The 1992 Republican Party presidential primaries were the presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party, which took place in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., between February 18 to June 9, 1992, in which voters selected 2,277 delegates sent to the Republican National Convention, held in Houston, Texas, between August 17 and August 20, 1992. At the convention, Republican delegates nominated George H. W. Bush, the incumbent U.S. president, as the Republican Party's presidential nominee, and Dan Quayle, the incumbent vice president, as his vice presidential running mate.
February 18 to June 9, 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2,209 delegates to the Republican National Convention 1,105 (majority) votes needed to win | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gold denotes a state won by George H. W. Bush. Grey denotes a state or territory that did not hold a primary/caucus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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In the presidential election held November 3, 1992, Bush and Quayle were defeated by Democrat presidential nominee Bill Clinton and Al Gore, his vice presidential running mate.
Primary race overview
Although he briefly weighed forgoing a second term, President George H. W. Bush ultimately sought re-election and entered the 1992 Republican primaries as the incumbent frontrunner.
Bush was challenged for the Republican nomination by Pat Buchanan, a conservative author, commentator, and aides of Presidents Nixon, and Reagan. During early counting in the New Hampshire primary, it appeared that the president might actually lose. However, Buchanan faded by the end of the evening, and Bush won the rest of the primaries. Bush's margins in many of the primaries were not as large as expected, and helped lead to the rise of Ross Perot as an independent candidate.
Republican Louisiana State Representative and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke also ran in a number of primaries, but he did not receive any delegates. Former Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota also made a quixotic bid for support in the Minnesota primary, winning enough votes to entitle him to one delegate, but was later denied his single vote by machinations at the Minnesota Republican Party's 1992 state convention.
New Hampshire primary
As Buchanan's candidacy relied heavily on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary, President Bush made New Hampshire a focal point in his reelection bid. However, New Hampshire still remained a pivotal base for Buchanan's primary campaign.
Because Bush was widely perceived to have broken his "read my lips" pledge, Buchanan found support in the economically battered and conservative state of New Hampshire. Making Bush's tax-hikes a central theme of his campaign, Buchanan enjoyed healthy grass-roots support despite lagging behind the president in pre-primary polling.
Bush countered the threat posed by Buchanan by touring New Hampshire himself. He memorably told an audience at an Exeter town hall: "Message: I care". Some sources claim that this was the result of Bush mistakenly reading a cue card aloud.
On primary night, President Bush carried New Hampshire with 53% of the vote. Buchanan finished second with 38% of the vote.
The rest of the race
Despite many in the Bush campaign attempting to push Buchanan out of the race, the strong showing made the Buchanan campaign hope for an outpouring of campaign contributions which galvanized the campaign into making efforts to pull out strong showings such as in the Georgia primary.
Despite an impressive showing, Buchanan's campaign never attracted serious opposition to President Bush in most contests. Most of Buchanan's "victories" were larger-than-expected showings that were still considered landslide Bush wins by most of the media. Still, the fact that Buchanan received more than two million votes nationwide prognosticated trouble for Bush in the general election.
Candidates
Nominee
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home State | Campaign Withdrawal date | Popular vote | Contests won | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Bush | President of the United States (1989–1993) | Texas | (Campaign) Secured nomination: May 5, 1992 | 9,199,463 (72.84%) | 51 | Dan Quayle | |||
Other candidates
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home State | Campaign Withdrawal date | Popular vote | Contests won | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Buchanan | White House Communications Director (1985–1987) | Virginia | (Campaign) | 2,899,488 (22.96%) | N/A | ||
| David Duke | Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1989–1992) | Louisiana | (Campaign) | 119,115 (0.94%) | N/A | ||
| Pat Paulsen | Comedian | California | 10,984 (0.09%) | N/A | |||
| Harold Stassen | Director of the United States Foreign Operations Administration (1953–1955) | Minnesota | 8,099 (0.06%) | N/A | |||
| Jack Fellure | Former Engineer and Perennial Candidate | West Virginia | 6,296 (0.05%) | N/A | |||
Campaign finance
