1992 United States presidential election in Maine

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

Maine was won by Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 38.77% of the popular vote over businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) with 30.44%. Incumbent president George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) finished in third, close behind Perot, with 30.39% of the popular vote.^[1] Despite the Bush family having ties to Maine, with Bush owning a house in Kennebunkport, Maine, Perot beat Bush for second place in the state by a slim margin of 316 votes, making Maine one of two states where Perot finished better than third place, the other being Utah,^[2] though Maine was the only state of the two where Perot won any counties. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating both incumbent President Bush and Perot.^[3] Perot's 30.44% would prove Maine as his strongest state in the 1992 election.^[4] Ross Perot came within 4.55% of winning an electoral vote in Maine’s second congressional district, the closest he came to winning an electoral vote. In Maine's first congressional district, Bush finished in second place, with the 8.11% margin being the closest Bush would come in 1992 to winning an electoral vote in New England after New Hampshire and Connecticut.

Clinton was the first Democrat to carry the state of Maine since 1968 when Hubert Humphrey, running with Maine Senator Edmund Muskie as vice-presidential candidate, did so.^[5] Maine has not voted Republican in any subsequent presidential elections, though Donald Trump would win a single electoral vote from Maine's 2nd district in 2016 and 2020.

As of 2020, this is the last time that a sitting president finished third in a state or (along with Utah) that a non-major party candidate would come in second or better.

Results

1992 United States presidential election in Maine^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Bill Clinton	263,420	38.77%	4
	Independent	Ross Perot	206,820	30.44%	0
	Republican	George H. W. Bush (incumbent)	206,504	30.39%	0
	Libertarian	Andre Marrou	1,681	0.25%	0
	New Alliance	Lenora Fulani	519	0.08%	0
	U.S. Taxpayers'	Howard Phillips	464	0.07%	0
	Write-ins		91	0.01%	0
Totals			679,499	100.0%	4
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					72%/70%

Results by county

County	Bill Clinton^[6] Democratic		Ross Perot^[6] Independent		George H.W. Bush^[6] Republican		Andre Marrou^[6] Libertarian		Various candidates^[6] Other parties		Margin^[a]		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Androscoggin	22,247	40.34%	18,518	33.58%	14,174	25.70%	114	0.21%	91	0.17%	3,729	6.76%	55,144
Aroostook	15,682	40.64%	10,376	26.89%	12,409	32.16%	46	0.12%	72	0.19%	3,273^[b]	8.48%	38,585
Cumberland	60,781	42.95%	34,443	24.34%	45,752	32.33%	373	0.26%	173	0.12%	15,029^[b]	10.62%	141,522
Franklin	6,739	40.79%	5,115	30.96%	4,608	27.89%	37	0.22%	24	0.15%	1,624	9.83%	16,523
Hancock	10,126	35.15%	9,865	34.25%	8,657	30.05%	75	0.26%	82	0.28%	261	0.90%	28,805
Kennebec	25,125	39.31%	21,436	33.54%	17,135	26.81%	126	0.20%	99	0.15%	3,689	5.77%	63,921
Knox	7,631	37.52%	6,303	30.99%	6,310	31.03%	62	0.30%	32	0.16%	1,321^[b]	6.49%	20,338
Lincoln	6,714	35.27%	5,808	30.51%	6,405	33.65%	78	0.49%	31	0.19%	309^[b]	1.62%	19,036
Oxford	11,202	38.16%	9,815	33.43%	8,194	27.91%	89	0.30%	56	0.19%	1,387	4.73%	29,356
Penobscot	29,485	36.65%	26,437	32.86%	24,218	30.11%	175	0.22%	129	0.16%	3,048	3.79%	80,444
Piscataquis	3,323	33.13%	3,688	36.77%	2,970	29.61%	38	0.38%	12	0.12%	-365	-3.64%	10,031
Sagadahoc	6,828	36.88%	5,705	30.82%	5,917	31.96%	41	0.22%	22	0.12%	911^[b]	4.92%	18,513
Somerset	9,274	35.10%	10,293	38.95%	6,780	25.66%	45	0.17%	32	0.12%	-1,019	-3.85%	26,424
Waldo	6,472	34.93%	6,702	36.17%	5,241	28.29%	77	0.42%	37	0.20%	-230	-1.24%	18,529
Washington	6,284	35.37%	5,894	33.18%	5,493	30.92%	60	0.34%	34	0.19%	390	2.19%	17,765
York	35,507	37.55%	26,422	27.94%	32,241	34.09%	245	0.26%	148	0.16%	3,266^[b]	3.46%	94,563
Totals	263,420	38.77%	206,820	30.44%	206,504	30.39%	1,681	0.25%	1,074	0.16%	56,600	8.33%	679,499

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Republican to Independent

Notes

^ Because Perot finished ahead of Bush in Maine as a whole, all margins given are Clinton minus Perot unless stated in the total for the county in question.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f In this county where Bush did run second ahead of Perot, the margin given is that between Clinton and Bush.