1992 United States Senate elections, Pennsylvania
Furthermore, he capitalized on the ambivalence of many Philadelphia Democratic leaders to Yeakel, a self-described reform candidate; as a result, the hugely Democratic city featured a higher than anticipated vote for Specter. Also critical to the campaign was Specter's grassroots involvement in Yeakel's base, the traditionally GOP but Democratic-trending suburbs of Philadelphia.


1992 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
Incumbent Democrat Fritz Hollings won re-election to his fifth full term, over Republican former Congressman Thomas Hartnett.


1992 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
The race between Hollings and Hartnett was between two politicians from the Lowcoutry. Hartnett attacked Hollings for co-sponsoring a bill in 1983 that would have outlawed discrimination against homosexuals and Hollings shot back about questions of Hartnett's integrity for pushing for military contracts with a firm he had ties with in North Charleston. The anti-incumbency mood helped to bring Hartnett close to topping Hollings in the general election, but South Carolina voters traditionally support their incumbent politicians and Hollings was elected for another six-year term, albeit with a much reduced margin.


1992 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Incumbent Democrat Tom Daschle won re-election to a second term, beating Republican educator Charlene Haar.


1992 United States Senate elections, Utah
Incumbent Republican Jake Garn decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Republican Bob Bennett won the open seat over Democratic congressman Wayne Owens.


1992 United States Senate elections, Vermont
Incumbent Democrat Patrick Leahy won re-election to a fourth term, beating Republican Secretary of State of Vermont Jim Douglas.


1992 United States Senate elections, Washington
Serving one term, incumbent senator Brock Adams was strongly supportive of his party's leadership. In 1992 he chose not to be a candidate for re-election after eight women made statements to The Seattle Times alleging that Adams had committed various acts of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment to rape. Adams denied the allegations, but his popularity statewide was weakened considerably by the scandal and he chose to retire rather than risk losing the seat for his party. Chandler seemed to have the upper hand in one of the debates until for some unknown reason he quoted the Roger Miller song "Dang Me." He was further damaged by the unpopularity of President George H.W. Bush in the Pacific Northwest.


1992 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
Incumbent Republican Bob Kasten ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Democratic State senator Russ Feingold.


1992 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
Feingold, who had little name recognition in the state and was campaigning in a primary against a pair of millionaire opponents, U.S. Congressman Jim Moody and Milwaukee businessman Joe Checota, adopted several proposals to gain the electorate's attention. The most memorable of these was a series of five promises written on Feingold's garage door in the form of a contract. Also noted was Feingold's advertising campaign, which was widely compared to that used by progressive candidate Paul Wellstone in his victorious Senate campaign in Minnesota.


1992 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
Shot in the form of home movies, the ads attempted to portray Feingold, who always referred to himself as "the underdog running for U.S. senate," as a down-to-earth, Capra-esque figure, taking the audience on a guided tour of the candidate's home and introducing them to his children, all of whom were enrolled in public school.


1992 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
The ads also contained a significant amount of humor. One featured Feingold meeting with an Elvis Presley impersonator, who offered Feingold his endorsement. (Bob Kasten responded to the Elvis endorsement with an advertisement featuring an Elvis impersonator attacking Feingold's record.) Another showed Feingold standing next to a pair of half-sized cardboard cut-outs of his opponents, refusing to "stoop to their level" as the two were shown literally slinging mud at one another.


1992 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
During the primary campaign, Feingold unveiled an 82-point plan that aimed to eliminate the deficit by the end of his first term. The plan, which called for, among other things, a raise in taxes and cuts in the defense budget, was derided as "extremist" by Republicans and "too liberal" by his Democratic opponents. Feingold also announced his support for strict campaign finance reform and a national health care system and voiced his opposition to term limits and new tax cuts.


1992 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
Feingold won by positioning himself as a quirky underdog who offered voters an alternative to what was seen by many as negative campaigning of opponents Jim Moody and Joe Checota. On primary day, Feingold, whose support had shown in the single digits throughout much of the campaign, surged to victory with 70 percent of the vote. Seven weeks later, while Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ross Perot split the Wisconsin presidential vote 41%-37%-21%, Feingold beat Kasten by a margin of 53 percent to 46 percent.


1992 United States Senate special election in California
The 1992 United States Senate special election in California took place on November 3, 1992, at the same time as the regular election to the United States Senate in California.


1992 United States Senate special election in California
In this special election to complete the unexpired term of Pete Wilson, who resigned to become Governor of California, incumbent Republican Senator John Seymour was defeated by Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein defeated Gray Davis and Joseph Alioto in the Democratic primary, while Seymour defeated William E. Dannemeyer in the Republican primary.


1992 United States Senate special election in California, Background
The seat became vacant after incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pete Wilson won the 1990 gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat Dianne Feinstein. Wilson appointed John Seymour to the Senate to replace himself.


1992 United States Senate special election in California, Aftermath
Feinstein subsequently held seniority over fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer, who was elected on the same day; because Feinstein was elected to complete an existing term, she took office on November 10, only 7 days after the election, while Boxer's term commenced with the beginning of the next session of Congress in January 1993.


1992 United States Senate special election in North Dakota
The 1992 United States Senate special election in North Dakota was held on December 4, 1992 to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by the late Quentin Burdick. Burdick's widow, Jocelyn Burdick, was appointed as a temporary replacement until the election was held. Democratic-NPL nominee Kent Conrad, who held North Dakota's other senate seat since 1986, had not run for re-election to his own seat, holding himself to a campaign promise pledging to reduce the federal deficit. Conrad won the election.


1992 United States Senate special election in North Dakota, Campaign
Burdick's death provided an opportunity for Conrad to return to the Senate in a fight for an open seat. However, some, particularly his political opponents, saw this as a breach of his promise in spirit if not letter, Conrad's high approval ratings as Senator carried through to a victory against Republican state legislator Jack Dalrymple.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia
The 1992 Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia took place on November 3, 1992, to elect a shadow member to the United States House of Representatives to represent the District of Columbia. Unlike non-voting delegates, the Shadow Representative is only recognized by the District of Columbia and is not officially sworn or seated. One-term incumbent and inaugural office-holder Charles Moreland ran for reelection and won.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
Moreland, the incumbent Shadow Representative and inaugural office-holder, was challenged in the Democratic primary by John Capozzi. Moreland had been the subject of a number of controversies since he entered office. In September of 1990, prior to his first election, news broke that Moreland had not filed federal or district taxes for at least five years. Moreland claimed this was a political statement intended to highlight the District's lack of representation. In February of 1991, Moreland failed to appear at a court hearing over an unpaid loan made to purchase a 1983 Jaguar. Though a bench warrant was issued, Moreland was not taken into custody and during his reelection campaign he claimed to have resolved the loan issue.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
Capozzi entered the primary critical of Moreland. He claimed Moreland's focus on community organizing was unsuccessful and the cause of statehood would be better served with more time spent on Capitol Hill lobbying legislators. Capozzi was critical of Moreland's strategy of tax evasion saying that it alienated members of Congress.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Democratic primary, Campaign
Capozzi even insinuated that Moreland's failure to pay taxes was meant primarily for personal gain by saying: "This is supposed to be about lobbying for statehood, not some kind of 'Don Quixote' ride to avoid paying taxes," During the primary campaign, Moreland was reprimanded by the Office of Campaign Finance and Ethics for submitting campaign finance reports weeks after they were due. Moreland was also ordered to take down nearly 200 campaign posters for having insufficient information on their financing.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Statehood Party primary, Campaign
Both candidates said they would attempt to build grassroots support for statehood though Faith claimed she would build a multiethnic and multireligious coalition.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Republican primary
No candidates appeared on the Republican primary ballot and only write-in votes were cast.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Other candidates
A Republican candidate achieved ballot access through write-ins in the primary.


1992 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, General election
The general election took place on November 3. Both challengers criticized Moreland's nonpayment of taxes as ineffective and insincere. During the campaign, Corn opposed statehood and said that if elected she would work to get more budget autonomy for DC as well as increased federal funding for anti-crime efforts.


1992 United States Virgin Islands gambling referendum
A referendum on allowing casino gambling was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 3 November 1992. The result was binding only if a majority of registered voters participated. The proposal was rejected by a narrow margin, but was later approved in a 1994 referendum.


