1992 United States presidential election in Florida

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1992 United States presidential election in Florida
Flag of Florida.svg
  1988 November 3, 1992 1996  
TurnoutIncrease2.svg83%
  George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg Bill Clinton.jpg RossPerotColor.jpg
Nominee George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton Ross Perot
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Home state Texas Arkansas Texas
Running mate Dan Quayle Al Gore James Stockdale
Electoral vote2500
Popular vote2,173,3102,072,6981,053,067
Percentage40.89%39.00%19.82%

Florida Presidential Election Results 1992.svg
FL President 1992.svg

President before election

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

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. This was the last presidential election in which Florida backed the losing candidate until 2020. This was also the only time since 1944 that Florida did not vote the same way as Ohio, a bellwether state just like Florida.

Contents

Background

Following World War II, the Democratic presidential nominee had only won Florida in 1948, 1964, and 1976. [1]

Florida gained four seats in the United States House of Representatives as a result of the 1990 United States census. [1]

Primary

Democratic

Florida was the only southern state on Super Tuesday where Bill Clinton received less than 60% of the vote. [2] Paul Tsongas spent $500,000 on television ads. [3]

1992 Florida Democratic presidential primary results [4]
CandidateVote Received
#%
Bill Clinton554,86150.8%
Paul Tsongas 379,57234.7%
Jerry Brown 133,15612.2%
Tom Harkin13,3021.2%
Bob Kerrey11,5571.1%
Total1,092,448100%

Republican

1992 Florida Republican presidential primary results [5]
CandidateVote received
#%
George H.W. Bush(incumbent)607,52268.1%
Pat Buchanan 285,07431.9%
Total892,596100%

General

Jack Gargan formed Throw the Hypocritical Rascals Out in May 1991, and he help formed the movement to draft Ross Perot. Over 230,000 signatures were collected and Perot was qualified to appear on the ballot on May 27, 1992. [6]

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. [7] 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. [8] 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 five 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. [9] 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. [10] This was the last time St. Lucie County voted for a Republican presidential candidate until 2016. [9]

Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Graham won reelection in the concurrent U.S. Senate election. The Republicans gained three seats in the Florida House of Representatives and one seat in the Florida Senate. [1]

Results

United States presidential election in Florida, 1992 [7]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush (incumbent)2,173,31040.89%25
Democratic Bill Clinton 2,072,69839.00%0
Independent Ross Perot 1,053,06719.82%0
Libertarian Andre Marrou 15,0790.28%0
Write-Ins2380.00%0
Totals5,314,392100.0%25
Perot performance by county
5-10%
10-15%
15-20%
20-25% 1992 Perot Performance in Florida by county.svg
Perot performance by county
  5–10%
  10–15%
  15–20%
  20–25%

