2000 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
← 1996 November 7, 2000 2004 →
Turnout63%
 
Nominee Al Gore George W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Tennessee Texas
Running mate Joe Lieberman Dick Cheney
Electoral vote 23 0
Popular vote 2,485,967 2,281,127
Percentage 50.60% 46.43%
President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

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The 2000 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 23 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Pennsylvania was won by Vice President Al Gore by a 4.17% margin of victory. However, voter enthusiasm for both candidates was generally low throughout the campaign. Gore failed to capture Clinton's appeal in strongly Democratic regions such as Pittsburgh and Scranton, and thus carried these areas by a smaller number than his predecessor. However, opposition to George W. Bush was particularly strong in the suburban counties of Philadelphia; although these areas at the time were typically Republican leaning, they featured a strong culturally liberal bent, and thus Bush was unable to appeal to voters. Bush support was particularly strong in rural, central Pennsylvania, where the Texas Governor appealed to Evangelical voters and where Gore's connection to gun control policies was strongly rejected. Marginal wins in both of the state's metropolitan areas helped the Vice President to capture the state.[1] This was the first election since 1968 that the candidate who won Pennsylvania did not win the general election, and only the fourth time that has happened since 1916. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Greene County, Mercer County, and Lawrence County voted for the Democratic candidate.

Bush became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Delaware County, the first to win the White House without carrying Montgomery County since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, the first to win the White House without carrying Bucks County – which he had lost by precisely the same margin he had lost the state as a whole – since Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and the first to win the White House without carrying Lehigh County since William McKinley in 1900.

Primaries

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held on April 4. There were 191 delegates at stake, with 160 pledged and 31 unpledged. Vice President Al Gore won 139 pledged and the support of 28 unpledged while U.S. Senator Bill Bradley won 21 pledged.

Candidates Votes Percent
Al Gore Jr. 525,306 74.60%
Bill Bradley 146,797 20.85%
Lyndon LaRouche 32,047 4.55%
Totals 704,150 Turnout: 19.38%

Republican primary

The Republican primary was held on April 4. There were 78 delegates at stake, with 68 district delegates being decided in the primary and 10 statewide delegates being decided at the state committee meeting in May. While all delegates were technically unbound, Texas Governor George W. Bush won the support of all 78 delegates.

Candidates Votes Percent
George W. Bush 472,008 73.44%
John S. McCain III 145,719 22.67%
Others 24,967 3.88%
Totals 642,694 Turnout: 20.33%

Results

2000 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Al Gore 2,485,967 50.60% 23
Republican George W. Bush 2,281,127 46.43% 0
Green Ralph Nader 103,392 2.10% 0
Reform Pat Buchanan 16,023 0.33% 0
Constitution Howard Phillips 14,428 0.29% 0
Libertarian Harry Browne 11,248 0.23% 0
Write-ins - 934 0.02% 0
Totals 4,913,119 100.00% 23
Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered) 53%/63%

