As part of the 2000 United States presidential election the state of Missouri chose 11 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Missouri was a critical swing state. George W. Bush won the popular vote by a margin of just over 3% against his Democratic opponent, Al Gore. The 2000 election was seen as the turning point of Missouri's bellwether status, which the state had maintained throughout most of the 20th century. Like Clinton, Gore was a Southern Democrat from a neighboring state of Tennessee and was widely seen as competitive in the state.