| ←1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 → Presidential election year | |
| Election day | November 7, 2000 |
|---|---|
| Incumbent president | Bill Clinton(Democratic) |
| Next Congress | 107th |
| Presidential election | |
| Partisan control | Republican gain |
| Popular vote margin | Democratic +0.5% |
| Electoral vote | |
| George W. Bush (R) | 271 |
| Al Gore (D) | 266 |
 | |
| 2000 presidential election results.Red denotes states won by Bush,blue denotes states won by Gore. Numbers indicate theelectoral votes won by each candidate. | |
| Senate elections | |
| Overall control | Republican hold[1] |
| Seats contested | 34 of 100 seats (33 Class I seats +1 special election) |
| Net seat change | Democratic +4 |
 | |
| 2000 Senate results Republican hold Republican gain Democratic hold Democratic gain | |
| House elections | |
| Overall control | Republican hold |
| Seats contested | All 435 voting members |
| Popular vote margin | Republican +0.5% |
| Net seat change | Democratic +1 |
 | |
| 2000 House of Representatives results (territorial delegate races not shown) Republican hold Republican gain Democratic hold Democratic gain Independent hold Independent gain | |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 14 (12 states, 2 territories) |
| Net seat change | Democratic +1 |
 | |
| 2000 gubernatorial election results Republican hold Democratic gain Democratic hold Popular Democratic gain Nonpartisan | |
Elections were held in the United States on November 7, 2000.Republican governorGeorge W. Bush of Texas defeatedDemocratic Vice PresidentAl Gore of Tennessee in the presidential election. Republicans retained control of both houses ofCongress, giving the party unified control of Congress and the presidency for the first time since the1954 elections.
With Democratic presidentBill Clinton term-limited, Gore won his party's nomination by defeating SenatorBill Bradley in theDemocratic primaries. Bush defeated SenatorJohn McCain in theRepublican primaries to win his party's presidential nomination. Bush took 271 of the 538electoral votes, winning the decisive state of Florida by a margin of 537 votes after arecount was halted by theSupreme Court in the case ofBush v. Gore. Bush was the first winning presidential candidate tolose the popular vote since the1888 presidential election. This marked the first time since1988 where the winning presidential candidate's party failed to have any coattails in either house of Congress.
Democrats picked up a net of four seats in theSenate, tying Republicans, butDick Cheney provided the tie-breaking vote asVice President of the United States. Republicans maintained control of the chamber until June 6, 2001, when SenatorJim Jeffords left the Republican Party and began caucusing with the Democrats. Democrats also picked up a net of one seat in the House, but Republicans retained an overall narrow majority. In the gubernatorial elections, Democrats won a net gain of one seat.
In the2000 presidential election,RepublicanTexas GovernorGeorge W. Bush defeatedDemocratic incumbentvice presidentAl Gore. The election was eye-catchingly close, but was the third straight election where neither party won a majority of the popular vote.[2]
The 33 seats in theUnited States SenateClass 1 were up for election plus one special election. Democrats picked up net of four seats.[3] Six senators were defeated in the November 2000 election. The five defeated Republicans includedSpencer Abraham of Michigan,John Ashcroft of Missouri,Slade Gorton of Washington,Rod Grams of Minnesota, and William V. Roth of Delaware. The single defeated Democrat was Charles S. Robb of Virginia.[4]
The Senate elections left both parties with control of fifty Senate seats. In the subsequent107th United States Congress, Democrats controlled the Senate from January 3, 2001, to January 20, 2001, whenDick Cheney was sworn in as vice president. Republicans maintained control of the chamber until June 6, 2001, when SenatorJim Jeffords left the Republican Party and began caucusing with the Democrats.
Republicans won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 0.5 points.[5] Republicans lost two seats in the House, while Democrats gained 1 seat and 1 independent,Virgil Goode, was elected.[6] Following the 2000 election, the majority of the House seaters in the South and Midwest were held by the Republican party, while the larger number of seats in the Northeast and West were held by the Democratic party.[7]
One sitting governor was defeated in the November 2000 general election. Cecil H. Underwood, Republican of West Virginia, concluded the 2000 election with a 47.2 election percentage. Democrat Bob Wise was elected to a four-year term.[8]
Elections tostate legislatures were held on November 7, 2000, simultaneously with the2000 United States presidential election. Elections were held for 86 legislative chambers in 44 states, simultaneous to those states' gubernatorial elections.[9] Election occurred in both chambers of each state's legislature, except for Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. Michigan held elections for the lower house. Six territorial chambers in four territories and theDistrict of Columbia were up as well. These elections determined the redistricting process after the 2000 census.
Democrats won control of theColorado Senate for the first time since 1963. Republicans won control of theMissouri Senate for the first time since 1949, theNew Hampshire Senate (which was previously tied), theSouth Carolina Senate for the first time since 1879 (which also meant they controlled both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since 1877), and theVermont House of Representatives. Additionally, a coalition government replaced the Republican-controlledArizona Senate,[10] and the Democratic-controlledMaine Senate became tied.[11]
Some of the major American cities that held their mayoral elections in 2000 included: