1992 United States presidential election in Florida explained

See main article: 1992 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1992 United States presidential election in Florida
Country:Florida
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1988 United States presidential election in Florida
Previous Year:1988
Next Election:1996 United States presidential election in Florida
Next Year:1996
Election Date:November 3, 1992
Image1:George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg
Nominee1:George H. W. Bush
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:Texas
Running Mate1:Dan Quayle
Electoral Vote1:25
Popular Vote1:2,173,310
Percentage1:40.89%
Nominee2:Bill Clinton
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Arkansas
Running Mate2:Al Gore
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:2,072,698
Percentage2:39.00%
Image3:RossPerotColor.jpg
Nominee3:Ross Perot
Party3:Independent (United States)
Home State3:Texas
Running Mate3:James Stockdale
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:1,053,067
Percentage3:19.82%
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)
Turnout:83%

The 1992 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. The race was extremely close – so close in fact that some news networks mistakenly reported that Democratic challenger Bill Clinton had won in the state, although incumbent President George H. W. Bush was eventually declared the winner. Bush received 40.89% of the vote to Clinton's 39.00%. The final result in Florida reflected the reluctance of many Southern states to back fellow Southerner Clinton, although Clinton was polling well in other parts of the country.

Bush won by about 100,000 votes, marking the first time Florida had backed the losing candidate since 1960, when it voted for Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy.[1] This was also the last time until the 2020 election that Florida would back the loser of the presidential election as well only the second time since 1924.[2] Despite Bush's narrow victory, this election marked the start of Florida's transition from a strong GOP state into a closely divided swing state for future presidential elections; just four years earlier Bush had carried Florida by 22 points, making it his second-best state in the South. This is also the only election since 1944 that Florida did not vote the same way as Ohio, a state with a similar voting history. Florida was one of 5 states that gave Perot more than 1 million votes, including California, Texas, New York, and Ohio.

Clinton flipped the heavily populated South Florida counties of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami -Dade, which had all voted for Bush in 1988, into the Democratic column, and they have remained reliable Democratic bastions in the state ever since, buoying Democratic base support in the state.[3] Clinton's victory in Palm Beach County was noteworthy in as much as that county had not previously backed a Democratic presidential nominee since Florida's "Solid South" days when Franklin D. Roosevelt swept all sixty-seven counties in 1944.[4] This was the last time St. Lucie County voted for a Republican presidential candidate until 2016.[3]

Results

Primary election results

Democratic

Candidate! colspan="2"
Vote Received
%
Bill Clinton554,86150.8%
Paul Tsongas379,57234.7%
Jerry Brown133,15612.2%
Tom Harkin13,3021.2%
Bob Kerrey11,5571.1%
Total1,092,448100%

Republican

Candidate! colspan="2"
Vote received
%
George H.W. Bush (incumbent)607,52268.1%
Pat Buchanan285,07431.9%
Total892,596100%

General election results

United States presidential election in Florida, 1992
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
RepublicanGeorge H. W. Bush (incumbent)2,173,310 40.89%25
DemocraticBill Clinton2,072,69839.00%0
IndependentRoss Perot1,053,067 19.82%0
LibertarianAndre Marrou15,079 0.28%0
Write-Ins238>0.01%0
Totals5,314,392100.0%25