Results by county

CountyGeorge H.W. Bush
Republican
Bill Clinton
Democratic
Ross Perot
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
#%#%#%#%#%
Alachua 22,81329.87%37,88849.61%15,29620.03%3750.49%-15,075-19.74%76,372
Baker 3,41850.59%1,97629.25%1,31519.46%470.70%1,44221.34%6,756
Bay 22,84249.99%12,84628.12%9,71221.26%2890.63%9,99621.87%45,689
Bradford 3,67244.02%3,04136.46%1,57418.87%540.65%6317.56%8,341
Brevard 84,58543.19%61,09131.19%49,50925.28%6750.34%23,49412.00%195,860
Broward 164,83230.92%276,36151.85%90,93717.06%9200.17%-111,529-20.93%533,050
Calhoun 1,72137.58%1,66536.36%1,17625.68%170.37%561.22%4,579
Charlotte 24,31139.17%22,90736.91%14,72023.72%1260.20%1,4042.26%62,064
Citrus 16,41236.68%15,93735.62%12,31427.52%830.19%4751.06%44,746
Clay 26,36057.95%10,61023.33%8,42318.52%920.20%15,75034.62%45,485
Collier 38,44853.44%18,79626.13%14,51820.18%1820.25%19,65227.31%71,944
Columbia 6,49243.41%5,52836.97%2,90619.43%280.19%9646.44%14,954
DeSoto 3,07041.32%2,64635.62%1,68722.71%260.35%4245.70%7,429
Dixie 1,40132.04%1,85542.42%1,09425.02%230.53%-454-10.38%4,373
Duval 123,63149.47%92,09836.85%33,38813.36%8090.32%31,53312.62%249,926
Escambia 52,86850.24%32,04530.45%19,92318.93%3850.37%20,82319.79%105,221
Flagler 6,24638.19%6,69340.92%3,39020.73%260.16%-447-2.73%16,355
Franklin 1,66437.99%1,53535.05%1,14426.12%370.84%1292.94%4,380
Gadsden 3,97527.62%8,48658.96%1,87113.00%620.43%-4,511-31.34%14,394
Gilchrist 1,39534.73%1,51137.62%1,09027.13%210.52%-116-2.89%4,017
Glades 1,18535.12%1,30538.68%87826.02%60.18%-120-3.56%3,374
Gulf 2,65145.29%1,93833.11%1,24521.27%200.34%71312.18%5,854
Hamilton 1,40237.64%1,62243.54%69518.66%60.16%-220-5.90%3,725
Hardee 2,90045.08%2,01831.37%1,49923.30%160.25%88213.71%6,433
Hendry 3,27940.91%2,69133.57%2,03225.35%140.17%5887.34%8,016
Hernando 17,90236.47%19,17439.06%11,84824.14%1620.33%-1,272-2.59%49,086
Highlands 14,49944.76%11,23734.69%6,59320.35%620.19%3,26210.07%32,391
Hillsborough 130,64342.07%115,28237.13%63,05420.31%1,5230.49%15,3614.94%310,502
Holmes 3,19648.96%1,87728.75%1,42721.86%280.43%1,31920.21%6,528
Indian River 19,14043.54%12,36028.12%12,37528.15%870.20%6,765 [a] 15.39%43,962
Jackson 6,72545.82%5,48237.35%2,45016.69%190.13%1,2438.47%14,676
Jefferson 1,50632.19%2,27148.55%89519.13%60.13%-765-16.36%4,678
Lafayette 1,03941.15%86734.34%61224.24%70.28%1726.81%2,525
Lake 30,82544.17%23,20033.24%15,61422.37%1480.21%7,62510.93%69,787
Lee 73,43644.24%53,66032.32%38,45223.16%4540.27%19,77611.92%166,002
Leon 31,98332.87%47,79149.12%17,21217.69%3080.32%-15,808-16.25%97,294
Levy 3,79634.71%4,33039.59%2,78425.46%260.24%-534-4.88%10,936
Liberty 1,12643.71%82031.83%61723.95%130.50%30611.88%2,576
Madison 2,00734.38%2,64845.36%1,17420.11%90.15%-641-10.98%5,838
Manatee 42,72542.63%33,84133.77%23,29023.24%3640.36%8,8848.86%100,220
Marion 35,44240.74%30,82935.44%20,52923.60%1890.22%4,6135.30%86,989
Martin 24,80046.63%14,80227.83%13,44225.27%1400.26%9,99818.80%53,184
Miami-Dade 235,31343.19%254,60946.73%54,0039.91%9180.17%-19,296-3.54%544,843
Monroe 9,89834.38%10,45036.30%8,31428.88%1270.44%-552-1.92%28,789
Nassau 9,36751.54%5,50330.28%3,25517.91%490.27%3,86421.26%18,174
Okaloosa 32,81853.13%12,03819.49%16,67126.99%2420.39%16,147 [a] 26.14%61,769
Okeechobee 3,29835.20%3,41836.48%2,64728.25%70.07%-120-1.28%9,370
Orange 108,78845.90%82,68334.89%44,84418.92%6960.29%26,10511.01%237,011
Osceola 19,14342.29%15,01033.16%11,02124.35%930.21%4,1339.13%45,267
Palm Beach 140,35034.63%187,86946.36%76,24318.81%7890.19%-47,519-11.73%405,251
Pasco 47,73535.11%53,13039.08%34,65425.49%4430.33%-5,395-3.97%135,962
Pinellas 159,12137.63%160,52837.96%101,25723.95%1,9450.46%-1,407-0.33%422,851
Polk 65,96345.21%51,45035.26%28,20419.33%2830.19%14,5139.95%145,900
Putnam 8,91034.72%10,70941.73%5,97923.30%630.25%-1,799-7.01%25,661
St. Johns 20,18850.49%12,29130.74%7,40018.51%1070.27%7,89719.75%39,986
St. Lucie 24,40035.76%23,87634.99%19,81729.04%1400.21%5240.77%68,233
Santa Rosa 17,33952.90%6,55620.00%8,78826.81%940.29%8,551 [a] 26.09%32,777
Sarasota 66,85542.76%54,55234.89%34,28921.93%6560.42%12,3037.87%156,352
Seminole 57,10148.57%35,66030.33%24,48720.83%3120.27%21,44118.24%117,560
Sumter 4,36635.41%5,02740.77%2,90123.53%350.28%-661-5.36%12,329
Suwannee 4,57640.23%3,98835.06%2,79124.54%190.17%5885.17%11,374
Taylor 2,69337.34%2,56835.60%1,92926.74%230.32%1251.74%7,213
Union 1,54643.29%1,24834.95%77021.56%70.20%2988.34%3,571
Volusia 59,17238.05%65,22341.94%30,82319.82%2810.18%-6,051-3.89%155,499
Wakulla 2,58638.52%2,32034.55%1,79026.66%180.27%2663.97%6,714
Walton 5,72642.25%3,88828.69%3,89028.70%500.37%1,836 [a] 13.55%13,554
Washington 3,69546.94%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

Results by congressional district

Bush carried 13 of the 23 congressional districts.

District [11] 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%

Note

  1. 1 2 3 4 In this county where Perot ran ahead of Clinton, margin given is Bush vote minus Perot vote and percentage margin Bush percentage minus Perot percentage.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Steed, Moreland & Baker 1994, p. 119.
  2. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1994, pp. 13, 15.
  3. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1994, pp. 121–122.
  4. "March 10, 1992 Presidential Preference Primary: Democratic Primary". Florida Department of State - Division of Elections: Elections Results Archive. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  5. "March 10, 1992 Presidential Preference Primary: Republican Primary". Florida Department of State - Division of Elections: Elections Results Archive. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  6. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1994, p. 125.
  7. 1 2 Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1992 Presidential General Election Results – Florida
  8. Paulson, Darryl (November 4, 2016). "A quick history of Florida's presidential politics, from Whigs to wigged out". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 7, 2019.[ dead link ]
  9. 1 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
  10. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165 ISBN   0786422173
  11. "1992 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District". Western Washington University. Retrieved July 25, 2024.

Works cited