1992 United States presidential election in Iowa

1992 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses
NH →
Democratic National Convention delegates; The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the number of state delegate equivalents (SDEs) won

1992 United States presidential election in Iowa
Clinton 30-40% 40-50% 50-60%	Bush 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 70-80%
President before election; George H. W. Bush; Republican	Elected President ; Bill Clinton; Democratic

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

Iowa was won by Democratic governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas with 43.29% of the popular vote over incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush's 37.27%, a victory margin of 6.01%. Independent businessman Ross Perot finished in third, with 18.71% of the popular vote.^[1] Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent president Bush and Perot.^[2] Iowa was the only state which swung more Republican than it had been in 1988.

Democratic caucuses

In the presidential caucuses most candidates for the Democratic nomination did not campaign in Iowa because of the presence of Tom Harkin, a longtime U.S. senator representing Iowa.^[3]

Harkin was running for president in 1992 as a populist with labor union support who criticized George H. W. Bush for being out of touch with working class Americans.^[4] Harkin was an early favorite in a small field of five candidates.^{[citation needed]} Harkin easily won the caucus with 76% of the vote, uncommitted got second place with 11%, Senator Paul Tsongas came in third, with 4%, and Governor Bill Clinton finished fourth, with 2%.

Voter turnout in the caucuses fell from over 120,000 in the 1988 caucus to less than 40,000. Voter turnout would later increase to around 120,000 for the 2000 caucuses.^[5] As the race was not contested, these results had little effect on the remaining primaries, and the New Hampshire primary took on added importance.^[3]

Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus Results – 1992^[6]
Party		Candidate	State delegate equivalents	Percentage	Delegates
	Democratic	Tom Harkin	2,314	77.24%	26
	Democratic	Uncommitted	355	11.85%	15
	Democratic	Paul Tsongas	128	4.27%	0
	Democratic	Bill Clinton	76	2.54%	7
	Democratic	Robert Kerrey	72	2.40%	0
	Democratic	Jerry Brown	51	1.70%	1

Tom Harkin won every county by large margins. The delegate totals reflect their final distribution, not their projected allocation immediately following the caucus.

Results

1992 United States presidential election in Iowa^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Bill Clinton	586,353	43.29%	7
	Republican	George H. W. Bush (incumbent)	504,891	37.27%	0
	Independent	Ross Perot	253,468	18.71%	0
	Natural Law	Dr. John Hagelin	3,079	0.23%	0
	Write-ins		2,102	0.13%	0
	America First	James "Bo" Gritz	1,177	0.09%	0
	Libertarian	Andre Marrou	1,076	0.08%	0
	Grassroots	Jack Herer	669	0.05%	0
	Independent	John Yiamouyiannis	604	0.04%	0
	Taxpayers’	Howard Phillips	480	0.04%	0
	Socialist Workers Party	James Warren	273	0.02%	0
	Democrats for Economic Recovery	Lyndon LaRouche	238	0.02%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	197	0.01%	0
Totals			1,354,607	100.0%	7
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					65%/80%

