2000 United States presidential election in Connecticut

Main article: 2000 United States presidential election

The 2000 United States presidential election in Connecticut took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

2000 United States presidential election in Connecticut

← 1996 November 7, 2000 2004 →
Turnout	77.54%[1]
Nominee Al Gore George W. Bush Party Democratic Republican Home state Tennessee Texas Running mate Joe Lieberman Dick Cheney Electoral vote 8 0 Popular vote 816,015 561,094 Percentage 55.91% 38.44%
County results Municipality results Gore   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Bush   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President George W. Bush Republican

Connecticut was won by Vice President Al Gore by a 17.5% margin of victory. Gore's vice presidential running mate, Joe Lieberman, had been a U.S. senator from Connecticut since 1989. Connecticut is also birth state of Republican nominee George W. Bush; however, as a presidential candidate, Bush identified his home state as Texas, where he was governor, and he did not attempt to compete in Connecticut. Since the 1990s, Connecticut has remained a safe Democratic state, having not been won by a Republican presidential candidate since Bush's father in 1988. Connecticut is also the home state of major Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without Fairfield County since James A. Garfield in 1880, and the first since 1876 to win without Litchfield County. This was also the first election since 1976 when Connecticut failed to support the overall winner of the electoral college, and presidency. Bush became the first Republican to win without Connecticut since 1968.

Connecticut was one of ten states that backed George H. W. Bush for president in 1988 but not George W. Bush in either 2000 or 2004.

To date, this is the last election which the towns of Sterling and Wolcott voted for the Democratic candidate.

Results

2000 United States presidential election in Connecticut[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Al Gore	816,015	55.91%	8
	Republican	George W. Bush	561,094	38.44%	0
	Green	Ralph Nader	64,452	4.42%	0
	Concerned Citizens	Howard Phillips	9,695	0.66%	0
	Reform	Patrick Buchanan	4,731	0.32%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	3,484	0.24%	0
	Natural Law	John Hagelin (write-in)	40	0.00%	0
	Independent	Write Ins	14	0.00%	0
Totals			1,459,525	100.00%	8
Voter turnout (Voting age)					57%

By county

County	Al Gore Democratic		George W. Bush Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Fairfield	193,769	52.33%	159,659	43.12%	16,861	4.55%	34,110	9.21%	370,289
Hartford	221,167	60.17%	127,468	34.68%	18,921	5.15%	93,699	25.49%	367,556
Litchfield	41,806	47.87%	39,172	44.85%	6,360	7.28%	2,634	3.02%	87,338
Middlesex	43,319	55.94%	29,295	37.83%	4,819	6.22%	14,024	18.11%	77,433
New Haven	197,928	58.03%	122,919	36.04%	20,252	5.94%	75,009	21.99%	341,099
New London	60,449	55.38%	41,168	37.72%	7,530	6.90%	19,281	17.66%	109,147
Tolland	33,554	53.52%	24,705	39.40%	4,441	7.08%	8,849	14.12%	62,700
Windham	24,023	54.64%	16,708	38.00%	3,232	7.35%	7,315	16.64%	43,963
Totals	816,015	55.91%	561,094	38.44%	82,416	5.65%	254,921	17.47%	1,459,525

By congressional district

Gore won all six congressional districts, including three that elected Republicans.

District	Gore	Bush	Representative
1st	62%	32%	John Larson
2nd	55%	38%	Sam Gejdenson
			Rob Simmons
3rd	60%	34%	Rosa DeLauro
4th	55%	41%	Chris Shays
5th	51%	44%	Jim Maloney
6th	52%	42%	Nancy Johnson

Electors

Main article: List of 2000 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Connecticut cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Connecticut is allocated eight electors because it has six congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of eight electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all eight electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000^[3] to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for Gore and Lieberman:^[4]

1. Nick Balletto
2. Frank Cirillo
3. Marilyn Cohen
4. Gloria Collins
5. Kimberly Ford
6. Thomas McDonough
7. Ken Slapin
8. Clorinda Soldevila

See also

• United States presidential elections in Connecticut
• Presidency of George W. Bush