By county

County[3] Al Gore
Democratic 		George W. Bush
Republican 		Ralph Nader
Green 		Pat Buchanan
Reform 		Howard Phillips
Constitution 		Harry E. Browne
Libertarian 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Adams 11,682 34.93% 20,848 62.34% 696 2.08% 108 0.32% 27 0.08% 72 0.22% -9,166 -27.41% 33,444
Allegheny 329,963 56.65% 235,361 40.41% 10,575 1.82% 2,112 0.36% 3,522 0.60% 945 0.16% 94,602 16.24% 582,478
Armstrong 11,127 40.58% 15,508 56.55% 485 1.77% 242 0.88% 31 0.11% 30 0.11% -4,381 -15.97% 27,423
Beaver 38,925 52.85% 32,491 44.12% 1,450 1.97% 470 0.64% 104 0.14% 153 0.21% 6,434 8.73% 73,649
Bedford 5,474 28.17% 13,598 69.97% 265 1.36% 71 0.37% 8 0.04% 19 0.10% -8,124 -41.80% 19,435
Berks 59,150 43.72% 71,273 52.68% 3,494 2.58% 439 0.32% 125 0.09% 682 0.50% -12,123 -8.96% 135,297
Blair 15,774 34.94% 28,376 62.86% 693 1.54% 147 0.33% 76 0.17% 74 0.16% -12,602 -27.92% 45,140
Bradford 7,911 33.88% 14,660 62.78% 600 2.57% 89 0.38% 22 0.09% 48 0.21% -6,749 -28.90% 23,352
Bucks 132,914 50.46% 121,927 46.29% 6,294 2.39% 601 0.23% 669 0.25% 1,017 0.39% 10,987 4.17% 263,422
Butler 25,037 35.34% 44,009 62.12% 1,287 1.82% 316 0.45% 50 0.07% 125 0.18% -18,972 -26.78% 70,849
Cambria 30,308 50.27% 28,001 46.45% 1,369 2.27% 350 0.58% 170 0.28% 88 0.15% 2,307 3.82% 60,286
Cameron 779 34.68% 1,383 61.58% 50 2.23% 26 1.16% 5 0.22% 3 0.13% -604 -26.90% 2,246
Carbon 10,668 50.14% 9,717 45.67% 574 2.70% 90 0.42% 187 0.88% 41 0.19% 951 4.47% 21,277
Centre 21,409 43.19% 26,172 52.79% 1,623 3.27% 147 0.30% 39 0.08% 148 0.30% -4,763 -9.60% 49,575
Chester 82,047 43.72% 100,080 53.33% 4,302 2.29% 314 0.17% 103 0.05% 716 0.38% -18,033 -9.61% 187,676
Clarion 5,605 35.37% 9,796 61.81% 293 1.85% 102 0.64% 16 0.10% 31 0.20% -4,191 -26.44% 15,849
Clearfield 11,718 38.25% 18,019 58.82% 570 1.86% 233 0.76% 26 0.08% 43 0.14% -6,301 -20.57% 30,633
Clinton 5,521 46.03% 6,064 50.56% 307 2.56% 43 0.36% 46 0.38% 13 0.11% -543 -4.53% 11,994
Columbia 8,975 40.96% 12,095 55.20% 663 3.03% 91 0.42% 21 0.10% 49 0.22% -3,120 -14.24% 21,911
Crawford 13,250 39.76% 18,858 56.58% 854 2.56% 130 0.39% 155 0.47% 74 0.22% -5,608 -16.82% 33,328
Cumberland 31,053 35.23% 54,802 62.17% 1,749 1.98% 189 0.21% 47 0.05% 222 0.25% -23,749 -26.94% 88,144
Dauphin 44,390 44.10% 53,631 53.28% 2,059 2.05% 255 0.25% 102 0.10% 221 0.22% -9,241 -9.18% 100,658
Delaware 134,861 54.36% 105,836 42.66% 5,348 2.16% 587 0.24% 702 0.28% 743 0.30% 29,025 11.70% 248,077
Elk 5,754 42.37% 7,347 54.10% 352 2.59% 90 0.66% 18 0.13% 17 0.13% -1,593 -11.73% 13,580
Erie 59,399 52.88% 49,027 43.64% 2,980 2.65% 238 0.21% 449 0.40% 242 0.22% 10,372 9.24% 112,335
Fayette 28,152 56.84% 20,013 40.40% 798 1.61% 286 0.58% 225 0.45% 58 0.12% 8,139 16.44% 49,532
Forest 843 36.93% 1,371 60.05% 57 2.50% 9 0.39% 1 0.04% 2 0.09% -528 -23.12% 2,283
Franklin 14,922 30.44% 33,042 67.41% 761 1.55% 132 0.27% 43 0.09% 69 0.14% -18,120 -36.97% 49,019
Fulton 1,425 26.96% 3,753 71.01% 77 1.46% 20 0.38% 1 0.02% 9 0.17% -2,328 -44.05% 5,285
Greene 7,230 52.96% 5,890 43.14% 337 2.47% 120 0.88% 18 0.13% 39 0.29% 1,340 9.82% 13,653
Huntingdon 5,073 31.78% 10,408 65.21% 340 2.13% 103 0.65% 12 0.08% 21 0.13% -5,335 -33.43% 15,961
Indiana 13,667 43.52% 16,799 53.50% 711 2.26% 161 0.51% 17 0.05% 46 0.15% -3,132 -9.98% 31,401
Jefferson 5,566 31.65% 11,473 65.24% 339 1.93% 120 0.68% 29 0.17% 47 0.27% -5,907 -33.59% 17,586
