United States presidential election in Texas, 2000

United States presidential election in Texas, 2000

November 7, 2000

Nominee George W. Bush Al Gore Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Tennessee Running mate Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman Electoral vote 32 0 Popular vote 3,799,639 2,433,746 Percentage 59.3% 38.0%

County Results   Gore—70-80%   Gore—60-70%   Gore—50-60%   Bush—<50%   Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%   Bush—80-90%   Bush—>90%

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President George W. Bush Republican

The 2000 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 7, 2000 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 32 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Texas was won by the state's own governor, George W. Bush, by a 21.32% margin of victory.

Partisan background

The 2000 election in Texas was a very partisan election, with nearly 60% of voters voting for the Republican Party candidate. The third party vote shrunk to a total of 2.7%, likely because Ross Perot was not on the ballot that year. The vast majority of counties voted heavily for Governor Bush as his approval rating and popularity in the state was high. Many of the long time rural Democratic counties, including those in East Texas along the border of Louisiana, swung Republican as the national party moved further to the left. Texas Democrats are more moderate to conservative by national standards, and many had a favorable view towards Bush because of his bipartisan approach with the Democratic state legislature during his tenure as governor.

Bush carried 230 of Texas's 254 counties. He racked up big margins in the Texas Panhandle, East Texas, the Permian Basin, the Texas Hill Country, and the Gulf Coast. He won every major and mid-sized city with the exceptions of El Paso, Laredo, Brownsville, McAllen, and Beaumont, all of which were carried by Vice President Al Gore. Two thinly populated counties, Glasscock and Ochiltree, gave Bush over 90% of the vote, with the former being the strongest Republican voting county in 2000.^[1] This marked the first time since the 1956 election that a Republican candidate won any of Texas's counties with over 90% of the vote.

Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic Party candidate, performed strongly in South Texas, which is composed of a heavy Latino population, and the city of El Paso. Three counties in East Texas voted for Gore by narrow margins: Jefferson, Morris, and Newton. This was the worst performance for a Democrat in East Texas since the 1984 election, and it is because of this loss that this is the last election in which Morris and Newton counties voted Democrat, leaving Jefferson; home of Beaumont, as the sole Democratic stronghold in the region.

The Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, had his best performance in Travis County, home to the state capital Austin, winning 10.37% of the vote. This resulted in Governor Bush narrowly winning the county with a plurality of 46.88% to Vice President Gore's 41.67%. Had Nader's supporters backed Gore in Travis County, Gore would have received 52.04%. As of 2016, this is the most recent presidential election that a Republican won this liberal Democratic leaning county.^[2]

Electors

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000^[3] 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 Bush and Dick Cheney:^[4]

1. Ernie Angelo
2. James R. Batsell
3. Carmen P. Castillo
4. Mary Ceverha
5. Ken Clark
6. Hally B. Clements
7. Mary E. Cowart
8. Sue Daniel
9. Michael Dugas
10. Betty R. Hines
11. Jim Hamlin
12. Cruz G. Hernandez
13. Chuck Jones
14. William Earl Juett
15. Neal J. Katz
16. Betsy Lake
17. Adair Margo
18. Loyce McCarter
19. Joseph I. Oniell III
20. Michael Paddie
21. Nancy Palm
22. Howard Pebley Jr.
23. Robert J. Peden
24. Helen Quiram
25. James B. Randall
26. Clyde Moody Siebman
27. Stan Stanart
28. Henry W. Teich Jr.
29. Randal Tye Thomas
30. James Davidson Walker
31. Tom F. Ward Jr.
32. Gayle West

Results

United States presidential election in Texas, 2000[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George W. Bush	3,799,639	59.30%	32
	Democratic	Al Gore	2,433,746	37.98%	0
	Green	Ralph Nader	137,994	2.15%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	23,160	0.36%	0
	Independent	Pat Buchanan	12,394	0.19%	0

References

1. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/
2. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/
3. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2000&fips=42&f=0&off=0&elect=0
4. http://presidentelect.org/e2000.html
5. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html

See also