1992 Republican Party presidential primaries explained

Election Name:1992 Republican Party presidential primaries
Country:United States
Type:primary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1988 Republican Party presidential primaries
Previous Year:1988
Next Election:1996 Republican Party presidential primaries
Next Year:1996
Election Date:February 18 to June 9, 1992
Votes For Election:2,209 delegates to the Republican National Convention
Needed Votes:1,105 delegate[1]
Party Name:no
Candidate1:George H. W. Bush
Colour1:a59400
Home State1:Texas
States Carried1:51
Popular Vote1:9,199,463
Percentage1:72.8%
Delegate Count1:1,544
Candidate2:Pat Buchanan
Colour2:668c63
Home State2:Virginia
States Carried2:0
Popular Vote2:2,899,488
Percentage2:23.0%
Delegate Count2:367
Republican nominee
Before Election:George H. W. Bush
After Election:George H. W. Bush

Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia between February 18 to June 9, 1992. The contests chose the 2,277 delegates sent to the national convention in Houston, Texas from August 17 to August 20, 1992, who selected the Republican Party's nominees for president and vice president in the 1992 United States presidential election and approved the party's platform. President George H. W. Bush was again selected as the nominee. The Republican ticket of President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle went on to lose the general election to the Democratic ticket of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee Senator Al Gore.

Primary race overview

President George H. W. Bush was challenged by conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, and during the early counting of the votes at the New Hampshire primary, it appeared that the president might actually lose. However, Buchanan faded by the end of the evening, and Bush won the rest of the primaries. Bush's margins in many of the primaries were not as large as expected, and led to the rise of Ross Perot as an independent candidate.

Republican Louisiana State Representative and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke also ran in a number of primaries, but he did not receive any delegates. Former Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota also made a quixotic bid for support in the Minnesota primary, winning enough votes to entitle him to one delegate, but was later denied his single vote by machinations at the Minnesota Republican Party's 1992 state convention.

New Hampshire primary

See also: 1992 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary.

As Buchanan's candidacy relied heavily on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary, President Bush made New Hampshire a focal point in his reelection bid. However, New Hampshire still remained a pivotal base for Buchanan's primary campaign.

Because Bush was widely perceived to have broken his "read my lips" pledge, Buchanan found support in the economically battered and conservative state of New Hampshire. Making Bush's tax-hikes a central theme of his campaign, Buchanan enjoyed healthy grass-roots support despite lagging behind the president in pre-primary polling.

Bush countered the threat posed by Buchanan by touring New Hampshire himself. He memorably told an audience at an Exeter town hall: "Message: I care".[2] Some sources claim that this was the result of Bush mistakenly reading a cue card aloud.[3]

On primary night, President Bush carried New Hampshire with 53% of the vote. Buchanan finished second with 38% of the vote.[4]

The rest of the race

Despite many in the Bush campaign attempting to push Buchanan out of the race, the strong showing made the Buchanan campaign hope for an outpouring of campaign contributions which galvanized the campaign into making efforts to pull out strong showings such as in the Georgia primary.

Despite an impressive showing, Buchanan's campaign never attracted serious opposition to President Bush in most contests. Most of Buchanan's "victories" were larger-than-expected showings that were still considered landslide Bush wins by most of the media. Still, the fact that Buchanan received more than two million votes nationwide prognosticated trouble for Bush in the general election.

Candidates

Nominee

CandidateMost recent officeHome Statedata-sort-type="date" CampaignWithdrawal datePopular voteContests wonRunning mate
George H. W. BushPresident of the United States
(1989–1993)

Texas
data-sort-value="0"
(Campaign)
Secured nomination:
May 5, 1992
data-sort-value="14,015,993" 9,199,463
(72.84%)
data-sort-value="44" 51Dan Quayle

Other Candidates

CandidateMost recent officeHome Statedata-sort-type="date" CampaignWithdrawal datePopular voteContests won
Pat BuchananWhite House Communications Director
(1985–1987)

Virginia
data-sort-value="0"
(Campaign)
data-sort-value="14,015,993" 2,899,488
(22.96%)
data-sort-value="44" N/A
David DukeMember of the Louisiana House of Representatives
(1989–1992)

