2000 United States presidential election in Florida

The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the nationwide presidential election. Florida, a swing state, had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. The outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting because of the extended process of counting and recounting Florida's presidential ballots. State results tallied on election night gave 246 electoral votes to Republican nominee Texas Governor George W. Bush and 255 to Democratic nominee Vice President Al Gore, with New Mexico (5), Oregon (7), and Florida (25) too close to call that evening. Gore won New Mexico and Oregon over the following few days, but the result in Florida was decisive, regardless of how those two states had voted.

After an intense recount process and the United States Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, Bush won Florida's electoral votes by a margin of only 537 votes out of almost six million cast (0.009%) and, as a result, became the president-elect. The process was extremely divisive and led to calls for electoral reform in Florida. If Gore had been declared the winner, he would have won the election with a total of 292 electoral votes. Post-election analysis has found that Palm Beach County's butterfly ballot misdirected over 2,000 votes from Gore to third-party candidate Pat Buchanan, tipping Florida—and the election—to Bush.

The final official Florida count gave the victory to Bush by 537 votes, making it by percentage not only the closest state of the election (New Mexico was decided by 366 votes but has a much smaller population, representing a 0.061% margin), but also the closest of any state in any United States presidential election ever. This was the closest margin in any tipping point state in history, surpassing the record of the 1884 United States presidential election in New York.

, this is the last election in which the Democratic candidate won Pasco County and Hernando County.Sullivan, Robert David; 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century'; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 It was also the first time the Democratic candidate won Orange County since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. This county, along with Charles County, Maryland, were the only two Gore flipped from the previous election.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, p. 164-165

Campaign

Initially, Florida had been considered fertile territory for Republicans. It was governed by Jeb Bush, a staunch conservative and George W. Bush's brother. Nonetheless, Republicans put significant advertising resources into the state, and later polls indicated that the state was very much in play as late as September 2000. Some late momentum for Gore and his Jewish running mate Joe Lieberman may have come from southern Florida's significant Jewish population. Voters from reliably Democratic states in the Northeast had also been migrating to Florida since the 1950s. The state's electorate was becoming more diverse in general, with growing Asian and Hispanic immigrant populations.

Meanwhile, there was a heavy backlash in the Cuban-American population against Democrats during the Elian Gonzalez dispute, during which Janet Reno, President Bill Clinton's Attorney General, ordered the six-year-old Cuban refugee to be returned to Cuba. The Democrats' share of the Cuban-American vote dropped dramatically after 1996.

In late October, one poll found that Gore was leading Bush and third parties by 44–42–4 among registered voters and 46–42–4 among likely voters, but that poll had a margin of error of four percentage points, making the race too close to call.

On election day itself, the extent of the mix-ups in the electoral rolls was such that "in a number of precincts in Florida's inner cities, the polling locations were heavily fortified with police."

Results 2000 United States presidential election in FloridaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican George W. Bush Dick Cheney 2,912,790 48.847% 25 Democratic Al Gore Joe Lieberman 2,912,253 48.838% 0Green Ralph Nader Winona LaDuke 97,488 1.64% 0Reform Patrick Buchanan Ezola Foster 17,484 0.29% 0 Libertarian Harry Browne Art Olivier 16,415 0.28% 0Natural Law John Hagelin Nat Goldhaber 2,281 0.04% 0Workers World Monica Moorehead Gloria La Riva 1,804 0.03% 0Constitution Howard Phillips Curtis Frazier 1,371 0.02% 0Socialist David McReynolds Mary Cal Hollis 622 0.01% 0Socialist Workers James Harris Margaret Trowe 562 0.01% 0 Write-in 36 <0.01% — Totals 5,963,110 100.00% 25 Florida was the second of the 50 states (after Louisiana) to report its official results to the federal government (in a Certificate of Ascertainment submitted to the National Archivist, the manner prescribed for presidential elections).

