2000
The 2000 U.S. presidential election was won by George W. Bush (Republican) with 271 of 538 electoral votes, defeating Al Gore (Democratic). Electoral-vote margin: 5 (271 to 266). George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore by 0.5 percentage points. Turnout was 54.2%. The cycle falls in the Modern Polarization era of American electoral history.
Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.
The closest modern Electoral College fight
One of the closest and most disputed elections in US history. After 36 days of recounts in Florida, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Bush v. Gore to halt the recount, awarding Florida and the presidency to Bush. Gore won the national popular vote by over 543,000 but lost the Electoral College 271-266. Ralph Nader's Green Party candidacy won 97,421 votes in Florida — far more than Bush's final margin of 537 — making Nader a controversial spoiler. One Gore elector from DC abstained in protest.
Contested Florida recount; Supreme Court intervention; Nader spoiler effect; Clinton fatigue
Bush lost popular vote but won presidency; Supreme Court decided election; Nader spoiler in Florida
This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.
George W. Bush received fewer popular votes than Albert Gore Jr., but received a majority of electoral votes. An elector from the District of Columbia "cast a blank ballot", effectively abstaining, so DC cast only 2 of its 3 electoral votes for a candidate for both President and Vice President.
National Archives, Electoral College results for 2000, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.
States · 51 reporting
State results · 2000
- Florida Bush by 537 · 0.01 pts
- New Mexico Gore by 366 · 0.06 pts
- Wisconsin Gore by 5,708 · 0.2 pts
- Iowa Gore by 4,144 · 0.3 pts
- Oregon Gore by 6,765 · 0.4 pts
FloridaBush won it by 0.01 points; its electoral votes took the total to 271, past the 270 needed.
Line up the states the winner carried from widest margin to narrowest and add up their electoral votes: the tipping point is the state that takes the total past a majority.
Scroll the table sideways for every column.
| State | Electoral votes | Al Gore Dem | George W. Bush Rep | Ralph Nader Grn | Also named | Margin | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama1 | 9 EV | 692,611 41.6% | 941,173 56.5% | Not named | None | 248,562 14.9 pts | Bush Rep |
| Alaska | 3 EV | 79,004 27.7% | 167,398 58.6% | 28,747 10.1% | Pat Buchanan 5,192 · 1.8% | 88,394 31.0 pts | Bush Rep |
| Arizona | 8 EV | 685,341 44.7% | 781,652 51.0% | 45,645 3.0% | None | 96,311 6.3 pts | Bush Rep |
| Arkansas | 6 EV | 422,768 45.9% | 472,940 51.3% | 13,421 1.5% | None | 50,172 5.4 pts | Bush Rep |
| California | 54 EV | 5,861,203 53.4% | 4,567,429 41.7% | 418,707 3.8% | None | 1,293,774 11.8 pts | Gore Dem |
| Colorado | 8 EV | 738,227 42.4% | 883,748 50.8% | 91,434 5.3% | None | 145,521 8.4 pts | Bush Rep |
| Connecticut | 8 EV | 816,015 55.9% | 561,094 38.4% | 64,452 4.4% | None | 254,921 17.5 pts | Gore Dem |
| Delaware | 3 EV | 180,068 55.0% | 137,288 41.9% | 8,307 2.5% | None | 42,780 13.1 pts | Gore Dem |
| District of Columbia | 3 EV Gore 2, 1 blank ballot (an elector abstained in protest) | 171,923 85.2% | 18,073 9.0% | 10,576 5.2% | None | 153,850 76.2 pts | Gore Dem |
| Florida | 25 EV | 2,912,253 48.8% | 2,912,790 48.8% | 97,488 1.6% | None | 537 0.01 pts | Bush Rep |
| Georgia | 13 EV | 1,116,230 43.2% | 1,419,720 55.0% | Not named | Harry Browne 36,332 · 1.4% | 303,490 11.7 pts | Bush Rep |
| Hawaii | 4 EV | 205,286 55.8% | 137,845 37.5% | 21,623 5.9% | None | 67,441 18.3 pts | Gore Dem |
| Idaho | 4 EV | 138,637 27.6% | 336,937 67.2% | 12,292 2.5% | Pat Buchanan 7,615 · 1.5% | 198,300 39.5 pts | Bush Rep |
| Illinois | 22 EV | 2,589,026 54.6% | 2,019,421 42.6% | 103,759 2.2% | None | 569,605 12.0 pts | Gore Dem |
| Indiana | 12 EV | 901,980 41.0% | 1,245,836 56.6% | Not named | None | 343,856 15.6 pts | Bush Rep |
| Iowa2 | 7 EV | 638,517 47.2% | 634,373 46.9% | 29,374 2.2% | None | 4,144 0.3 pts | Gore Dem |
| Kansas3 | 6 EV | 399,276 37.2% | 622,332 58.0% | Not named | None | 223,056 20.8 pts | Bush Rep |
| Kentucky | 8 EV | 638,923 41.4% | 872,520 56.5% | 23,118 1.5% | None | 233,597 15.1 pts | Bush Rep |
| Louisiana | 9 EV | 792,344 44.9% | 927,871 52.6% | 20,473 1.2% | None | 135,527 7.7 pts | Bush Rep |
| Maine | 4 EV | 319,951 49.1% | 286,616 44.0% | 37,127 5.7% | None | 33,335 5.1 pts | Gore Dem |
| Maryland | 10 EV | 1,144,008 56.5% | 813,827 40.2% | 53,768 2.7% | None | 330,181 16.3 pts | Gore Dem |
| Massachusetts4 | 12 EV | 1,616,487 59.1% | 878,502 32.1% | 173,564 6.3% | None | 737,985 27.0 pts | Gore Dem |