| Candidate | Campaign committee | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raised | Total contrib. | Ind. contrib. | Pres. pub. funds | Spent | ||||
| George H. W. Bush | $104,974,415.00 | $31,802,276.00 | $31,711,102.00 | $65,898,513.00 | $107,637,852.00 | |||
| Pat Buchanan | $14,933,082.00 | $7,232,943.00 | $7,206,793.00 | $5,351,770.00 | $14,591,679.00 | |||
| David Duke | $372,146.00 | $221,854.00 | $221,945.00 | $0.00 | $457,449.00 | |||
| Jack Fellure | $46,748.00 | $1,260.00 | $1,425.00 | $0.00 | $47,559.00 | |||
Declined
- Former Governor Pete du Pont of Delaware
Results
Source
| Date (daily totals) | Total pledged delegates | Contest | Delegates won and popular vote | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George H. W. Bush | Pat Buchanan | Others | ||||
| February 10 | 0 | Iowa caucus | Cancelled. | |||
| February 18 | 23 | New Hampshire primary | 14 92,271 (53.2%) | 9 65,106 (37.5%) | 3,779 (2.3%) | |
| February 19 | 22 | South Dakota primary | 14 30,964 (69.3%) | — | 5 13,707 (30.68%) | |
| March 3 (131) | 37 | Colorado primary | 26 132,049 (68.2%) | 11 58,730 (30.3%) | 2,957 (1.53%) | |
| 42 | Maryland primary | 42 168,898 (69.9%) | 72,701 (30.1%) | — | ||
| 52 | Georgia primary | 52 291,905 (64.3%) | 162,085 (35.7%) | — | ||
| March 7 | 36 | South Carolina primary | 36 99,558 (66.9%) | 38,247 (25.7%) | 11,035 (7.41%) | |
| March 10 (Super Tuesday) (441) | 99 | Florida primary | 67 607,522 (68.1%) | 32 285,074 (31.9%) | – | |
| 41 | Louisiana primary | 25 83,747 (62.0%) | 11 36,526 (27.0%) | 5 14,841 | ||
| 40 | Massachusetts primary | 28 176,868 (65.6%) | 12 74,797 (27.7%) | 24,182 | ||
| 34 | Mississippi primary | 25 111,794 (72.3%) | 6 25,891 (16.7%) | 4 17,023 (10.6%) | ||
| 38 | Oklahoma primary | 27 151,612 (69.6%) | 11 57,933 (26.6%) | 8,176 (2.6%) | ||
| 16 | Rhode Island primary | 11 9,853 (63.0%) | 5 4,967 (31.8%) | 816 (4.9%) | ||
| 49 | Tennessee primary | 38 178,216 (72.5%) | 11 54,585 (22.2%) | 12,849 (5.2%) | ||
| 124 | Texas primary | 92 556,280 (69.8%) | 32 190,572 (23.9%) | 50,294 (6.0%) | ||
| March 17 (162) | 88 | Illinois primary | 68 556,280 (76.4%) | 20 186,915 (22.5%) | 9,637 (1.2%) | |
| 74 | Michigan primary | 54 301,948 (67.2%) | 20 112,122 (25.0%) | 35,063 (7.7%) | ||
| March 24 | 38 | Connecticut primary | 29 66,356 (66.7%) | 9 21,815 (22.0%) | 11,475 (11.4%) | |
| April 5 | 20 | Puerto Rico primary | 20 260,200 | 1,031 | 2,104 | |
| April 7 (205) | 31 | Kansas primary | 21 132,131 (62.0%) | 5 32,494 (14.8%) | 49,571 (20.8%) | |
| 34 | Minnesota primary | 25 84,841 (63.9%) | 9 32,094 (24.2%) | 15,821 (8.8%) | ||
| 103 | New York [?] | 103 | – | – | ||
| 37 | Wisconsin primary | 30 364,507 (75.6%) | 7 78,516 (16.3%) | 39,225 (5.3%) | ||
| April 28 | 92 | Pennsylvania primary | 71 774,865 (76.7%) | 21 233,912 (23.2%) | — | |
| May 5 (144) | 13 | District of Columbia primary | 11 4,265 (81.5%) | 2 970 (18.5%) | – | |
| 20 | Delaware caucus | 20 | — | — | ||
| 52 | Indiana primary | 42 374,666 (80.1%) | 10 92,949 (19.9%) | — | ||
| 59 | North Carolina primary | 46 200,387 (70.7%) | 13 55,420 (19.5%) | 27,764 (9.8%) | ||
| May 10 | 20 | Montana primary | 14 65,176 (71.6%) | 2 10,701 (11.8%) | 3 15,098 (16.6%) | |
| May 12 (46) | 27 | Nebraska primary | 23 156,346 (81.4%) | 4 25,847 (13.5%) | 9,905 (1.5%) | |
| 19 | West Virginia primary | 16 99,994 (80.5%) | 3 18,067 (14.6%) | 6,096 (4.9%) | ||
| May 19 (62) | 25 | Oregon primary | 17 203,957 | 5 57,730 | 3 42,472 | |
| 37 | Washington primary | 25 86,839 (67.0%) | 4 13,273 (10.2%) | 8 29,543 (20.8%) | ||
| May 26 (92) | 31 | Arkansas primary | 27 45,590 (83.1%) | 4 6,551 (11.9%) | 2,742 (5.0%) | |
| 23 | Idaho primary | 15 73,297 (63.5%) | 3 15,167 (13.1%) | 5 27,038 (23.4%) | ||
| 38 | Kentucky primary | 28 75,371 (74.5%) | — | 10 25,748 (25.5%) | ||
| June 2 (439) | 41 | Alabama primary | 33 122,703 (74.3%) | 12,588 (7.6%) | 8 29,830 (18.1%) | |
| 203 | California primary | 149 1,587,369 (73.6%) | 54 568,892 (26.4%) | — | ||
| 63 | New Jersey primary | 53 240,535 (77.5%) | 10 46,432 (15.0%) | (7.5%) | ||
| 27 | New Mexico primary | 19 55,522 (63.8%) | 7,871 (9.1%) | 8 23,574 (27.1%) | ||
| 20 | North Dakota primary | 17 39,863 (83.4%) | — | 3 7,945 (16.6%) | ||
| 85 | Ohio primary | 71 716,766 | 14 143,687 | — | ||
| Total | 1,973 | 1,544 9,199,463 (72.8%) | 367 2,899,488 (23.0%) | 62 497,650 (4.2%) | 12,596,601 | |
Nationwide
Popular vote result:
- George H. W. Bush (inc.) - 9,199,463 (72.84%)
- Pat Buchanan - 2,899,488 (22.96%)
- Unpledged delegates - 287,383 (2.28%)
- David Duke - 119,115 (0.94%)
- Ross Perot - 56,136 (0.44%)
- Pat Paulsen - 10,984 (0.09%)
- Maurice Horton - 9,637 (0.08%)
- Harold Stassen - 8,099 (0.06%)
- Jack Fellure - 6,296 (0.05%)
Endorsements
George H.W. Bush
- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States (1981–1989)
Pat Buchanan
- Brendan Eich, computer programmer and co-founder/CEO of Mozilla
See also
- 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- George H. W. Bush 1992 presidential campaign
- Supermarket scanner moment
- David Duke 1992 presidential campaign
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