Juniata 2,656 30.64% 5,795 66.86% 158 1.82% 28 0.32% 9 0.10% 21 0.24% -3,139 -36.22% 8,667
Lackawanna 57,471 59.63% 35,096 36.41% 2,134 2.21% 264 0.27% 1,341 1.39% 75 0.08% 22,375 23.22% 96,381
Lancaster 54,968 31.34% 115,900 66.09% 3,341 1.91% 389 0.22% 379 0.22% 340 0.19% -60,932 -34.75% 175,367
Lawrence 20,593 51.95% 18,060 45.56% 653 1.65% 257 0.65% 27 0.07% 50 0.13% 2,533 6.39% 39,640
Lebanon 16,093 35.06% 28,534 62.17% 873 1.90% 135 0.29% 143 0.31% 102 0.22% -12,441 -27.11% 45,897
Lehigh 56,667 48.72% 55,492 47.71% 3,278 2.82% 307 0.26% 214 0.18% 322 0.28% 1,175 1.01% 116,307
Luzerne 62,199 52.01% 52,328 43.76% 3,456 2.89% 474 0.40% 981 0.82% 148 0.12% 9,871 8.25% 119,586
Lycoming 14,663 33.95% 27,137 62.83% 965 2.23% 139 0.32% 217 0.50% 62 0.14% -12,474 -28.88% 43,193
McKean 5,510 34.86% 9,661 61.12% 403 2.55% 64 0.40% 129 0.82% 37 0.23% -4,151 -26.26% 15,806
Mercer 23,817 48.87% 23,132 47.47% 1,073 2.20% 285 0.58% 348 0.71% 70 0.14% 685 1.40% 48,732
Mifflin 4,835 33.08% 9,400 64.32% 264 1.81% 41 0.28% 49 0.34% 25 0.17% -4,565 -31.24% 14,614
Monroe 21,939 46.80% 23,265 49.63% 1,319 2.81% 123 0.26% 116 0.25% 116 0.25% -1,326 -2.83% 46,878
Montgomery 177,990 53.54% 145,623 43.81% 6,816 2.05% 562 0.17% 200 0.06% 1,231 0.37% 32,367 9.73% 332,422
Montour 2,356 36.27% 3,960 60.97% 132 2.03% 26 0.40% 8 0.12% 10 0.15% -1,604 -24.70% 6,495
Northampton 53,097 50.72% 47,396 45.27% 3,012 2.88% 324 0.31% 592 0.57% 269 0.26% 5,701 5.45% 104,690
Northumberland 13,670 41.11% 18,142 54.56% 956 2.88% 329 0.99% 109 0.33% 45 0.14% -4,472 -13.45% 33,254
Perry 4,459 27.73% 11,184 69.56% 309 1.92% 65 0.40% 15 0.09% 39 0.24% -6,725 -41.83% 16,079
Philadelphia 449,182 80.04% 100,959 17.99% 8,206 1.46% 822 0.15% 1,032 0.18% 979 0.17% 348,223 62.05% 561,180
Pike 7,330 42.21% 9,339 53.78% 498 2.87% 57 0.33% 99 0.57% 41 0.24% -2,009 -11.57% 17,364
Potter 2,037 28.71% 4,858 68.48% 146 2.06% 24 0.34% 7 0.10% 18 0.25% -2,821 -39.77% 7,094
Schuylkill 26,215 44.97% 29,841 51.19% 1,713 2.94% 399 0.68% 40 0.07% 92 0.16% -3,626 -6.22% 58,300
Snyder 3,536 27.54% 8,963 69.80% 271 2.11% 46 0.36% 10 0.08% 15 0.12% -5,427 -42.26% 12,841
Somerset 12,028 36.47% 20,218 61.29% 487 1.48% 181 0.55% 24 0.07% 47 0.14% -8,190 -24.82% 32,985
Sullivan 1,066 34.33% 1,928 62.09% 91 2.93% 10 0.32% 4 0.13% 6 0.19% -862 -27.76% 3,105
Susquehanna 6,481 37.53% 10,226 59.21% 459 2.66% 61 0.35% 12 0.07% 32 0.19% -3,745 -21.68% 17,271
Tioga 4,617 31.26% 9,635 65.22% 404 2.73% 52 0.35% 24 0.16% 40 0.27% -5,018 -33.96% 14,772
Union 4,209 31.95% 8,523 64.69% 373 2.83% 33 0.25% 17 0.13% 20 0.15% -4,314 -32.74% 13,175
Venango 8,196 39.90% 11,642 56.68% 467 2.28% 121 0.59% 55 0.27% 42 0.20% -3,446 -16.78% 20,541
Warren 7,537 42.94% 9,290 52.93% 466 2.66% 87 0.50% 129 0.74% 32 0.18% -1,753 -9.99% 17,552
Washington 44,961 53.25% 37,339 44.22% 1,442 1.71% 528 0.63% 60 0.07% 111 0.13% 7,622 9.03% 84,441
Wayne 6,904 36.50% 11,201 59.21% 625 3.30% 88 0.47% 63 0.33% 33 0.17% -4,297 -22.71% 18,916
Westmoreland 71,792 45.81% 80,858 51.60% 2,601 1.66% 908 0.58% 323 0.21% 227 0.14% -9,066 -5.79% 156,709
Wyoming 4,363 37.26% 6,922 59.12% 344 2.94% 32 0.27% 6 0.05% 26 0.22% -2,559 -21.86% 11,709
York 51,958 36.01% 87,652 60.75% 3,305 2.29% 331 0.23% 580 0.40% 418 0.29% -35,694 -24.74% 144,286
Totals 2,485,967 50.60% 2,281,127 46.43% 103,392 2.10% 16,023 0.33% 14,428 0.29% 11,248 0.23% 204,840 4.17% 4,913,119

