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| Elections in New Mexico |
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The2000 United States presidential election in New Mexico took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose five electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.New Mexico was won byVice PresidentAl Gore by a 0.06 percent margin. It was the closest state in the entire presidential election by raw vote margin (366 votes), which was even closer thanFlorida. News outlets called New Mexico for Gore at approximately 10:21 p.m. (EST),[1] but later retracted the call when it was determined to be too close to call.[2]
Gore was not declared the winner of the state until November 17.[3][4][5] This would be the first election in which New Mexico failed to vote for the winning candidate since1976 and the first time since its statehood in 1912 that it voted for a different candidate thanNevada, although New Mexico did vote for the popular vote winner in this election. As of2024, this is the last time that New Mexico voted more Republican than the nation as a whole or that it voted differently than neighboringColorado. Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying the state of New Mexico since its statehood, as well as the first to win withoutBernalillo County.
In the days following the election, when the disputes and recounts began, New Mexico, despite having a razor-thin margin, went largely ignored. Its five electoral votes alone would not have changed the overall outcome in the Electoral College if it were switched from Gore to Bush.[6][7] The respective campaigns ended up paying little attention to recount efforts in New Mexico, and focused their efforts solely onFlorida. Likewise, the media focused very little on the New Mexico recount. After the final count was certified for Gore on November 30,[7] the Bush campaign did not challenge the results.[7]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 286,783 | 47.91% | −1.27 | ||
| Republican | 286,417 | 47.85% | +5.99 | ||
| Green | 21,251 | 3.55% | +1.17 | ||
| Libertarian | 2,058 | 0.34% | −0.20 | ||
| Reform | 1,392 | 0.23% | −5.57 | ||
| Natural Law | 361 | 0.06% | −0.06 | ||
| Constitution |
| 343 | 0.06% | −0.07 | |
| Total votes | 598,605 | 100.00% | |||
| Democraticwin | |||||
| County | Al Gore Democratic | George W. Bush Republican | Ralph Nader Pacific Green | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Bernalillo | 99,461 | 48.68% | 95,249 | 46.62% | 8,274 | 4.05% | 1,335 | 0.65% | 4,212 | 2.06% | 204,319 |
| Catron | 353 | 20.63% | 1,273 | 74.40% | 57 | 3.33% | 28 | 1.64% | -920 | -53.77% | 1,711 |
| Chaves | 6,340 | 34.93% | 11,378 | 62.69% | 307 | 1.69% | 124 | 0.68% | -5,038 | -27.76% | 18,149 |
| Cibola | 4,127 | 58.23% | 2,752 | 38.83% | 164 | 2.31% | 45 | 0.64% | 1,375 | 19.40% | 7,088 |
| Colfax | 2,653 | 48.58% | 2,600 | 47.61% | 163 | 2.98% | 1,335 | 0.65% | 53 | 0.97% | 5,461 |
| Curry | 3,471 | 29.00% | 8,301 | 69.35% | 147 | 1.23% | 50 | 0.42% | -4,830 | -40.35% | 11,969 |
| De Baca | 349 | 35.54% | 612 | 62.32% | 12 | 1.22% | 9 | 0.91% | -263 | -26.78% | 982 |
| Doña Ana | 23,912 | 51.26% | 21,263 | 45.58% | 1,158 | 2.48% | 320 | 0.69% | 2,649 | 5.68% | 46,653 |
