The 2000 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on Election Day on November 7, 2000, as part of the 2000 United States presidential election. The two major candidates were Texas Governor George W. Bush of the Republican Party and Vice President Al Gore of the Democratic Party. When all votes were tallied, Bush was declared the winner with a plurality of the vote over Gore, receiving 48% of the vote to Gore's 47%, while Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received almost 4% of the vote in the state. Bush went on to win the election nationwide. Had incumbent Gore come out victorious in New Hampshire with its four electoral votes, he would have won the presidency, regardless of the outcome of Bush v. Gore.
As of the 2024 United States presidential election, this is the only time since 1988 that the Republican nominee carried New Hampshire, making it the only state to vote for the Republican ticket in 2000 never to do so again since, as every other state Bush won in 2000 voted for him again in 2004. It also marked the last time that a Republican won any electoral votes in New England until Donald Trump won Maine's 2nd congressional district in 2016, and the last time a Republican won any state in the Northeastern United States until Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016. Bush was the first Republican since 1888 to win without Merrimack County, the first since 1880 to win without Grafton County, and the first ever to win without Cheshire County.
In 2000, New Hampshire was considered a swing state. While it had voted Republican in every election from 1948 through 1988 except for 1964, Democrat Bill Clinton won the state twice in the 1990s (1992 and 1996), and polling indicated that the state would be a toss-up in 2000. New Hampshire would play a pivotal role in the outcome of the 2000 presidential election as George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in New Hampshire by a narrow 1.27% (or a raw-vote margin of 7,211 votes), in the midst of one of the closest elections in US history. Had Gore won the state, New Hampshire's electoral college votes would have swung the national election in his favor. This election was the first and only time since 1944 that New Hampshire voted for a different candidate than neighboring Vermont, the only time ever that New Hampshire voted Republican while Vermont voted Democratic, and the only time since 1968 that New Hampshire voted differently than neighboring Maine. As of 2020, this is the most recent election in which a Republican presidential candidate has carried a state in New England, although Donald Trump would later win a single electoral vote from Maine in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Still, New Hampshire has continued to be regarded as a swing state. Beginning in 1972, it has consistently voted to the right of any other state in New England, and the Democratic margins of victory stayed within single digits in every election following 2000, including a razor-thin 0.4% victory, or 2,736 votes, by Hillary Clinton in 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden carried New Hampshire by a fairly comfortable 7.35%, prompting some to wonder whether it was losing its battleground-state status.[3]
Although voters select or write in their preferred candidate on a ballot, voters in New Hampshire, as in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, technically cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Since New Hampshire is represented by 2 congressional districts and 2 senators, it is allocated 4 electoral votes. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 4 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whichever candidate wins the most votes in the state is awarded all four 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 their candidate is known as a faithless elector. The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000,[4] 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 Bush and Cheney:[5]
^The county totals in this column include the Constitution Party vote and write-in candidates other than McCain and Hagelin. Votes for miscellaneous write-in candidates, but not McCain and Hagelin, are available separated by county.[1]
