2000United States presidential election in Texas

← 1996 November 7, 2000 2004 →
Turnout	51.8% (of registered voters) 44.3% (of voting age population)[1]
Nominee George W. Bush Al Gore Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Tennessee Running mate Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman Electoral vote 32 0 Popular vote 3,799,639 2,433,746 Percentage 59.30% 37.98%
County results Precinct results Bush   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Gore   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100%
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President George W. Bush Republican

The2000 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the2000 United States presidential election. State voters chose 32 representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.

Texas was won by the Republican Party candidate, the state's incumbentgovernor,George W. Bush, by a 21.32% margin of victory. This was the first time since1928 thatCottle County voted Republican. Many counties thatBill Clinton won in1996 swung towards Bush in this election, in part due to the increasingly conservative bent of rural areas and Bush's favorite son status within the state. This election marked a realignment within the state, as most rural counties, particularly inWest Texas andEast Texas, shifted permanently towards Republicans at the presidential level.

Perhaps the most notable and surprising county to be won by Bush was the very liberalTravis County. A factor in Bush's win in the county was to the strong showing of left-wingthird-party candidateRalph Nader, who got 10.37% of the vote on theGreen ticket, his best showing in any Texas county. Had Nader not run, it is likely that Gore would have carried the county, albeit only narrowly.^[2]

2000 United States presidential election in Texas
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Popular vote		Electoral vote		Swing
				Count	%	Count	%
	Republican	George W. Bush ofTexas	Dick Cheney ofWyoming	3,799,639	59.30%	32	100.00%	10.54%
	Democratic	Al Gore ofTennessee	Joe Lieberman ofConnecticut	2,433,746	37.98%	0	0.00%	5.85%
	Green	Ralph Nader ofConnecticut	Winona LaDuke ofMinnesota	137,994	2.15%	0	0.00%	2.06%
	Reform	Pat Buchanan ofVirginia	Ezola B. Foster ofCalifornia	12,394	0.19%	0	0.00%	6.56%
	Libertarian	Harry Browne ofTennessee	Art Olivier ofCalifornia	23,160	0.36%	0	0.00%	0.00%
Total				6,406,933	100.00%	32	100.00%

• Atascosa (Largest city:Pleasanton)
• Bastrop (Largest city:Elgin)
• Baylor (Largest city:Seymour)
• Bee (Largest city:Beeville)
• Bexar (Largest city:San Antonio)
• Bowie (Largest city:Texarkana)
• Brewster (Largest city:Alpine)
• Burleson (Largest city:Caldwell)
• Caldwell (Largest city:Lockhart)
• Camp (Largest city:Pittsburg)
• Cass (Largest city:Atlanta)
• Comanche (Largest city:Comanche)
• Cottle (Largest city:Paducah)
• Crosby (Largest city:Crosbyton)
• Delta (Largest city:Cooper)
• Dickens (Largest city:Spur)
• Falls (Largest city:Marlin)
• Fannin (Largest city:Bonham)
• Fisher (Largest city:Rotan)
• Foard (Largest city:Crowell)
• Galveston (Largest city:Galveston)
• Grimes (Largest city:Navasota)
• Hall (Largest city:Memphis)
• Hardeman (Largest city:Quanah)
• Harrison (Largest city:Marshall)
• Haskell (Largest city:Haskell)
• Hopkins (Largest city:Sulphur Springs)
• Hudspeth (Largest city:Fort Hancock)
• Jasper (Largest city:Jasper)
• Jones (Largest city:Abilene)
• Karnes (Largest city:Kenedy)
• Kent (Largest city:Jayton)
• Kleberg (Largest city:Kingsville)
• Knox (Largest city:Munday)
• Limestone (Largest city:Mexia)
• Marion (Largest city:Jefferson)
• Menard (Largest city:Menard)
• Milam (Largest city:Rockdale)
• Mitchell (Largest city:Colorado City)
• Navarro (Largest city:Corsicana)
• Nolan (Largest city:Sweetwater)
• Nueces (Largest city:Corpus Christi)
• Orange (Largest city:Orange)
• Palo Pinto (Largest city:Mineral Wells)
• Panola (Largest city:Carthage)
• Pecos (Largest city:Fort Stockton)
• Rains (Largest city:Emory)
• Red River (Largest city:Clarksville)
• Refugio (Largest city:Refugio)
• Sabine (Largest city:Milam)
• San Augustine (Largest city:San Augustine)
• San Patricio (Largest city:Portland)
• Shelby (Largest city:Center)
• Stonewall (Largest city:Aspermont)
• Swisher (Largest city:Tulia)
• Terrell (Largest city:Sanderson)
• Titus (Largest city:Mount Pleasant)
• Travis (Largest city:Austin)
• Trinity (Largest city:Trinity)
• Tyler (Largest city:Woodville)
• Val Verde (Largest city:Del Rio)
• Waller (Largest city:Hempstead)
• Ward (Largest city:Monahans)

