News

Log Cabin Turnout Report: More than One Million Gays Voted for Bush

With Election Not Yet Determined, Bush-Cheney Captures 25% of Gay Vote

November 8, 2000

(WASHINGTON, DC) – In what may have been the closest presidential election in U.S. history, the Republican presidential nominee, Governor George W. Bush of Texas, captured more than one million votes from self identified "gay, lesbian or bisexual" Americans, according to exit polling published by several news networks.

Both CNN and ABC News reported that the gay vote made up 4% of the national total, with the Republican nominee capturing 25% of the gay vote, compared with 70% for Democrat Al Gore and 4% for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. The exit polls did not report a state-by-state breakdown of the result.

The national exit polls contrast sharply with a widely reported national poll conducted by the Washington Blade in October, which predicted Gore would win 80% of the gay vote, Nader would take 11%, and Bush would capture 2%. The Blade poll also predicted the gay vote would be 3.7% of the total.

"We worked hard to turn out the gay and lesbian Republican vote across the country, and the final result clearly shows we succeeded despite dramatic predictions to the contrary," said Kevin Ivers, director of public affairs for Log Cabin Republicans. "It is a positive development for our movement and for our Party, and we will continue to work hard on behalf of over one million gay and lesbian Americans who share our vision, and we will represent them in the Republican Congress and in what may be a Republican White House for the next four years."