California, where Bush had tried to mount a last minute challenge, fell soundly in Gore's column.

The Final Day

Bush concluded his marathon 18-month campaign, in which he spent $167 million, with a midnight rally at the Austin airport Monday night, and then got four to five hours of sleep before spending a low-key Election Day with his family.

He voted with his wife Laura at around 10:30 a.m. in the Travis County Courthouse, a block from the Texas governor's mansion. He then made a few last-minute get-out-the-vote phone calls--including two to West Coast radio stations--before taking dinner with his extended family, including his father, former President George Bush.

Gore, who spent $99 million in the race, capped a hectic, final 30-hour campaign blitz in Florida, rallying voters even as dawn broke over the Tampa sky.

"It's almost 5:30 a.m. Texas time and George W. Bush is still asleep--and I'm still speaking to people," Gore joked to the crowd.

He then returned home to Carthage, Tenn., voting with his wife Tipper at the Forks River Elementary School in the town of Elmwood in the early afternoon, and then giving an impromptu civics lesson to schoolchildren.

After voting, Gore joined his family in Nashville, spending a day secluded from reporters and supporters.

--With reporting from Imtiyaz H. Delawala reported from Austin and Garrett M. Graff reported from Nashville.