2000 United States presidential election in New Jersey
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 County Results
Gore—70-80%
Gore—60-70%
Gore—50-60%
Bush—<50%
Bush—50-60% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in New Jersey |
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The 2000 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 7, 2000 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President. The major contenders were Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Governor of Texas George W. Bush, with Green Party candidate Ralph Nader running a distant third.
New Jersey was actually considered by some to be a potential swing state in 2000, as some polls were neck-in-neck, causing both campaigns to advertise here,[1][2] although the state had been trending to the Democratic Party in recent years. It voted for President Bill Clinton in both the 1992 and 1996 elections, the latter by a decisive 18%.[3] On election day, despite the fact that nationally the 2000 presidential election was very close, Al Gore won New Jersey's 15 electoral votes with over 56% of the vote, to Bush's 40%. New Jersey has remained a reliable blue state ever since. Gore's biggest victories came in Essex County and Hudson County winning over 70%, and he won eleven of thirteen of the state's congressional districts. Bush's biggest victories in the state came from Hunterdon County and Sussex County, which he won by over 57%; won only five other counties by small margins. Nader got over 4% of the vote in the northwest counties of the state, while taking 3% statewide.[4]
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Al Gore (D) |
George W. Bush (R) |
Ralph Nader (G) |
Patrick Buchanan (Ref) |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The New York Times | October 12–15, 2000 | 908 RV | ± 3% | 49% | 34% | 8% | 1% | 8% |
Results
| United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2000[5] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | ||
| Democratic | Al Gore | 1,788,850 | 56.13% | 15 | ||
| Republican | George W. Bush | 1,284,173 | 40.29% | 0 | ||
| Green | Ralph Nader | 94,554 | 2.97% | 0 | ||
| Reform | Pat Buchanan | 6,989 | 0.22% | 0 | ||
| Libertarian | Harry Browne | 6,312 | 0.20% | 0 | ||
| Natural Law | John Hagelin | 2,215 | 0.07% | 0 | ||
| Socialist | David McReynolds | 1,880 | 0.06% | 0 | ||
| Constitution | Howard Phillips | 1,409 | 0.04% | 0 | ||
| Socialist Workers | James Harris | 844 | 0.03% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 3,187,226 | 100.00% | 15 | |||
| Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 50%/68% | |||||
Electors
Technically the voters of NJ cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. NJ is allocated 15 electors because it has 13 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 15 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 15 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[6] 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 Gore and Lieberman:[7]
- Paul M. Bangiola
- Angelo R. Bianchi
- Mamie Bridgeforth
- Dennis P. Collins
- John Garrett
- Deborah Lynch
- Patricia McCullough
- John McGreevey
- June B. Montag
- W. Michael Murphy
- Jeffrey L. Nash
- Barbara A. Plumeri
- Julia Valdivia
- Stephen S. Weinstein
- Charles Wowkanech
References
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/19/us/the-2000-campaign-the-impressions-new-jersey-in-a-swing-state-cheers-and-doubts.html
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/23/weekinreview/july-16-22-making-margin-calls-in-a-tightening-race.html
- ^ http://www.270towin.com/states/New_Jersey
- ^ http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/
- ^ http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm
- ^ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/ARTICLES/pe2000timeline.php
- ^ http://presidentelect.org/e2000.html
