2000 United States presidential election

The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush, the eldest son of George H. W. Bush, narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Vice President Al Gore. It was the fourth of five U.S. presidential elections, and the first since 1888, in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote, and is considered one of the closest U.S. presidential elections, with long-standing controversy about the result.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Gore conceded the election on December 13.

For related races, see 2000 United States elections.

538 members of the Electoral College^[a]
270 electoral votes needed to win

54.2%^[1] 2.5 pp

Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton was ineligible to seek a third term because of term limits established by the 22nd Amendment. Incumbent Vice President Gore easily secured the Democratic nomination, defeating former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley in the primaries. He selected Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Bush was seen as the early favorite for the Republican nomination, and after a contentious primary battle with Arizona Senator John McCain and others, he secured the nomination by Super Tuesday. He selected former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney as his running mate.

Both major-party candidates focused primarily on domestic issues, such as the budget, tax relief, and reforms for federal social insurance programs, although foreign policy was not ignored. Due to President Bill Clinton's sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment, Gore avoided campaigning with Clinton. Republicans denounced Clinton's indiscretions, while Gore criticized Bush's lack of experience. On election night, it was unclear who had won, with the electoral votes of the state of Florida still undecided. The returns showed that Bush won Florida by such a close margin that state law required a recount. A month-long series of legal battles led to the highly controversial 5–4 Supreme Court decision Bush v. Gore, which ended the recount.

Bush won Florida by 537 votes, a margin of 0.009%. The Florida recount and subsequent litigation resulted in major post-election controversy, and with speculative analysis suggesting that limited county-based recounts would likely have confirmed a Bush victory, whereas a statewide recount would likely have given the state to Gore.^[6]^[7] Ultimately, Bush won 271 electoral votes, one vote more than the 270-to-win majority, despite Gore receiving 543,895 more votes (a margin of 0.52% of all votes cast).^[8] Bush flipped 11 states that had voted Democratic in 1996: Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Governor George W. Bush – 1,526

Senator John McCain – 275

Ambassador Alan Keyes – 23

Businessman Steve Forbes – 10

Gary Bauer – 2

None of the names shown – 2

Uncommitted – 1

Vice President Albert Gore Jr. – 4,328

– 9

Abstentions

Green Party

[29]

/Rainy Day fund: Gore's description of what he would do with the federal budget surplus, which was repeated many times in the first debate.

Lockbox

: a term used by Bush to dismiss the figures used by Gore. Others later turned the term against Bush.^[55]^[56]

Fuzzy math

: an interpretation of Gore's having said he "took the initiative in creating the Internet," meaning that he was on the committee that funded the research leading to the Internet's formation.

Al Gore invented the Internet

"": a phrase uttered by Saturday Night Live's Bush character (portrayed by Will Ferrell), which Bush staffers jokingly picked up to describe their operations.

Strategery

Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.

Results by congressional district, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.

Vote share by county for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Darker shades indicate a stronger Green performance.

Election results by county.

Election results by congressional district.

Prevailing standard – accepts at least one detached corner of a chad and all affirmative marks on optical scan ballots.

County-by-county standard – applies each county's own standards independently.

Two-corner standard – accepts at least two detached corners of a chad and all affirmative marks on optical scan ballots.

Most restrictive standard – accepts only so-called perfect ballots that machines somehow missed and did not count, or ballots with unambiguous expressions of voter intent.

Most inclusive standard – applies uniform criteria of "dimple or better" on punch marks and all affirmative marks on optical scan ballots.

2000 United States gubernatorial elections

2000 United States House of Representatives elections

2000 United States Senate elections

First inauguration of George W. Bush

List of close election results

Ralph Nader's presidential campaigns

(2001). 36 Days: The Complete Chronicle of the 2000 Presidential Election Crisis. Times Books. ISBN 0-8050-6850-3.

Brinkley, Douglas

Steed, Robert P., ed. (2002). The 2000 Presidential Election in the South: Partisanship and Southern Party Systems in the 21st Century.

de La Garza, Rodolfo O., ed. (2004). Muted Voices: Latinos and the 2000 Elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. 0-7425-3590-8.

ISBN

Abramson, Paul R.; Rohde, David W.; Aldrich, John Herbert (2002). . Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. ISBN 1-56802-740-0.

Change and Continuity in the 2000 Elections

(2001). The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-355-X.

Bugliosi, Vincent

Corrado, Anthony; et al. (2001). Election of 2000: Reports and Interpretations. Chatham House Publishers.

Denton, Robert E. Jr. (2002). The 2000 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective. Praeger.

(2001). Supreme Injustice: How the High Court Hijacked Election 2000. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 0-19-514827-4.

Dershowitz, Alan M.

Dover, E. D. (2002). . Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-97638-6.

Missed Opportunity: Gore, Incumbency, and Television in Election 2000

Gillman, H. (2001). . Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-29408-0.

The Votes That Counted: How the Court Decided the 2000 Presidential Election

Moore, David W. (2006). How to Steal an Election: The Inside Story of How George Bush's Brother and FOX Network Miscalled the 2000 Election and Changed the Course of History. New York: Nation Press. 1-56025-929-9.

ISBN

Jacobson, Arthur J.; Rosenfeld, Michel (2002). The Longest Night: Polemics and Perspectives on Election 2000.

(2002). The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-1846-0.

Palast, Greg

Posner, Richard A. (2001). . Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 0-691-09073-4.

Breaking the Deadlock: The 2000 Election, the Constitution, and the Courts

Rakove, Jack N. (2002). . New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-06837-5.

The Unfinished Election of 2000

Sabato, Larry J. (2001). . New York: Longman. ISBN 0-321-10028-X.

Overtime! The Election 2000 Thriller

(2001). At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election. Regnery Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-89526-227-4.

Sammon, Bill

(2001). Too Close To Call: The Thirty-Six-Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election. Random House. ISBN 0-375-50708-6.

Toobin, Jeffrey

(popular vote by states)

2000 Presidential General Election Results

2000 popular vote by states (with bar graphs)

Campaign commercials from the 2000 election

(231 kB PDF).

CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000: Investigation, Analysis, Recommendations

Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions

Report from United States Commission on Civil Rights

Supreme Court Decisions of December 9, 2000

Timeline of the 2000 Presidential Election

Booknotes interview with Jeff Greenfield on Oh, Waiter! One Order of Crow: Inside the Strangest Presidential Election Finish in American History, July 22, 2001.

from the U.S. Library of Congress

2000 United States presidential election