| Election Name: | 2000 Democratic Party presidential primaries |
| Country: | United States |
| Type: | primary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries |
| Previous Year: | 1996 |
| Next Election: | 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Election Date: | January 24 to June 6, 2000 |
| Candidate1: | Al Gore |
| Color1: | 3333FF |
| Home State1: | Tennessee |
| States Carried1: | 56 |
| Delegate Count1: | 3,007 |
| Popular Vote1: | 10,626,568 |
| Percentage1: | 75.8% |
| Candidate2: | Bill Bradley |
| Color2: | FA8320 |
| Home State2: | New Jersey |
| States Carried2: | 0 |
| Delegate Count2: | 522 |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,798,281 |
| Percentage2: | 20.0% |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Democratic nominee | |
| Before Election: | Bill Clinton |
| After Election: | Al Gore |
From January 24 to June 6, 2000, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2000 United States presidential election. Incumbent Vice President Al Gore was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2000 Democratic National Convention held from August 14 to 17, 2000, in Los Angeles, California, but he went on to lose the Electoral College in the general election against Governor George W. Bush held on November 7 of that year, despite winning the popular vote by 0.5%.
The apparent front runner, incumbent Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee, only faced one major candidate in the primaries, U.S. Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey. Both men campaigned to succeed term-limited incumbent Bill Clinton. During the course of the five-month primary season, Gore managed to win every single primary contest over his opponent, and easily won the party's nomination for the 2000 election.
Serious early speculation surrounded Bill Bradley, a U.S. Senator and former NBA player, who had long been considered a potential Democratic contender for the presidency. In December 1998, Bradley formed a presidential exploratory committee and began organizing a campaign.[1] Gore, however, had been considered the favorite for the Democratic nomination as early as 1997, with the commencement of President Clinton's second term.[2] Though numerous candidates for the Democratic nomination tested the waters, including Senator John Kerry, Governor Howard Dean,[3] Representative Richard Gephardt, and Reverend Jesse Jackson,[4] only Gore and Bradley ultimately entered the contest.
Bradley campaigned as the liberal alternative to Gore, taking positions to the left of him on issues like universal health care, gun control, and campaign finance reform.On the issue of taxes, Bradley trumpeted his sponsorship of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which had significantly cut tax rates while abolishing dozens of loopholes.[5] He voiced his belief that the best possible tax code would be one with low rates and no loopholes, but he refused to rule out the idea of raising taxes to pay for his health care program.
On public education, Bradley pushed for increased federal funding for schools under Title I, as well as the expansion of the Head Start program.[6] He further promised to bring 60,000 new teachers into the education system annually by offering college scholarships to anyone who agreed to become a teacher after graduating.[7] Bradley also made child poverty a significant issue in his campaign. Having voted against the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, better known as the "Welfare Reform Act," which, he said, would result in even higher poverty levels,[5] he promised to repeal it as president. He also promised to address the minimum wage, expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, allow single parents on welfare to keep their child support payments, make the Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable, build support homes for pregnant teenagers, enroll 400,000 more children in Head Start, and increase the availability of food stamps.[7]
Although both Gore and Bradley showed comparable success in terms of fund-raising, Bradley lagged behind Gore in many polls from the start and never gained a competitive position. Despite the late endorsement of the Des Moines Register,[8] Bradley went on to be defeated in the Iowa Caucus; Gore garnered 62.9% of the votes, while Bradley received only 36.6%.[9] Gore won the primary competition in New Hampshire as well, though by a significantly smaller margin, receiving 49.7% to Bradley's 46.6%. After a resounding defeat on Super Tuesday, with Bradley failing to carry the majority of delegates in a single state, he withdrew from the race on March 9.[10]
Since the advent of the modern presidential primary system began in 1972, Gore remains the only non-incumbent (Republican or Democrat) to sweep all the nominating contests held in a given year.
