What was initially viewed as an easy win for the incumbent, George H. W. Bush, turned out quite differently. His famous quip was used effectively by his primary challenger Pat Buchannon and later by Governor Bill Clinton. One of the first indicators of Bush's re-election challenge was a poll showing him losing to Texas billionaire Ross Perot in May.
Federal Elections
Presidential election
Bush had alienated many of the conservatives in his party by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, but he fended off a primary challenge from conservative commentator Pat Buchanan. Bush's popularity after his success in the Gulf War dissuaded high-profile Democratic candidates like Mario Cuomo from entering the 1992 Democratic primaries. Clinton, a leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, established himself as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination by sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries. He defeated former & future Governor of CaliforniaJerry Brown, former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, and other candidates to win his party's nomination, and chose Senator Al Gore as his running mate. Billionaire Ross Perot launched an independent campaign, emphasizing his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his plan to reduce the national debt. The economy was in recession and Bush's greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the Gulf War. Perot led in several polls taken in June 1992, but severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July. The Bush campaign criticized Clinton's character and emphasized Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy. Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote, breaking a streak of three straight Republican victories. Clinton swept the Northeastern United States, marking the start of Democratic dominance in the region in presidential elections, while also performing well in the Midwest and the West. Along with Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, Bush is one of three incumbent presidents since World War II to be defeated in the general election. Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote, the highest share of the vote won by a candidate outside of the two major parties since 1912. Although he failed to win any electoral votes, Perot found support in every state, and Clinton's home state of Arkansas was the lone state to give a majority of its vote to any candidate.
Senate Elections
The 34 Seats in the Senate Class III were up for election. Democratic victories over Republicans John F. Seymour and Bob Kasten were cancelled out by the defeats of Democrats Wyche Fowler and Terry Sanford. The election of four new Democratic women to the Senate was notable. California became the first state to have elected women to occupy both of its Senate seats due to the victories of Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, became the first African-American woman in the United States Senate.
House Elections
Though they won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of five percentage points, Democrats lost a net of nine seats in the House to the Republicans, in part due to redistricting following the 1990 Census. The redrawn districts were notable for the increase in majority-minority districts, drawn as mandated by the Voting Rights Act. While the redistricting after the 1980 Census had resulted in 17 majority-black districts and 10 majority-Hispanic districts, 32 and 19 such districts, respectively, were drawn after the 1990 Census.
State Elections
Democrats and Republicans each defended gubernatorial positions in six states in 1992. Democrats won a net gain of two gubernatorial seats in the 1992 elections.