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Gore won 11 of 21 congressional districts. Gore won three that elected Republicans while Bush won two that elected Democrats.[4]

District Bush Gore Representative
1st 13% 85% Bob Brady
2nd 11% 88% Chaka Fattah
3rd 31% 66% Robert Borski
4th 51% 47% Ron Klink
Melissa Hart
5th 59% 38% John E. Peterson
6th 53% 44% Tim Holden
7th 47% 50% Curt Weldon
8th 47% 50% James C. Greenwood
9th 65% 32% Bud Shuster
10th 50% 47% Don Sherwood
11th 47% 49% Paul Kanjorski
12th 52% 45% John Murtha
13th 43% 54% Joe Hoeffel
14th 35% 62% William J. Coyne
15th 47% 49% Pat Toomey
16th 58% 39% Joe Pitts
17th 60% 37% George Gekas
18th 41% 57% Mike Doyle
19th 61% 36% William F. Goodling
Todd Platts
20th 46% 51% Frank Mascara
21st 49% 48% Phil English

Electors

Main article: List of 2000 United States presidential electors

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000[5] 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 Al Gore and Joe Lieberman:[6]

  1. Kathy Black
  2. Richard W. Bloomingdale
  3. Robert P. Casey Jr.
  4. Nelson Diaz
  5. William M. George
  6. Ken Jarin
  7. James J. Johnston
  8. Edward Keller
  9. Robert Mellow
  10. Thomas J. Murphy, Jr.
  11. Elsa Favila
  12. Robert O'Connor
  13. Lazar M. Palnick
  14. Stephen R. Reed
  15. T. J. Rooney
  16. Joyce Savocchio
  17. John F. Street
  18. Patsy J. Tallarico
  19. Christine M. Tartaglione
  20. Margaret M. Tartaglione
  21. Marian Tasco
  22. Sala Udin
  23. Anna Verna

See also

References

  1. ^ "Online NewsHour: Battleground Pennsylvania -- October 9, 2000". PBS. Archived from the original on October 19, 2000.
  2. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
  3. ^ "Pennsylvania Elections – County Breakdown Results". electionreturns.pa.gov. November 7, 2000. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  4. ^ Open election data 2000
  5. ^ "2000 Presidential Election Results - Pennsylvania". Archived from the original on June 2, 2006.
  6. ^ "President Elect - 2000". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
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