The 2000 California Republican presidential primary was held on March 7, 2000. Governor George W. Bush of Texas won easily over Senator John McCain of Arizona and former Ambassador Alan Keyes.
At the time, California had a blanket primary, meaning all candidates of all parties were on the same ballot, but the state parties, exploiting a loophole in the election law, used color-coded ballots so that only votes from party members would count. Thus, many votes for McCain—nearly 800,000—were discounted. It was thought by pundits that McCain could demonstrate his viability in a large Democratic state if he won the general primary; however, Bush still won a solid majority with all the non-Republican votes factored in.
Results Key: Withdrewprior to contest 2000 California Republican presidential primaryCandidateGOP votesGOP %Total votesTotal %National delegates2000 Republican Presidential Primary Results - California George W. Bush 1,725,162 60.58% 2,168,466 52.21% 162 John McCain 988,706 34.72% 1,780,570 42.87% 0 Alan Keyes 112,747 3.96% 170,442 4.10% 0 Steve Forbes 8,449 0.30% 14,484 0.35% 0 Gary Bauer 6,860 0.24% 10,529 0.25% 0 Orrin Hatch 5,997 0.21% 9,202 0.22% 0 Glenn Redwood (write-in) N/A 0.59% 89 0.59% 0 David S. Rosenbaum (write-in) N/A <0.01% 4 <0.01% 0 Totals N/A 100.00% 4,153,702 100.00% 162
See also 2000 California Democratic presidential primary 2000 Republican Party presidential primaries
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