1992 United States presidential election in California explained

Election Name:	1992 United States presidential election in California
Country:	California
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1988 United States presidential election in California
Previous Year:	1988
Next Election:	1996 United States presidential election in California
Next Year:	1996
Turnout:	75.32% (of registered voters) 2.51 pp 54.52% (of eligible voters) 1.01 pp^[1]
Election Date:	November 3, 1992
Image1:	Bill Clinton.jpg
Nominee1:	Bill Clinton
Party1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:	Arkansas
Running Mate1:	Al Gore
Electoral Vote1:	54
Popular Vote1:	5,121,325
Percentage1:	46.01%
Nominee2:	George H. W. Bush
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	Texas
Running Mate2:	Dan Quayle
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	3,630,574
Percentage2:	32.61%
Image3:	RossPerotColor.jpg
Nominee3:	Ross Perot
Party3:	Independent (United States)
Home State3:	Texas
Running Mate3:	James Stockdale
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	2,296,006
Percentage3:	20.63%
Map Size:	400px
President
Before Election:	George H. W. Bush
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Bill Clinton
After Party:	Democratic Party (United States)

The 1992 United States presidential election in California took place on November 3, 1992, and was part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton. His victory marked the first time California had voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 landslide, and only the second time since 1948. This would also be the first time since 1932 that a non-incumbent Democrat won California. Clinton's win in this state reflected the change in its status from a Republican-leaning swing state to a Democratic stronghold. California maintains the largest number of electoral votes in the Electoral College.

It was the first occasion that San Diego County had voted for a Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that any of the following counties were won by the Democratic nominee: Del Norte, Mariposa, Plumas, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Tuolumne.^[2] Ross Perot gained a plurality in Trinity County, the only time a non-major party candidate has carried any county in the state since Progressive Party candidate Robert La Follette Sr. in 1924. Perot also won the city of Avalon on Catalina Island, with 323 votes to George H.W. Bush's 315.^[3]

Results

1992 United States presidential election in California^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	William Jefferson Clinton	5,121,325	46.01%	54
	Republican	George Herbert Walker Bush (Incumbent)	3,630,574	32.61%	0
	Independent	Henry Ross Perot	2,296,006	20.63%	0
	Libertarian	Andre Marrou	48,139	0.43%	0
	Peace and Freedom	Ron Daniels	18,597	0.17%	0
	Taxpayers’	Howard Phillips	12,711	0.11%	0
	America First	James "Bo" Gritz (write-in)	3,077	0.03%	0
	Natural Law	Dr. John Hagelin (write-in)	836	0.01%	0
	Democrats for Economic Recovery	Lyndon LaRouche (write-in)	180	>0.01%	0
	Other write-ins		149	>0.01%	0
	Independent	Willie Carter (write-in)	131	>0.01%	0
	Socialist Workers Party	James Warren (write-in)	115	>0.01%	0
	Independent	Gene Smith (write-in)	18	>0.01%	0
	Independent	Isabell Masters (write-in)	12	>0.01%	0
Invalid or blank votes			242,844	2.13%	—
Totals			11,374,565	100.0%	54
Voter turnout			54.52%		—