1992 United States elections
The 1992 United States elections elected state governors, the national president, and members of the 103rd United States Congress. The election took place after the redistricting that resulted from the 1990 Census. Democrats won control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress for the first time since the Republican victory in the 1980 elections.


1992 United States elections
In the presidential election, Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated Republican incumbent President George H. W. Bush and Texas businessman Ross Perot. Clinton easily won the electoral college with 370 electoral votes, but took just 43 percent of the popular vote, the fourth-lowest share of any victorious presidential candidate. Perot's independent candidacy won the largest share of the popular vote of any third party or independent candidate since Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 candidacy. Clinton defeated former California Governor Jerry Brown and former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas to take the Democratic nomination. Bush defeated a primary challenge from commentator, and former Reagan White House Director of Communications Pat Buchanan to earn re-nomination as the Republican candidate.


1992 United States elections
A small number of seats changed hands in the Senate, but Democrats retained a comfortable majority. Democrats won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of five percentage points, but Republicans won a net gain of nine seats. In the gubernatorial elections, the Democratic Party won a net gain of two states.


1992 United States elections, Issues
What was initially viewed as an easy win for the incumbent, George H. W. Bush, turned out quite differently. His famous "Read my lips: no new taxes" quip was used effectively by his primary challenger Pat Buchanan and later by Governor Bill Clinton. One of the first indicators of Bush's re-election challenge was a poll showing him losing to Texas billionaire Ross Perot in May.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
Bush had alienated many of the conservatives in his party by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, but he fended off a primary challenge from conservative commentator Pat Buchanan. Bush's popularity after his success in the Gulf War dissuaded high-profile Democratic candidates like Mario Cuomo from entering the 1992 Democratic primaries. Clinton, a leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, established himself as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination by sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
He defeated former & future Governor of California Jerry Brown, former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, and other candidates to win his party's nomination, and chose Senator Al Gore as his running mate. Billionaire Ross Perot launched an independent campaign, emphasizing his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his plan to reduce the national debt.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
The economy was in recession and Bush's greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the Gulf War. Perot led in several polls taken in June 1992, but severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July. The Bush campaign criticized Clinton's character and emphasized Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote, breaking a streak of three straight Republican victories. Clinton swept the Northeastern United States, marking the start of Democratic dominance in the region in presidential elections, while also performing well in the Midwest and the West. Along with Jimmy Carter, Donald Trump and Gerald Ford, Bush is one of four incumbent presidents since World War II to be defeated in the general election.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, Presidential election
Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote, the highest share of the vote won by a candidate outside of the two major parties since 1912. Although he failed to win any electoral votes, Perot found support in every state, and Clinton's home state of Arkansas was the lone state to give a majority of its vote to any candidate.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, Senate elections
The 34 Seats in the Senate Class III were up for election. Democratic victories over Republicans John F. Seymour (in the special California race) and Bob Kasten (of Wisconsin) were cancelled out by the defeats of Democrats Wyche Fowler (of Georgia) and Terry Sanford (of North Carolina). The election of four new Democratic women to the Senate was notable (referred to in the press as the "Year of the Woman"). California became the first state to have elected women to occupy both of its Senate seats due to the victories of Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Democrat Carol Moseley Braun (of Illinois), became the first African-American woman in the United States Senate.


1992 United States elections, Federal elections, House of Representatives elections
Though they won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of five percentage points, Democrats lost a net of nine seats in the House to the Republicans, in part due to redistricting following the 1990 Census. The redrawn districts were notable for the increase in majority-minority districts, drawn as mandated by the Voting Rights Act. While the redistricting after the 1980 Census had resulted in 17 majority-black districts and 10 majority-Hispanic districts, 32 and 19 such districts, respectively, were drawn after the 1990 Census.


1992 United States elections, State elections
Democrats and Republicans each defended gubernatorial positions in six states in 1992. Democrats won a net gain of two gubernatorial seats in the 1992 elections.


1992 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1992, in 12 states and two territories. Going into the elections, six of the seats were held by Democrats and six by Republicans. After the elections, eight seats were held by Democrats and four by Republicans. The elections coincided with the presidential election.


1992 United States gubernatorial elections
This was the last year in which Rhode Island held a gubernatorial election in the same year as the presidential election. The length of gubernatorial terms for Rhode Island's governor would be extended from two to four years, with elections taking place in midterm election years.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the "Dream Team", was the first American Olympic team to feature active professional players from the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team has been described by journalists around the world as the greatest sports team ever assembled.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team
At the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, the team defeated its opponents by an average of 44 points en route to the gold medal against Croatia.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The team was collectively inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2009, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017. The Naismith Hall calls the team "the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet". In addition to the team induction, 11 players and three coaches have also been inducted individually into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Background
Prior to the 1992 Olympics, FIBA rules specifically prevented NBA players from participating in Olympic tournaments, and only amateurs were eligible for the U.S. Olympic teams, which were composed of collegiate and, at times (especially in the 1950s), AAU players. Other countries used their best players from their domestic professional leagues. In the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Americans lost to the USSR and settled for bronze, their worst finish in the history of the tournament. In 1989, FIBA voted to change the rule and allow NBA players to participate.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Background
The vote was 56–13 in favor of the change; the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA, renamed USA Basketball after the vote) voted against it due to "colleges and high schools that make up most of [ABAUSA's] constituency [opposing] it." The Soviet proposal to limit the national teams to only two NBA players for the first few years was then unanimously rejected.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections
USA Basketball asked the NBA to supply players for its 1992 roster; the league was initially unenthusiastic about this idea. In early 1991, Sports Illustrated labeled the forthcoming American roster as the "Dream Team" on the cover of its February 18 issue.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections
The first ten players for the team were selected on September 21, 1991: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls, John Stockton and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz, Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors, David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, and Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers. On May 12, 1992, Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers was chosen over Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons for the final professional roster spot. As an acknowledgment to the previous amateur system, the U.S. basketball committee decided to include one collegiate player on the team: Christian Laettner of Duke University was added on May 12, 1992, chosen over Louisiana State University's Shaquille O'Neal.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections
Most of the players on the team were at or near the peaks of their NBA careers. Bird had back trouble but was selected due to the team's historic nature. Robinson had played with the 1988 Olympic team and was eager to earn a gold medal at Barcelona.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections
Johnson had retired from the Lakers in November 1991 after testing positive for HIV. His teammates expected Johnson to die from the disease, and he later described his selection for the Olympics as "almost like a life saver", evidence that he could still overcome the illness and live a productive life. The Australian Olympic delegation prominently threatened to boycott the games in protest of Johnson's presence, fearing that he might infect other athletes. Their threats backfired, however, as Johnson received even more public support. Ewing, Jordan, and Mullin had won gold at the 1984 games; Malone had not made the team and saw his non-selection in 1984 as a challenge.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections
Jordan declined head coach Chuck Daly's suggestion that Jordan serve as the public face of the team, and Bird and Johnson were selected as co-captains. Over the previous 13 NBA seasons leading up to the 1992 Olympics, these three superstars combined had won 10 NBA championships and received seven NBA Finals MVP awards and nine regular-season MVP awards.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections, Isiah Thomas left off team
There was speculation that Isiah Thomas was not part of the team because Jordan would participate only if Thomas was not on the roster. At the time, it was widely believed that Jordan did not like Thomas because he was seen as the "ring leader" of the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early 1990s; nicknamed the "Bad Boys", the team employed overtly physical tactics against Jordan in the NBA Playoffs.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections, Isiah Thomas left off team
In his 2012 book Dream Team, author Jack McCallum quotes Jordan as saying to Team USA selection committee member Rod Thorn, "Rod, I don’t want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team". In 2020, Thorn and Jordan denied directly mentioning Thomas's name in discussions. According to Jordan in the documentary series The Last Dance, he asked Thorn, "Who’s all playing?" to which Thorn responded, "The guy you’re thinking about is not going to be playing."


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections, Isiah Thomas left off team
After the selection of the first ten members of the team, Johnson released an official statement in support of Thomas, but years later it was discovered that his support was less than enthusiastic. In the book When the Game Was Ours, Johnson said, "Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him."