Louisiana

(Campaign)
data-sort-value="14,015,993" 119,115
(0.94%)
data-sort-value="44" N/A
Pat PaulsenComedian
California
data-sort-value="14,015,993" 10,984
(0.09%)
data-sort-value="44" N/A
Harold StassenDirector of the United States Foreign Operations Administration
(1953–1955)

Minnesota
data-sort-value="14,015,993" 8,099
(0.06%)
data-sort-value="44" N/A
Jack FellureFormer Engineer and Perennial Candidate
West Virginia
data-sort-value="14,015,993" 6,296
(0.05%)
data-sort-value="44" N/A

Campaign finance

CandidateCampaign committee
RaisedSpent
[5] $104,974,415.00$31,802,276.00$31,711,102.00$65,898,513.00$107,637,852.00
[6] $14,933,082.00$7,232,943.00$7,206,793.00$5,351,770.00$14,591,679.00
[7] $372,146.00$221,854.00$221,945.00$0.00$457,449.00
[8] $46,748.00$1,260.00$1,425.00$0.00$47,559.00

Declined

Results

Date[10] [11]
Total pledged
delegates[12]
ContestDelegates won and popular voteTotal
George H. W. BushPat BuchananOthers
February 100Iowa caucus[13] Cancelled.
February 1823New Hampshire primary[14] 14
92,271 (53.2%)
9
65,106 (37.5%)

3,779 (2.3%)
February 1922South Dakota primary[15] [16] 14
30,964 (69.3%)
5
13,707 (30.68%)
March 3
(131)
37Colorado primary[17] 26
132,049 (68.2%)
11
58,730 (30.3%)

2,957 (1.53%)
42Maryland primary42
168,898 (69.9%)

72,701 (30.1%)
52Georgia primary[18] 52
291,905 (64.3%)

162,085 (35.7%)
March 736South Carolina primary[19] [20] 36
99,558 (66.9%)

38,247 (25.7%)

11,035 (7.41%)
March 10
(Super Tuesday)
(441)
99Florida primary 67
607,522 (68.1%)
32
285,074 (31.9%)
41Louisiana primary25
83,747 (62.0%)
11
36,526 (27.0%)
5
14,841
40Massachusetts primary28
176,868 (65.6%)
12
74,797 (27.7%)

24,182
34Mississippi primary25
111,794 (72.3%)
6
25,891 (16.7%)
4
17,023 (10.6%)
38Oklahoma primary27
151,612 (69.6%)
11
57,933 (26.6%)

8,176 (2.6%)
16Rhode Island primary11
9,853 (63.0%)
5
4,967 (31.8%)

816 (4.9%)
49Tennessee primary38
178,216 (72.5%)
11
54,585 (22.2%)

12,849 (5.2%)
124Texas primary92
556,280 (69.8%)
32
190,572 (23.9%)

50,294 (6.0%)
March 17
(162)
88Illinois primary68
556,280 (76.4%)
20
186,915 (22.5%)

9,637 (1.2%)
74Michigan primary54
301,948 (67.2%)
20
112,122 (25.0%)

35,063 (7.7%)
March 2438Connecticut primary29
66,356 (66.7%)
9
21,815 (22.0%)

11,475 (11.4%)
April 520Puerto Rico primary20
260,200

1,031

2,104
April 7
(205)
31Kansas primary21
132,131 (62.0%)
5
32,494 (14.8%)

49,571 (20.8%)
34Minnesota primary25
84,841 (63.9%)
9
32,094 (24.2%)

15,821 (8.8%)
103New York [?]103
37Wisconsin primary30
364,507 (75.6%)
7
78,516 (16.3%)

39,225 (5.3%)
April 2892Pennsylvania primary71
774,865 (76.7%)
21
233,912 (23.2%)
May 5
(144)
13District of Columbia primary11
4,265 (81.5%)
2
970 (18.5%)
20Delaware caucus20
52Indiana primary42
374,666 (80.1%)
10
92,949 (19.9%)
59North Carolina primary46
200,387 (70.7%)
13
55,420 (19.5%)

27,764 (9.8%)
May 1020Montana primary14
65,176 (71.6%)
2
10,701 (11.8%)
3
15,098 (16.6%)
May 12
(46)
27Nebraska primary23
156,346 (81.4%)
4
25,847 (13.5%)

9,905 (1.5%)
19West Virginia primary16
99,994 (80.5%)
3
18,067 (14.6%)

