November 7, 2000 2004 → 49.12% 48.21% | 1,152,752 1,131,307 | |
The Missouri gubernatorial election of 2000 was Missouri's fiftieth gubernatorial election. The election was held on November 7, 2000 and resulted in a narrow victory for the Democratic nominee, State Treasurer of Missouri Bob Holden, over the Republican candidate, U.S. Representative Jim Talent, and several other candidates.
Results
This gubernatorial election was one of the closet in Missouri history. Bob Holden did well, as expected in St. Louis and Kansas City. Talent easily won most rural parts of the state. Holden did poorly in the St. Louis and Kansas City suburbs. However Holden's wins in the Democratic strongholds of St. Louis and Kansas City proved to be just enough to push him over the finish line. Because the election was decided by less than 1% Talent could have requested a recount that his campaign would have to pay for since it was not below half a percent. It was clear though that Holden had won. Most recounts never see a swing of more than a 1,000 votes. Talent was trailing 21,445. Talent eventually waived his right for a recount and conceded defeat on the late evening of November 14. This remains as one of the closest gubernatorial elections Missouri has ever seen.