Results by county

County	Bill Clinton^[7] Democratic		George H.W. Bush^[7] Republican		Ross Perot^[7] Independent		John Hagelin^[7] Natural Law		Various candidates^[7] Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Adair	1,655	39.46%	1,713	40.84%	814	19.41%	1	0.02%	11	0.26%	-58	-1.38%	4,194
Adams	1,034	39.83%	863	33.24%	679	26.16%	2	0.08%	18	0.69%	171	6.59%	2,596
Allamakee	2,362	35.36%	2,627	39.33%	1,543	23.10%	4	0.06%	143	2.14%	-265	-3.97%	6,679
Appanoose	2,810	44.09%	2,346	36.81%	1,161	18.22%	6	0.09%	50	0.78%	464	7.28%	6,373
Audubon	1,589	41.03%	1,373	35.45%	887	22.90%	7	0.18%	17	0.44%	216	5.58%	3,873
Benton	4,467	42.79%	3,469	33.23%	2,454	23.51%	8	0.08%	41	0.39%	998	9.56%	10,439
Black Hawk	29,584	48.06%	21,398	34.77%	10,182	16.54%	64	0.10%	322	0.52%	8,186	13.29%	61,550
Boone	5,913	48.39%	4,148	33.95%	2,070	16.94%	12	0.10%	76	0.62%	1,765	14.44%	12,219
Bremer	4,774	40.75%	4,482	38.26%	2,338	19.96%	7	0.06%	113	0.96%	292	2.49%	11,714
Buchanan	4,166	43.15%	3,313	34.32%	2,126	22.02%	6	0.06%	43	0.45%	853	8.83%	9,654
Buena Vista	3,374	36.45%	3,863	41.73%	1,955	21.12%	13	0.14%	52	0.56%	-489	-5.28%	9,257
Butler	2,548	35.70%	3,209	44.96%	1,333	18.68%	10	0.14%	37	0.52%	-661	-9.26%	7,137
Calhoun	2,140	40.58%	2,169	41.13%	946	17.94%	5	0.09%	14	0.27%	-29	-0.55%	5,274
Carroll	3,800	40.11%	3,439	36.30%	2,192	23.13%	3	0.03%	41	0.43%	361	3.81%	9,475
Cass	2,231	31.61%	3,176	45.00%	1,608	22.78%	3	0.04%	40	0.57%	-945	-13.39%	7,058
Cedar	3,296	40.00%	2,965	35.98%	1,945	23.60%	10	0.12%	24	0.29%	331	4.02%	8,240
Cerro Gordo	11,415	46.99%	8,250	33.96%	4,498	18.52%	24	0.10%	106	0.44%	3,165	13.03%	24,293
Cherokee	2,590	37.57%	2,768	40.16%	1,503	21.80%	5	0.07%	27	0.39%	-178	-2.59%	6,893
Chickasaw	2,913	43.87%	2,129	32.06%	1,566	23.58%	2	0.03%	30	0.45%	784	11.81%	6,640
Clarke	1,921	45.09%	1,417	33.26%	899	21.10%	9	0.21%	14	0.33%	504	11.83%	4,260
Clay	3,346	39.93%	3,011	35.93%	1,964	23.44%	6	0.07%	53	0.63%	335	4.00%	8,380
Clayton	3,742	40.72%	3,044	33.12%	2,309	25.13%	13	0.14%	82	0.89%	698	7.60%	9,190
Clinton	11,683	46.81%	8,746	35.04%	4,414	17.68%	13	0.05%	104	0.42%	2,937	11.77%	24,960
Crawford	3,004	39.16%	2,693	35.10%	1,905	24.83%	5	0.07%	65	0.85%	311	4.06%	7,672
Dallas	6,554	44.10%	5,587	37.60%	2,665	17.93%	10	0.07%	45	0.30%	967	6.50%	14,861
Davis	1,962	48.55%	1,344	33.26%	718	17.77%	3	0.07%	14	0.35%	618	15.29%	4,041
Decatur	1,866	46.81%	1,316	33.02%	786	19.72%	1	0.03%	17	0.43%	550	13.79%	3,986
Delaware	3,093	36.42%	3,195	37.62%	2,144	25.25%	12	0.14%	48	0.57%	-102	-1.20%	8,492
Des Moines	11,309	53.37%	6,378	30.10%	3,386	15.98%	17	0.08%	100	0.47%	4,931	23.27%	21,190
Dickinson	3,106	37.40%	3,196	38.48%	1,974	23.77%	3	0.04%	26	0.31%	-90	-1.08%	8,305
Dubuque	20,539	47.80%	14,007	32.60%	8,208	19.10%	46	0.11%	168	0.39%	6,532	15.20%	42,968
Emmet	2,239	44.50%	1,749	34.76%	1,010	20.07%	9	0.18%	25	0.50%	490	9.74%	5,032
