush in New Mexico, which went for the president by a close 50.2% to 48.75% margin.