Bush won 20 of 30 congressional districts, including seven held by Democrats.^[4]

The 2000 election in Texas was a very partisan election, with nearly 60% of voters voting for the Republican Party candidate. The third party vote shrunk to a total of 2.7%, likely becauseRoss Perot was not on the ballot that year. The vast majority of counties voted heavily for Governor Bush as his approval rating and popularity in the state was high. Many of the long time rural Democratic counties, including those inEast Texas along the border ofLouisiana, swung Republican as the national Democratic Party moved further to the left. Texas Democrats are more moderate to conservative by national standards, and many had a favorable view towards Bush because of his bipartisan approach with the Democratic state legislature during his tenure as governor.

Bush carried 230 of Texas's 254 counties. He racked up big margins in theTexas Panhandle, East Texas, thePermian Basin, theTexas Hill Country, and the Gulf Coast. He won every major and mid-sized city with the exceptions ofEl Paso,Laredo,Brownsville,McAllen, andBeaumont, all of which were carried by Vice President Al Gore. Two thinly populated counties,Glasscock andOchiltree, gave Bush over 90% of the vote, with the former being the strongest Republican voting county in 2000.^[5] This marked the first time since1956 that a Republican candidate won any of Texas's counties with over 90% of the vote, and the first time since Texas nativeLyndon B. Johnson in1964 that any candidate has done so.

Vice PresidentAl Gore, the Democratic Party candidate, performed strongly inSouth Texas, which is composed of a heavy Latino population, and the city of El Paso. Three counties in East Texas voted for Gore by narrow margins:Jefferson,Morris, andNewton. This was the worst performance for a Democrat in East Texas since the1984 election.

TheGreen Party candidateRalph Nader, had his best performance inTravis County, home to the state capitalAustin, winning 10.37% of the vote. As of the2024 presidential election^[update], this is the last time a Republican won this liberal Democratic-leaning county.^[6] This is also the last timeRobertson County, and the East Texas counties ofNewton andMorris voted Democratic, leaving Jefferson, home of Beaumont andPort Arthur, as the sole Democratic stronghold in this region untilDonald Trump won it in2016.

The electors of each state and theDistrict of Columbia met on December 18, 2000,^[7] 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 Bush and Dick Cheney:^[8]

1. Ernie Angelo
2. James R. Batsell
3. Carmen P. Castillo
4. Mary Ceverha
5. Ken Clark
6. Hally B. Clements
7. Mary E. Cowart
8. Sue Daniel
9. Michael Dugas
10. Betty R. Hines
11. Jim Hamlin
12. Cruz G. Hernandez
13. Chuck Jones
14. William Earl Juett
15. Neal J. Katz
16. Betsy Lake
17. Adair Margo
18. Loyce McCarter
19. Joseph I. Oniell III
20. Michael Paddie
21. Nancy Palm
22. Howard Pebley Jr.
23. Robert J. Peden
24. Helen Quiram
25. James B. Randall
26. Clyde Moody Siebman
27. Stan Stanart
28. Henry W. Teich Jr.
29. Randal Tye Thomas
30. James Davidson Walker
31. Tom F. Ward Jr.
32. Gayle West

• United States presidential elections in Texas
• Presidency of George W. Bush

• 2000 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in Texas
• 2000 Texas elections

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