| Michigan | 18 EV | 2,170,418 51.3% | 1,953,139 46.1% | 84,165 2.0% | None | 217,279 5.1 pts | Gore Dem |
| Minnesota | 10 EV | 1,168,266 47.9% | 1,109,659 45.5% | 126,696 5.2% | Pat Buchanan 24,460 · 1.0% | 58,607 2.4 pts | Gore Dem |
| Mississippi | 7 EV | 404,614 40.7% | 572,844 57.6% | Not named | None | 168,230 16.9 pts | Bush Rep |
| Missouri | 11 EV | 1,111,138 47.1% | 1,189,924 50.4% | 38,515 1.6% | None | 78,786 3.3 pts | Bush Rep |
| Montana | 3 EV | 137,126 33.4% | 240,178 58.4% | 24,437 5.9% | Pat Buchanan 5,697 · 1.4% | 103,052 25.1 pts | Bush Rep |
| Nebraska | 5 EV | 231,780 33.3% | 433,862 62.2% | 24,540 3.5% | None | 202,082 29.0 pts | Bush Rep |
| Nevada5 | 4 EV | 279,978 45.9% | 301,575 49.5% | 15,008 2.5% | None | 21,597 3.5 pts | Bush Rep |
| New Hampshire | 4 EV | 266,348 46.8% | 273,559 48.1% | 22,198 3.9% | None | 7,211 1.3 pts | Bush Rep |
| New Jersey6 | 15 EV | 1,788,850 56.1% | 1,284,173 40.3% | Not named | None | 504,677 15.8 pts | Gore Dem |
| New Mexico | 5 EV | 286,783 47.9% | 286,417 47.8% | 21,251 3.6% | None | 366 0.06 pts | Gore Dem |
| New York7 | 33 EV | 4,107,697 59.0% | 2,403,374 34.5% | 244,030 3.5% | None | 1,704,323 24.5 pts | Gore Dem |
| North Carolina8 | 14 EV | 1,257,692 43.1% | 1,631,163 56.0% | Not named | None | 373,471 12.8 pts | Bush Rep |
| North Dakota9 | 3 EV | 95,284 33.1% | 174,852 60.7% | Not named | Pat Buchanan 7,288 · 2.5% | 79,568 27.6 pts | Bush Rep |
| Ohio10 | 21 EV | 2,183,628 46.4% | 2,350,363 50.0% | Not named | None | 166,735 3.5 pts | Bush Rep |
| Oklahoma | 8 EV | 474,276 38.4% | 744,337 60.3% | Not named | None | 270,061 21.9 pts | Bush Rep |
| Oregon | 7 EV | 720,342 47.0% | 713,577 46.5% | 77,357 5.0% | None | 6,765 0.4 pts | Gore Dem |
| Pennsylvania | 23 EV | 2,485,967 50.6% | 2,281,127 46.4% | 103,392 2.1% | None | 204,840 4.2 pts | Gore Dem |
| Rhode Island | 4 EV | 249,508 61.0% | 130,555 31.9% | 25,052 6.1% | None | 118,953 29.1 pts | Gore Dem |
| South Carolina | 8 EV | 566,037 40.9% | 786,892 56.9% | 20,279 1.5% | None | 220,855 16.0 pts | Bush Rep |
| South Dakota | 3 EV | 118,804 37.6% | 190,700 60.3% | Not named | Pat Buchanan 3,322 · 1.1% | 71,896 22.7 pts | Bush Rep |
| Tennessee11 | 11 EV | 981,720 47.3% | 1,061,949 51.1% | Not named | None | 80,229 3.9 pts | Bush Rep |
| Texas | 32 EV | 2,433,746 38.0% | 3,799,639 59.3% | 137,994 2.2% | None | 1,365,893 21.3 pts | Bush Rep |
| Utah | 5 EV | 203,053 26.3% | 515,096 66.8% | 35,850 4.7% | Pat Buchanan 9,319 · 1.2% | 312,043 40.5 pts | Bush Rep |
| Vermont | 3 EV | 149,022 50.6% | 119,775 40.7% | 20,374 6.9% | None | 29,247 9.9 pts | Gore Dem |
| Virginia | 13 EV | 1,217,290 44.4% | 1,437,490 52.5% | 59,398 2.2% | None | 220,200 8.0 pts | Bush Rep |
| Washington | 11 EV | 1,247,652 50.2% | 1,108,864 44.6% | 103,002 4.1% | None | 138,788 5.6 pts | Gore Dem |
| West Virginia | 5 EV | 295,497 45.6% | 336,475 51.9% | 10,680 1.6% | None | 40,978 6.3 pts | Bush Rep |
| Wisconsin | 11 EV | 1,242,987 47.8% | 1,237,279 47.6% | 94,070 3.6% | None | 5,708 0.2 pts | Gore Dem |
| Wyoming | 3 EV | 60,481 28.3% | 147,947 69.2% | Not named | Pat Buchanan 2,724 · 1.3% | 87,466 40.9 pts | Bush Rep |
Shares are of each state’s total vote for president. “Not named”: the figures do not give that candidate a line of their own in that state — for example under 1% of the vote, not on the ballot there, or counted on an unnamed line (see the state’s note). Margin is the leader’s lead over the second-placed candidate.
Notes on the figures
- Alabama The source reports 25,896 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Iowa The source reports 37,459 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Kansas The source reports 37,459 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Massachusetts 'Other candidates' includes 31,022 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- Nevada 'Other candidates' includes 3,771 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- New Jersey The source reports 114,203 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- New York 'Other candidates' includes 138,216 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- North Carolina 'Other candidates' includes 3,370 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- North Dakota The source reports 10,459 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Ohio 'Other candidates' includes 148,353 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- Tennessee The source reports 32,084 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
SourceMIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. President 1976–2024 . How these figures were compiled
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