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home state | data-sort-type="date" | Campaign | Popular vote | Contests won | Running mate | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-="" scope="row" style="background:linen;" | Al Gore | Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) | Tennessee | data-sort-value="0" | (Campaign) Secured nomination: March 14, 2000 | data-sort-value="14,015,993" | 10,885,814(75.4%) | data-sort-value="44" | 56 | Joe Lieberman | |||
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home state | data-sort-type="date" | Campaign | Popular vote | Contests won | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Brown" scope="row" | Bill Bradley | U.S. Senator from New Jersey(1979–1997) | New Jersey | data-sort-value="05-03-2016" | (Campaign) Withdrew: March 9, 2000 | data-sort-value="7,822,100" | 3,027,912(21.0%) | data-sort-value="11" | 0 | ||
| Lyndon LaRouche | Founder of the LaRouche Movement | New Hampshire | (Campaign) | 276,075(1.19%) | 0 | ||||||
| Source[16] | Date | Al Gore | Bill Bradley | Jesse Jackson | Dick Gephardt | John Kerry | Bob Kerrey | Paul Wellstone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup | Sep. 6–7, 1997 | 49% | 13% | 15% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 0% | |
| Gallup | May 8–10, 1998 | 51% | 8% | 12% | 7% | 2% | 3% | 1% | |
| Gallup | Oct. 23–25, 1998 | 41% | 15% | 11% | 14% | 4% | 4% | 1% | |
| Gallup | Jan. 8–10, 1999 | 47% | 12% | 11% | 13% | 5% | - | 1% | |
| Gallup | Mar. 12–14, 1999 | 58% | 21% | 15% | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Apr. 13–14, 1999 | 54% | 34% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Apr. 30 – May 2, 1999 | 66% | 23% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | May 23–24, 1999 | 59% | 30% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Jun. 4–5, 1999 | 63% | 28% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Jun. 25–27, 1999 | 64% | 28% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Aug. 16–18, 1999 | 58% | 31% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Sep. 10–14, 1999 | 63% | 30% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Oct. 8–10, 1999 | 51% | 39% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Oct. 21–24, 1999 | 57% | 32% | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Gallup | Nov. 4–7, 1999 | 58% | 33% | - | - | - | - | - |
| Date | Pledged delegates | Contest | Bill Bradley | Al Gore | Lyndon LaRouche |
| January 24 | 47 | 36.60% (18) | 62.85% (29) | 0.00% | |
| February 1 | 22 | New Hampshire primary | 45.59% (9) | 49.73% (13) | 0.08% |
| February 5 | 0 | Delaware primary | 40.18% | 57.24% | 2.59% |
| February 29 | 0 | Washington primary | 34.21% | 65.25% | 0.54% |
| March 7 (1,310)(Super Tuesday) | 6 | American Samoa caucuses | ?% (1) | ?% (3) | 3.03% |
| 367 | California primary | 18.19% (62) | 81.21% (305) | 0.60% | |
| 54 | Connecticut primary | 41.37% (24) | 55.60% (30) | 3.03% | |
| 77 | Georgia primary | 16.18% (12) | 83.82% (65) | - | |
| 20 | Hawaii caucuses | ?% (2) | ?% (20) | ?% | |
| 18 | Idaho caucuses | ?% (4) | ?% (14) | ?% | |
| 23 | Maine primary | 41.26% (10) | 54.02% (13) | 0.32% | |
| 68 | Maryland primary | 28.45% (19) | 67.32% (49) | 0.89% | |