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Forming the team, Selections, Laettner selection over O'Neal
The selection committee considered several college players including Harold Miner, Jimmy Jackson, and Alonzo Mourning in addition to Shaquille O'Neal and Christian Laettner. O'Neal was the number-one pick in the 1992 NBA draft, but Laettner's Duke Blue Devils teams won consecutive National Championships in 1991 and 1992. Laettner was the Naismith College Player of the Year and scored the game-winning point in the 1992 NCAA Eastern Regional final. Although O'Neal was a two-time Consensus NCAA First Team All-American in 1991 and 1992, his team lost in the second round of the 1992 NCAA Men's Tournament. Laettner's college success ultimately secured his position on the team.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Early scrimmages
To help the team prepare for the Olympics, a squad of the best NCAA college players was formed to scrimmage them. USA Basketball selected players whose style of play, it hoped, would resemble that of the Europeans the Dream Team would face. Members included the penetrating guard Bobby Hurley, all-around players Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway, outside shooter Allan Houston, and the tough Chris Webber and Eric Montross. Hill and Hardaway would play for the 1996 national team, and Houston on the 2000 team.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Early scrimmages
In late June, the Dream Team first met together in La Jolla, California, astounding and intimidating the collegians who watched them practice. However, on June 24, the Dream Team lost to the NCAA team, 62–54, after underestimating the opposition. Daly intentionally limited Jordan's playing time and made non-optimal substitutions; assistant coach Mike Krzyzewski later said that the head coach "threw the game" to teach the NBA players that they could be beaten. The teams played again the following day, with the Olympians winning decisively in the rematch. Some of the college players visited Jordan's hotel room afterward and asked their hero for his personal items as souvenirs.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Tournament of the Americas
The Dream Team made its international debut on June 28 at the Tournament of the Americas, an Olympic qualifying event in Portland, Oregon. The team defeated Cuba 136–57, prompting Cuban coach Miguel Calderón Gómez to say, "You can't cover the sun with your finger." Marv Albert, who announced the game, recalled that "it was as if [the Americans] were playing a high school team, or grade school team. They were so overwhelming ... a blowout after blowout." The Cubans were the first of many opponents who were more interested in taking photos with the Americans than playing them. The next five games were also easy victories for Team USA, which ended the tournament on July 5 with a 127–80 victory over Venezuela in the championship game to win the tournament and be one of four Americas squads to qualify for the Olympics.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
The team trained for the Olympics in Monaco for six days, practicing two hours a day and playing exhibition games against other national teams. During their time away from the court, the squad spent time enjoying the nude beaches, Monte Carlo's casinos, and dining with royalty. There was no curfew; as Daly stated, "I'm not putting in a curfew because I'd have to adhere to it, and Jimmy'z [a noted Monte Carlo nightclub] doesn't open until midnight."


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
For one scrimmage, the group divided into two teams: Blue (led by Johnson, with Barkley, Robinson, Mullin, and Laettner) and White (led by Jordan, with Malone, Ewing, Pippen, and Bird). Drexler and Stockton did not play because of injuries. Daly told the teams to play "All you got now. All you got." White won, 40 to 36, in what Jordan recalled as "the best game I was ever in" and Sports Illustrated later called "the Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw".


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
Because of the team's unique celebrity, the Dream Team did not stay in the Olympic Village due to security concerns. The Olympic Village had only four guards at the gate when the team arrived to pick up their credentials; one of the guards, upon seeing the Dream Team, grabbed his camera and his child while the team members were mobbed by other Olympic athletes. Daly also stated that the beds in the Village were a problem, as two of his athletes were over seven feet tall and he considered comfort a priority to keep the team rested.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
As a result, the team stayed at Barcelona's Hotel Ambassador, where USA Basketball occupied 80 of the hotel's 98 rooms. Fans were not allowed to enter the lobby, but did gather outside the hotel, hoping to see their favorite players. "It was like Elvis and the Beatles put together," Daly said. Opposing basketball players and athletes from other sports often asked to have photographs taken with the players.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
In an interview years later, Charles Barkley recounted that "we got death threats". Despite that assertion, Barkley walked around the city alone. When asked where his bodyguards were, he held up his fists and answered, "This is my security."


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
Jordan was the only player who studied the opposition, carefully watching game tapes. He and the other Americans enjoyed the opportunity to get to know each other in a casual setting, often playing cards all night and, for Jordan, playing several rounds of golf daily with little rest.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
Opposing teams were nonetheless overwhelmed by the talent of the American roster, losing by an average of 43.8 points per game. This was the second largest Olympic Games point differential, surpassed only by the 53.5 point per game margin achieved by the 1956 US Men's Basketball Team. The Dream Team was the first to score more than 100 points in every game. Its 117.3 average was more than 15 points more than the 1960 US team. Johnson later recalled, "I look to my right, there's Michael Jordan ... I look to my left, there's Charles Barkley or Larry Bird ... I didn't know who to throw the ball to!"


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
In a press conference before the team's first Olympic game against Angola, Barkley famously quipped "I don't know anything about Angola. But Angola's in trouble." Herlander Coimbra of Angola recalled that "those guys were on another level—a galaxy far, far away". During the game, Barkley elbowed Coimbra in the chest and was unapologetic after the game, claiming he was hit first. Barkley was called for an intentional foul on the play. Coimbra's resulting free throw was the only point scored by Angola during a 46–1 run by the US.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
Although this incident had no bearing on the final result (a 116–48 USA win), at the time there was a concern about the image of America to the rest of the world. After the game, Jordan said, "There just wasn't any place for it. We were dominating the game. It created mixed feelings, it caused a mixed reaction about the U.S. There's already some negative feelings about us." Even though this was the only incident of the game, it changed the narrative; instead of the Americans being viewed as a highly skilled team beating an underdog, some viewed them as bullies.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
Daly started Jordan in every game, and Johnson started in five of the six games he played, missing two games because of knee problems. Pippen, Bird, Mullin, Robinson, Ewing, Malone, and Barkley rotated in the other starting spots. Barkley was the Dream Team's leading scorer during the Olympics, averaging 18.0 points per game, although the player selection committee had been unsure of his inclusion, worried that he would not represent the United States well.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
The closest of the eight matches was Team USA's 117–85 victory over Croatia in the gold medal game. Croatia, participating as an independent nation in the Olympics for the first time since its separation from the former Yugoslavia, briefly led the Dream Team by a score of 25–23 in the first half. By the end of the game, Team USA had pulled away and Stockton agreed to a Croatian player's plea not to shoot. Pippen and Jordan aggressively sought the opportunity to guard Toni Kukoč of Croatia.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Success on the court, Olympics
He had just signed a contract with the Bulls for more money than Pippen, who believed that the team's negotiation with the Croatian had delayed his own contract. Tired of hearing about Kukoč's talent, Pippen and Jordan agreed to, as Jordan later said, "not ... let this guy do anything against us." McCallum described the two Bulls as "rabid dogs" against Kukoč. Croatia had lost to the Dream Team 103–70 in their first game. The only team besides Croatia to hold the margin under 40 points was Puerto Rico, which lost 115–77 in the quarterfinals.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
Sports Illustrated later stated that the Dream Team was "arguably the most dominant squad ever assembled in any sport" and compared it to "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, Santana at Woodstock." In 2009, the team was elected to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame. The following year, the team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
Barkley later said, "I don't think there's anything better to representing your country. I don't think anything in my life can come close to that." Bird called the medal ceremony and the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" "the ultimate experience." Johnson said, "The 92 Dream Team was the greatest moment of my life in terms of basketball, bar none." Jordan said that the biggest benefit for him from the Olympics was that he learned more about his teammates' weaknesses. He later defeated Barkley, Malone, and Stockton in three NBA finals. As of 2014, 11 of the 12 players on the roster (all except Laettner) and three of the four coaches (all except Carlesimo) have been elected to the Hall of Fame as individuals.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
Global interest in basketball soared due to the Dream Team. In one game, an opposing player guarding Magic Johnson was seen frantically waving to a camera-wielding teammate on the bench, signaling to make sure he got a picture of them together. Daly said of the opposing teams "They'll go home and for the rest of their lives be able to tell their kids, 'I played against Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.' And the more they play against our best players, the more confident they're going to get".