Results by county Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Palm Beach County since the county's founding in 1909. County George W. BushRepublican Al GoreDemocratic Ralph NaderGreen Pat BuchananReform Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total # % # % # % # % # % # % Alachua 34,135 39.80% 47,380 55.25% 3,228 3.76% 263 0.31% 751 0.88% -13,245 -15.45% 85,757 Baker 5,611 68.80% 2,392 29.33% 53 0.65% 73 0.90% 26 0.32% 3,219 39.47% 8,155 Bay 38,682 65.70% 18,873 32.06% 830 1.41% 248 0.42% 243 0.41% 19,809 33.64% 58,876 Bradford 5,416 62.43% 3,075 35.45% 84 0.97% 65 0.75% 35 0.40% 2,341 26.98% 8,675 Brevard 115,253 52.75% 97,341 44.55% 4,471 2.05% 571 0.26% 852 0.39% 17,912 8.20% 218,488 Broward 177,939 30.93% 387,760 67.41% 7,105 1.24% 795 0.14% 1,640 0.29% -209,821 -36.48% 575,239 Calhoun 2,873 55.52% 2,156 41.66% 39 0.75% 90 1.74% 17 0.33% 717 13.86% 5,175 Charlotte 35,428 52.96% 29,646 44.31% 1,462 2.19% 182 0.27% 182 0.27% 5,782 8.65% 66,900 Citrus 29,801 52.06% 25,531 44.60% 1,383 2.42% 270 0.47% 263 0.46% 4,270 7.46% 57,248 Clay 41,903 72.80% 14,668 25.48% 565 0.98% 186 0.32% 237 0.41% 27,235 47.32% 57,559 Collier 60,467 65.58% 29,939 32.47% 1,405 1.52% 122 0.13% 269 0.29% 30,528 33.11% 92,202 Columbia 10,968 59.24% 7,049 38.07% 258 1.39% 89 0.48% 150 0.81% 3,919 21.17% 18,514 DeSoto 4,256 54.48% 3,321 42.51% 157 2.01% 36 0.46% 42 0.54% 935 11.97% 7,812 Dixie 2,697 57.79% 1,827 39.15% 75 1.61% 29 0.62% 39 0.84% 870 18.64% 4,667 Duval 152,460 57.49% 108,039 40.74% 2,762 1.04% 653 0.25% 1,267 0.48% 44,421 16.75% 265,181 Escambia 73,171 62.62% 40,990 35.08% 1,733 1.48% 502 0.43% 460 0.39% 32,181 27.54% 116,856 Flagler 12,618 46.53% 13,897 51.25% 435 1.60% 83 0.31% 83 0.31% -1,279 -4.72% 27,116 Franklin 2,454 52.83% 2,047 44.07% 85 1.83% 33 0.71% 26 0.56% 407 8.76% 4,645 Gadsden 4,770 32.38% 9,736 66.09% 139 0.94% 38 0.26% 48 0.33% -4,966 -33.71% 14,731 Gilchrist 3,300 61.17% 1,910 35.40% 97 1.80% 29 0.54% 59 1.09% 1,390 25.77% 5,395 Glades 1,841 54.71% 1,442 42.85% 56 1.66% 9 0.27% 17 0.51% 399 11.86% 3,365 Gulf 3,553 57.79% 2,398 39.00% 86 1.40% 71 1.15% 40 0.65% 1,155 18.79% 6,148 Hamilton 2,147 54.14% 1,723 43.44% 37 0.93% 23 0.58% 36 0.91% 424 10.70% 3,966 Hardee 3,765 60.38% 2,342 37.56% 75 1.20% 30 0.48% 24 0.38% 1,423 22.82% 6,236 Hendry 4,747 58.32% 3,240 39.81% 104 1.28% 22 0.27% 26 0.32% 1,507 18.51% 8,139 Hernando 30,658 47.00% 32,648 50.05% 1,501 2.30% 243 0.37% 186 0.29% -1,990 -3.05% 65,236 Highlands 20,207 57.48% 14,169 40.31% 545 1.55% 127 0.36% 104 0.30% 6,038 17.17% 35,152 Hillsborough 180,794 50.17% 169,576 47.06% 7,496 2.08% 847 0.24% 1,641 0.46% 11,218 3.11% 360,354 Holmes 5,012 67.77% 2,177 29.43% 94 1.27% 76 1.03% 37 0.50% 2,835 38.34% 7,396 Indian River 28,639 57.71% 19,769 39.84% 950 1.91% 105 0.21% 164 0.33% 8,870 17.87% 49,627 Jackson 9,139 56.06% 6,870 42.14% 138 0.85% 102 0.63% 54 0.33% 2,269 13.92% 16,303 Jefferson 2,478 43.91% 3,041 53.89% 76 1.35% 29 0.51% 19 0.34% -563 -9.98% 5,643 Lafayette 1,670 66.67% 789 31.50% 26 1.04% 10 0.40% 10 0.40% 881 35.17% 2,505 Lake 50,010 56.44% 36,571 41.27% 1,460 1.65% 289 0.33% 281 0.32% 13,439 15.17% 88,611 Lee 106,151 57.57% 73,571 39.90% 3,588 1.95% 305 0.17% 785 0.43% 32,580 17.67% 184,400 Leon 39,073 37.88% 61,444 59.57% 1,934 1.87% 282 0.27% 421 0.41% -22,371 -21.69% 103,154 Levy 6,863 53.91% 5,398 42.40% 285 2.24% 67 0.53% 117 0.92% 1,465 11.51% 12,730 Liberty 1,317 54.65% 1,017 42.20% 19 0.79% 39 1.62% 18 0.75% 300 12.45% 2,410 Madison 3,038 