Vermont was won by DemocraticVice PresidentAl Gore by 9.93 percentage points over RepublicanGovernor of TexasGeorge W. Bush, while third-party candidate Ralph Nader took nearly 7% of the vote (his second-best showing in the country by percentage).[1] Gore's win in Vermont marked the third consecutive victory for Democrats in Vermont, cementing the former Republican bastion's powerful shift towards the Democratic Party. This election marked the first time in history that a Republican won the presidency without carrying Vermont, as well as the first time that the Democratic Party carried the state with a majority of the vote for two elections in a row. This also marked the first time that Vermont would vote Democratic in a close presidential election, as well as the only time in history that the state has voted Democratic while neighboring New Hampshire has voted Republican.
As of the 2020 presidential election, this remains the last time that a Republican nominee has received more than 40% of the vote in Vermont, or that the margin of victory was in single digits. It also remains the last presidential election in which a Republican has carried Caledonia, Orange, or Orleans counties, or in fact any county other than bellwetherEssex. Bush became the first ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Bennington, Lamoille, Rutland, Washington, or Windsor Counties.
Vermont was one of ten states that backed George H. W. Bush for President in 1988 that didn't backed George W. Bush in either 2000 or 2004.