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
International Olympic Committee head Juan Antonio Samaranch stated that "the most important aspect of the [Barcelona] Games has been the resounding success of the basketball tournament, as we've witnessed the best basketball in the world." Subsequently, the number of international players in the NBA rose. On opening day of the 1991–92 season, NBA rosters included 23 international players from 18 countries. At the start of the 2011–12 season, there were 74 players from 35 countries. Many international players credited the Dream Team as their inspiration to take up basketball.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James said they believed their 2012 Olympic team would win against the Dream Team. Bryant said, "[ T]hey were a lot older, at kind of the end of their careers. We have just a bunch of young racehorses, guys that are eager to compete." Barkley said that he "just started laughing" upon hearing Bryant's comment and that the Dream Team would win by double digits. Jordan added, "For [Bryant] to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done... Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them." Bird joked, "They probably could. I haven't played in 20 years and we're all old now."


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
The team was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Tournament of the Americas results
The team was undefeated, with their closest margin of victory being 38 points over Puerto Rico.


1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympics results
The team was again undefeated, with their closest outing being the 32-point victory over Croatia for the gold medal.


1992 United States presidential debates
The 1992 United States presidential debates were a series of debates held for the presidential election.


1992 United States presidential debates
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan organization formed in 1987, organized four debates among the major presidential candidates, sponsored three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debates. Republican nominee George H. W. Bush, Democratic nominee Bill Clinton, and Independent candidate Ross Perot met the criteria for inclusion in the debates. The CPD-sponsored vice presidential debate took place between Republican nominee Dan Quayle, Democratic nominee Al Gore, and Independent candidate (running-mate of Ross Perot) James Stockdale.


1992 United States presidential debates, October 11: First presidential debate (St. Louis, Missouri)
The first presidential debate was held at Field House, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday, October 11, 1992 between President George H. W. Bush, Governor Bill Clinton and businessman Ross Perot. Jim Lehrer moderated the debate with Sander Vanocur, Ann Compton and John Mashek as panelists.


1992 United States presidential debates, October 11: First presidential debate (St. Louis, Missouri)
Questions were divided between foreign and domestic policy. It was the first time three candidates shared a single stage in a televised debate. A poll conducted by CNN/USA TODAY on Oct. 11 1992 found that of those watching, 47 percent rated Perot the winner, 30 percent voted Clinton and 16 percent voted Bush. The format decided was:


1992 United States presidential debates, October 15: Second presidential debate (Richmond, Virginia)
The second presidential debate was held at University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia on Thursday, October 15, 1992 between President George H. W. Bush, Governor Bill Clinton and businessman Ross Perot. Carole Simpson moderated the debate with 109 uncommitted voters as questioners. Questions were focused primarily on domestic issues and the economy, although no subject was restricted.


1992 United States presidential debates, October 15: Second presidential debate (Richmond, Virginia)
Clinton emerged out as the winner of the second debate leading over both Bush and Perot. Poll conducted by CNN/USA TODAY from Oct. 16-18, showed 58 percent calling Clinton the winner, 16 percent said Bush won and 15 percent said Perot. The format decided was:


1992 United States presidential debates, October 15: Second presidential debate (Richmond, Virginia)
Bush was seen on national camera checking his watch while being asked about the effect of the national debt on him personally. In a 1999 Interview by Jim Lehrer, on being asked what he was thinking as he checked his wristwatch, he replied:


1992 United States presidential debates, October 15: Second presidential debate (Richmond, Virginia)
I took a huge hit. That's another thing I don't like debates, you look at your watch and they say that he hasn’t any business running for president. He's bored and he's out of this thing, he's not with it and we need change. They took a little incident like that to show that I was, you know, out of it. They made a huge thing out of that. Now, was I glad when the damn thing was over? Yeah, and maybe that's why I was looking at it, only 10 more minutes of this crap, I mean [Jim laughs] Go ahead and use it. I'm a free spirit now.


1992 United States presidential debates, October 19: Third presidential debate (East Lansing, Michigan)
The third presidential debate was held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan on Monday, October 19, 1992 between President George H. W. Bush, Governor Bill Clinton and businessman Ross Perot. Jim Lehrer moderated the debate with Gene Gibbons, Helen Thomas and Susan Rook as panelists. The format decided was:


1992 United States presidential debates, October 19: Third presidential debate (East Lansing, Michigan)
Poll conducted by CNN/USA TODAY after the third debate found that viewers thought Perot had won. Opinions, however, were tied between Clinton's and Bush's performances; 28 percent thought Clinton had done the best job, 28 percent Bush, and 37 percent said Perot.


1992 United States presidential debates, October 13: Vice presidential debate (Atlanta, Georgia)
The Vice presidential debate was held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan on Thursday, October 13, 1992 between Vice president Dan Quayle, Senator Al Gore and Ret. Vice Admiral James Stockdale. Jim Lehrer moderated the debate with Gene Gibbons, Helen Thomas and Susan Rook as panelists. The format decided was:


1992 United States presidential election
The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, independent businessman Ross Perot of Texas, and a number of minor candidates. This election marked the end of a period of Republican dominance that began in 1968. This was the last election until 2020 in which the incumbent president failed to win a second term.


1992 United States presidential election
Bush had alienated many of the conservatives in his party by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, but he fended off a primary challenge from paleoconservative commentator Pat Buchanan. Bush's popularity after his success in the Gulf War dissuaded high-profile Democratic candidates like Mario Cuomo from entering the 1992 Democratic primaries. Clinton, a leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, established himself as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination by sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries.


1992 United States presidential election
He defeated former Governor of California Jerry Brown, former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, and other candidates to win his party's nomination, and chose Senator of Tennessee Al Gore as his running mate. Billionaire Ross Perot launched an independent campaign, emphasizing his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his plan to reduce the national debt.


1992 United States presidential election
The economy was in recession and Bush's greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, as well as the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the Gulf War. Perot led in several polls taken in June 1992 but severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July. The Bush campaign criticized Clinton's character and emphasized Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy. Furthermore, the 1992 Los Angeles riots loomed over the election, especially after the four officers were acquitted of all charges regarding the incident with Rodney King.


1992 United States presidential election
Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote, breaking a streak of three straight Republican victories. He won states in every region of the country. Clinton swept the Northeast and the West Coast, marking the start of Democratic dominance in both regions in both presidential and statewide elections. Clinton also performed well in the eastern Midwest, the Mountain West, Appalachia, and parts of the South. This election was the first time a Democrat would win the presidency without Texas since its statehood and North Carolina since 1844.


1992 United States presidential election
This was the last time a candidate won an election without winning the battleground state of Florida until 2020, as Clinton went on to carry Florida when he won reelection in 1996. This was also the last time to date that the state of Montana voted Democratic in a presidential election, and the last time until 2020 that Georgia did so. Clinton flipped a total of 22 states that had previously voted Republican in the election of 1988.


1992 United States presidential election
Along with Gerald Ford (1976), Jimmy Carter (1980) and Donald Trump (2020), Bush is one of four incumbent presidents since World War II to lose a reelection campaign.


