2000 Missouri gubernatorial election

The 2000 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2000 and resulted in a narrow victory for the Democratic nominee, State Treasurer of Missouri Bob Holden, over the Republican candidate, U.S. Representative Jim Talent, and several other candidates. Incumbent Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office.[a]

2000 Missouri gubernatorial election

← 1996 November 7, 2000 2004 →
 
Nominee Bob Holden Jim Talent
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,152,752 1,131,307
Percentage 49.12% 48.21%

County results
Holden:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Talent:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election

Roger B. Wilson
Democratic

Elected Governor

Bob Holden
Democratic

General election

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Candidates

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  • Bob Holden, Missouri Treasurer (Democratic)
  • Richard Kline (Reform)
  • Lavoy Reed (Green)
  • Larry Rice (Independent)
  • Richard Smith (Constitution)
  • John M. Swenson (Libertarian)
  • Jim Talent, U.S. Representative from Chesterfield (Republican)

Results

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2000 Missouri gubernatorial election[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Bob Holden 1,152,752 49.12   8.05
Republican Jim Talent 1,131,307 48.21   7.78
Independent Larry Rice 34,431 1.47 N/A
Libertarian John M. Swenson 11,274 0.48   1.92
Green Lavoy (Zaki Baruti) Reed 9,008 0.38 N/A
Reform Richard Kline 4,916 0.21 N/A
Constitution Richard L. Smith 3,142 0.13 N/A
Total votes 2,346,830 100.00 +0.07
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Aftermath

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Talent would later be elected in the 2002 Senate special election and defeated Mel Carnahan's widow Jean Carnahan to begin the rest of Mel Carnahan's unexpired Senate term. This was the first time since 1968 and last time until 2020 that the winner of the Missouri gubernatorial election did not come from the same party as the winner of the concurrent presidential race. This gubernatorial election was one of the closest in Missouri's history. Bob Holden did well, as expected, in St. Louis and Kansas City. Talent easily won most rural parts of the state. Holden did poorly in the St. Louis suburbs. However Holden's wins in the Democratic strongholds of St. Louis and Kansas City proved to be just enough to push him over the finish line. Because the election was decided by less than 1%, Talent could have requested a recount that his campaign would have to pay for since it was not below half a percent. However, most recounts never see a swing of more than 1,000 votes, and Talent was trailing by 21,445. Talent ultimately did not request a recount and conceded defeat on the late evening of November 14.

References

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  1. ^ "MO Governor Race - Nov 07, 2000". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Official Election Returns - November 7, 2000 General Election". Sos.mo.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  1. ^ Carnahan chose instead to challenge incumbent John Ashcroft in the concurrent election for United States Senate. However, he was killed in a plane crash on October 16, 2000, while campaigning for Missouri's Class 1 Senate seat. Lieutenant Governor Roger B. Wilson succeeded to the office following Carnahan's death.