Fayette	4,412	40.62%	3,879	35.71%	2,493	22.95%	10	0.09%	67	0.62%	533	4.91%	10,861
Floyd	3,688	47.59%	2,404	31.02%	1,611	20.79%	6	0.08%	41	0.53%	1,284	16.57%	7,750
Franklin	2,049	38.91%	2,137	40.58%	1,045	19.84%	2	0.04%	33	0.63%	-88	-1.67%	5,266
Fremont	1,422	36.36%	1,459	37.31%	1,003	25.65%	7	0.18%	20	0.51%	-37	-0.95%	3,911
Greene	2,422	45.25%	1,952	36.47%	956	17.86%	1	0.02%	22	0.41%	470	8.78%	5,353
Grundy	1,895	30.78%	3,160	51.33%	1,069	17.37%	3	0.05%	29	0.47%	-1,265	-20.55%	6,156
Guthrie	2,234	40.97%	1,962	35.98%	1,216	22.30%	5	0.09%	36	0.66%	272	4.99%	5,453
Hamilton	3,262	42.47%	3,031	39.46%	1,348	17.55%	11	0.14%	29	0.38%	231	3.01%	7,681
Hancock	2,175	37.46%	2,428	41.82%	1,170	20.15%	6	0.10%	27	0.47%	-253	-4.36%	5,806
Hardin	3,792	42.23%	3,590	39.98%	1,547	17.23%	7	0.08%	43	0.48%	202	2.25%	8,979
Harrison	2,349	34.20%	2,763	40.23%	1,691	24.62%	6	0.09%	59	0.86%	-414	-6.03%	6,868
Henry	3,544	41.08%	3,435	39.81%	1,522	17.64%	34	0.39%	93	1.08%	109	1.27%	8,628
Howard	2,099	43.17%	1,516	31.18%	1,193	24.54%	3	0.06%	51	1.05%	583	11.99%	4,862
Humboldt	1,765	34.04%	2,299	44.34%	1,093	21.08%	3	0.06%	25	0.48%	-534	-10.30%	5,185
Ida	1,449	34.18%	1,714	40.43%	1,061	25.03%	1	0.02%	14	0.33%	-265	-6.25%	4,239
Iowa	2,560	36.76%	2,656	38.13%	1,709	24.54%	6	0.09%	34	0.49%	-96	-1.37%	6,965
Jackson	4,421	47.52%	2,673	28.73%	2,096	22.53%	10	0.11%	103	1.11%	1,748	18.79%	9,303
Jasper	8,120	45.08%	6,866	38.12%	2,972	16.50%	12	0.07%	42	0.23%	1,254	6.96%	18,012
Jefferson	2,562	30.72%	2,541	30.46%	1,241	14.88%	1,899	22.77%	98	1.17%	21	0.26%	8,341
Johnson	28,656	55.35%	14,041	27.12%	8,625	16.66%	69	0.13%	383	0.74%	14,615	28.23%	51,774
Jones	3,508	39.42%	3,071	34.51%	2,306	25.91%	3	0.03%	12	0.13%	437	4.91%	8,900
Keokuk	2,329	41.76%	1,981	35.52%	1,238	22.20%	11	0.20%	18	0.32%	348	6.24%	5,577
Kossuth	3,660	40.40%	3,464	38.24%	1,906	21.04%	6	0.07%	23	0.25%	196	2.16%	9,059
Lee	9,366	54.61%	4,777	27.85%	2,920	17.02%	11	0.06%	78	0.45%	4,589	26.76%	17,152
Linn	38,567	43.39%	30,215	33.99%	19,643	22.10%	101	0.11%	359	0.40%	8,352	9.40%	88,885
Louisa	2,091	43.17%	1,691	34.91%	1,044	21.55%	2	0.04%	16	0.33%	400	8.26%	4,844
Lucas	2,072	44.33%	1,734	37.10%	848	18.14%	4	0.09%	16	0.34%	338	7.23%	4,674
Lyon	1,331	23.24%	3,272	57.14%	1,068	18.65%	2	0.03%	53	0.93%	-1,941	-33.90%	5,726
Madison	2,525	41.06%	2,421	39.37%	1,168	18.99%	6	0.10%	29	0.47%	104	1.69%	6,149
Mahaska	3,714	36.24%	4,953	48.34%	1,508	14.72%	8	0.08%	64	0.62%	-1,239	-12.10%	10,247
Marion	5,531	40.87%	6,062	44.79%	1,896	14.01%	6	0.04%	38	0.28%	-531	-3.92%	13,533
Marshall	8,303	45.40%	6,784	37.09%	3,100	16.95%	17	0.09%	85	0.46%	1,519	8.31%	18,289
Mills	1,798	29.16%	2,699	43.77%	1,638	26.57%	3	0.05%	28	0.45%	-901	-14.61%	6,166
Mitchell	2,177	40.71%	1,933	36.15%	1,199	22.42%	4	0.07%	34	0.64%	244	4.56%	5,347