1992 United States presidential election
Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote, the highest share of the vote won by a candidate outside of the two major parties since 1912. Although he failed to win any electoral votes, Perot found support in every state, and Clinton's home state of Arkansas was the lone state to give a majority of its vote to any candidate.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
After the successful performance by U.S. and coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush's approval ratings were 89%. His re-election was considered very likely; several high-profile candidates, such as Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson refused to seek the Democratic nomination. Senator Al Gore refused to seek the nomination due to the fact his son had been struck by a car and was undergoing surgery and physical therapy. However, Tom Harkin, Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown, Larry Agran, Bob Kerrey, Douglas Wilder and Bill Clinton chose to run as candidates.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) ran as a populist liberal with labor union support. Former U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas (Mass.) highlighted his political independence and fiscal conservatism. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who had run for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and 1980, declared a significant reform agenda, including Congressional term limits, campaign finance reform, and the adoption of a flat income tax. Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey was an attractive candidate based on his business and military background, but made several gaffes on the campaign trail. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton positioned himself as a centrist, or New Democrat. He was relatively unknown nationally before the primary season. That quickly changed however, when Gennifer Flowers alleged an extramarital affair. Clinton denied the story, appearing on 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary Clinton; in 1998, he admitted the affair.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
The primary began with Harkin winning his native Iowa as expected. Tsongas won the New Hampshire primary on February 18, but Clinton's second-place finish, helped by his speech labeling himself "The Comeback Kid," energized his campaign. Brown won the Maine caucus and Kerrey won South Dakota. Clinton won his first primary in Georgia. Tsongas won the Utah and Maryland primaries and a caucus in Washington. Harkin won caucuses in Idaho and Minnesota while Jerry Brown won Colorado. Kerrey dropped out two days later. Clinton won the South Carolina and Wyoming primaries and Tsongas won Arizona. Harkin dropped out.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
Brown won the Nevada caucus. Clinton swept nearly all of the Super Tuesday primaries on March 10 making him the solid front runner. Clinton won the Michigan and Illinois primaries. Tsongas dropped out after finishing 3rd in Michigan. Brown, however, began to pick up steam, aided by using a phone number to receive funding from small donors. Brown scored surprising wins in Connecticut, Vermont and Alaska. As the race moved to the primaries in New York and Wisconsin, Brown had taken the lead in polls in both states.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
Then he made a serious gaffe by announcing to an audience of New York City's Jewish community that he would consider Reverend Jesse Jackson as a vice presidential candidate. Clinton won dramatically in New York (41%–26%) and closely in Wisconsin (37%–34%). Clinton then proceeded to win a long streak of primaries leading up to Brown's home state of California. Clinton won this state 48% to 41% and secured the delegates needed to lock the nomination.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
The convention met in New York, New York, and the official tally was:


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party nomination, Overview
Clinton chose U.S. Senator Al Gore (D-Tennessee) to be his running mate on July 9, 1992. Choosing fellow Southerner Gore went against the popular strategy of balancing a Southern candidate with a Northern partner. Gore served to balance the ticket in other ways, as he was perceived as strong on family values and environmental issues, while Clinton was not. Also, Gore's similarities to Clinton allowed him to push some of his key campaign themes, such as centrism and generational change.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Republican Party nomination
Paleoconservative journalist Pat Buchanan was the primary opponent of President Bush; Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee in 1988, had planned to run against the President, but dropped out shortly after Buchanan's entry in December. Buchanan's best showing was in the New Hampshire primary on February 18, 1992—where Bush won by a . President Bush won 73% of all primary votes, with 9,199,463 votes. Buchanan won 2,899,488 votes; unpledged delegates won 287,383 votes, and David Duke, Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, won 119,115 votes. Just over 100,000 votes were cast for all other candidates, half of which were write-in votes for H. Ross Perot. Former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, who had run for President 9 times since 1944, also mounted his final campaign.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Republican Party nomination
President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle easily won renomination by the Republican Party. However, the success of the opposition forced the moderate Bush to move further to the right than in the previous election, and to incorporate many socially conservative planks in the party platform. Bush allowed Buchanan to give a prime time address at the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas, and his culture war speech alienated many moderates.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Republican Party nomination
With intense pressure on the Buchanan delegates to relent, the tally for president went as follows:


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Ross Perot
The public's concern about the federal budget deficit and fears of professional politicians allowed the independent candidacy of billionaire Texan Ross Perot to explode on the scene in dramatic fashion—at one point Perot was leading the major party candidates in the polls. Perot crusaded against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and internal and external national debt, tapping into voters' potential fear of the deficit. His volunteers succeeded in collecting enough signatures to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Ross Perot
In June, Perot led the national public opinion polls with support from 39% of the voters (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). Perot severely damaged his credibility by dropping out of the presidential contest in July and remaining out of the race for several weeks before re-entering. He compounded this damage by eventually claiming, without evidence, that his withdrawal was due to Republican operatives attempting to disrupt his daughter's wedding.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Ross Perot
Perot and retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale drew 19,743,821 votes (19% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Libertarian Party nomination
The 6th Libertarian Party National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois. There, the Libertarian Party nominated Andre Marrou, former Alaska State Representative and the Party's 1988 vice-presidential candidate, for President. Nancy Lord was his running mate.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Libertarian Party nomination
Marrou and Lord drew 291,627 votes (0.28% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, New Alliance Party nomination
Lenora Fulani, who was the 1988 presidential nominee of the New Alliance Party, received a second consecutive nomination from the Party in 1992. Unlike in 1988, Fulani failed to gain ballot access in every state, deciding to concentrate some of that campaign funding towards exposure of her candidacy and the Party to the national public.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, New Alliance Party nomination
Fulani also sought the endorsement of the Peace and Freedom Party of California, but despite winning a majority in that party's primary, she would lose the nomination to Ronald Daniels, the former Director the National Rainbow Coalition. Rather than pursuing a ballot space of her own, Fulani would endorse Daniels's candidacy in California.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, New Alliance Party nomination
Fulani and her running mate Maria Elizabeth Muñoz received 73,622 votes (0.1% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Natural Law Party nomination
The newly formed Natural Law Party nominated scientist and researcher John Hagelin for President and Mike Tompkins for Vice President. The Natural Law Party had been founded in 1992 by Hagelin and 12 others who felt that governmental problems could be solved more effectively by following "Natural Laws". The party platform included preventive health care, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy technologies. During this and future campaigns, Hagelin favored abortion rights without public financing, campaign finance law reform, improved gun control, a flat tax, the eradication of PACs, a ban on soft money contributions, and school vouchers.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Natural Law Party nomination
The party's first presidential ticket appeared on the ballot in 28 states and drew 37,137 votes (<0.1% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, U.S. Taxpayers' Party nomination
The U.S. Taxpayers Party ran its first presidential ticket in 1992, having only been formed the prior year. Initially Howard Phillips had hoped to successfully entice a prominent conservative politician, such as the former Senator Gordon J. Humphrey from New Hampshire, or even Patrick Buchanan who at the time had only been mulling over running against President Bush (he would officially declare in December 1991).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, U.S. Taxpayers' Party nomination
No one, however, announced any intention to seek the Taxpayers Party nomination; Buchanan himself in the end endorsed President Bush at the Republican National Convention in Houston. Phillips had been unofficially nominated earlier in the year so as to allow the Party to be able to seek ballot access properly. This was a temporary post that was made permanent in September, with Phillips and Albion Knight being named the official presidential ticket of the party.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, U.S. Taxpayers' Party nomination
Phillips and Knight drew 43,369 votes (<0.1% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Populist Party nomination
Former United States Army Special Forces officer and Vietnam veteran Bo Gritz was the nominee of the Populist Party, facing virtually no opposition. Under the campaign slogan "God, Guns and Gritz" and publishing his political manifesto "The Bill of Gritz" (playing on his last name rhyming with "rights"), he called for staunch opposition to what he called "global government" and "The New World Order", ending all foreign aid, abolishing federal income tax, and abolishing the Federal Reserve System.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Populist Party nomination
During the campaign, Gritz openly proclaimed the United States to be a "Christian Nation", stating that the country's legal statutes "should reflect unashamed acceptance of Almighty God and His Laws". His run on the America First/Populist Party ticket was prompted by his association with another far-right political Christian talk radio host, Tom Valentine. During his campaign, part of Gritz's standard stump speech was an idea to pay off the National debt by minting a coin at the Treasury and sending it to the Federal Reserve. This predates the 2012 trillion dollar coin concept.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Populist Party nomination
During August 1992, Gritz attracted national attention as mediator during the government standoff with Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Populist Party nomination
He received 106,152 votes nationwide (0.1% of the popular vote). In two states he had a respectable showing for a minor third party candidate: Utah, where he received 3.8% of the vote and Idaho, where he received 2.1% of the vote. In some counties, his support topped 10%, and in Franklin County, Idaho, was only a few votes away from pushing Bill Clinton into fourth place in the county.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Lyndon LaRouche's candidacy
While officially running for the Democratic Presidential nomination, Lyndon LaRouche also decided to run as an Independent in the general election, standing as the National Economic Recovery candidate. LaRouche was in jail at the time, having been convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in December 1988; it was only the second time in history that the presidency was sought from a prison cell (after Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs, while imprisoned for his opposition to U.S. involvement in World War I, ran in 1920). His running-mate was James Bevel, a civil rights activist who had represented the LaRouche movement in its pursuit of the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Lyndon LaRouche's candidacy
In addition to the displayed states, LaRouche had nearly made the ballot in the states of New York and Mississippi. In the case of New York, while his petition was valid and had enough signatures, none of his electors filed declarations of candidacy; in the cases of Mississippi a sore-loser law was in place, and because he ran in that state's Democratic presidential primary he was ineligible to run as an Independent in the general. Ohio also had a sore-loser law, but it was ruled in Brown vs. Taft that it did not apply to presidential candidates. LaRouche and Beval drew 22,863 votes. (<0.1% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Socialist Workers' Party nomination
James Warren, who was the 1988 presidential nominee of the Socialist Workers Party, received a second consecutive nomination from the Party on the first of November 1991. Warren had two running mates that varied from state to state; Estelle DeBates and Willie Mae Reid, the latter also a resident of Illinois.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Ron Daniels candidacy
Ronald Daniels was the former executive director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, the former director of the National Rainbow Coalition, and the worked on both of Jesse Jackson's campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination. Asiba Tupahache, a Native American activist from New York was his running-mate.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Ron Daniels candidacy
Though running an Independent campaign under the label "Campaign for a Better Tomorrow", Daniels was endorsed by a number of third parties across the states, most notably the Peace and Freedom Party of California; though he had lost that party's presidential primary to Lenora Fulani, the nominee of the New Alliance Party, the delegates at its convention voted in favor of his candidacy 110–91, the only time it has ever nominated someone other than the winner of the primary.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Ron Daniels candidacy
Daniels and Tupachache drew 27,396 votes (<0.1% of the popular vote).


