The 2004 Orlando mayoral election took place on March 9, 2004. Incumbent Mayor Buddy Dyer, who was first elected in a 2003 special election, ran for re-election to a full term. He faced four opponents, including businessman Ken Mulvaney and retired police captain Sam Ings. Dyer narrowly avoided a runoff election and won a full term, receiving 51 percent of the vote to Mulvaney's 31 percent and Ings's 13 percent.
Mulvaney contested the election results, alleging that Dyer illegally paid a consultant $10,000 to collect absentee ballots from predominantly Black precincts. On March 10, 2005, Dyer was indicted by a grand jury for violating state election law, which prompted Governor Jeb Bush to suspend him from office and schedule a special election. On April 20, 2005, the charges were dropped against Dyer, he was returned to office, and the special election was cancelled.