2000 United States presidential election in California

The 2000 United States presidential election in California took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the wider 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California was won by the Democratic ticket of Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut by 11.8% points over the Republican ticket of Texas Governor George W. Bush and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney of Wyoming.

The state hosted the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles and was slightly contested by both candidates due to a large Hispanic population and a large independent and moderate base surrounding San Diego and Sacramento's suburbs. This was the first time since 1880 in which a winning Republican presidential candidate lost California, and the first time ever that a losing Democrat won a majority of the vote in the state. As of the 2024 presidential election, Bush is the last Republican candidate to carry Alpine and Mono counties in a presidential election. This was also the first time since 1976 that California did not back the candidate who won the overall presidential election as well.

Bush became the first ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Imperial County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Santa Barbara County since Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the first to do so without carrying Monterey County since William McKinley in 1896, the first to do so without carrying San Benito County since William McKinley in 1900, and the first to do so without carrying Napa or Sacramento Counties since Richard Nixon in 1968. He also became the first nominee of either party to win the White House without receiving at least a million votes from Los Angeles County since this county first gave any nominee a million votes, in 1952. This feat would be reprised by Donald Trump in 2016.

California was one of ten states that backed George H. W. Bush in his successful bid in 1988 that didn't back George W. Bush in either 2000 or 2004.

Primaries 2000 California Democratic presidential primary 2000 California Republican presidential primary

Results 2000 United States presidential election in CaliforniaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Albert A. Gore Jr. and Joseph Lieberman 5,861,203 53.45% 54 Republican George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney 4,567,429 41.65% 0 Green Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke 418,707 3.82% 0 Libertarian Harry Browne 45,520 0.42% 0 Reform Pat Buchanan 44,987 0.41% 0 American Independent Howard Phillips 17,042 0.16% 0 Natural Law John Hagelin 10,934 0.10% 0 write-in David McReynolds 28 0.00% 0 Other write-in 6 0.00% 0 Invalid or blank votes 177,010 1.59% — Totals 10,965,856 100.00% 54 Voter turnout 70.94% —

By county

County Al Gore Democratic George W. BushRepublican Ralph NaderGreen Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Alameda 342,889 69.36% 119,279 24.13% 27,499 5.56% 4,669 0.95% 223,610 45.23% 494,336 Alpine 265 45.22% 281 47.95% 25 4.27% 15 2.56% -16 -2.73% 586 Amador 5,906 38.19% 8,766 56.69% 584 3.78% 208 1.34% -2,860 -18.50% 15,464 Butte 31,338 37.43% 45,584 54.45% 5,727 6.84% 1,072 1.28% -14,246 -17.02% 83,721 Calaveras 7,093 37.58% 10,599 56.15% 863 4.57% 321 1.69% -3,506 -18.57% 18,876 Colusa 1,745 31.22% 3,629 64.92% 151 2.70% 65 1.16% -1,884 -33.70% 5,590 Contra Costa 224,338 58.81% 141,373 37.06% 13,067 3.43% 2,700 0.71% 82,965 21.75% 381,478 Del Norte 3,117 37.58% 4,526 54.57% 485 5.85% 166 2.00% -1,409 -16.99% 8,294 El Dorado 26,220 36.35% 42,045 58.29% 3,013 4.18% 858 1.19% -15,825 -21.94% 72,136 Fresno 95,059 43.05% 117,342 53.14% 6,541 2.96% 1,893 0.86% -22,283 -10.09% 220,835 Glenn 2,498 28.68% 5,795 66.53% 268 3.08% 150 1.72% -3,297 -37.85% 8,711 Humboldt 24,851 44.40% 23,219 41.48% 7,100 12.68% 802 1.44% 1,632 2.92% 55,972 Imperial 15,489 53.53% 12,524 43.28% 608 2.10% 316 1.09% 2,965 10.25% 28,937 Inyo 2,652 33.93% 4,713 60.31% 344 4.40% 106 1.35% -2,061 -26.38% 7,815 Kern 66,003 36.20% 110,663 60.70% 3,474 1.91% 2,168 1.18% -44,660 -24.50% 182,308 Kings 11,041 38.97% 16,377 57.80% 567 2.00% 350 1.24% -5,336 -18.83% 28,335 Lake 10,717 51.23% 8,699 41.58% 1,265 6.05% 238 1.14% 2,018 9.65% 20,919 Lassen 2,982 28.17% 7,080 66.88% 339 3.20% 185 1.75% -4,098 -38.71% 10,586 Los Angeles 1,710,505 63.47% 871,930 32.35% 83,731 3.11% 28,988 1.08% 838,575 31.12% 2,695,154 Madera 11,650 34.89% 20,283 60.74% 1,080 3.23% 382 1.14% -8,633 -25.85% 33,395 Marin 79,135 64.26% 34,872 28.32% 8,289 6.73% 859 0.70% 44,263 35.94% 123,155 Mariposa 2,816 34.88% 4,727 58.55% 379 4.69% 152 1.88% -1,911 -23.67% 8,074 Mendocino 16,634 48.34% 12,272 35.66% 5,051 14.68% 453 1.32% 4,362 12.68% 34,410 Merced 22,726 45.08% 26,102 51.77% 1,166 2.31% 424 0.84% -3,376 -6.69% 50,418 Modoc 945 23.07% 2,969 72.47% 122 2.98% 61 1.49% -2,024 -49.28% 4,107 Mono 1,788 40.91% 2,296 52.53% 230 5.26% 57 1.30% -508 -11.62% 4,371 Monterey 67,618 57.53% 43,761 37.23% 5,059 4.30% 1,096 0.93% 23,857 20.30% 117,534 Napa 28,097 54.32% 20,633 39.89% 2,471 4.78% 523 1.01% 7,464 14.43% 51,724 Nevada 17,670 37.22% 25,998 54.76% 3,287 6.92% 524 1.10% -8,328 -17.54% 47,479 Orange 391,819 40.36% 541,299 55.75% 26,833 2.76% 10,954 1.13% -149,480 -15.39% 970,905 Placer 42,449 36.04% 69,835 59.28% 4,449 3.78% 1,061 0.90% -27,386 -23.24% 117,799 Plumas 3,458 33.25% 6,343 60.98% 456 4.38% 144 1.38% -2,885 -27.73% 10,401 Riverside 202,576 44.90% 231,955 51.42% 11,678 2.59% 4,918 1.09% -29,379 -6.52% 451,127 Sacramento 212,792 49.31% 195,619 45.33% 17,659 4.09% 5,480 1.27% 17,173 3.98% 431,550 San Benito 9,131 54.25% 7,015 41.68% 535 3.18% 150 0.89% 2,116 12.57% 16,831 San Bernardino 214,749 47.21% 221,757 48.75% 11,775 2.59% 6,612 1.45% -7,008 -1.54% 454,893 San Diego 437,666 45.66% 475,736 49.63% 33,979 3.54% 11,253 1.17% -38,070 -3.97% 958,634 San Francisco 241,578 75.54% 51,496 16.10% 24,828 7.76% 1,884 0.59% 190,082 59.44% 319,786 San Joaquin 79,776 47.70% 81,773 48.90% 4,195 2.51% 1,485 0.89% -1,997 -1.20% 167,239 San Luis Obispo 44,526 40.89% 56,859 52.22% 6,523 5.99% 978 0.90% -12,333 -11.33% 108,886 San Mateo 166,757 64.29% 80,296 30.95% 10,433 4.02% 1,913 0.73% 86,461 33.34% 259,399 Santa Barbara 73,411 47.37% 71,493 46.13% 8,664 5.59% 1,406 0.91% 1,918 1.24% 154,974 Santa Clara 332,490 60.66% 188,750 34.44% 19,072 3.48% 7,817 1.43% 143,740 26.22% 548,129 Santa Cruz 66,618 61.48% 29,627 27.34% 10,844 10.01% 1,261 1.16% 36,991 34.14% 108,350 Shasta 20,127 30.25% 43,278 65.04% 2,131 3.20% 1,008 1.51% -23,151 -34.79% 66,544 Sierra 540 29.24% 1,172 63.45% 86 4.66% 49 2.65% -632 -34.21% 1,847 Siskiyou 6,323 31.90% 12,198 61.55% 872 4.40% 426 2.15% -5,875 -29.65% 19,819 Solano 75,116 57.02% 51,604 39.17% 3,869 2.94% 1,146 0.87% 23,512 17.85% 131,735 Sonoma 117,295 59.54% 63,529 32.25% 14,324 7.27% 1,858 0.94% 53,766 27.29% 197,006 Stanislaus 56,448 44.01% 67,188 52.38% 3,398 2.65% 1,233 0.96% -10,740 -8.37% 128,267 Sutter 8,416 31.68% 17,350 65.31% 594 2.24% 204 0.77% -8,934 -33.63% 26,564 Tehama 6,507 31.20% 13,270 63.63% 697 3.34% 380 1.82% -6,763 -32.43% 20,854 Trinity 1,932 33.33% 3,340 57.62% 396 6.83% 129 2.23% -1,408 -24.29% 5,797 Tulare 33,006 36.75% 54,070 60.20% 1,834 2.04% 908 1.01% -21,064 -23.45% 89,818 Tuolumne 9,359 39.44% 13,172 55.51% 949 4.00% 247 1.04% -3,813 -16.07% 23,727 Ventura 133,258 47.14% 136,173 48.17% 10,235 3.62% 3,026 1.07% -2,915 -1.03% 282,692 Yolo 33,747 54.93% 23,057 37.53% 4,107 6.69% 525 0.85% 10,690 17.40% 61,436 Yuba 5,546 34.39% 9,838 61.00% 507 3.14% 236 1.46% -4,292 -26.61% 16,127Total 5,861,20353.45%4,567,42941.65%418,7073.82%118,5171.09%1,293,77411.80%10,965,856

