United States presidential election in Florida, 2000

United States presidential election in Florida, 2000
Florida
November 7, 2000
 
Nominee George W. Bush Al Gore
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Tennessee
Running mate Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman
Electoral vote 25 0
Popular vote 2,912,790 2,912,253
Percentage 48.85% 48.84%

County Results
  Gore—60-70%
  Gore—50-60%
  Gore—<50%
  Bush—<50%
  Bush—50-60%
  Bush—60-70%
  Bush—70-80%
President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

 Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7, 2000 as part of the greater 2000 United States presidential election.

Florida, a swing state, had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. Thus, the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting, because of the extended process of counting and then recounting of Florida presidential ballots. State results tallied on election night gave 246 electoral votes to Republican candidate George W. Bush and 255 to Democratic nominee Al Gore, with New Mexico (5), Oregon (7), and Florida (25) too close to call that evening. The arithmetic of the available electoral votes in all three states meant that at that point, the result in Florida was all that mattered, and even when both New Mexico and Oregon were declared in favor of the eventual loser Gore over the following few days, the drama in Florida uniquely dragged out for several weeks before eventually settling the election for the entire nation.

After an intense recount process and the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, Governor George W. Bush officially won Florida's electoral votes, by a margin of only 537 votes out of almost 6 million cast, and as a result, the entire presidential election. The process was extremely divisive, and led to calls for electoral reform in Florida.

After the recount efforts were over, most major studies revealed that none of the recounts requested by the Gore team would have affected the outcome of the election, but a statewide recount may have.

The Florida election saga became an HBO straight-to-TV movie Recount (2008).

Campaign

Initially Florida had been considered fertile territory for Republicans. It was governed by Jeb Bush, a staunch conservative and George W. Bush's brother. Nonetheless Republicans focused significant advertising resources in the large state, and later polls indicated that the state result was very much in play as late as September 2000.[1] Some late momentum for Gore and his Jewish running mate Joe Lieberman may also have come from the significant Jewish population in southern Florida.[2] Also, voters from reliable blue states in the Northeast had been migrating to Florida since the 1950s, and the Asian and Hispanic immigrant population was growing, counterbalancing Republican gains and putting the state in play in 2000.

Meanwhile, there was heavy backlash in the Cuban-American population against Democrats during the Elian Gonzalez dispute, during which Janet Reno, President Bill Clinton's Attorney General, ordered 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez to be returned to Cuba. The Democrats' share of the Cuban vote dropped dramatically from 1996.

In late October, one poll found that Gore was leading Bush and third parties by 44-42-4 among registered voters and 46-42-4 among likely voters, but the poll had a margin of error of four percentage points, making the race too close to call.[3]

Recount

Final certified results

The final official Florida count gave the victory to Bush by 537 votes, making it the tightest race of the campaign (at least in percentage terms; New Mexico was decided by 363 votes but has a much smaller population, with those 363 votes representing a 0.061% margin while the 537 votes in Florida were just 0.009%). Most of the reduction in the recount came from Miami-Dade county alone.

Federal official vote for the state of Florida (25 electoral votes)
Presidential candidate
and running mate		 Vote total % Party
George Walker Bush–
Richard Bruce Cheney		 2,912,790 48.847% Republican
Albert Arnold Gore Jr.–
Joseph Isadore Lieberman		 2,912,253 48.838% Democratic
Ralph Nader–
Winona LaDuke		 97,488 1.635% Green
Patrick J. Buchanan–
Ezola B. Foster		 17,484 0.293% Reform
Harry Browne–
Art Olivier		 16,415 0.275% Libertarian
John Hagelin–
Nat Goldhaber		 2,281 0.038% Natural Law
Monica Moorehead–
Gloria La Riva		 1,804 0.030% Workers World
Howard Phillips–
Curtis Frazier		 1,371 0.023% Constitution
David McReynolds–
Mary Cal Hollis		 622 0.010% Socialist
James Harris–
Margaret Trowe		 562 0.009% Socialist Workers
Write-ins 36 0.000%
Total 5,963,110
Sources:[4][5]

