4 0 48.1% 46.8% | 273,559 266,348 Start date November 7, 2000 | |
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The 2000 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on Election Day on November 7, 2000. The two major candidates were Texas Governor George W. Bush of the Republican Party and sitting Vice President Al Gore of the Democratic Party. When all votes were tallied, Bush was declared the winner with a plurality of the vote over Gore, receiving 48% of the vote to Gore's 47%, while Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received almost 4% of the vote in the state. Bush went on to win the election nationwide. As of 2016, this is the last time that the Republican nominee carried New Hampshire or any state in New England.
Contents
Analysis
In 2000, New Hampshire was considered a swing state. While it had voted for Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the 1980s, Democrat Bill Clinton won the state twice in the 1990s, and polling indicated that the state would be a toss-up in 2000. New Hampshire would play a pivotal role in the outcome of the 2000 Presidential Election.
George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in New Hampshire, by a narrow 7,211 votes, in the midst of one of the closest elections in US history. Had Gore won the state, New Hampshire's electoral college votes would have swung the national election in his favor.
The 2000 election was the last time that a Republican presidential candidate won New Hampshire or any state in New England, though Donald Trump did win an electoral vote from Maine in 2016. New Hampshire would vote for Democrats John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 by increasingly larger margins. However, Hillary Clinton carried the state with a razor-thin margin over Republican Donald Trump in 2016.
Primaries
Results
Bush won 6 of the 10 counties, including winning Belknap County with over 55% and winning every town in the county. Bush also won in New Hampshire's 1st congressional district.
Electors
Although voters select or write in their preferred candidate on a ballot, voters in New Hampshire, as in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, technically cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Since New Hampshire is represented by two congressional districts and two senators, it is allocated four electoral votes. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of four electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whichever candidate wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all four electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000 to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney:
- Stephen Duprey
- Wayne MacDonald
- Augusta Petrone
- Irusha Peiris