6,096 (4.9%)
May 19
(62)
25Oregon primary17
203,957
5
57,730
3
42,472
37Washington primary25
86,839 (67.0%)
4
13,273 (10.2%)
8
29,543 (20.8%)
May 26
(92)
31Arkansas primary27
45,590 (83.1%)
4
6,551 (11.9%)

2,742 (5.0%)
23Idaho primary15
73,297 (63.5%)
3
15,167 (13.1%)
5
27,038 (23.4%)
38Kentucky primary28
75,371 (74.5%)
10
25,748 (25.5%)
June 2
(439)
41Alabama primary33
122,703 (74.3%)

12,588 (7.6%)
8
29,830 (18.1%)
203California primary149
1,587,369 (73.6%)
54
568,892 (26.4%)
63New Jersey primary53
240,535 (77.5%)
10
46,432 (15.0%)

(7.5%)
27New Mexico primary19
55,522 (63.8%)

7,871 (9.1%)
8
23,574 (27.1%)
20North Dakota primary17
39,863 (83.4%)
3
7,945 (16.6%)
85Ohio primary71
716,766
14
143,687
Total[21] 1,9731,544
9,199,463 (72.8%)
367
2,899,488 (23.0%)
62
497,650 (4.2%)
12,596,601

Nationwide

Popular vote result:[22]

Endorsements

Pat Buchanan

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Race for the nomination . 11 March 1992 . Chicago Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20190521032229/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31773163/chicago_tribune/ . 21 May 2019 . live . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: REPUBLICANS; Immersing Himself in Nitty-Gritty, Bush Barnstorms New Hampshire . The New York Times . Maureen . Dowd . 16 January 1992.
  3. http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/romney-s-new-message-i-care-20120927?mrefid=mostViewed NG
  4. Web site: Past New Hampshire Primary Election Results. 2010-02-22. 2011-07-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20110715112805/http://www.primarynewhampshire.com/new-hampshire-primary-past-results.php. dead.
  5. Web site: STASSEN, HAROLD E..
  6. Web site: BUCHANAN, PATRICK J..
  7. Web site: DUKE, DAVID E..
  8. Web site: FELLURE, LOWELL JACKSON.
  9. Book: Quayle . Dan . Standing Firm . 1994 . HarperCollins Publishers . 0-06-017758-6 . 299–300 . 1st.
  10. News: Clipped from Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. 11 March 1992. 14.
  11. News: 1992 Presidential Primary Calendar .
  12. News: Election calendar at a glance . 14 February 1992 . The Times Leader . https://web.archive.org/web/20190521034802/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31773082/the_times_leader/ . 21 May 2019 . live . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Iowa; HARKIN DOMINATES STATE'S CAUCUSES . 11 February 1992 . The New York Times . https://web.archive.org/web/20180116032746/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/11/us/the-1992-campaign-iowa-harkin-dominates-state-s-caucuses.html . 16 January 2018 . live . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: 1992 New Hampshire Republican primary results . https://web.archive.org/web/20171213005812/http://sos.nh.gov/1992RepPresPrim.aspx. 2017-12-13 .
  15. News: 1992 South Dakota Republican primary results . https://web.archive.org/web/20190514184743/http://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/election-resources/election-history/1992/1992_SD_presidential_primary.aspx. 2019-05-14 .
  16. News: Primary notes Delegate numbers set for parties . 26 February 1992 . Argus-Leader . https://web.archive.org/web/20190521044733/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31775193/argusleader/ . 21 May 2019 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  17. News: Republican primaries March 3 . 5 March 1992 . Hartford Courant . https://web.archive.org/web/20190521053835/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31775969/hartford_courant/ . 21 May 2019 . live . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  18. News: 1992 Georgia Republican primary full results.
  19. News: South Carolina Republican delegate count . 8 March 1992 . Arizona Republic . https://web.archive.org/web/20190521061557/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31776388/arizona_republic/ . 21 May 2019 . live . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  20. News: 1992 South Carolina Republican primary full results.
  21. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55213 Our Campaigns - US President - R Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1992
  22. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55213 Our Campaigns - US President - R Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1992
  23. https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=brendan+eich&type=donors
  24. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/02/controversial-mozilla-ceo-made-donations-right-wing-candidates-brendan-eich Mozilla CEO donated to rightwing candidates, records show