The 1992 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Virginia was won by incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 44.97 percent of the popular vote over Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 40.59 percent. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished third, with 13.63 percent of the popular vote. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating both incumbent President Bush and Perot.
Background
Every Republican presidential nominee following World War II had won Virginia, except for the victories of Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1948 and 1964 elections. Virginia was the only southern state that Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter failed to win in the 1976 election.
Virginia replaced its primary system and allowed the parties to select either a caucus or convention.
Primary
Governor Douglas Wilder ran for the Democratic nomination, but dropped out before any of the contests were held. Bob Kerrey, Tom Harkin, and Paul Tsongas also withdrew by the time that Virginia held its caucus. Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown were the only remaining major candidates.
General
Wilder was considered as a possible vice-presidential choice for Ross Perot. Perot withdrew before he was certified to appear on the Virginia ballot, but his supporters were still able to submit enough signatures for him to be placed onto it.
With 44.97 percent of the popular vote, Virginia would prove to be Bush's sixth strongest state in the 1992 election after Mississippi, Utah (as a margin of victory), South Carolina, Alabama and Nebraska. In this election, Virginia voted 9.94 percentage points to the right of the nation at large. This would also be the last election in which Virginia would vote to the right of Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota or Texas.
Clinton's result was the closest a Democrat had come to winning Virginia since Carter in 1976. Bush had the lowest percentage for a Republican since Richard Nixon in 1968.
Results
By county/city
Counties and independent cities that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Alleghany
- Buena Vista
- Fredericksburg
- Giles
- Hampton
- Henry
- King and Queen
- Martinsville
- Nelson
- Northampton
- Pulaski
- Radford
- Southampton
- Suffolk
- Westmoreland
- Williamsburg