The 1992 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Mississippi was won by incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 49.68% of the popular vote over Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 40.77%, making this state Bush's strongest in terms of vote percentage during this election. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 8.72% of the popular vote. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating both incumbent President Bush and Perot.
Background
The Republican presidential nominee won Mississippi in the 1980, 1984, and 1988 presidential elections. Trent Lott's victory in the 1988 U.S. Senate election resulted in Mississippi having two Republican senators for the first time since Reconstruction. Kirk Fordice's election to governor in 1991 made him the first Republican to hold that office since Reconstruction.
Primary
Democratic
U.S. Representative Mike Espy and former Governor William F. Winter co-chaired Bill Clinton's campaign in the state.
Bill Clinton
Republican
The Mississippi Republican Party's executive committee voted to use a winner-take-all method for its primary, which benefited Bush. 45% of Mississippians who voted in a presidential primary did so in the Republican primary. This was an increase from 31% in 1988.
General
Lisa Walker was the director of Clinton's campaign in the state and James Smith was the chief of Ross Perot's campaign.
Despite the fact that Clinton was from neighboring Arkansas, the state remained reliably Republican as the party had recently gained a seat in 1988 elections While Clinton did manage to win a few other Southern States, Mississippi provided Bush with his highest vote percentage in the nation, which was the closest he came to winning an absolute majority in a state. (However, it was only his sixth-best state in margin of victory.) As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last election in which Hinds County voted for a Republican presidential candidate and the last election in which Tishomingo County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.
Clinton placed first in 30 counties, 12 more than Michael Dukakis had, and in 21 of the state's 24 majority black counties. Mississippi was Perot's second-worst performance, only ahead of the District of Columbia. The Democrats retained all five U.S. House seats in those concurrent elections.
67% of white voters supported Bush, while 22% supported Clinton. 11% supported Perot.
Results
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Adams
- Alcorn
- Amite
- Chickasaw
- Jasper
- Kemper
- Leflore
- Panola
- Pike
- Tishomingo
- Washington
- Yalobusha