Monona	1,939	39.99%	1,660	34.23%	1,231	25.39%	1	0.02%	18	0.37%	279	5.76%	4,849
Monroe	1,829	48.36%	1,323	34.98%	612	16.18%	4	0.11%	14	0.37%	506	13.38%	3,782
Montgomery	1,599	29.78%	2,404	44.78%	1,341	24.98%	7	0.13%	18	0.34%	-805	-15.00%	5,369
Muscatine	7,089	42.04%	6,087	36.09%	3,583	21.25%	15	0.09%	90	0.53%	1,002	5.95%	16,864
O'Brien	2,122	28.00%	3,869	51.06%	1,557	20.55%	4	0.05%	26	0.34%	-1,747	-23.06%	7,578
Osceola	990	27.50%	1,756	48.78%	813	22.58%	2	0.06%	39	1.08%	-766	-21.28%	3,600
Page	1,951	26.69%	3,670	50.21%	1,669	22.83%	7	0.10%	13	0.18%	-1,719	-23.52%	7,310
Palo Alto	2,374	44.13%	1,789	33.26%	1,186	22.05%	4	0.07%	26	0.48%	585	10.87%	5,379
Plymouth	3,171	30.25%	5,196	49.56%	2,039	19.45%	8	0.08%	70	0.67%	-2,025	-19.31%	10,484
Pocahontas	1,919	41.10%	1,743	37.33%	942	20.18%	13	0.28%	52	1.11%	176	3.77%	4,669
Polk	78,585	46.98%	63,708	38.09%	24,155	14.44%	94	0.06%	716	0.43%	14,877	8.89%	167,258
Pottawattamie	13,228	35.64%	15,671	42.22%	8,035	21.65%	44	0.12%	137	0.37%	-2,443	-6.58%	37,115
Poweshiek	4,056	44.83%	3,245	35.87%	1,680	18.57%	10	0.11%	56	0.62%	811	8.96%	9,047
Ringgold	1,341	46.74%	967	33.71%	551	19.21%	3	0.10%	7	0.24%	374	13.03%	2,869
Sac	1,896	36.36%	2,138	41.00%	1,157	22.19%	5	0.10%	19	0.36%	-242	-4.64%	5,215
Scott	33,765	45.22%	28,844	38.63%	11,423	15.30%	80	0.11%	550	0.74%	4,921	6.59%	74,662
Shelby	2,094	32.00%	2,809	42.92%	1,614	24.66%	1	0.02%	26	0.40%	-715	-10.92%	6,544
Sioux	2,226	15.11%	10,637	72.21%	1,771	12.02%	5	0.03%	91	0.62%	-8,411	-57.10%	14,730
Story	17,118	47.14%	12,702	34.98%	6,275	17.28%	24	0.07%	192	0.53%	4,416	12.16%	36,311
Tama	3,573	42.89%	2,948	35.39%	1,748	20.98%	18	0.22%	43	0.52%	625	7.50%	8,330
Taylor	1,430	40.27%	1,200	33.79%	910	25.63%	2	0.06%	9	0.25%	230	6.48%	3,551
Union	2,565	42.04%	2,224	36.45%	1,280	20.98%	7	0.11%	26	0.43%	341	5.59%	6,102
Van Buren	1,464	39.46%	1,418	38.22%	811	21.86%	6	0.16%	11	0.30%	46	1.24%	3,710
Wapello	8,670	53.91%	4,852	30.17%	2,513	15.63%	12	0.07%	36	0.22%	3,818	23.74%	16,083
Warren	8,612	44.95%	7,242	37.80%	3,217	16.79%	12	0.06%	74	0.39%	1,370	7.15%	19,157
Washington	3,384	37.52%	3,576	39.65%	1,994	22.11%	15	0.17%	49	0.54%	-192	-2.13%	9,018
Wayne	1,632	45.54%	1,299	36.24%	642	17.91%	2	0.06%	9	0.25%	333	9.30%	3,584
Webster	8,562	45.25%	6,992	36.95%	3,272	17.29%	18	0.10%	77	0.41%	1,570	8.30%	18,921
Winnebago	2,322	38.20%	2,407	39.60%	1,329	21.87%	2	0.03%	18	0.30%	-85	-1.40%	6,078
Winneshiek	3,791	39.39%	3,331	34.61%	2,416	25.10%	5	0.05%	81	0.84%	460	4.78%	9,624
Woodbury	17,398	40.59%	18,148	42.34%	7,182	16.76%	19	0.04%	117	0.27%	-750	-1.75%	42,864
Worth	2,009	45.17%	1,382	31.07%	1,044	23.47%	3	0.07%	10	0.22%	627	14.10%	4,448
Wright	2,776	41.65%	2,708	40.63%	1,151	17.27%	6	0.09%	24	0.36%	68	1.02%	6,665
Totals	586,353	43.29%	504,891	37.27%	253,468	18.71%	3,079	0.23%	6,816	0.50%	81,462	6.02%	1,354,607