| Eddy | 7,108 | 39.96% | 10,335 | 58.10% | 256 | 1.44% | 88 | 0.49% | -3,227 | -18.14% | 17,787 |
| Grant | 5,673 | 50.47% | 4,961 | 44.13% | 530 | 4.71% | 77 | 0.68% | 712 | 6.34% | 11,241 |
| Guadalupe | 1,076 | 65.17% | 548 | 33.19% | 24 | 1.45% | 3 | 0.18% | 528 | 31.98% | 1,651 |
| Harding | 214 | 36.09% | 366 | 61.72% | 9 | 1.52% | 4 | 0.67% | -152 | -25.63% | 593 |
| Hidalgo | 839 | 45.75% | 954 | 52.02% | 28 | 1.53% | 13 | 0.71% | -115 | -6.27% | 1,834 |
| Lea | 3,855 | 27.04% | 10,157 | 71.25% | 169 | 1.19% | 75 | 0.53% | -6,302 | -44.21% | 14,256 |
| Lincoln | 2,027 | 29.93% | 4,458 | 65.83% | 168 | 2.48% | 119 | 1.76% | -2,431 | -35.90% | 6,772 |
| Los Alamos | 4,149 | 40.60% | 5,623 | 55.03% | 329 | 3.22% | 117 | 1.15% | -1,474 | -14.43% | 10,218 |
| Luna | 2,975 | 44.99% | 3,395 | 51.35% | 186 | 2.81% | 56 | 0.85% | -420 | -6.34% | 6,612 |
| McKinley | 10,281 | 64.75% | 5,070 | 31.93% | 392 | 2.47% | 136 | 0.86% | 5,211 | 32.82% | 15,879 |
| Mora | 1,456 | 66.45% | 668 | 30.49% | 49 | 2.24% | 18 | 0.82% | 788 | 35.96% | 2,191 |
| Otero | 5,465 | 33.73% | 10,258 | 63.31% | 338 | 2.09% | 143 | 0.88% | -4,793 | -29.58% | 16,204 |
| Quay | 1,471 | 38.27% | 2,292 | 59.63% | 51 | 1.33% | 30 | 0.78% | -821 | -21.36% | 3,844 |
| Rio Arriba | 8,169 | 67.53% | 3,495 | 28.89% | 377 | 3.12% | 56 | 0.46% | 4,674 | 38.64% | 12,097 |
| Roosevelt | 1,762 | 31.18% | 3,762 | 66.57% | 98 | 1.73% | 29 | 0.51% | -2,000 | -35.39% | 5,651 |
| San Juan | 11,980 | 34.57% | 21,434 | 61.85% | 923 | 2.66% | 320 | 0.92% | -9,454 | -27.28% | 34,657 |
| San Miguel | 6,540 | 71.39% | 2,215 | 24.18% | 344 | 3.76% | 62 | 0.68% | 4,325 | 47.21% | 9,161 |
| Sandoval | 14,899 | 46.92% | 15,423 | 48.57% | 1,211 | 3.81% | 222 | 0.70% | -524 | -1.65% | 31,755 |
| Santa Fe | 32,017 | 64.72% | 13,974 | 28.25% | 3,215 | 6.50% | 265 | 0.54% | 18,043 | 36.47% | 49,471 |
| Sierra | 1,689 | 36.83% | 2,721 | 59.33% | 132 | 2.88% | 44 | 0.96% | -1,032 | -22.50% | 4,586 |
| Socorro | 3,294 | 48.26% | 3,173 | 46.48% | 279 | 4.09% | 80 | 1.17% | 121 | 1.78% | 6,826 |
| Taos | 7,039 | 64.61% | 2,744 | 25.19% | 1,064 | 9.77% | 48 | 0.44% | 4,295 | 39.42% | 10,895 |
| Torrance | 1,868 | 37.66% | 2,891 | 58.29% | 163 | 3.29% | 38 | 0.77% | -1,023 | -20.63% | 4,960 |
| Union | 452 | 25.75% | 1,269 | 72.31% | 19 | 1.08% | 15 | 0.85% | -817 | -46.56% | 1,755 |
| Valencia | 9,819 | 45.93% | 10,803 | 50.54% | 615 | 2.88% | 140 | 0.65% | -984 | -4.61% | 21,377 |
| Totals | 286,783 | 47.91% | 286,417 | 47.85% | 21,251 | 3.55% | 4,154 | 0.69% | 366 | 0.06% | 598,605 |
Gore won two of three congressional districts, including one held by a Republican.[8]
| District | Gore | Bush | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 49% | 46% | Heather Wilson |
| 2nd | 43% | 54% | Joe Skeen |
| 3rd | 52% | 43% | Tom Udall |
Technically the voters of New Mexico cast their ballots for electors: representatives to theElectoral College. New Mexico is allocated 5 electors because it has 3congressional districts and 2senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the most votes in the state is awarded all 5 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 afaithless elector.
The electors of each state and theDistrict of Columbia met on December 18, 2000[9] 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:[10]
