2000 United States presidential election in New Jersey explained

Election Name:2000 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Country:New Jersey
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Previous Year:1996
Next Election:2004 United States presidential election in New Jersey
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 Vote1:15
Popular Vote1:1,788,850
Percentage1:56.13%
Nominee2:George W. Bush
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Texas
Running Mate2:Dick Cheney
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:1,284,173
Percentage2:40.29%
Map Size:350px
President
Before Election:Bill Clinton
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:George W. Bush
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

In 2000, the United States presidential election in New Jersey, along with every U.S. state and Washington, D.C., took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the 2000 United States presidential election. The major party candidates were Democratic Vice President Al Gore of the incumbent administration and Republican Governor of Texas George W. Bush, son of the 41st U.S. president, George H. W. Bush. Owing to the indirect system of voting used in U.S. presidential elections, George W. Bush narrowly defeated Gore in Electoral College votes despite that Gore earned a higher percentage of the popular vote. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, the only third-party candidate represented on most states' ballots, came in a distant third.

Although New Jersey had voted for Democrat Bill Clinton in the past two elections (1992 and 1996),[1] it was considered a potential swing state in 2000 because pre-election polling data showed it to be a close race. Al Gore won 56 percent of New Jersey's popular vote, beating out George W. Bush by about a sixteen-point margin, with Gore's biggest margins of victory in Essex County and Hudson County where he won over seventy percent of the vote. Bush won 7 counties with his biggest margins being just over 57 percent in Hunterdon County and Sussex County. Nader got over four percent of the vote in several counties in the northwest of the state, while taking just under three percent statewide. This was also the first presidential election since 1976, in which New Jersey would back the losing candidate as well., this is the last election in which Monmouth County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[2]

Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Bergen County, Burlington County, or Monmouth County, as well as the state of New Jersey since Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Bush became the first Republican to win without Union County since James A. Garfield in 1880. Bush was the first Republican to ever win the Presidency without Passaic and Gloucester counties, and the only Republican to ever win without Salem County.

New Jersey 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.

General Election

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
class=small Sample
size
Margin of
error
Al
Gore (D)
George W.
Bush (R)
Ralph
Nader (G)
Patrick
Buchanan (Ref)
Undecided
The New York Times[3] October 12–15, 2000908 RV± 3% align=center49%34%8%1%8%

Results

2000 United States presidential election in New Jersey[4]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticAl Gore1,788,85056.13%15
Republican1,284,17340.29%0
GreenRalph Nader94,554 2.97%0
ReformPat Buchanan6,9890.22%0
LibertarianHarry Browne6,3120.20%0
Natural LawJohn Hagelin2,2150.07%0
SocialistDavid McReynolds1,8800.06%0
ConstitutionHoward Phillips1,4090.04%0
Socialist WorkersJames Harris8440.03%0
Totals3,187,226100.00%15
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)50%/68%

Results by county

CountyAl Gore
Democratic
George W. Bush
Republican
Ralph Nader[5]
Green
Pat Buchanan
Reform
Harry Browne
Libertarian
Various candidates
Other parties
Margindata-sort-type="number" rowspan="2"Total votes cast
data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Atlantic52,88058.04%35,59339.07%2,1882.40%1710.19%1580.17%1120.12%17,28718.97%91,102
Bergen202,68255.27%152,73141.65%9,6882.64%7550.21%4340.12%4310.12%49,95113.62%366,721
Burlington99,50656.05%72,25440.70%4,8942.76%2780.16%4630.26%1460.08%27,25215.35%177,541
Camden127,16664.60%62,46431.73%6,1243.11%3530.18%5500.28%2040.10%64,70232.87%196,861
Cape May22,18946.62%23,79449.99%1,2912.71%1870.39%820.17%510.11%-1,605-3.37%47,594
Cumberland28,18857.90%18,88238.78%1,0042.06%1110.23%1300.27%3690.76%9,30619.12%48,684
Essex185,50571.47%66,84225.75%5,6412.17%3910.15%2860.11%9080.35%118,66345.72%259,573
Gloucester61,09556.94%42,31539.44%3,1962.98%2360.22%3200.30%1360.13%18,78017.50%107,298
Hudson118,20670.63%43,80426.17%4,4362.65%2740.16%2530.15%3880.23%74,40244.46%167,361
Hunterdon21,38737.88%32,21057.05%2,4594.36%1540.27%1810.32%640.11%-10,823-19.17%56,455
Mercer83,25661.42%46,67034.43%4,5613.36%2740.20%5810.43%2170.16%36,58626.99%135,559
Middlesex154,99859.88%93,54536.14%8,9343.45%6220.24%4490.17%3010.12%61,45323.74%258,849
Monmouth131,47650.15%119,29145.51%9,0593.46%6780.26%4880.19%1,1490.44%12,1854.64%262,141
Morris88,03942.63%111,06653.78%6,3333.07%4730.23%4480.22%1490.07%-23,027-11.15%206,508
Ocean102,10447.18%105,68448.84%7,3543.40%6040.28%3870.18%2600.12%-3,580-1.66%216,393
Passaic90,32457.69%61,04338.99%3,7522.40%4020.26%1990.13%8530.54%29,28118.70%156,573
Salem13,71850.86%12,25745.44%7142.65%750.28%1090.40%990.37%1,4615.42%26,972
Somerset56,23246.71%59,72549.61%3,7763.14%2310.19%3060.25%1070.09%-3,493-2.90%120,377
Sussex21,35337.14%33,27757.88%2,3994.17%1840.32%1510.26%1260.22%-11,924-20.74%57,490
Union112,00360.10%68,55436.78%4,9452.65%3870.21%2520.14%2320.12%43,44923.32%186,373
Warren16,54340.55%22,17254.34%1,8064.43%1490.37%850.21%460.11%-5,629-13.79%40,801
Totals1,788,85056.13%1,284,17340.29%94,5542.97%6,9890.22%6,3120.20%6,3480.20%504,67715.84%3,187,226

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Gore won 11 of 13 congressional districts, including four that elected Republicans.[6]

DistrictGoreBushRepresentative
63.90%32.89%Rob Andrews
54.78%42.55%Frank LoBiondo
53.45%43.41%
52.28%44.55%Chris Smith
44.64%51.69%Marge Roukema
57.72%38.37%Frank Pallone Jr.
54.19%42.79%
61.05%36.25%Bill Pascrell
63.32%33.64%Steve Rothman
84.70%13.72%Donald Payne
43.36%53.50%Rodney Frelinghuysen
50.90%45.57%Rush Holt Jr.
72.35%25.33%Bob Menendez

Electors

See main article: List of 2000 United States presidential electors.

Technically the voters of NJ cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. NJ is allocated 15 electors because it has 13 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 15 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 15 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 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:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New Jersey Elected Officials Lookup. 270toWin.com. December 1, 2016.
  2. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/18/nyregion/poll-finds-corzine-spending-is-not-a-problem-for-voters.html The New York Times
  4. Web site: How close were U.S. Presidential Elections? . November 23, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120825102042/http://www.mit.edu/~mi22295/elections.html#2000 . August 25, 2012 .
  5. Web site: NJ US President, November 07, 2000. Our Campaigns.
  6. Web site: 2000 Presidential General Election Data — New Jersey. US Election Atlas.