Pennsylvania was won by Vice PresidentAl Gore by a 4.17% margin of victory. However, voter enthusiasm for both candidates was generally low throughout the campaign. Gore failed to capture Clinton's appeal in strongly Democratic regions such as Pittsburgh and Scranton, and thus carried these areas by a smaller number than his predecessor. However, opposition to George W. Bush was particularly strong in the suburban counties of Philadelphia; although these areas at the time were typically Republican leaning, they featured a strong culturally liberal bent, and thus Bush was unable to appeal to voters. Bush support was particularly strong in rural, central Pennsylvania, where the Texas Governor appealed to Evangelical voters and where Gore's connection to gun control policies was strongly rejected. Marginal wins in both of the state's metropolitan areas helped the Vice President to capture the state.[2] This was the first election since 1968 that the candidate who won Pennsylvania did not win the general election, and only the fourth time that has happened since 1916. As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which Greene County, Mercer County, and Lawrence County voted for the Democratic candidate.
Government