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Merced (Largest city: Merced) San Bernardino (Largest city: San Bernardino) San Joaquin (Largest city: Stockton) Stanislaus (Largest city: Modesto) Ventura (Largest city: Ventura)

By congressional district Gore won 33 of 52 congressional districts, including three that elected Republicans, with the remaining 19 going to Bush, including two that elected Democrats. District Gore Bush Representative 50% 41%Mike Thompson 34% 59%Wally Herger 44% 51%Doug Ose 37% 58%John Doolittle 57% 37%Bob Matsui 62% 30%Lynn Woolsey 69% 27%George Miller 77% 15%Nancy Pelosi 79% 12%Barbara Lee 51% 45%Ellen Tauscher 47% 50%Richard Pombo 67% 27%Tom Lantos 66% 30%Pete Stark 62% 32%Anna Eshoo57%38%Tom CampbellMike Honda 64% 32%Zoe Lofgren 60% 33%Sam Farr 44% 53%Gary Condit 38% 58%George Radanovich 50% 48%Cal Dooley 33% 64%Bill Thomas 45% 49%Lois Capps 48% 47%Elton Gallegly 58% 38%Brad Sherman 45% 51%Buck McKeon 70% 25%Howard Berman53%41%Jim RoganAdam Schiff 49% 47%David Dreier 72% 22%Henry Waxman 75% 19%Xavier Becerra69%27%Matthew G. MartínezHilda Solis 83% 13%Diane Watson 83% 15%Lucille Roybal-Allard 67% 30%Grace Napolitano 86% 12%Maxine Waters51%44%Steven T. KuykendallJane Harman 83% 15%Juanita Millender-McDonald 58% 37%Steve Horn 43% 53%Ed Royce 39% 56%Jerry Lewis 47% 50%Gary Miller 57% 39%Joe Baca 44% 52%Ken Calvert 47% 49%Mary Bono 40% 56%Dana Rohrabacher 54% 42%Loretta Sánchez 39% 57%Christopher Cox36%60%Ron PackardDarrell Issa53%41%Brian BilbraySusan Davis 59% 37%Bob Filner 41% 55%Duke Cunningham 41% 54%Duncan Hunter

By city +Official outcome by city and unincorporated areas of counties, of which Gore won 277 & Bush won 252. City County Al GoreDemocratic George W. BushRepublican Ralph Nader Green Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total Votes 1996 to 2000