2000 United States presidential election in Colorado
← 1996 November 7, 2000 2004 →
 
Nominee George W. Bush Al Gore Ralph Nader
Party Republican Democratic Green
Home state Texas Tennessee Connecticut
Running mate Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman Winona LaDuke
Electoral vote 8 0 0
Popular vote 883,745 738,227 91,434
Percentage 50.75% 42.39% 5.25%
County Results
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George W. Bush
Republican

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The 2000 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Colorado was won by Governor George W. Bush by an 8.36% margin of victory, although almost 7% of the electorate voted for third-party candidates. Nader's best performance in the state and indeed the nation was in San Miguel County where he received over 17.20% of the vote,[1] a performance that remains the Green Party's second best performance in any county nationwide as of the 2020 presidential election after this record was bested in 2016 when Jill Stein carried 25% of the vote in Kalawao County, Hawaii.[2]

As of 2020, this is the last election in which San Juan County, Gunnison County, Clear Creek County, Routt County, Eagle County, and La Plata County voted for a Republican presidential candidate, as well as the last time that Colorado voted to the right of many modern-day red and swing states, specifically Arizona, Arkansas, Florida,[3] Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia. Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Summit County since William Howard Taft in 1908.

Colorado was 1 of 14 states that Bill Clinton carried at least once that Gore, the sitting VP under Clinton in 2000, lost to Bush.

Results

2000 United States presidential election in Colorado[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George W. Bush 883,745 50.75% 8
Democratic Al Gore 738,227 42.39% 0
Green Ralph Nader 91,434 5.25% 0
Libertarian Harry Browne 12,799 0.73% 0
American Patrick Buchanan 10,465 0.60% 0
Natural Law John Hagelin 2,240 0.13% 0
Constitution Howard Phillips 1,319 0.08% 0
Socialist David McReynolds 712 0.04% 0
Socialist Workers James Harris 216 0.01% 0
Prohibition Earl Dodge 208 0.01% 0
Totals 1,741,365 100.00% 8
Voter turnout (Voting age) 54%

