1992 United States presidential election in New York

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Nominee Bill Clinton George H. W. Bush Ross Perot Party Democratic Republican Independent Alliance Liberal Parties Conservative Right to Life Home state Arkansas Texas Texas Running mate Al Gore Dan Quayle James Stockdale Electoral vote 33 0 0 Popular vote 3,444,450 2,346,649 1,090,721 Percentage 49.73% 33.88% 15.75%

County results Municipality results Clinton   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Bush   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Perot   30–40%   40–50% Tie

President before election George H. W. Bush Republican Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

The1992 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 33 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.

New York was won by theDemocratic candidate,GovernorBill Clinton ofArkansas who received 49.73% of the vote over incumbentRepublican PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush ofTexas, who received 33.88%.Independent candidateRoss Perot, a billionaire Texas businessman, finished in third, with 15.75% of the popular vote.^[1] Clinton ultimately won the national election, defeating incumbent President Bush.^[2]

Clinton's double-digit 15.85% margin of victory would mark the beginning of a dramatic shift toward the Democratic Party in New York, from a Democratic leaningswing state to a solidlyblue state that Democrats would carry by landslide margins in every subsequent election (with the exception ofKamala Harris' lukewarm 12.4% victory in2024). In the preceding six elections, the state had gone Republican three times and Democratic three times, all but once decided by a single-digit margin. In the 7 elections that have followed 1992 until 2024, Democratic presidential candidates have received between 58% and 64% of the vote, making it one of the most overwhelmingly Democratic states in the nation, largely as a result of trends that began in 1992.

Despite Ross Perot's strong showing as a third-party candidate, taking votes away from the major party nominees statewide and nationally, Clinton increased the total Democratic vote share in the five heavily populated boroughs ofNew York City to 69% in 1992, compared to the 66% received by DemocratMichael Dukakis in the1988 election, while Bush fell from 33% in 1988 to only 24% in his re-election bid. This was the last presidential election until2020 in which the Bronx was not the most Democratic county in New York.

In addition, Clinton also picked up wins in heavily populated suburban counties around New York City that had long been reliably Republican, namelyWestchester County just north of the city, andNassau County onLong Island, which have remained loyally Democratic in every election that has followed until Nassau County voted for Trump in 2024, as well asRockland County. Bush only carriedSuffolk County by 1.5%, down from a landslide 21.8% victory margin in that county in 1988. Republican dominance of the populous suburbs had been crucial to previous Republican victories in the state in order to overcome the massive Democratic advantage in New York City. As the city became even more Democratic while downstate suburban voters defected from the GOP to the Democrats, Republican hopes of competing in New York State would vanish following this election.

Bush performed more strongly in traditionally Republican upstate New York, where he won most rural counties, although he lost a number of counties that he had won in 1988 against Dukakis. Clinton won a handful of rural upstate counties, and more significantly scored strong wins in counties home to the cities ofAlbany,Buffalo,Rochester,Syracuse, and thecollege town ofIthaca, all of which have become reliable Democratic bastions in upstate New York. Clinton thus became the first Democrat since1964 (and only the third since1852) to win the state outside the five boroughs of New York City, which has been replicated by every Democratic presidential candidate until 2024.

• Cayuga
• Chautauqua
• Cortland
• Franklin
• Monroe
• Nassau
• Onondaga
• Otsego
• Rensselaer
• Rockland
• Seneca
• St. Lawrence
• Sullivan
• Ulster
• Westchester

New York would be one of only three states, along withWashington, D.C., where if Bush's and Perot's vote had been combined, Clinton would still come out on top. The other two states areArkansas andMaryland. Clinton's victory margin would make New York State about 10% more Democratic than the nation as a whole in the 1992 election.^{[citation needed]}

As of the2024 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in whichColumbia County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.^[3] Suffolk County would not vote Republican again until 2016.^[4]Clinton County would not vote Republican again until 2024.^{[citation needed]}

• United States presidential elections in New York
• Presidency of Bill Clinton

• 1992 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in New York (state)
• 1992 New York (state) elections

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