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The 1992 campaign also marked the entry of Ralph Nader into presidential politics as a candidate. Despite the advice of several liberal and environmental groups, Nader did not formally run. Rather, he tried to make an impact in the New Hampshire primaries, urging members of both parties to write-in his name. As a result, several thousand Democrats and Republicans wrote-in Nader's name. Despite supporting mostly liberal legislation during his career as a consumer advocate, Nader received more votes from Republicans than Democrats.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The Worker's League nominated Helen Halyard for President; she was the party's nominee for Vice President in 1984 and 1988. Fred Mazelis was nominated for Vice President. Halyard and Mazelis drew 3,050 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
John Yiamouyiannis, a major opponent of water fluoridation, ran as an Independent under the label "Take Back America". Allen C. McCone was his running-mate. Yiamouyiannis and McCone drew 2,199 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The Socialist Party nominated J. Quinn Brisben for President and Barbara Garson for Vice President. Brisben and Garson drew 2,909 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The Grassroots Party nominated Jack Herer, a noted cannabis activist for President and Derrick Grimmer for Vice President. Herer and Grimmer drew 3,875 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The Prohibition Party nominated Earl Dodge, the party's chairman for President and George Ormsby for Vice President. Dodge and Ormsby drew 935 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
Drew Bradford was an Independent candidate for the Presidency; he did not have a running-mate. Bradford drew 4,749 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
Eugene R. Hem was an Independent candidate for the Presidency, running under the label "The Third Party". His running-mate was Joanne Roland. Hem and Roland drew 405 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
Delbert Ehlers was an Independent candidate for the Presidency. His running-mate was Rick Wendt. Ehlers and Wendt drew 1,149 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
James Boren was an Independent candidate for the Presidency, running under the label "Apathy". His running-mate was Bill Weidman. Boren and Weidman drew 956 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
Professor Isabell Masters was an Independent candidate for the Presidency, running under the label "Looking Back". Her running-mate was her son, Walter Ray Masters. Masters drew 327 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The American Party nominated Robert J. Smith for President and Doris Feimer for Vice President. However, for a time neither the Utah or South Carolina state parties would endorse the ticket. The American Party of South Carolina would ultimately endorse the candidacy of Howard Phillips, the nominee of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, while the American Party of Utah would decide to endorse Smith. Smith and Feimer drew 291 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, Nominations, Minor parties and independents, Other nominations
The Workers World Party nominated Gloria La Riva for President and Larry Holmes for Vice President. Initially the party had voted not to field a presidential candidate in 1992, but it was later found that the party would need to get at least half a percent of the vote in New Mexico in order to maintain its ballot access in that state. La Riva and Holmes drew 181 votes.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
After Bill Clinton secured the Democratic Party's nomination in the spring of 1992, polls showed Ross Perot leading the race, followed by President Bush and Clinton in third place after a grueling nomination process. Two-way trial heats between Bush and Clinton in early 1992 showed Bush in the lead. As the economy continued to sour and the President's approval rating continued to slide, the Democrats began to rally around their nominee. On July 9, 1992, Clinton chose Tennessee senator and former 1988 presidential candidate Al Gore to be his running mate.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
As Governor Clinton's nomination acceptance speech approached, Ross Perot dropped out of the race, convinced that staying in the race with a "revitalized Democratic Party" would cause the race to be decided by the United States House of Representatives. Clinton gave his acceptance speech on July 16, 1992, promising to bring a "new covenant" to America, and to work to heal the gap that had developed between the rich and the poor during the Reagan/Bush years. The Clinton campaign received the biggest convention "bounce" in history which brought him from 25 percent in the spring, behind Bush and Perot, to 55 percent versus Bush's 31 percent.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
After the convention, Clinton and Gore began a bus tour around the United States, while the Bush/Quayle campaign began to criticize Clinton's character, highlighting accusations of infidelity and draft dodging. The Bush campaign emphasized its foreign policy successes such as Desert Storm, and the end of the Cold War. Bush also contrasted his military service to Clinton's lack thereof, and criticized Clinton's lack of foreign policy expertise.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
However, as the economy was the main issue, Bush's campaign floundered across the nation, even in strongly Republican areas, and Clinton maintained leads with over 50 percent of the vote nationwide consistently, while Bush typically saw numbers in the upper 30s. As Bush's economic edge had evaporated, his campaign looked to energize its socially conservative base at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas. At the convention, Bush's primary campaign opponent Pat Buchanan gave his famous "culture war" speech, criticizing Clinton's and Gore's social progressiveness, and voicing skepticism on his "New Democrat" brand.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
After President Bush accepted his renomination, his campaign saw a small bounce in the polls, but this was short lived, as Clinton maintained his lead. The campaign continued with a lopsided lead for Clinton through September, until Ross Perot decided to re-enter the race. Ross Perot's re-entry in the race was welcome by the Bush campaign, as Fred Steeper, a poll taker for Bush, said, "He'll be important if we accomplish our goal, which is to draw even with Clinton."


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
Initially, Perot's return saw the Texas billionaire's numbers stay low, until he was given the opportunity to participate in a trio of unprecedented three-man debates. The race narrowed, as Perot's numbers significantly improved as Clinton's numbers declined, while Bush's numbers remained more or less the same from earlier in the race as Perot and Bush began to hammer at Clinton on character issues once again.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Character issues
Many character issues were raised during the campaign, including allegations that Clinton had dodged the draft during the Vietnam War, and had used marijuana, which Clinton claimed he had pretended to smoke, but "didn't inhale." Bush also accused Clinton of meeting with communists on a trip to Russia he took as a student. Clinton was often accused of being a philanderer by political opponents.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Character issues
Allegations were also made that Bill Clinton had engaged in a long-term extramarital affair with Gennifer Flowers. Clinton denied ever having an affair with Flowers.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
On November 3, Bill Clinton won the election to serve as the 42nd president of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College, receiving 43% of the popular vote against Bush's 37.4% and Perot's 18.9%. It was the first time since 1968 that a candidate won the White House with under 50% of the popular vote. Only Washington, D.C. and Clinton's home state of Arkansas gave the majority of their votes to a single candidate in the entire country; the rest were won by pluralities of the vote.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
Even though Clinton roughly received 3.1 million more votes than Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis had four years earlier, the Democrats recorded a 2.6 percentage point decrease in their share of the popular vote compared to 1988 due to the higher turnout. His 43% share of the popular vote was the second-lowest for any winning candidate in the 20th century after Woodrow Wilson in 1912 (41.8%). President Bush's 37.4% was the lowest percentage total for a sitting president seeking re-election since William Howard Taft, also in 1912 (23.2%).


