Minnesota was won by Vice PresidentAl Gore by a 2.39% margin of victory, a much weaker performance than President Bill Clinton had in 1996, when he carried the state with 51% of the vote and a 16% margin of victory. Despite winning the state, Gore lost most of the counties and congressional districts in the state. However, Gore won highly populated counties such as Hennepin County, Ramsey County, and St. Louis County by safe margins. In terms of congressional districts, Gore won three districts including the urban 4th and 5th and won the 8th district with less than fifty percent of the vote. Bush overall dominated the rural areas, located in the western and southern parts of the state, and became the first Republican presidential nominee to win Red Lake County since Warren G. Harding in 1920.[2] Nonetheless, he became the first ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Fillmore County. No Republican has won the state since Richard Nixon in 1972, a Democratic streak longer than any other state.[3]
Gore carried the state by a fairly close margin, largely on the strength of his performance in the Twin Cities metro. As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which Cook County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[4]