| Election Name: | 2000 United States presidential election in Maryland |
| Country: | Maryland |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1996 United States presidential election in Maryland |
| Previous Year: | 1996 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States presidential election in Maryland |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Election Date: | November 7, 2000 |
| Image1: | Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Al Gore |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Home State1: | Tennessee |
| Running Mate1: | Joe Lieberman |
| Electoral Vote1: | 10 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,145,782 |
| Percentage1: | 56.57% |
| Nominee2: | George W. Bush |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Home State2: | Texas |
| Running Mate2: | Dick Cheney |
| Electoral Vote2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 813,797 |
| Percentage2: | 40.18% |
| Map Size: | 375px |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Bill Clinton |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | George W. Bush |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 2000 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 7, 2000. Maryland participated in the 2000 United States presidential election along with the 49 other U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Voters chose 10 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for the President and Vice President.
Democratic Vice President Al Gore easily carried Maryland on election day, taking 56.57% of the vote to Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush’s 40.18%. Maryland was the only state where, along with Washington, D.C., Gore improved on Bill Clinton's margin four years earlier[1] Gore's strong performance in the most highly-populated counties in the state, which are home to many urban and African American communities, contributed to his victory in the state. Gore flipped Charles County; it was one of only two counties in the country to vote for Gore after having voted for Bob Dole in 1996, the other being Orange County, Florida. This was the first time since 1888 that Maryland gave a majority of the vote to a losing candidate. Bush became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Charles County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Baltimore or Howard Counties since Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
In this election, Maryland voted 15.87% to the left of the nation at-large.[2]
Maryland was one of ten states that backed George H. W. Bush for President in 1988 that didn't back George W. Bush in either 2000 or 2004.
| 2000 United States presidential election in Maryland | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | ||
| Democratic | Al Gore | Joe Lieberman | 1,145,782 | 56.6% | 10 | ||
| Republican | Dick Cheney | 813,797 | 40.2% | 0 | |||
| Green | Ralph Nader | Winona LaDuke | 53,768 | 2.7% | 0 | ||
| Libertarian | Harry Browne | Wayne Allyn Root | 5,310 | 0.3% | 0 | ||
| Reform | Pat Buchanan | Ezola Foster | 4,248 | 0.2% | 0 | ||
| Write Ins | 1,480 | 0.1% | 0 | ||||
| Constitution | Howard Phillips | Michael Peroutka | 919 | 0.1% | 0 | ||
| Write In | John Hagelin | – | 176 | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 2,025,480 | 100.00% | 10 | ||||
| Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 51%/74% | ||||||
| County | Al Gore Democratic | George W. Bush Republican | Ralph Nader Green | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Allegany | 10,894 | 41.31% | 14,656 | 55.58% | 610 | 2.31% | 211 | 0.80% | -3,762 | -14.27% | 26,371 | ||||||||||||
