2000

Reading the 2000 result in New Jersey

New Jersey backed Gore (Democratic) in the 2000 presidential election, casting 15 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — George W. Bush (Republican) won the presidency, leaving New Jersey among the states he did not carry.

It marked the 3rd consecutive election in which New Jersey backed the Democratic party, a streak reaching back to 1992. New Jersey did not move alone — neighboring New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware broke the same way in 2000. Across the 60 presidential elections New Jersey has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (31 times). The vote fell within the Modern Polarization — Close elections in a divided country.

In the national count, George W. Bush took 271 of the 538 electoral votes, against Al Gore's 266. Though George W. Bush won the Electoral College, Al Gore drew more of the national popular vote — 48.38% to 47.87%.