The 1992 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 3, 1992, and was 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.
Georgia was won by Governor Bill Clinton (D-AR). The presidential contest in Georgia was the closest of any state that year, with Clinton winning 43.47% to 42.88% over Incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-TX) by a thin margin of 0.59%. This made it the first time that Georgia had voted Democratic since 1980, when it voted for Jimmy Carter, the former governor. The state flipped back into the Republican column in 1996 and stayed there until 2020. From the mid-1960s into the 1990s, Georgia was a swing state in presidential elections, but also a state where Democrats generally dominated at the state and local level. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (I-TX) finished third, with a significant 13.34% of the popular vote.
Background
Georgia gave the Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy his second best result in the 1960 election, but the state broke away from the Democrats by voting for Republican nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964 and American Independent nominee George Wallace in 1968. Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter his home state of Georgia in 1976 and 1980. The Republican nominee won Georgia in the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections.
Wyche Fowler defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mack Mattingly in the 1986 election. In 1988, the Democrats retained control of the state legislature and nine of the state's ten seats in the U.S. House of Representatives despite losing the state in the presidential election.
In September 1991, Governor Zell Miller proposed that Georgia's primaries should be held on March 3, 1992, one week ahead of Super Tuesday, in order to not be overshadowed by larger states. The state legislature approved this idea in January 1992.
Primary
Democratic
Bill Clinton was endorsed by U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, Miller, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives Tom Murphy, and other major Democratic figures in the state. Miller introduced Clinton to Paul Begala, who managed Miller's 1990 gubernatorial campaign, and James Carville. Bob Kerrey had the support of Secretary of State Max Cleland and Agricultural Commissioner Tommy Irvin.
Jesse Jackson won Georgia in the 1988 Democratic primary and Clinton was suffering from a lack of support among black voters. Around 10% of black voters in the south supported him in January 1992, compared to 34% for Jerry Brown. Clinton was endorsed by U.S. Representative John Lewis, Mayor Maynard Jackson, and former Mayor Andrew Young. Mike Thurmond, the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, supported Paul Tsongas.
Tsongas spent $122,295 in the Atlanta media market compared to Clinton's $115,740. Brown only paid for ads on cable television.
Clinton placed first in 158 of the state's 159 counties. He received 52% of the white vote, had a five to one margin with black voters compared to Tsongas, and won 80% of high school dropouts. Kerry withdrew after the primary on March 5, and Tom Harkin on March 9.
Republican
Pat Buchanan focused more on the Georgia primary rather than the ones occurring in Maryland and Colorado on the same day. Buchanan spent $387,723 on television ads in the state compared to George H. W. Bush's $216,053. Buchanan received 44–47% of the male vote and around 25% of female voters. 86% of his supporters stated that they voted for him to send a message to Bush.
General
137,182 signatures were required for Ross Perot to appear on the ballot. His supporters submitted the signatures on June 27, and they were certified on August 31.
The vice presidential debate was hosted in Atlanta on October 13.
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Democrats would carry Pickens, Franklin, Lumpkin, Morgan, Lincoln, Brantley, Bacon, Worth, Bleckley, Monroe, Jeff Davis, Jones, Candler, Haralson, and Laurens counties. Ware County was tied, making this the last time it did not vote Republican, and the last time any county in the United States was tied between the Democratic and Republican parties.
The Republicans won in the concurrent U.S. Senate election. Their seat total in the Georgia House of Representatives rose from 34 to 50 and in the Georgia State Senate from 11 to 13.
Results
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Atkinson
- Bacon
- Baldwin
- Ben Hill
- Berrien
- Bibb
- Bleckley
- Brantley
- Brooks
- Burke
- Butts
- Candler
- Chattahoochee
- Chattooga
- Clayton
- Cook
- Crisp
- Decatur
- Dodge
- Dougherty
- Early
- Elbert
- Emanuel
- Franklin
- Grady
- Haralson
- Hart
- Heard
- Irwin
- Jasper
- Jeff Davis
- Jefferson
- Jenkins
- Johnson
- Jones
- Lamar
- Lanier
- Laurens
- Liberty
- Lincoln
- Long
- Lumpkin
- Meriwether
- Miller
- Mitchell
- Monroe
- Montgomery
- Morgan
- Muscogee
- Newton
- Pickens
- Polk
- Putnam
- Richmond
- Schley
- Screven
- Seminole
- Sumter
- Taylor
- Telfair
- Terrell
- Treutlen
- Turner
- Ware (tied in 1992)
- Washington
- Wheeler
- Wilcox
- Wilkes
- Worth