1992 United States elections
Elections were held in 1992, to elect state governors, the president of the United States, and members of the 103rd United States Congress. The elections took place after the Soviet Union crumbled and the Cold War ended, as well as the redistricting that resulted from the 1990 census. Often considered "The Year Of The Woman," these elections brought an increased number of female politicians to Washington such as Dianne Feinstein and Carol Moseley Braun. Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent president George H. W. Bush and businessman Ross Perot in the presidential election. The Democratic Party maintained their control of both chambers of Congress. This is the first Democratic trifecta since the Republican victory in the 1980 elections, the last one in the 20th century, and the last one overall until 2008.
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 [1992 Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party presidential primaries|defeated] former California governor Jerry Brown and former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas to take the Democratic nomination. Bush [1992 Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party presidential primaries|defeated] a primary challenge from commentator, and former Reagan White House Director of Communications Pat Buchanan to earn re-nomination as the Republican candidate.
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.
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.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. He defeated former and 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.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.
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. 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.