New York was won by Incumbent DemocraticVice PresidentAl Gore in a landslide victory; Gore received 60.22% of the vote to RepublicanGeorge W. Bush's 35.22%, a Democratic victory margin of 25.00%. This marked the first time since 1964 that a Democratic presidential candidate won more than 60% of the vote in New York State, and only the second time in history, solidifying New York's status as a solid blue state in the 21st century. New York weighed in as about 25% more Democratic than the national average in the 2000 election.
The key to Gore's victory was wide margins of victory in greater New York City and Long Island. He did win some counties in upstate New York, but won with small margins, except for Albany County, which voted almost exactly the same as the statewide results. Since third-party candidates received over 4% of the vote, Bush did very poorly, although he won a majority of the counties in upstate New York, including his largest victory in small and rural Hamilton County.
Primaries
Democratic primary
The Democrats held their primary on March 7. There were 294 delegates at stake, with 243 pledged and 51 unpledged. Vice PresidentAl Gore won 158 pledged and the support of 44 unpledged while U.S. SenatorBill Bradley won 85 pledged and the support of 1 unpledged.
Polling
Source
Date
Al Gore
Bill Bradley
Quinnipiac
July 1, 1999
52%
34%
Quinnipiac
August 2, 1999
47%
38%
Quinnipiac
September 15, 1999
42%
40%
Quinnipiac
October 3, 1999
41%
44%
Quinnipiac
November 11, 1999
38%
47%
Quinnipiac
December 14, 1999
42%
39%
Quinnipiac
January 19, 2000
44%
39%
Quinnipiac
February 10, 2000
56%
32%
Quinnipiac
March 1, 2000
59%
33%
Quinnipiac
March 6, 2000
60%
32%
Republican primary
The Republican primary was held on March 7. There were 101 delegates at stake, with 93 district delegates being decided in the primary and 8 statewide delegates being decided at the state committee meeting in May. Texas GovernorGeorge W. Bush won 67 district delegates while U.S. SenatorJohn McCain won 26 district delegates. The 8 statewide delegates were unbound.
Gore won 27 of 31 congressional districts, including 8 that were won by a Republican: the 1st, 3rd, 13th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, and 30th congressional districts, respectively.[2]
As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which the Democratic candidate won Montgomery County. This is the second consecutive election that a Democrat won every borough of New York City, which has occurred once since, in 2012.
Gore won an overwhelming landslide in fiercely Democratic New York City, taking 1,703,364 votes to George W. Bush's 398,726, a 77.90% - 18.23% victory. Gore carried all five boroughs of New York City. Excluding New York City's votes, Gore still would have carried New York State, but by a smaller margin, receiving 2,404,543 votes to Bush's 2,004,648, giving Gore a 54.53% - 45.47% win.
Technically the voters of New York cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. New York is allocated 33 electors because it has 31 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 33 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 33 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 a faithless elector.
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000[3] 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:[4]