Results breakdown

By county

County Bush Votes Gore Votes Nader Votes Buchanan Votes Other Votes
Alachua 39.8% 34,135 55.2% 47,380 3.8% 3,228 0.3% 263 0.9% 751
Baker 68.8% 5,611 29.3% 2,392 0.6% 53 0.9% 73 0.3% 26
Bay 65.7% 38,682 32.1% 18,873 1.4% 830 0.4% 248 0.4% 243
Bradford 62.4% 5,416 35.4% 3,075 1.0% 84 0.7% 65 0.4% 35
Brevard 52.8% 115,253 44.6% 97,341 2.0% 4,471 0.3% 571 0.4% 852
Broward 30.9% 177,939 67.4% 387,760 1.2% 7,105 0.1% 795 0.3% 1,640
Calhoun 55.5% 2,873 41.7% 2,156 0.8% 39 1.7% 90 0.3% 17
Charlotte 53.0% 35,428 44.3% 29,646 2.2% 1,462 0.3% 182 0.3% 182
Citrus 52.1% 29,801 44.6% 25,531 2.4% 1,383 0.5% 270 0.5% 263
Clay 72.8% 41,903 25.5% 14,668 1.0% 565 0.3% 186 0.4% 237
Collier 65.6% 60,467 32.5% 29,939 1.5% 1,405 0.1% 122 0.3% 269
Columbia 59.2% 10,968 38.1% 7,049 1.4% 258 0.5% 89 0.8% 150
Desoto 54.5% 4,256 42.5% 3,321 2.0% 157 0.5% 36 0.5% 42
Dixie 57.8% 2,697 39.1% 1,827 1.6% 75 0.6% 29 0.8% 39
Duval 57.5% 152,460 40.7% 108,039 1.0% 2,762 0.2% 653 0.5% 1,267
Escambia 62.6% 73,171 35.1% 40,990 1.5% 1,733 0.4% 502 0.4% 460
Flagler 46.5% 12,618 51.3% 13,897 1.6% 435 0.3% 83 0.3% 83
Franklin 52.8% 2,454 44.1% 2,047 1.8% 85 0.7% 33 0.6% 26
Gadsden 32.4% 4,770 66.1% 9,736 0.9% 139 0.3% 38 0.3% 48
Gilchrist 61.2% 3,300 35.4% 1,910 1.8% 97 0.5% 29 1.1% 59
Glades 54.7% 1,841 42.9% 1,442 1.7% 56 0.3% 9 0.5% 17
Gulf 57.8% 3,553 39.0% 2,398 1.4% 86 1.2% 71 0.7% 40
Hamilton 54.1% 2,147 43.4% 1,723 0.9% 37 0.6% 23 0.9% 36
Hardee 60.4% 3,765 37.6% 2,342 1.2% 75 0.5% 30 0.4% 24
Hendry 58.3% 4,747 39.8% 3,240 1.3% 104 0.3% 22 0.3% 26
Hernando 47.0% 30,658 50.0% 32,648 2.3% 1,501 0.4% 243 0.3% 186
Highlands 57.5% 20,207 40.3% 14,169 1.6% 545 0.4% 127 0.3% 104
Hillsborough 50.2% 180,794 47.1% 169,576 2.1% 7,496 0.2% 847 0.5% 1,641
Holmes 67.8% 5,012 29.4% 2,177 1.3% 94 1.0% 76 0.5% 37
Indian River 57.7% 28,639 39.8% 19,769 1.9% 950 0.2% 105 0.3% 164
Jackson 56.1% 9,139 42.1% 6,870 0.8% 138 0.6% 102 0.3% 54
Jefferson 43.9% 2,478 53.9% 3,041 1.3% 76 0.5% 29 0.3% 19
Lafayette 66.7% 1,670 31.5% 789 1.0% 26 0.4% 10 0.4% 10
Lake 56.4% 50,010 41.3% 36,571 1.6% 1,460 0.3% 289 0.3% 281
Lee 57.6% 106,151 39.9% 73,571 1.9% 3,588 0.2% 305 0.4% 785
Leon 37.9% 39,073 59.6% 61,444 1.9% 1,934 0.3% 282 0.4% 421
Levy 53.9% 6,863 42.4% 5,398 2.2% 285 0.5% 67 0.9% 117
Liberty 54.6% 1,317 42.2% 1,017 0.8% 19 1.6% 39 0.7% 18
Madison 49.3% 3,038 48.9% 3,015 0.9% 54 0.5% 29 0.4% 27
Manatee 52.6% 58,023 44.6% 49,226 2.3% 2,494 0.2% 271 0.3% 330
Marion 53.6% 55,146 43.4% 44,674 1.8% 1,810 0.5% 563 0.8% 778
Martin 54.8% 33,972 42.9% 26,621 1.8% 1,118 0.2% 112 0.3% 193
Miami-Dade 46.3% 289,574 52.6% 328,867 0.9% 5,355 0.1% 560 0.2% 1,196
Monroe 47.4% 16,063 48.6% 16,487 3.2% 1,090 0.1% 47 0.6% 208
Nassau 69.0% 16,408 29.2% 6,955 1.1% 253 0.4% 90 0.3% 81
Okaloosa 73.7% 52,186 24.0% 16,989 1.4% 988 0.4% 268 0.5% 388
Okeechobee 51.3% 5,057 46.6% 4,589 1.3% 131 0.4% 43 0.3% 34
Orange 48.0% 134,531 50.1% 140,236 1.4% 3,879 0.2% 446 0.4% 1,063
Osceola 47.1% 26,237 50.6% 28,187 1.3% 733 0.3% 145 0.7% 388
Palm Beach 35.3% 152,964 62.3% 269,754 1.3% 5,566 0.8% 3,411 0.4% 1,527
Pasco 48.1% 68,607 48.7% 69,576 2.4% 3,394 0.4% 570 0.4% 622
Pinellas 46.4% 184,849 50.3% 200,657 2.5% 10,023 0.3% 1,013 0.5% 1,984
Polk 53.6% 90,310 44.6% 75,207 1.2% 2,059 0.3% 533 0.3% 520
Putnam 51.3% 13,457 46.1% 12,107 1.4% 379 0.6% 148 0.6% 148
Santa Rosa 72.1% 36,339 25.4% 12,818 1.4% 726 0.6% 311 0.4% 208
Sarasota 51.6% 83,117 45.3% 72,869 2.5% 4,071 0.2% 305 0.4% 615
Seminole 55.0% 75,790 43.0% 59,227 1.4% 1,949 0.1% 195 0.5% 644
St. Johns 65.1% 39,564 32.1% 19,509 2.0% 1,217 0.4% 229 0.4% 252
St. Lucie 44.5% 34,705 53.3% 41,560 1.8% 1,368 0.2% 124 0.3% 233
Sumter 54.5% 12,127 43.3% 9,637 1.4% 306 0.5% 114 0.3% 77
Suwannee 64.3% 8,009 32.7% 4,076 1.4% 180 0.9% 108 0.7% 88
Taylor 59.6% 4,058 38.9% 2,649 0.9% 59 0.4% 27 0.2% 17
Union 61.0% 2,332 36.8% 1,407 0.9% 33 1.0% 37 0.4% 17
Volusia 44.8% 82,368 53.0% 97,313 1.6% 2,910 0.3% 498 0.3% 585
Wakulla 52.5% 4,512 44.7% 3,838 1.7% 149 0.5% 46 0.5% 42
Walton 66.5% 12,186 30.8% 5,643 1.4% 265 0.7% 120 0.6% 109
Washington 62.2% 4,995 34.9% 2,798 1.2% 93 1.1% 88 0.6% 52

