The 2000 United States presidential election in Missouri took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose eleven electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Prior to the election, Missouri was widely considered to be a critical swing state. Governor of Texas George W. Bush ultimately won the state by a margin of just over 3% against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore. The 2000 election was seen as a turning point for Missouri's bellwether status; the state was notable for voting for the overall winner of the presidency throughout most of the 20th Century. Missouri ultimately proved decisive, as Gore would have won the presidency with 278 electoral votes had he won the state, regardless of the outcome in Florida. Reportedly, Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt was on Gore's "short list" of potential running mates.
Although Bush did win the presidency, thus keeping the state's bellwether streak active, this was the first election since Missouri voted for Adlai Stevenson in 1956 where the state failed to back the national popular vote winner, and only the second time since 1900. This was also the first time in history that a Democrat won the popular vote without carrying Missouri. Missouri would ultimately lose its bellwether status in 2008 by narrowly voting for John McCain, and has been safely Republican in presidential elections since 2012.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that Saline, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Mississippi, Ray, and Clay Counties (which Gore won by only one vote) have voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying St. Louis County since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.
Missouri was one of nine states won by Bush that had supported Bill Clinton in both 1992 and 1996.
General election
Results
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Audrain (largest city: Mexico)
- Bates (largest city: Butler)
- Benton (largest city: Warsaw)
- Caldwell (largest city: Hamilton)
- Callaway (largest city: Fulton)
- Carroll (largest city: Carrollton)
- Chariton (largest city: Salisbury)
- Clark (largest city: Kahoka)
- Clinton (largest city: Cameron)
- Crawford (largest city: Cuba)
- Daviess (largest city: Gallatin)
- DeKalb (largest city: Cameron)
- Dunklin (largest city: Kennett)
- Franklin (largest city: Washington)
- Gentry (largest city: Albany)
- Grundy (largest city: Trenton)
- Henry (largest city: Clinton)
- Hickory (largest city: Hermitage)
- Howard (largest city: Fayette)
- Iron (largest city: Ironton)
- Knox (largest city: Edina)
- Lafayette (largest city: Odessa)
- Lewis (largest city: Canton)
- Lincoln (largest city: Troy)
- Linn (largest city: Brookfield)
- Livingston (largest city: Chillicothe)
- Macon (largest city: Macon)
- Madison (largest city: Fredericktown)
- Marion (largest city: Hannibal)
- Mercer (largest city: Princeton)
- Monroe (largest city: Monroe City)
- Montgomery (largest city: Montgomery City)
- Nodaway (largest city: Maryville)
- Oregon (largest city: Thayer)
- Pike (largest city: Bowling Green)
- Ralls (largest city: Hannibal)
- Randolph (largest city: Moberly)
- Reynolds (largest city: Ellington)
- Ripley (largest city: Doniphan)
- Schuyler (largest city: Lancaster)
- Scotland (largest city: Memphis)
- Scott (largest city: Sikeston)
- Shannon (largest city: Winona)
- Shelby (largest city: Shelbina)
- St. Clair (largest city: Appleton City)
- St. Francois (largest city: Farmington)
- Sullivan (largest city: Milan)
- Vernon (largest city: Nevada)
- Wayne (largest city: Piedmont)
- Worth (largest city: Grant City)
By congressional district
Bush won six of nine congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.
Analysis
Beginning with the 2000 election, the status of the Missouri bellwether came into question. Between 1904 and 2004, Missouri was carried by the victor of each presidential election, with the exception of 1956. Though Bush won the presidency in the 2000 election through the Electoral College, he lost the national popular vote. The 2000 election was unique because this was the first time in over a century where the popular vote winner lost the general election. (In 1888, Missouri voted for Grover Cleveland, the incumbent Democrat, who lost to Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison.) Thus, controversy exists as to whether or not Missouri accurately predicted the victor in this election. In the subsequent election, Missouri voted for George W. Bush, who this time won both the popular vote and the Electoral College.
In any case, Missouri has voted reliably Republican since this election. The state very narrowly voted for John McCain in 2008 and for Mitt Romney by a wider margin in 2012; both men were ultimately defeated by Barack Obama in the nationwide election. The controversy is further complicated by the 2016 presidential election, where Missouri voted for Donald Trump by a landslide, while Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly three million votes, but like in 2000, Trump won the Electoral College and became 45th President of the United States. Like 2000, political scientists have differing opinions on whether or not Missouri accurately predicted the victor.
Electors
Technically the voters of Missouri cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Missouri is allocated 11 electors because it has nine congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 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 George W. Bush and Dick Cheney:
- David Barklage
- Bruce Bredeman
- Marc Ellinger
- Gordon Elliott
- John Hancock
- Stan Horacek
- Homer Johnson
- John Judd
- Michael Kort
- Dennis Owens
- Al Rotskoff