| 93 | Massachusetts primary | 37.17% (35) | 59.77% (58) | 0.37% | |
| 75 | Missouri primary | 33.56% (24) | 64.62% (51) | 0.34% | |
| 243 | New York primary | 326,41733.46% (85) | 639,41765.62% (158) | 0.92% | |
| 14 | North Dakota caucuses | ?% (2) | ?% (12) | ?% | |
| 146 | Ohio primary | 24.70% (37) | 73.61% (109) | 1.69% | |
| 22 | Rhode Island primary | 40.35% (9) | 56.92% (13) | 0.42% | |
| 15 | Vermont primary | 43.89% (6) | 54.33% (9) | 0.72% | |
| 75 | Washington caucuses | 28.20% (22) | 68.39% (53) | 0.54% | |
| March 9 | 43 | South Carolina caucuses | 1.78% | 91.79% (43) | 0.0% |
| March 10 (75) | 51 | 23.29% (7) | 71.43% (44) | 0.93% | |
| 24 | 20.14% (3) | 79.86% (21) | - | ||
| March 11 (250) | 47 | Arizona primary | 18.88% (7) | 77.89% (40) | 1.66% |
| 129 | Michigan caucuses | 16.27% (9) | 82.74% (120) | 0.99% | |
| 74 | Minnesota caucuses | ~12% (2) | ~74% (72) | 11.0% | |
| March 12 | 20 | Nevada caucuses | 2.22% | 88.91% (20) | 0.0% |
| March 14 (566) | 161 | Florida primary | 18.17% (17) | 81.83% (144) | - |
| 61 | Louisiana primary | 19.92% (7) | 72.96% (54) | 3.89% | |
| 37 | Mississippi primary | 8.60% | 89.62% (37) | 1.78% | |
| 45 | Oklahoma primary | 25.44% (7) | 68.71% (38) | 5.85% | |
| 68 | Tennessee primary | 5.26% | 92.13% (68) | 0.48% | |
| 194 | Texas primary | 16.34% (12) | 80.24% (182) | 3.42% | |
| March 18 | 3 | Guam caucuses | ?% | ?% (3) | 1.41% |
| March 21 | 161 | Illinois primary | 14.24% (12) | 84.35% (149) | 1.41% |
| March 25 | 13 | Wyoming caucuses | 4.98% | 85.44% (13) | 7.28% |
| March 27 | 15 | Delaware caucuses | ?% | ?% (15) | ?% |
| April 1 | 51 | Virgin Islands caucuses | ?% | ?% (3) | ?% |
| April 2 | 51 | Puerto Rico caucuses | ?% | ?% (51) | ?% |
| April 4 (238) | 161 | Pennsylvania primary | 20.73% (21) | 74.20% (139) | 4.53% |
| 77 | Wisconsin primary | 8.77% | 88.55% (77) | 1.01% | |
| April 15 | 79 | Virginia caucuses | ?% | ?% (79) | ?% |
| April 22 | 13 | Alaska caucuses | ?% | 68.39% (13) | ?% |
| May 2(175) | 17 | Washington, D.C. primary | - | 95.90% (17) | 4.10% |
| 72 | Indiana primary | 21.95% (10) | 74.91% (62) | 3.15% | |
| 86 | 18.31% (13) | 70% (73) | 2.11% | ||
| May 9(56) | 26 | 26.27% (5) | 69.38% (21) | 3.01% | |
| 30 | 18.44% (3) | 72.01% (27) | 1.90% | ||
| May 16 | 47 | - | 84.86% (47) | 10.86% | |
| May 23(86) | 37 | - | 78.47% (37) | 21.53% (7) | |
| 0 | 17.4% | 75.73% | 8.24% | ||
| 49 | 14.68% (3) | 71.26% (46) | 2.24% | ||
| June 6(217) | 54 | Alabama primary | - | 76.74% (54) | 5.58% |
| 17 | Montana primary | - | 77.87% (15) | - | |
| 105 | New Jersey primary | - | 94.89% (105) | 5.11% | |
| 26 | New Mexico primary | 20.57% (3) | 74.63% (23) | 2.32% | |
| 15 | South Dakota primary | - | ?% (15) | ?% |
| Al Gore | Bill Bradley | Lyndon LaRouche | Uncommitted | Others | ||
| Popular Vote | 10,626,568 (75.80%) | 2,798,281 (19.96%) | 323,014 (2.30%) | 238,870 (1.70%) | 33,418 (0.24%) | |
| Delegates | 3,007 (85.16%) | 522 (14.78%) | 7 (0.06%) | 2 | - |
Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman was nominated for vice president by voice vote. Lieberman became the first Jewish American ever to be chosen for this position by a major party. Other potential running-mates included: