The 2000 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

had not gone Democratic in a presidential contest since

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and was won by Texas

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

with a margin of victory of 8.04%. The Old Dominion state was considered to be a reliably Republican state and it would not vote Democratic again until

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. The 2000 election was the last time

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...

, Virginia's most populous county, would go Republican. Fairfax’s swing toward the Democrats in recent years has contributed to the state turning Democratic. As of 2020, this is the last time Virginia has voted to the right of fellow Southern states Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, or West Virginia. , this was the last time Russell County, Southampton County, and the independent City of Norton voted Democratic for president, and the last time

, Prince Edward County,

Albemarle County Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...

, and the independent cities of Fairfax, Danville, and Williamsburg have voted Republican for president.Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016

Primaries

* 2000 Virginia Democratic presidential primary * 2000 Virginia Republican presidential primary

Results

By county or independent city

Counties and Independent Cities that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Accomack (Largest city: Chincoteague) * Alleghany (Largest city:

Clifton Forge Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as J ...

) * Bath (Largest city: Hot Springs) *

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

(Independent city) * Buckingham (Largest city: Dillwyn) *

Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...

(Independent city) * Dinwiddie (Largest town: McKenney) *

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

(Largest city: Tappahannock) *

Galax ''Galax'', the wandplant, wandflower, or beetleweed, is a genus in the flowering plant family Diapensiaceae, containing a single species, ''Galax urceolata'' ( syn. ''G. rotundifolia'', ''G. aphylla''). It is native to the southeastern United S ...

(Independent city) * Giles (Largest city: Pearisburg) * King and Queen (Largest CDP: King and Queen Courthouse) * Lee (Largest city: Pennington Gap) * Montgomery (Largest city: Blacksburg) *

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

(Largest city: Nellysford) * Prince Edward (Largest city:

Farmville ''FarmVille'' is a series of agriculture-simulation social network game developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to '' Happy Farm'' and ''Farm Town''. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plowi ...

) * Radford (Independent city) * Smyth (Largest city:

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

) * Tazewell (Largest city: Richlands) * Westmoreland (Largest city: Colonial Beach) * Williamsburg (Independent city) * Wise (Largest city:

Big Stone Gap Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,643 at the 2010 census. History The community was formerly kno ...

)

By congressional district

Bush won 8 of 11 congressional districts, including two held by other parties. Gore won 3 districts, including one held by a Republican.

Analysis

Virginia voted for Bush by 8.03%. Although it was a comfortable margin, this made Virginia Bush's narrowest win in a state that had been carried by Bob Dole in 1996 (narrowly ahead of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, which Bush won by 8.36%). Bush did well in most of rural Virginia, making some inroads into then-traditionally Democratic

southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virg ...

, and also carried the highly-populated suburban areas outside Washington, D.C. ( Fairfax,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

Loudoun Loudoun ( gd, Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the ...

) and Richmond ( Henrico,

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

), as well as the independent city of

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

, which has a largely suburban character. However, he underperformed in Fairfax County, the most populous jurisdiction in the state, winning it by a slightly smaller margin than Dole had won it by amid his 8.5% national defeat in 1996.

References

{{State results of the 2000 U.S. presidential election

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2000 Virginia elections