Results by county

County George W. Bush
Republican 		Al Gore
Democratic 		Ralph Nader
Green 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 47,561 44.10% 54,132 50.19% 4,165 3.86% 1,994 1.85% -6,571 -6.09% 107,852
Alamosa 2,857 50.49% 2,455 43.38% 265 4.68% 82 1.44% 402 7.11% 5,659
Arapahoe 97,768 51.47% 82,614 43.49% 6,952 3.66% 2,608 1.38% 15,154 7.98% 189,942
Archuleta 2,988 62.80% 1,432 30.10% 265 5.57% 73 1.54% 1,556 32.70% 4,758
Baca 1,663 73.00% 531 23.31% 47 2.06% 37 1.62% 1,132 49.69% 2,278
Bent 1,096 55.83% 783 39.89% 44 2.24% 40 2.04% 313 15.94% 1,963
Boulder 50,873 36.44% 69,983 50.12% 16,498 11.82% 2,272 1.63% -19,110 -13.68% 139,626
Chaffee 4,300 56.50% 2,768 36.37% 459 6.03% 83 1.09% 1,532 20.13% 7,610
Cheyenne 957 78.96% 209 17.24% 22 1.82% 24 1.98% 748 61.72% 1,212
Clear Creek 2,247 45.63% 2,188 44.44% 354 7.19% 135 2.73% 59 1.19% 4,924
Conejos 1,772 48.27% 1,749 47.64% 79 2.15% 71 1.93% 23 0.63% 3,671
Costilla 504 30.58% 1,054 63.96% 71 4.31% 19 1.15% -550 -33.38% 1,648
Crowley 855 59.17% 511 35.36% 28 1.94% 51 3.54% 343 23.81% 1,445
Custer 1,451 68.74% 507 24.02% 100 4.74% 53 2.51% 944 44.72% 2,111
Delta 8,372 65.99% 3,264 25.73% 852 6.72% 198 1.56% 5,108 40.26% 12,686
Denver 61,224 30.87% 122,693 61.86% 11,624 5.86% 2,806 1.42% -61,469 -30.99% 198,347
Dolores 741 65.34% 293 25.84% 73 6.44% 27 2.38% 448 39.50% 1,134
Douglas 56,007 64.95% 27,076 31.40% 2,230 2.59% 912 1.06% 28,931 33.55% 86,225
Eagle 7,165 47.18% 6,772 44.59% 1,045 6.88% 206 1.35% 393 2.59% 15,188
El Paso 128,294 63.91% 61,799 30.78% 7,116 3.54% 3,548 1.76% 66,495 33.13% 200,757
Elbert 6,151 68.61% 2,326 25.95% 292 3.26% 196 2.19% 3,825 42.66% 8,965
Fremont 9,914 61.75% 5,293 32.97% 516 3.21% 333 2.07% 4,621 28.78% 16,056
Garfield 9,103 53.22% 6,087 35.59% 1,608 9.40% 306 1.80% 3,016 17.63% 17,104
Gilpin 1,006 40.81% 1,099 44.58% 276 11.20% 84 3.40% -93 -3.77% 2,465
Grand 3,570 56.19% 2,308 36.33% 366 5.76% 109 1.71% 1,262 19.86% 6,353
Gunnison 3,128 43.23% 3,059 42.27% 927 12.81% 122 1.69% 69 0.96% 7,236
Hinsdale 316 55.83% 188 33.22% 51 9.01% 11 1.94% 128 22.61% 566
Huerfano 1,466 46.19% 1,495 47.10% 169 5.32% 44 1.39% -29 -0.91% 3,174
Jackson 682 73.73% 173 18.70% 40 4.32% 30 3.23% 509 55.03% 925
Jefferson 120,138 51.02% 100,970 42.88% 10,336 4.39% 4,047 1.71% 19,168 8.14% 235,491
Kiowa 728 75.21% 211 21.80% 13 1.34% 16 1.66% 517 53.41% 968
Kit Carson 2,542 73.51% 809 23.40% 58 1.68% 49 1.42% 1,733 50.11% 3,458
La Plata 9,993 48.77% 7,864 38.38% 2,378 11.61% 255 1.25% 2,129 10.39% 20,490
Lake 1,056 40.18% 1,296 49.32% 213 8.11% 63 2.40% -240 -9.14% 2,628
Larimer 62,429 52.67% 46,055 38.85% 8,194 6.91% 1,859 1.56% 16,374 13.82% 118,537
Las Animas 2,569 42.16% 3,243 53.22% 199 3.27% 83 1.37% -674 -11.06% 6,094
Lincoln 1,630 74.12% 510 23.19% 27 1.23% 32 1.45% 1,120 50.93% 2,199
Logan 5,531 68.32% 2,296 28.36% 140 1.73% 129 1.60% 3,235 39.96% 8,096
Mesa 32,396 63.45% 15,465 30.29% 2,235 4.38% 958 1.88% 16,931 33.16% 51,054
Mineral 294 60.49% 168 34.57% 19 3.91% 5 1.03% 126 25.92% 486
Moffat 3,840 71.95% 1,223 22.92% 169 3.17% 105 1.97% 2,617 49.03% 5,337
Montezuma 6,158 65.62% 2,556 27.24% 530 5.65% 140 1.50% 3,602 38.38% 9,384
Montrose 9,266 65.18% 4,041 28.43% 656 4.61% 252 1.78% 5,225 36.75% 14,215
Morgan 5,722 63.59% 2,885 32.06% 211 2.34% 180 1.99% 2,837 31.53% 8,998
Otero 4,082 55.83% 2,963 40.52% 138 1.89% 129 1.76% 1,119 15.31% 7,312
Ouray 1,279 57.28% 705 31.57% 224 10.03% 25 1.12% 574 25.71% 2,233
Park 3,677 55.17% 2,393 35.90% 404 6.06% 191 2.87% 1,284 19.27% 6,665
Phillips 1,573 70.86% 564 25.41% 48 2.16% 35 1.59% 1,009 45.45% 2,220
Pitkin 2,565 32.88% 4,137 53.04% 1,013 12.99% 85 1.09% -1,572 -20.16% 7,800
Prowers 3,026 66.89% 1,361 30.08% 79 1.75% 58 1.28% 1,665 36.81% 4,524
Pueblo 22,827 42.31% 28,888 53.55% 1,520 2.82% 711 1.32% -6,061 -11.24% 53,946
Rio Blanco 2,185 76.53% 543 19.02% 85 2.98% 42 1.47% 1,642 57.51% 2,855
Rio Grande 3,111 61.30% 1,707 33.64% 179 3.53% 78 1.53% 1,404 27.66% 5,075
Routt 4,472 46.40% 4,208 43.66% 820 8.51% 138 1.44% 264 2.74% 9,638
Saguache 1,078 42.63% 1,145 45.27% 261 10.32% 45 1.77% -67 -2.64% 2,529
San Juan 210 48.17% 149 34.17% 58 13.30% 19 4.35% 61 14.00% 436
San Miguel 1,043 32.04% 1,598 49.09% 560 17.20% 54 1.67% -555 -17.05% 3,255
Sedgwick 877 67.31% 384 29.47% 25 1.92% 17 1.30% 493 37.84% 1,303
Summit 4,497 40.63% 5,304 47.92% 1,131 10.22% 136 1.22% -807 -7.29% 11,068
Teller 6,477 65.78% 2,750 27.93% 429 4.36% 191 1.93% 3,727 37.85% 9,847
Washington 1,878 76.81% 477 19.51% 50 2.04% 40 1.63% 1,401 57.30% 2,445
Weld 37,409 57.96% 23,436 36.31% 2,438 3.78% 1,258 1.94% 13,973 21.65% 64,541
Yuma 3,156 72.42% 1,082 24.83% 60 1.38% 60 1.38% 2,074 47.59% 4,358
Total 883,745 50.75% 738,227 42.39% 91,434 5.25% 27,959 1.61% 145,518 8.36% 1,741,365

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Bush won four of six congressional districts.[5]

District Bush Gore Representative
1st 32% 61% Diana DeGette
2nd 42% 48% Mark Udall
3rd 53% 39% Scott McInnis
4th 56% 37% Bob Schaffer
5th 63% 32% Joel Hefley
6th 51% 44% Tom Tancredo

Electors

Main article: List of 2000 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Colorado cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Colorado is allocated 8 electors because it has 6 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 8 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 8 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[6] 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:[7][8]

  1. Bob Beauprez
  2. Marcy Benson
  3. Robert Dieter
  4. Mary Hergert
  5. Robert Martinez
  6. Ralph Nagel
  7. Lilly Nunez
  8. Joe Rogers

References

  1. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2000 - San Miguel County, CO". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  2. ^ "Statewide Precinct Detail" (PDF). State of Hawaii Office of Elections. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2000 - Colorado". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  5. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - County Data".
  6. ^ "2000 Post-Election Timeline of Events".
  7. ^ "President Elect - 2000". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  8. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Presidential Electors".
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