Results by county

CountyGeorge H.W. Bush
Republican
Bill Clinton
Democratic
Ross Perot
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%%
Alachua22,81329.87%37,88849.61%15,29620.03%3750.49%-15,075-19.74%76,372
Baker3,41850.59%1,97629.25%1,31519.46%470.70%1,44221.34%6,756
Bay22,84249.99%12,84628.12%9,71221.26%2890.63%9,99621.87%45,689
Bradford3,67244.02%3,04136.46%1,57418.87%540.65%6317.56%8,341
Brevard84,58543.19%61,09131.19%49,50925.28%6750.34%23,49412.00%195,860
Broward164,83230.92%276,36151.85%90,93717.06%9200.17%-111,529-20.93%533,050
Calhoun1,72137.58%1,66536.36%1,17625.68%170.37%561.22%4,579
Charlotte24,31139.17%22,90736.91%14,72023.72%1260.20%1,4042.26%62,064
Citrus16,41236.68%15,93735.62%12,31427.52%830.19%4751.06%44,746
Clay26,36057.95%10,61023.33%8,42318.52%920.20%15,75034.62%45,485
Collier38,44853.44%18,79626.13%14,51820.18%1820.25%19,65227.31%71,944
Columbia6,49243.41%5,52836.97%2,90619.43%280.19%9646.44%14,954
DeSoto3,07041.32%2,64635.62%1,68722.71%260.35%4245.70%7,429
Dixie1,40132.04%1,85542.42%1,09425.02%230.53%-454-10.38%4,373
Duval123,63149.47%92,09836.85%33,38813.36%8090.32%31,53312.62%249,926
Escambia52,86850.24%32,04530.45%19,92318.93%3850.37%20,82319.79%105,221
Flagler6,24638.19%6,69340.92%3,39020.73%260.16%-447-2.73%16,355
Franklin1,66437.99%1,53535.05%1,14426.12%370.84%1292.94%4,380
Gadsden3,97527.62%8,48658.96%1,87113.00%620.43%-4,511-31.34%14,394
Gilchrist1,39534.73%1,51137.62%1,09027.13%210.52%-116-2.89%4,017
Glades1,18535.12%1,30538.68%87826.02%60.18%-120-3.56%3,374
Gulf2,65145.29%1,93833.11%1,24521.27%200.34%71312.18%5,854
Hamilton1,40237.64%1,62243.54%69518.66%60.16%-220-5.90%3,725
Hardee2,90045.08%2,01831.37%1,49923.30%160.25%88213.71%6,433
Hendry3,27940.91%2,69133.57%2,03225.35%140.17%5887.34%8,016
Hernando17,90236.47%19,17439.06%11,84824.14%1620.33%-1,272-2.59%49,086
Highlands14,49944.76%11,23734.69%6,59320.35%620.19%3,26210.07%32,391
Hillsborough130,64342.07%115,28237.13%63,05420.31%1,5230.49%15,3614.94%310,502
Holmes3,19648.96%1,87728.75%1,42721.86%280.43%1,31920.21%6,528
Indian River19,14043.54%12,36028.12%12,37528.15%870.20%6,76515.39%43,962
Jackson6,72545.82%5,48237.35%2,45016.69%190.13%1,2438.47%14,676
Jefferson1,50632.19%2,27148.55%89519.13%60.13%-765-16.36%4,678
Lafayette1,03941.15%86734.34%61224.24%70.28%1726.81%2,525
Lake30,82544.17%23,20033.24%15,61422.37%1480.21%7,62510.93%69,787
Lee73,43644.24%53,66032.32%38,45223.16%4540.27%19,77611.92%166,002
Leon31,98332.87%47,79149.12%17,21217.69%3080.32%-15,808-16.25%97,294
Levy3,79634.71%4,33039.59%2,78425.46%260.24%-534-4.88%10,936
Liberty1,12643.71%82031.83%61723.95%130.50%30611.88%2,576
Madison2,00734.38%2,64845.36%1,17420.11%90.15%-641-10.98%5,838
Manatee42,72542.63%33,84133.77%23,29023.24%3640.36%8,8848.86%100,220
Marion35,44240.74%30,82935.44%20,52923.60%1890.22%4,6135.30%86,989
Martin24,80046.63%14,80227.83%13,44225.27%1400.26%9,99818.80%53,184
Miami-Dade235,31343.19%254,60946.73%54,0039.91%9180.17%-19,296-3.54%544,843
Monroe9,89834.38%10,45036.30%8,31428.88%1270.44%-552-1.92%28,789
Nassau9,36751.54%5,50330.28%3,25517.91%490.27%3,86421.26%18,174
Okaloosa32,81853.13%12,03819.49%16,67126.99%2420.39%16,14726.14%61,769
Okeechobee3,29835.20%3,41836.48%2,64728.25%70.07%-120-1.28%9,370
Orange108,78845.90%82,68334.89%44,84418.92%6960.29%26,10511.01%237,011
Osceola19,14342.29%15,01033.16%11,02124.35%930.21%4,1339.13%45,267
Palm Beach140,35034.63%187,86946.36%76,24318.81%7890.19%-47,519-11.73%405,251
Pasco47,73535.11%53,13039.08%34,65425.49%4430.33%-5,395-3.97%135,962
Pinellas159,12137.63%160,52837.96%101,25723.95%1,9450.46%-1,407-0.33%422,851
Polk65,96345.21%51,45035.26%28,20419.33%2830.19%14,5139.95%145,900
Putnam8,91034.72%10,70941.73%5,97923.30%630.25%-1,799-7.01%25,661
St. Johns20,18850.49%12,29130.74%7,40018.51%1070.27%7,89719.75%39,986
St. Lucie24,40035.76%23,87634.99%19,81729.04%1400.21%5240.77%68,233
Santa Rosa17,33952.90%6,55620.00%8,78826.81%940.29%8,55126.09%32,777
Sarasota66,85542.76%54,55234.89%34,28921.93%6560.42%12,3037.87%156,352
Seminole57,10148.57%35,66030.33%24,48720.83%3120.27%21,44118.24%117,560
Sumter4,36635.41%5,02740.77%2,90123.53%350.28%-661-5.36%12,329
Suwannee4,57640.23%3,98835.06%2,79124.54%190.17%5885.17%11,374
Taylor2,69337.34%2,56835.60%1,92926.74%230.32%1251.74%7,213
Union1,54643.29%1,24834.95%77021.56%70.20%2988.34%3,571
Volusia59,17238.05%65,22341.94%30,82319.82%2810.18%-6,051-3.89%155,499
Wakulla2,58638.52%2,32034.55%1,79026.66%180.27%2663.97%6,714
Walton5,72642.25%3,88828.69%3,89028.70%500.37%1,83613.55%13,554
Washington3,69546.94%2,54432.32%1,59620.28%360.46%1,15114.62%7,871
Totals2,173,31040.89%2,072,69839.00%1,053,06719.82%15,3170.29%100,6121.89%5,314,392

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Results by congressional district

District[5] ClintonBushPerot
1st25.7%51.1%23.1%
2nd41.9%38.6%19.5%
3rd57%30%13%
4th30.2%53.2%16.6%
5th41.6%34.2%24.2%
6th31.3%47.3%21.4%
7th34.4%44.7%21%
8th32.3%47.6%20.1%
9th34.2%41.4%24.6%
10th40%36.2%23.8%
11th41.1%39.2%19.7%
12th34.4%45.6%20%
13th34.7%42.8%22.5%
14th31.3%46.1%22.5%
15th30.9%43.4%25.7%
16th35.7%39.4%24.9%
17th73.5%19.1%7.3%
18th32.8%56.9%10.3%
19th53.8%30.3%15.9%
20th46.9%33.6%19.6%
21st31.2%58.2%10.6%
22nd45%37.6%17.4%
23rd62.3%23.2%14.5%
Total100%100%100%

Notes and References

  1. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1992 Presidential General Election Results – Florida
  2. News: Paulson . Darryl . 4 November 2016 . A quick history of Florida's presidential politics, from Whigs to wigged out . Tampa Bay Times . 7 July 2019 .
  3. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165
  5. Web site: 1992 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District . July 25, 2024 . Western Washington University.