By county

County^[5]	Bill Clinton Democratic		George H.W. Bush Republican		Ross Perot Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Alameda		334,224		63.04%		109,292		20.62%		81,643		15.40%		4,986		0.94%		224,932		42.42%		530,145
	Alpine		215		34.07%		222		35.18%		186		29.48%		8		1.27%		-7		-1.11%		631
	Amador		5,286		34.25%		5,477		35.49%		4,553		29.50%		118		0.76%		-191		-1.24%		15,434
	Butte		32,489		38.22%		31,608		37.18%		20,231		23.80%		686		0.81%		881		1.04%		85,014
	Calaveras		5,989		35.25%		6,006		35.35%		4,848		28.53%		148		0.87%		-17		-0.10%		16,991
	Colusa		1,798		31.91%		2,589		45.94%		1,206		21.40%		42		0.75%		-791		-14.03%		5,635
	Contra Costa		194,960		50.93%		112,965		29.51%		72,518		18.94%		2,380		0.62%		81,995		21.42%		382,823
	Del Norte		3,639		38.91%		3,083		32.96%		2,575		27.53%		56		0.60%		556		5.95%		9,353
	El Dorado		21,012		32.38%		25,906		39.92%		17,503		26.97%		466		0.72%		-4,894		-7.54%		64,887
	Fresno		92,418		42.17%		89,137		40.67%		36,299		16.56%		1,307		0.60%		3,281		1.50%		219,161
	Glenn		2,666		30.24%		3,812		43.24%		2,278		25.84%		60		0.68%		-1,146		-13.00%		8,816
	Humboldt		28,854		48.07%		18,299		30.49%		12,340		20.56%		528		0.88%		10,555		17.58%		60,021
	Imperial		11,109		43.88%		9,759		38.55%		4,247		16.77%		203		0.80%		1,350		5.33%		25,318
	Inyo		2,695		31.84%		3,689		43.58%		1,999		23.62%		81		0.96%		-994		-11.74%		8,464
	Kern		60,510		33.75%		80,762		45.05%		36,891		20.58%		1,100		0.61%		-20,252		-11.30%		179,263
	Kings		9,982		38.91%		10,673		41.61%		4,899		19.10%		97		0.38%		-691		-2.70%		25,651
	Lake		10,548		45.44%		6,678		28.77%		5,797		24.97%		190		0.82%		3,870		16.67%		23,213
	Lassen		3,388		32.70%		3,836		37.02%		3,004		28.99%		134		1.29%		-448		-4.32%		10,362
	Los Angeles		1,446,529		52.54%		799,607		29.04%		488,624		17.75%		18,643		0.68%		646,922		23.50%		2,753,403
	Madera		10,863		35.92%		13,066		43.20%		6,156		20.35%		160		0.53%		-2,203		-7.28%		30,245
	Marin		76,158		58.27%		30,479		23.32%		22,986		17.59%		1,084		0.83%		45,679		34.95%		130,707
	Mariposa		3,023		36.48%		2,982		35.98%		2,211		26.68%		71		0.86%		41		0.50%		8,287
	Mendocino		18,344		50.21%		7,958		21.78%		9,753		26.69%		483		1.32%		8,591		23.52%		36,538
	Merced		20,133		40.85%		17,981		36.48%		10,914		22.15%		256		0.52%		2,152		4.37%		49,284
	Modoc		1,489		32.19%		1,803		38.98%		1,269		27.44%		64		1.38%		-314		-6.79%		4,625
	Mono		1,489		34.19%		1,570		36.05%		1,248		28.66%		48		1.10%		-81		-1.86%		4,355
	Monterey		54,861		47.01%		36,461		31.25%		24,472		20.97%		895		0.77%		18,400		15.76%		116,689
	Napa		24,215		45.30%		15,662		29.30%		13,150		24.60%		428		0.80%		8,553		16.00%		53,455
	Nevada		15,433		34.92%		17,343		39.24%		11,072		25.05%		353		0.80%		-1,910		-4.32%		44,201
	Orange		306,930		31.56%		426,613		43.87%		232,394		23.90%		6,612		0.68%		-119,683		-12.31%		972,549
	Placer		30,783		33.69%		38,298		41.92%		21,741		23.80%		544		0.60%		-7,515		-8.23%		91,366
	Plumas		3,742		37.61%		3,599		36.17%		2,551		25.64%		57		0.57%		143		1.44%		9,949
	Riverside		166,241		38.64%		159,457		37.06%		102,233		23.76%		2,344		0.54%		6,784		1.58%		430,275
	Sacramento		197,540		43.56%		160,366		35.36%		91,412		20.16%		4,194		0.92%		37,174		8.20%		453,512
	San Benito		5,354		42.03%		4,112		32.28%		3,182		24.98%		91		0.71%		1,242		9.75%		12,739
