1992 United States presidential election in Florida Turnout 83%
County Results Precinct Results
Bush
30–40%
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90–100%
Clinton
30–40%
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90–100%
Perot
30–40%
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
90–100%
Tie/No Votes
The 1992 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. 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 fellow Southerner Clinton, although Clinton was polling well in other parts of the country.
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 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. Florida was one of 5 states that gave Perot more than 1 million votes, including California , Texas , New York , and Ohio .
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 in as much 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]
Primary election results [ edit ]
1992 Florida Democratic presidential primary results[ 5]
Candidate
Vote Received
#
%
Bill Clinton
554,861
50.8%
Paul Tsongas
379,572
34.7%
Jerry Brown
133,156
12.2%
Tom Harkin
13,302
1.2%
Bob Kerrey
11,557
1.1%
Total
1,092,448
100%
1992 Florida Republican presidential primary results[ 6]
Candidate
Vote received
#
%
George H.W. Bush (incumbent)
607,522
68.1%
Pat Buchanan
285,074
31.9%
Total
892,596
100%
General election results [ edit ]
United States presidential election in Florida, 1992[ 1]
Party
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
George H. W. Bush (incumbent)
2,173,310
40.89%
25
Democratic
Bill Clinton
2,072,698
39.00%
0
Independent
Ross Perot
1,053,067
19.82%
0
Libertarian
Andre Marrou
15,079
0.28%
0
Write-Ins
238
>0.01%
0
Totals
5,314,392
100.0%
25
Perot performance by county 5–10%
10–15%
15–20%
20–25%
County
George H.W. Bush Republican
Bill Clinton Democratic
Ross Perot Independent
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alachua
22,813
29.87%
37,888
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
21.87%
45,689
Bradford
3,672
44.02%
3,041
36.46%
1,574
18.87%
54
0.65%
631
7.56%
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
-20.93%
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
34.62%
45,485
Collier
38,448
53.44%
18,796
26.13%
14,518
20.18%
182
0.25%
19,652
27.31%
71,944
Columbia
6,492
43.41%
5,528
36.97%
2,906
19.43%
28
0.19%
964
6.44%
14,954
DeSoto
3,070
41.32%
2,646
35.62%
1,687
22.71%
26
0.35%
424
5.70%
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
2.94%
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
-5.90%
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
4.94%
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[ a]
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
-16.36%
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
11.92%
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[ a]
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[ a]
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
1.74%
7,213
Union
1,546
43.29%
1,248
34.95%
770
21.56%
7
0.20%
298
8.34%
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
3.97%
6,714
Walton
5,726
42.25%
3,888
28.69%
3,890
28.70%
50
0.37%
1,836[ a]
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
Totals
2,173,310
40.89%
2,072,698
39.00%
1,053,067
19.82%
15,317
0.29%
100,612
1.89%
5,314,392
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic [ edit ]
Results by congressional district [ edit ]
District[ 7]
Clinton
Bush
Perot
1st
25.7%
51.1%
23.1%
2nd
41.9%
38.6%
19.5%
3rd
57%
30%
13%
4th
30.2%
53.2%
16.6%
5th
41.6%
34.2%
24.2%
6th
31.3%
47.3%
21.4%
7th
34.4%
44.7%
21%
8th
32.3%
47.6%
20.1%
9th
34.2%
41.4%
24.6%
10th
40%
36.2%
23.8%
11th
41.1%
39.2%
19.7%
12th
34.4%
45.6%
20%
13th
34.7%
42.8%
22.5%
14th
31.3%
46.1%
22.5%
15th
30.9%
43.4%
25.7%
16th
35.7%
39.4%
24.9%
17th
73.5%
19.1%
7.3%
18th
32.8%
56.9%
10.3%
19th
53.8%
30.3%
15.9%
20th
46.9%
33.6%
19.6%
21st
31.2%
58.2%
10.6%
22nd
45%
37.6%
17.4%
23rd
62.3%
23.2%
14.5%
Total
100%
100%
100%
^ a b c d 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.
^ a b Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1992 Presidential General Election Results – Florida
^ Paulson, Darryl (November 4, 2016). "A quick history of Florida's presidential politics, from Whigs to wigged out" . Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 7, 2019 . [dead link ]
^ a b Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’ ; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review ; June 29, 2016
^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165 ISBN 0786422173
^ "March 10, 1992 Presidential Preference Primary: Democratic Primary" . Florida Department of State - Division of Elections: Elections Results Archive . Retrieved July 24, 2024 .
^ "March 10, 1992 Presidential Preference Primary: Republican Primary" . Florida Department of State - Division of Elections: Elections Results Archive . Retrieved July 24, 2024 .
^ "1992 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District" . Western Washington University . Retrieved July 25, 2024 .