General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 7 September 2004.

[1] Initial results showed the Democratic Party winning by a wide margin,[2] but close results led to 11 electoral petitions being filed,[3] delaying the date Parliament could sit until mid-December.

In the interim, Prime Minister Robert Woonton announced that he was forming a coalition government with the rival Cook Islands Party.

[4] This led to a split within the Democrats, with Woonton and four other MPs leaving to form the Demo Tumu Party.

Woonton subsequently resigned in order to fight a by-election,[7] causing his government to be dissolved.