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
1992 was, as the 1912 election was, a three-way race (that time between Taft, Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt). It was also the lowest percentage for a major-party candidate since Alf Landon received 36.5% of the vote in 1936. Bush had a lower percentage of the popular vote than even Herbert Hoover, who was defeated in 1932 (39.7%). However, none of these races included a major third candidate. Bush was the last president voted out of office after one term until Donald Trump in 2020, as Clinton, Bush’s son George W. Bush and Barack Obama were all re-elected to second terms in office.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
Independent candidate Ross Perot received 19,741,065 with 18.9% of the popular vote. The billionaire used his own money to advertise extensively, and is the only third-party candidate ever allowed into the nationally televised presidential debates with both major party candidates (Independent John Anderson debated Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, but without Democrat Jimmy Carter, who had refused to appear in a three-man debate). Speaking about the North American Free Trade Agreement, Perot described its effect on American jobs as causing a "giant sucking sound". For a period of time, Perot was leading in the polls, but he lost much of his support when he temporarily withdrew from the election, only to declare himself a candidate again soon after. This was also the most recent time that a third-party candidate won at least one county.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
Perot's almost 19% of the popular vote made him the most successful third-party presidential candidate in terms of popular vote since Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election. Also, his 19% of the popular vote was the highest ever percent of the popular vote for a candidate who did not win any electoral votes.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
Although he did not win any states, Perot managed to finish ahead of one of the two major party candidates in two states: In Maine, he received 30.44% of the vote to Bush's 30.39% (Clinton won Maine with 38.77%); in Utah, he collected 27.34% of the vote to Clinton's 24.65%. Bush won that state with 43.36%. He also came in 2nd in Maine's 2nd Congressional District where he had his best overall showing. He won 33.2% of the vote there and missed out on the district's 1 elector by only 4.5% of the vote.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
The election was the most recent in which Montana voted for the Democratic candidate, the last time Florida backed the losing candidate and Georgia voted for the Democratic candidate until 2020, and the last time that Colorado voted Democratic until 2008.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
This was also the first time since Texas' admission to the Union in 1845 that a Democrat won the White House without winning the state, and the second time a Democrat won the White House without North Carolina (the first was 1844), and the second time since Florida's admission (also in 1845) that a Democrat won without winning the state (John F. Kennedy in 1960 was the first).


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
Clinton was also the only Democrat at that point to win every electoral vote in the Northeast except for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. John Kerry and Barack Obama have been the only Democrats to repeat this since. Also, this was the first time since 1964 that the following nine states had voted Democratic: California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Vermont.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Results
The 168 electoral votes received by Bush, added to the 426 electoral votes he received in 1988, gave him the most total electoral votes received by any candidate who was elected to the office of president only once (594).


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
Several factors made the results possible. First, the campaign came on the heels of an economic slowdown. Exit polling showed that 75% thought the economy was in fairly or very bad shape while 63% thought their personal finances were better or the same as four years ago. The decision by Bush to accept a tax increase adversely affected his re-election bid. Pressured by rising budget deficits, Bush agreed to a budget compromise with Congress which raised taxes and reduced the federal budget deficit.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
Clinton was able to condemn the tax increase effectively on both its own merits and as a reflection of Bush's dishonesty. Effective Democratic TV ads were aired showing a clip of Bush's 1988 acceptance speech in which he promised "Read my lips … No new taxes." Most importantly, Bush's coalition was in disarray, for both the aforementioned reasons and for unrelated reasons. The end of the Cold War allowed old rivalries among conservatives to re-emerge and meant that other voters focused more on domestic policy, to the detriment of Bush, a social and fiscal moderate. The consequence of such a perception depressed conservative turnout.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
Unlike Bush, Clinton was able to unite his fractious and ideologically diverse party behind his candidacy, even when its different wings were in conflict. To garner the support of moderates and conservative Democrats, he attacked Sister Souljah, an obscure rap musician whose lyrics Clinton condemned. Furthermore, Clinton made clear his support of the death penalty and would later champion making school uniforms in public schools a requirement. Clinton could also point to his centrist record as governor of Arkansas. More liberal Democrats were impressed by Clinton's record on abortion and affirmative action. His strong connections to African Americans also played a key role. In addition, he organized significant numbers of young voters and became a symbol of the rise of the Baby Boomer generation to political power. Supporters remained energized and confident, even in times of scandal or missteps.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
The effect of Ross Perot's candidacy has been a contentious point of debate for many years. In the ensuing months after the election, various Republicans asserted that Perot had acted as a spoiler, enough to the detriment of Bush to lose him the election.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
While many disaffected conservatives may have voted for Ross Perot to protest Bush's tax increase, further examination of the Perot vote in the Election Night exit polls not only showed that Perot siphoned votes nearly equally among Bush and Clinton, but roughly two-thirds of those voters who cited Bush's broken "No New Taxes" pledge as "very important" (25%)  voted for Bill Clinton. The voting numbers reveal that to win the electoral vote Bush would have had to win 10 of the 11 states Clinton won by less than five percentage points.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
For Bush to earn a majority of the popular vote, he would have needed 12.2% of Perot's 18.9% of the vote, 65% of Perot's support base. State exit polls suggested that Perot did not alter the electoral college count, except potentially in one state (Ohio), which nonetheless showed a result in the margin of error. Furthermore, Perot was most popular in states that strongly favored either Clinton or Bush, limiting his real electoral impact for either candidate.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
Perot gained relatively little support in the Southern states and happened to have the best showing in states with few electoral votes. Perot appealed to disaffected voters all across the political spectrum who had grown weary of the two-party system. NAFTA played a role in Perot's support, and Perot voters were relatively moderate on hot-button social issues. A 1999 study in the American Journal of Political Science estimated that Perot's candidacy hurt the Clinton campaign, reducing "Clinton's margin of victory over Bush by seven percentage point." In 2016, FiveThirtyEight stated that it was "unlikely" that Perot was a spoiler.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Analysis
Clinton, Bush, and Perot did not focus on abortion during the campaign. Exit polls, however, showed that attitudes toward abortion "significantly influenced" the vote, as pro-choice Republicans defected from Bush.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Implications
According to Seymour Martin Lipset, this election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush. A rare event was a strong third-party candidate. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Implications
Clinton's election ended an era in which the Republican Party had controlled the White House for 12 consecutive years, and for 20 of the previous 24 years. The election also brought the Democrats full control of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, including both houses of U.S. Congress and the presidency, for the first time since the administration of the last Democratic president, Jimmy Carter. This would not last for very long, however, as the Republicans won control of both the House and Senate in 1994. Reelected in 1996, Clinton would become the first Democratic President since Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve two full terms in the White House.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Implications
1992 was arguably a political realignment election. It made the Democratic Party dominant in presidential elections in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region (until 2016) and the West Coast, where many states had previously either been swing states or Republican-leaning. Clinton picked up several states that went Republican in 1988, and which have remained in the Democratic column ever since: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, most of Maine (besides the state's second congressional district, which broke the state's total straight Democratic voting record since, when it voted for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016), Maryland, New Jersey, and Vermont.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Implications
Vermont, carried by Clinton, had been heavily Republican for generations prior to the election, voting for a Democrat only once (in 1964). The state has been won by the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since. Bill Clinton narrowly defeated Bush in New Jersey (by two points), which had voted for the Republican nominee all but twice since 1948. Clinton would later win the state in 1996 by eighteen points; like Vermont, Republicans have not won the state since. California, which had been a Republican stronghold since 1952, was now trending Democratic.


1992 United States presidential election, General election, Implications
Clinton, a native Southerner, was able to carry several states in the South that the GOP had won for much of the past two decades, but ultimately won only four of eleven former Confederate states. This reflected the final shift of the South to the Republican Party. In subsequent presidential elections from 1996 to 2020, 28 out of the 50 states were carried by the same party as in 1992 (15 for the Democrats and 13 for the Republicans).


1992 United States presidential election, Detailed results
Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote


1992 United States presidential election, Detailed results, Results by state, Maine and Nebraska district results
†Maine and Nebraska each allowed their electoral votes to be split between candidates using the Congressional District Method for electoral vote assignment. In both states, two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote was awarded to the winner of each congressional district. District results for Maine and Nebraska do not include results for Marrou or other candidates and so totals differ from those for the states' at-large. Because Perot finished in 2nd place in some districts, the margins of the districts do not match the margin at-large.