| Anne Arundel | 89,624 | 44.67% | 104,209 | 51.93% | 5,493 | 2.74% | 1,331 | 0.66% | -14,585 | -7.26% | 200,657 | ||||||||||||
| Baltimore | 160,635 | 52.83% | 133,033 | 43.75% | 8,544 | 2.81% | 1,872 | 0.62% | 27,602 | 9.08% | 304,084 | ||||||||||||
| Baltimore City | 158,765 | 82.52% | 27,150 | 14.11% | 5,512 | 2.86% | 977 | 0.51% | 131,615 | 68.41% | 192,404 | ||||||||||||
| Calvert | 12,986 | 43.57% | 16,004 | 53.69% | 660 | 2.21% | 156 | 0.52% | -3,018 | -10.12% | 29,806 | ||||||||||||
| Caroline | 3,396 | 37.94% | 5,300 | 59.20% | 198 | 2.21% | 58 | 0.65% | -1,904 | -21.26% | 8,952 | ||||||||||||
| Carroll | 20,146 | 31.46% | 41,742 | 65.19% | 1,681 | 2.63% | 458 | 0.72% | -21,596 | -33.73% | 64,027 | ||||||||||||
| Cecil | 12,327 | 42.69% | 15,494 | 53.66% | 794 | 2.75% | 261 | 0.90% | -3,167 | -10.97% | 28,876 | ||||||||||||
| Charles | 21,873 | 49.05% | 21,768 | 48.82% | 755 | 1.69% | 196 | 0.44% | 105 | 0.23% | 44,592 | ||||||||||||
| Dorchester | 5,232 | 45.93% | 5,847 | 51.33% | 222 | 1.95% | 91 | 0.80% | -615 | -5.40% | 11,392 | ||||||||||||
| Frederick | 30,725 | 39.06% | 45,350 | 57.65% | 2,052 | 2.61% | 534 | 0.68% | -14,625 | -18.59% | 78,661 | ||||||||||||
| Garrett | 2,872 | 26.95% | 7,514 | 70.52% | 203 | 1.91% | 66 | 0.62% | -4,642 | -43.57% | 10,655 | ||||||||||||
| Harford | 35,665 | 39.01% | 52,862 | 57.82% | 2,298 | 2.51% | 599 | 0.66% | -17,197 | -18.81% | 91,424 | ||||||||||||
| Howard | 58,556 | 51.92% | 49,809 | 44.17% | 3,643 | 3.23% | 771 | 0.68% | 8,747 | 7.75% | 112,779 | ||||||||||||
| Kent | 3,627 | 44.86% | 4,155 | 51.39% | 270 | 3.34% | 33 | 0.41% | -528 | -6.53% | 8,085 | ||||||||||||
| Montgomery | 232,453 | 62.54% | 124,580 | 33.52% | 12,485 | 3.36% | 2,170 | 0.58% | 107,873 | 29.02% | 371,688 | ||||||||||||
| Prince George's | 216,119 | 79.48% | 49,987 | 18.38% | 4,497 | 1.65% | 1,306 | 0.48% | 166,132 | 61.10% | 271,909 | ||||||||||||
| Queen Anne's | 6,257 | 37.33% | 9,970 | 59.48% | 446 | 2.66% | 88 | 0.53% | -3,713 | -22.15% | 16,761 | ||||||||||||
| Somerset | 3,785 | 49.78% | 3,609 | 47.46% | 142 | 1.87% | 68 | 0.89% | 176 | 2.32% | 7,604 | ||||||||||||
| St. Mary's | 11,912 | 40.38% | 16,856 | 57.14% | 568 | 1.93% | 165 | 0.56% | -4,944 | -16.76% | 29,501 | ||||||||||||
| Talbot | 5,854 | 38.43% | 8,874 | 58.25% | 424 | 2.78% | 82 | 0.54% | -3,020 | -19.82% | 15,234 | ||||||||||||
| Washington | 18,221 | 38.38% | 27,948 | 58.88% | 1,027 | 2.16% | 274 | 0.58% | -9,727 | -20.50% | 47,470 | ||||||||||||
| Wicomico | 14,469 | 45.51% | 16,338 | 51.39% | 762 | 2.40% | 226 | 0.71% | -1,869 | -5.88% | 31,795 | ||||||||||||
| Worcester | 9,389 | 45.24% | 10,742 | 51.76% | 482 | 2.32% | 140 | 0.67% | -1,353 | -6.52% | 20,753 | ||||||||||||
| Totals | 1,145,782 | 56.57% | 813,797 | 40.18% | 53,768 | 2.65% | 12,133 | 0.60% | 331,985 | 16.39% | 2,025,480 | ||||||||||||
Gore won 5 of the state's 8 congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican. [3]
| District | Gore | Bush | Representative | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44% | 53% | Wayne Gilchrest | ||||
| 41% | 55% | Bob Ehrlich | ||||
| 63% | 34% | Ben Cardin | ||||
| 84% | 13% | Albert Wynn | ||||
| 55% | 42% | Steny Hoyer | ||||
| 38% | 58% | Roscoe Bartlett | ||||
| 84% | 14% | Elijah Cummings | ||||
| 60% | 36% | Connie Morella |
See main article: List of 2000 United States presidential electors.
Technically the voters of Maryland cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maryland is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins a plurality of votes in the state is awarded all ten 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[4] 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 Gore and Lieberman:[5]