By congressional district

Bush won 15 of 23 congressional districts.[6]

District Bush Gore Representative
1st 69% 31% Joe Scarborough
2nd 53% 47% Allen Boyd
3rd 35% 65% Corrine Brown
4th 66% 34% Tillie K. Fowler
Ander Crenshaw
5th 54% 46% Karen Thurman
6th 58% 42% Cliff Stearns
7th 54% 46% John Mica
8th 54% 46% Bill McCollum
Ric Keller
9th 54% 46% Michael Bilirakis
10th 49% 51% Bill Young
11th 39% 61% Jim Davis
12th 55% 45% Charles Canady
Adam Putnam
13th 56% 44% Dan Miller
14th 61% 39% Porter Goss
15th 57% 43% Dave Weldon
16th 53% 47% Mark Foley
17th 15% 85% Carrie Meek
18th 57% 43% Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
19th 27% 73% Robert Wexler
20th 31% 69% Peter Deutsch
21st 58% 42% Lincoln Diaz-Balart
22nd 48% 52% E. Clay Shaw Jr.
23rd 20% 80% Alcee Hastings

Electors

Technically the voters of Florida cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. In 2000 Florida was allocated 25 electors because it had 23 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 25 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 25 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[7] 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:[8]

  1. Alred S. Austin
  2. Deborah L. Brooks
  3. Armando Codina
  4. Maria De La Milera
  5. Sandra M. Faulkner
  6. Thomas C. Feeney III
  7. Feliciano M. Foyo
  8. Jeanne Barber Godwin
  9. Dawn Guzzetta
  10. Cynthia M. Handley
  11. Adam W. Herbert
  12. Al Hoffman
  13. Glenda E. Hood
  14. Carole Jean Jordan
  15. Charles W. Kane
  16. Mel Martinez
  17. John M. McKay
  18. Dorsey C. Miller
  19. Berta J. Moralejo
  20. H. Gary Morse
  21. Marsha Nippert
  22. Darryl K. Sharpton
  23. Tom Slade
  24. John Thrasher
  25. Robert L. Woody

Film

References

  1. ↑ Marks, Peter (September 20, 2000). "THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE AD CAMPAIGN; In Sign Florida Is Now in Play, Bush Increases Buying There". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.mitchellbard.com/articles/didjewishvote.html
  3. ↑ Rosenbaum, David E. (October 26, 2000). "THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE VOTERS; Independents and the Elderly Lift Gore in Florida, Poll Says". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ 2000 official presidential general election results
  5. ↑ Florida Department of State - Division of Elections - November 7, 2000 General Election - Official Results
  6. ↑ http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/4161/
  7. ↑ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/ARTICLES/pe2000timeline.php
  8. ↑ http://presidentelect.org/e2000.html

External links

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