1992 United States presidential election, Detailed results, Close states
States with margin of victory less than 1% (27 electoral votes):


1992 United States presidential election, Detailed results, Close states
States/Districts with margin of victory less than 5% (175 electoral votes):


1992 United States presidential election, Detailed results, Close states
States with margin of victory between 5% and 10% (131 electoral votes):


1992 United States presidential election, Detailed results, Voter demographics
Source: Voter News Service exit poll, reported in The New York Times, November 10, 1996, 28.


1992 United States presidential election in Alabama
The 1992 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in Alabama
Alabama was won by President George H. W. Bush (R-TX). The presidential contest in Alabama was not a surprise, with Bush winning 47.65% to 40.88% over Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton (D), a margin of 6.77%. Despite the fact that Clinton was a Southern Democrat, Alabama remained a reliably Republican state. The last Democrat to carry Alabama was Jimmy Carter in 1976, who was also a Southern Democrat. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (I-TX) finished in third, with a disappointing 10.85%.


1992 United States presidential election in Alabama
Black Belt Macon County saw Perot receive his smallest vote share in the nation, and that same county also gave Bush his smallest vote share of any county. By contrast, white suburban Shelby County saw Bush receive 67.97% of the vote, a Republican share exceeded in this three-way election only by the famous past and present bastions of Jackson County, Kentucky, Sioux County, Iowa, and the Texas Panhandle counties of Hansford and Ochiltree.


1992 United States presidential election in Alabama
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time a Democratic candidate won Lauderdale County, and the last time a Republican won Montgomery County.


1992 United States presidential election in Alabama
With 47.65% of the popular vote, Alabama would prove to be Bush's third-strongest state by margin in the 1992 election, after Mississippi and South Carolina.


1992 United States presidential election in Alaska
The 1992 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in Alaska
Alaska was won by incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 39.4% of the popular vote over Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 30.2%. Bush won Alaska by a margin of 9.2%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 28.4% of the popular vote. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush. Alaska has only voted Democratic once, and that was in 1964 for Lyndon B. Johnson. As of 2020, this is the only time the Republican margin of victory in Alaska has been in single digits since 1968.


1992 United States presidential election in Alaska
With 28.43% of the popular vote, Alaska would prove to be Perot's second strongest state after Maine. Alaska was also one of seven states to give a county to Perot, the others being California, Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Nevada and Texas. Alaska awarded Perot Denali Borough.


1992 United States presidential election in Arizona
The 1992 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in Arizona
Arizona was won by incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 38.5% of the popular vote over Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 36.5%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 23.8% of the popular vote. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush. Bush very narrowly won in Arizona by a margin of 2.0%, and Clinton went on to win the state four years later narrowly over Bob Dole.


1992 United States presidential election in Arizona
In achieving the best performance by a Democrat in Arizona since Lyndon Johnson's landslide in 1964 – when Barry Goldwater held the state by five thousand votes due to a "favorite son" vote in the Phoenix metropolitan area – Clinton broke some notable county droughts. He placed Cochise County in the Democratic camp for the first time since 1964 and last to date, Pima County and Santa Cruz County also voted Democratic for the first time since 1964, whilst Flagstaff's Coconino County voted Democratic for the first time since Harry S. Truman carried it in 1948. These three counties have since stayed reliably Democratic in presidential elections.


1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas
The 1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas
Arkansas was won by the state's governor Bill Clinton (D) with 53.21% of the popular vote over incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 35.48%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 10.43% of the popular vote. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush. Clinton was Governor of Arkansas at the time, and as he was popular within the state, he easily won by a margin of 17.73%, making it the first time that Arkansas had voted Democratic since 1976 when it voted for Jimmy Carter.


1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas
Arkansas and Washington, D.C. were the only contests in which Clinton, or any candidate, received an absolute majority of the popular vote. Clinton carried all but five counties (Benton, Crawford, Pope, Searcy and Sebastian). This was, and remains, the high-water mark for any Democrat in the state since 1948, where the Dixiecrats took three counties and the GOP two against Harry Truman.


1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas
After the 1996 election, Arkansas would trend reliably Republican. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Baxter County, Carroll County, Newton County, Boone County, and Polk County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.


1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas
Arkansas would be one of only three states, along with the District of Columbia, where if Bush’s and Perot’s vote had been combined, Clinton would still come out on top, the others being New York and Maryland. This is the most recent election that Arkansas trended more Democratic than the previous one. Bill Clinton's 505,823 votes is the most votes received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history.


1992 United States presidential election in California
The 1992 United States presidential election in California took place on November 3, 1992, and was part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in California
California voted for Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton. His victory was the first time that the Golden State had voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 landslide, and only the second time since 1948. Clinton's win in this state reflected the change in its status from reliably Republican to decisively Democratic. California maintains the largest number of electoral votes in the Electoral College.


1992 United States presidential election in California
It was the first occasion that San Diego County had voted for a Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, and the last time that any of the following counties have given a plurality to the Democratic nominee: Del Norte, Siskiyou, Tehama, Plumas, Tuolumne and Mariposa. Ross Perot gained a plurality in Trinity County, the only time a third-party candidate has carried any county in the state since Progressive Party candidate Robert La Follette Sr. in 1924.


1992 United States presidential election in California
California had been voting increasingly Democratic despite Ronald Reagan’s decisive wins in his home state during the 1980 and 1984 elections. Changing demographics may have played a part in Michael Dukakis only narrowly falling short of winning California in 1988. The early 1990s recession was blamed on George H. W. Bush, causing a rise in unemployment in construction and real estate. This ultimately gave Bill Clinton a double digit victory in California, despite Bush’s victory just four years earlier.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
The 1992 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
Colorado was won by the Democratic nominees, Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas and his running mate Senator Al Gore of Tennessee. Clinton and Gore defeated the Republican nominees, incumbent President George H. W. Bush of Texas and Vice President  Dan Quayle of Indiana. Independent businessman Ross Perot of Texas, and his running mate Navy Vice Admiral James Stockdale, finished in a relatively strong third in the state.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
Clinton received 40.13% of the vote to Bush's 35.87%, a Democratic victory margin of 4.26 points.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
Ross Perot performed exceptionally well for a third party candidate in the state, receiving 23.32% of the vote in Colorado, exceeding his nationwide 18.91% vote share. Perot bested Clinton or Bush for second place in 19 out of Colorado’s 64 Counties and also won pluralities of the vote in Moffat County and San Juan County, the state providing Perot two county victories out of only fifteen county equivalents which Perot won nationwide.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
Clinton's victory marked the first time since the nationwide Democratic landslide of 1964 that Colorado had voted Democratic. Clinton won Clear Creek, Eagle, Gunnison, Routt, and Summit Counties for the Democrats for the first time since 1964; they have all gone on to vote Democratic in every subsequent election as of 2020, save in 2000, when many of them gave plurality wins to George W. Bush (in what was also the last election, as of 2020, that Colorado has voted Republican by more than 5%). Clinton also won the city of Denver by more than 30%, a larger margin than any nominee had won it by since 1964, and won Boulder County, a then-traditionally Republican county that Dukakis had won by 8.5%, by 24.3%.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
These improvements lay the groundwork for Colorado's increasingly competitive status from 2004 on, and increasingly established status as a blue state from 2016 on. For the time being, however, Colorado remained a lean-red state, with George H. W. Bush retaining the large Denver suburban counties of Jefferson and Arapahoe, albeit narrowly. In 1996, Dole would improve on George H. W. Bush's margins in these two counties, and would also take back Larimer County, helping him narrowly carry the state despite losing nationally by 8.5%.


1992 United States presidential election in Colorado
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Moffat County did not support the Republican candidate  and the only election since 1944 in which Colorado did not support the same candidate as Virginia.


1992 United States presidential election in Connecticut
The 1992 United States presidential election in Connecticut took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1992 United States presidential election in Connecticut
Connecticut was won by Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 42.21% of the popular vote over incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 35.78%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 21.58% of the popular vote. Clinton won Connecticut by a margin of 6.43%. This would be the last time Connecticut was a swing state, voting within 2% of the national margin. From 1996, it would become a Democratic stronghold as it has voted Democratic by double digits margins in every election since. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush. Clinton also became the first Democratic presidential candidate since Hubert Humphrey in 1968 to win the state. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Fairfield County voted for the Republican candidate.