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Clinton won 4 of the 5 congressional districts, including three that elected Republicans.

District	Bush	Clinton	Representative
1st	34%	46%	Jim Leach
2nd	35%	44%	Jim Nussle
3rd	36%	45%	Jim Ross Lightfoot
4th	39%	43%	Neal Smith
5th	42%	38%	Fred Grandy

Notes

^ The number of pledged national convention delegates is calculated through the number of SDEs won, however, a candidate must get both at least 15% of the total vote to get statewide delegates and at least 15% of the vote in a congressional district to get district delegates from that district. Each precinct has a certain number of SDEs and allocates them based on how many caucus goers there are for each candidate at that precinct.

References

^ ^a ^b "1992 Presidential General Election Results - Iowa". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
^ "1992 Presidential General Election Results". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Carville, James. "The Comeback Kid". Boston.com.
^ Miller, Judith: "Tom Harkin's Old-Time Religion", New York Times Magazine, February 9, 1992
^ Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.
^ Dave Leip's US Election Atlas
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "IA US President Race, November 03, 1992". Our Campigns.

[delegates-3] The number of pledged national convention delegates is calculated through the number of SDEs won, however, a candidate must get both at least 15% of the total vote to get statewide delegates and at least 15% of the vote in a congressional district to get district delegates from that district. Each precinct has a certain number of SDEs and allocates them based on how many caucus goers there are for each candidate at that precinct.

[results-1] "1992 Presidential General Election Results - Iowa". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

[2] "1992 Presidential General Election Results". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

[boston-4] Carville, James. "The Comeback Kid". Boston.com.

[5] Miller, Judith: "Tom Harkin's Old-Time Religion", New York Times Magazine, February 9, 1992

[6] Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.

[7] Dave Leip's US Election Atlas

[Our-8] "IA US President Race, November 03, 1992". Our Campigns.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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