	San Bernardino		183,634		38.74%		176,563		37.24%		109,183		23.03%		4,690		0.99%		7,071		1.50%		474,070
	San Diego		367,397		37.24%		352,125		35.69%		259,249		26.28%		7,875		0.80%		15,272		1.55%		986,646
	San Francisco		233,263		72.40%		57,352		17.80%		29,018		9.01%		2,574		0.80%		175,911		54.60%		322,207
	San Joaquin		63,655		41.28%		58,355		37.84%		31,205		20.24%		995		0.65%		5,300		3.44%		154,210
	San Luis Obispo		40,136		38.36%		36,384		34.78%		27,314		26.11%		785		0.75%		3,752		3.58%		104,619
	San Mateo		149,232		53.97%		75,080		27.15%		50,465		18.25%		1,731		0.63%		74,152		26.82%		276,508
	Santa Barbara		69,215		42.53%		57,375		35.25%		35,105		21.57%		1,061		0.65%		11,840		7.28%		162,756
	Santa Clara		296,265		49.21%		170,870		28.38%		128,895		21.41%		6,025		1.00%		125,395		20.83%		602,055
	Santa Cruz		66,183		58.06%		24,916		21.86%		21,615		18.96%		1,278		1.12%		41,267		36.20%		113,992
	Shasta		21,605		31.61%		28,190		41.24%		17,990		26.32%		574		0.84%		-6,585		-9.63%		68,359
	Sierra		653		34.83%		691		36.85%		519		27.68%		12		0.64%		-38		-2.02%		1,875
	Siskiyou		8,254		39.91%		6,660		32.21%		5,567		26.92%		198		0.96%		1,594		7.70%		20,679
	Solano		64,320		48.69%		38,883		29.43%		27,851		21.08%		1,057		0.80%		25,437		19.26%		132,111
	Sonoma		104,334		52.78%		47,619		24.09%		43,859		22.19%		1,879		0.95%		56,715		28.69%		197,691
	Stanislaus		52,415		40.95%		47,275		36.93%		27,651		21.60%		664		0.52%		5,140		4.02%		128,005
	Sutter		7,883		30.48%		12,956		50.10%		4,881		18.87%		140		0.54%		-5,073		-19.62%		25,860
	Tehama		7,508		35.79%		7,419		35.36%		5,884		28.05%		168		0.80%		89		0.43%		20,979
	Trinity		1,967		32.63%		1,886		31.28%		2,092		34.70%		84		1.39%		-125		-2.07%		6,029
	Tulare		31,188		35.22%		40,482		45.71%		16,430		18.55%		453		0.51%		-9,294		-10.49%		88,553
	Tuolumne		9,216		38.12%		8,525		35.26%		6,294		26.03%		143		0.59%		691		2.86%		24,178
	Ventura		99,011		36.99%		94,911		35.46%		71,844		26.84%		1,881		0.70%		4,100		1.53%		267,647
	Yolo		33,297		53.33%		17,574		28.15%		11,073		17.73%		492		0.79%		15,723		25.18%		62,436
	Yuba		5,785		34.24%		7,333		43.40%		3,637		21.53%		140		0.83%		-1,548		-9.16%		16,895
Total	5,121,325	46.01%	3,630,574	32.61%	2,296,006	20.63%	83,816	0.75%	1,490,751	13.40%	11,131,721

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Butte
• Del Norte
• Fresno
• Imperial
• Mariposa
• Merced
• Monterey
• Napa
• Plumas
• Riverside
• Sacramento
• San Bernardino
• San Diego
• San Joaquin
• San Luis Obispo
• Santa Barbara
• Siskiyou
• Stanislaus
• Tehama
• Tuolumne
• Ventura

Counties that flipped from Republican to Independent

• Trinity

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018 . California Secretary of State . 2022-05-05.
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. Web site: Supplement to the Statement of Vote. 1992. Elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov. August 28, 2019.
4. Web site: President . 1992-12-12 . 2008-08-10 . PDF . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080730215019/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992_general/statement_of_vote_general_1992.pdf . 2008-07-30.
5. Web site: 1992 . Supplement to the Statement of Vote . July 24, 2024 . Elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov.