1992 United States presidential election in Florida

Florida held an election for president of the United States on November 3, 1992. The race was extremely close – so close in fact that some news networks mistakenly reported that Democratic challenger Bill Clinton had won in the state, although incumbent President George H. W. Bush was eventually declared the winner. Bush received 40.89% of the vote to Clinton's 39.00%. The final result in Florida reflected the reluctance of many Southern states to back Clinton, although Clinton was polling well in other parts of the country.

United States presidential election in Florida

November 3, 1992
Turnout83%
 
Nominee George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton Ross Perot
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Home state Texas Arkansas Texas
Running mate Dan Quayle Al Gore James Stockdale
Electoral vote 25 0 0
Popular vote 2,173,310 2,072,698 1,053,067
Percentage 40.89% 39.00% 19.28%

County Results

President before election

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Bush won by about 100,000 votes, marking the first time Florida had backed the losing candidate since 1960, when it voted for Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy.[1] This was also the last time until the 2020 election that Florida would back the loser of the presidential election as well only the second time since 1924.[2] Despite Bush's narrow victory, this election marked the start of Florida's transition from a strong GOP-leaning state into a closely divided swing state for future presidential elections; just four years earlier Bush had carried Florida by 22 points, making it his second-best state in the South. This is also the only election since 1944 that Florida did not vote the same way as Ohio, a state with a similar voting history.

Clinton flipped the heavily populated South Florida counties of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade, which had all voted for Bush in 1988, into the Democratic column, and they have remained reliable Democratic bastions in the state ever since, buoying Democratic base support in the state.[3] Clinton's victory in Palm Beach County was noteworthy inasmuch as that county had not previously backed a Democratic presidential nominee since Florida's "Solid South" days when Franklin D. Roosevelt swept all sixty-seven counties in 1944.[4] This was the last time St. Lucie County voted for a Republican presidential candidate until 2016.[3]

Results

United States presidential election in Florida, 1992[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 2,173,310 40.89% 25
Democratic Bill Clinton 2,072,798 39.00% 0
Independent Ross Perot 1,053,067 19.28% 0
Libertarian Andre Marrou 15,079 0.28% 0
Write-Ins 238 >0.01% 0
Totals 5,314,392 100.0% 25

Results by county

County George Herbert Walker Bush
Republican
William Jefferson Clinton
Democratic
Henry Ross Perot
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Alachua 22,813 39.87% 52,888 49.61% 15,296 20.03% 375 0.49% -15,075 -19.74% 76,372
Baker 3,418 50.59% 1,976 29.25% 1,315 19.46% 47 0.70% 1,442 21.34% 6,756
Bay 22,842 49.99% 12,846 28.12% 9,712 21.26% 289 0.63% 9,996 21.88% 45,689
Bradford 3,672 44.02% 3,041 36.46% 1,574 18.87% 54 0.65% 631 7.57% 8,341
Brevard 84,585 43.19% 61,091 31.19% 49,509 25.28% 675 0.34% 23,494 12.00% 195,860
Broward 164,832 30.92% 276,361 51.85% 90,937 17.06% 920 0.17% -111,529 -20.92% 533,050
Calhoun 1,721 37.58% 1,665 36.36% 1,176 25.68% 17 0.37% 56 1.22% 4,579
Charlotte 24,311 39.17% 22,907 36.91% 14,720 23.72% 126 0.20% 1,404 2.26% 62,064
Citrus 16,412 36.68% 15,937 35.62% 12,314 27.52% 83 0.19% 475 1.06% 44,746
Clay 26,360 57.95% 10,610 23.33% 8,423 18.52% 92 0.20% 15,750 34.63% 45,485
Collier 38,448 53.44% 18,796 26.13% 14,518 20.18% 182 0.25% 19,652 27.32% 71,944
Columbia 6,492 43.41% 5,528 36.97% 2,906 19.43% 28 0.19% 964 6.45% 14,954
DeSoto 3,070 41.32% 2,646 35.62% 1,687 22.71% 26 0.35% 424 5.71% 7,429
Dixie 1,401 32.04% 1,855 42.42% 1,094 25.02% 23 0.53% -454 -10.38% 4,373
Duval 123,631 49.47% 92,098 36.85% 33,388 13.36% 809 0.32% 31,533 12.62% 249,926
Escambia 52,868 50.24% 32,045 30.45% 19,923 18.93% 385 0.37% 20,823 19.79% 105,221
Flagler 6,246 38.19% 6,693 40.92% 3,390 20.73% 26 0.16% -447 -2.73% 16,355
Franklin 1,664 37.99% 1,535 35.05% 1,144 26.12% 37 0.84% 129 2.95% 4,380
Gadsden 3,975 27.62% 8,486 58.96% 1,871 13.00% 62 0.43% -4,511 -31.34% 14,394
Gilchrist 1,395 34.73% 1,511 37.62% 1,090 27.13% 21 0.52% -116 -2.89% 4,017
Glades 1,185 35.12% 1,305 38.68% 878 26.02% 6 0.18% -120 -3.56% 3,374
Gulf 2,651 45.29% 1,938 33.11% 1,245 21.27% 20 0.34% 713 12.18% 5,854
Hamilton 1,402 37.64% 1,622 43.54% 695 18.66% 6 0.16% -220 -5.91% 3,725
Hardee 2,900 45.08% 2,018 31.37% 1,499 23.30% 16 0.25% 882 13.71% 6,433
Hendry 3,279 40.91% 2,691 33.57% 2,032 25.35% 14 0.17% 588 7.34% 8,016
Hernando 17,902 36.47% 19,174 39.06% 11,848 24.14% 162 0.33% -1,272 -2.59% 49,086
Highlands 14,499 44.76% 11,237 34.69% 6,593 20.35% 62 0.19% 3,262 10.07% 32,391
Hillsborough 130,643 42.07% 115,282 37.13% 63,054 20.31% 1,523 0.49% 15,361 4.95% 310,502
Holmes 3,196 48.96% 1,877 28.75% 1,427 21.86% 28 0.43% 1,319 20.21% 6,528
Indian River 19,140 43.54% 12,360 28.12% 12,375 28.15% 87 0.20% 6,765[lower-alpha 1] 15.39% 43,962
Jackson 6,725 45.82% 5,482 37.35% 2,450 16.69% 19 0.13% 1,243 8.47% 14,676
Jefferson 1,506 32.19% 2,271 48.55% 895 19.13% 6 0.13% -765 -16.35% 4,678
Lafayette 1,039 41.15% 867 34.34% 612 24.24% 7 0.28% 172 6.81% 2,525
Lake 30,825 44.17% 23,200 33.24% 15,614 22.37% 148 0.21% 7,625 10.93% 69,787
Lee 73,436 44.24% 53,660 32.32% 38,452 23.16% 454 0.27% 19,776 11.91% 166,002
Leon 31,983 32.87% 47,791 49.12% 17,212 17.69% 308 0.32% -15,808 -16.25% 97,294
Levy 3,796 34.71% 4,330 39.59% 2,784 25.46% 26 0.24% -534 -4.88% 10,936
Liberty 1,126 43.71% 820 31.83% 617 23.95% 13 0.50% 306 11.88% 2,576
Madison 2,007 34.38% 2,648 45.36% 1,174 20.11% 9 0.15% -641 -10.98% 5,838
Manatee 42,725 42.63% 33,841 33.77% 23,290 23.24% 364 0.36% 8,884 8.86% 100,220
Marion 35,442 40.74% 30,829 35.44% 20,529 23.60% 189 0.22% 4,613 5.30% 86,989
Martin 24,800 46.63% 14,802 27.83% 13,442 25.27% 140 0.26% 9,998 18.80% 53,184
Miami-Dade 235,313 43.19% 254,609 46.73% 54,003 9.91% 918 0.17% -19,296 -3.54% 544,843
Monroe 9,898 34.38% 10,450 36.30% 8,314 28.88% 127 0.44% -552 -1.92% 28,789
Nassau 9,367 51.54% 5,503 30.28% 3,255 17.91% 49 0.27% 3,864 21.26% 18,174
Okaloosa 32,818 53.13% 12,038 19.49% 16,671 26.99% 242 0.39% 16,147[lower-alpha 1] 26.14% 61,769
Okeechobee 3,298 35.20% 3,418 36.48% 2,647 28.25% 7 0.07% -120 -1.28% 9,370
Orange 108,788 45.90% 82,683 34.89% 44,844 18.92% 696 0.29% 26,105 11.01% 237,011
Osceola 19,143 42.29% 15,010 33.16% 11,021 24.35% 93 0.21% 4,133 9.13% 45,267
Palm Beach 140,350 34.63% 187,869 46.36% 76,243 18.81% 789 0.19% -47,519 -11.73% 405,251
Pasco 47,735 35.11% 53,130 39.08% 34,654 25.49% 443 0.33% -5,395 -3.97% 135,962
Pinellas 159,121 37.63% 160,528 37.96% 101,257 23.95% 1,945 0.46% -1,407 -0.33% 422,851
Polk 65,963 45.21% 51,450 35.26% 28,204 19.33% 283 0.19% 14,513 9.95% 145,900
Putnam 8,910 34.72% 10,709 41.73% 5,979 23.30% 63 0.25% -1,799 -7.01% 25,661
St. Johns 20,188 50.49% 12,291 30.74% 7,400 18.51% 107 0.27% 7,897 19.75% 39,986
St. Lucie 24,400 35.76% 23,876 34.99% 19,817 29.04% 140 0.21% 524 0.77% 68,233
Santa Rosa 17,339 52.90% 6,556 20.00% 8,788 26.81% 94 0.29% 8,551[lower-alpha 1] 26.09% 32,777
Sarasota 66,855 42.76% 54,552 34.89% 34,289 21.93% 656 0.42% 12,303 7.87% 156,352
Seminole 57,101 48.57% 35,660 30.33% 24,487 20.83% 312 0.27% 21,441 18.24% 117,560
Sumter 4,366 35.41% 5,027 40.77% 2,901 23.53% 35 0.28% -661 -5.36% 12,329
Suwannee 4,576 40.23% 3,988 35.06% 2,791 24.54% 19 0.17% 588 5.17% 11,374
Taylor 2,693 37.34% 2,568 35.60% 1,929 26.74% 23 0.32% 125 1.73% 7,213
Union 1,546 43.29% 1,248 34.95% 770 21.56% 7 0.20% 298 8.35% 3,571
Volusia 59,172 38.05% 65,223 41.94% 30,823 19.82% 281 0.18% -6,051 -3.89% 155,499
Wakulla 2,586 38.52% 2,320 34.55% 1,790 26.66% 18 0.27% 266 3.96% 6,714
Walton 5,726 42.25% 3,888 28.69% 3,890 28.70% 50 0.37% 1,836[lower-alpha 1] 13.55% 13,554
Washington 3,695 46.94% 2,544 32.32% 1,596 20.28% 36 0.46% 1,151 14.62% 7,871
Totals2,173,31040.89%2,072,69839.00%1,053,06719.82%15,3170.29%100,6121.89%5,314,392

Note

  1. In this county where Perot ran ahead of Clinton, margin given is Bush vote minus Perot vote and percentage margin Bush percentage minus Perot percentage.

References

  1. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1992 Presidential General Election Results – Florida
  2. Paulson, Darryl (4 November 2016). "A quick history of Florida's presidential politics, from Whigs to wigged out". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  3. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165 ISBN 0786422173
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