49.29% 3,015 48.92% 54 0.88% 29 0.47% 27 0.44% 23 0.37% 6,163 Manatee 58,023 52.58% 49,226 44.61% 2,494 2.26% 271 0.25% 330 0.30% 8,797 7.97% 110,344 Marion 55,146 53.55% 44,674 43.39% 1,810 1.76% 563 0.55% 778 0.76% 10,472 10.16% 102,971 Martin 33,972 54.78% 26,621 42.93% 1,118 1.80% 112 0.18% 193 0.31% 7,351 11.85% 62,016 Miami-Dade 289,574 46.29% 328,867 52.57% 5,355 0.86% 560 0.09% 1,196 0.19% -39,293 -6.28% 625,552 Monroe 16,063 47.39% 16,487 48.64% 1,090 3.22% 47 0.14% 208 0.61% -424 -1.25% 33,895 Nassau 16,408 68.98% 6,955 29.24% 253 1.06% 90 0.38% 81 0.34% 9,453 39.74% 23,787 Okaloosa 52,186 73.69% 16,989 23.99% 988 1.40% 268 0.38% 388 0.55% 35,197 49.70% 70,819 Okeechobee 5,057 51.32% 4,589 46.57% 131 1.33% 43 0.44% 34 0.35% 468 4.75% 9,854 Orange 134,531 48.02% 140,236 50.06% 3,879 1.38% 446 0.16% 1,063 0.38% -5,705 -2.04% 280,155 Osceola 26,237 47.11% 28,187 50.61% 733 1.32% 145 0.26% 388 0.70% -1,950 -3.50% 55,690 Palm Beach 152,964 35.31% 269,754 62.27% 5,566 1.28% 3,411 0.79% 1,527 0.35% -116,790 -26.96% 433,222 Pasco 68,607 48.05% 69,576 48.73% 3,394 2.38% 570 0.40% 622 0.44% -969 -0.68% 142,769 Pinellas 184,849 46.38% 200,657 50.35% 10,023 2.52% 1,013 0.25% 1,984 0.50% -15,808 -3.97% 398,526 Polk 90,310 53.56% 75,207 44.60% 2,059 1.22% 533 0.32% 520 0.31% 15,103 8.96% 168,629 Putnam 13,457 51.29% 12,107 46.14% 379 1.44% 148 0.56% 148 0.56% 1,350 5.15% 26,239 Santa Rosa 36,339 72.10% 12,818 25.43% 726 1.44% 311 0.62% 208 0.41% 23,521 46.67% 50,402 Sarasota 83,117 51.63% 72,869 45.27% 4,071 2.53% 305 0.19% 615 0.38% 10,248 6.36% 160,977 Seminole 75,790 55.00% 59,227 42.98% 1,949 1.41% 195 0.14% 644 0.47% 16,563 12.02% 137,805 St. Johns 39,564 65.10% 19,509 32.10% 1,217 2.00% 229 0.38% 252 0.41% 20,055 33.00% 60,771 St. Lucie 34,705 44.50% 41,560 53.29% 1,368 1.75% 124 0.16% 233 0.30% -6,855 -8.79% 77,990 Sumter 12,127 54.48% 9,637 43.29% 306 1.37% 114 0.51% 77 0.35% 2,490 11.19% 22,261 Suwannee 8,009 64.27% 4,076 32.71% 180 1.44% 108 0.87% 88 0.71% 3,933 31.56% 12,461 Taylor 4,058 59.59% 2,649 38.90% 59 0.87% 27 0.40% 17 0.25% 1,409 20.69% 6,810 Union 2,332 60.95% 1,407 36.77% 33 0.86% 37 0.97% 17 0.44% 925 24.18% 3,826 Volusia 82,368 44.84% 97,313 52.98% 2,910 1.58% 498 0.27% 585 0.32% -14,945 -8.14% 183,674 Wakulla 4,512 52.54% 3,838 44.70% 149 1.74% 46 0.54% 42 0.49% 674 7.84% 8,587 Walton 12,186 66.51% 5,643 30.80% 265 1.45% 120 0.65% 109 0.59% 6,543 35.71% 18,323 Washington 4,995 62.24% 2,798 34.86% 93 1.16% 88 1.10% 52 0.65% 2,197 27.38% 8,026Totals2,912,79048.85%2,912,25348.84%97,4881.63%17,4840.29%23,0950.39%5370.01%5,963,110

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Calhoun (largest city: Blountstown) Citrus (largest city: Homosassa Springs) Dixie (largest city: Cross City) Franklin (largest city: Eastpoint) Gilchrist (largest city: Trenton) Glades (largest city: Moore Haven) Gulf (largest city: Port St. Joe) Hamilton (largest city: Jasper) Hendry (largest city: Clewiston) Hillsborough (largest city: Tampa) Levy (largest city: Williston) Madison (largest city: Madison) Okeechobee (largest city: Okeechobee) Putnam (largest city: Palatka) Sumter (largest city: The Villages) Taylor (largest city: Perry) Wakulla (largest city: Sopchoppy)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Orange (largest city: Orlando)

By congressional district Bush won 13 of 23 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat. Gore won ten, including three that elected Republicans.Florida Congressional District 2