AI tools
Loading AI tools

The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996.[2] Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton and his running mate, incumbent Democratic Vice President Al Gore were re-elected to a second and final term, defeating the Republican ticket of former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp and the Reform ticket of businessman Ross Perot and economist Pat Choate.

Quick Facts 538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win, Turnout ...
1996 United States presidential election
← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →
538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout51.7%[1] Decrease 6.4 pp
  Thumb Thumb Thumb
Nominee Bill Clinton Bob Dole Ross Perot
Party Democratic Republican Reform
Home state Arkansas Kansas Texas
Running mate Al Gore Jack Kemp Pat Choate
Electoral vote 379 159 0
States carried 31 + DC 19 0
Popular vote 47,401,185 39,197,469 8,085,294
Percentage 49.2% 40.7% 8.4%
Thumb
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Clinton/Gore and red denotes those won by Dole/Kemp. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

 Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Close

Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were re-nominated without incident by the Democratic Party. Numerous candidates entered the 1996 Republican primaries, with Dole considered the early frontrunner. Dole clinched the nomination after defeating challenges by publisher Steve Forbes and paleoconservative leader Pat Buchanan. Dole's running mate was Jack Kemp, a former congressman and football player who had served as the housing secretary under President George H. W. Bush. Ross Perot, who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as an independent candidate in the 1992 election, ran as the candidate of the Reform Party. Perot received less media attention in 1996 and was excluded from the presidential debates.

Clinton's chances of winning were initially considered slim in the middle of his term, as his party had lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994 for the first time in decades. He was able to regain ground as the economy began to recover from the early 1990s recession with a relatively stable world stage. Clinton tied Dole to Newt Gingrich, the unpopular Republican speaker of the House, and warned that Republicans would increase the deficit and slash spending on popular programs like Social Security and Medicare. Dole promised an across-the-board 15% reduction in federal income taxes and labeled Clinton as a member of the "spoiled" Baby Boomer generation. Dole's age was a persistent issue in the election, and gaffes by Dole exacerbated the issue for his campaign.

On election day, Clinton defeated Dole by a wide margin, winning 379 electors to Dole's 159 and taking 49.2% of the national popular vote to Dole's 40.7%. As in 1992, Perot's strong candidacy held both major party candidates below 50% nationwide. Notably, Clinton's strength with many southern and rural whites makes him the last Democrat to carry the states of Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee in a presidential election. He was also the last Democrat to win Arizona until 2020.

This was the first presidential election since 1944 in which an incumbent Democratic president won a second full term in office. It is the most recent election in which the Democratic presidential nominee never served as a senator. This is also the only presidential election between 1980 and 2004 in which a Bush did not appear on the Republican ticket, the last winning Democratic ticket that did not have Joe Biden on it, and the most recent election when the Republican candidate would win fewer than 20 states. It also has the lowest voter turnout in US history, and is to date the only election where less than half of eligible voters showed up.[3]

Background

In 1995, the Republican Party was riding high on the significant gains made in the 1994 mid-term elections. In those races, the Republicans, led by whip Newt Gingrich, captured the majority of seats in the House for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in the Senate for the first time in eight years. Gingrich became speaker of the House, while Bob Dole was elevated to Senate Majority leader.

The Republicans of the 104th Congress pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by their Contract with America, but were often forced to compromise with Clinton, who wielded veto power. A budget impasse between Congress and the Clinton Administration eventually resulted in a government shutdown. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP's welfare reform, and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his own health care plan.

Democratic Party nomination

Main articles: Bill Clinton 1996 presidential campaign, 1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries, and 1996 Democratic National Convention

Democratic Candidates

More information Bill Clinton, Al Gore ...
Thumb
Democratic Party (United States)
1996 Democratic Party ticket
Bill Clinton Al Gore
for President for Vice President
Thumb
Thumb
42nd
President of the United States
(1993–2001)		 45th
Vice President of the United States
(1993–2001)
Campaign
Thumb
Close

With the advantage of incumbency, Bill Clinton's path to renomination by the Democratic Party was uneventful. At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton and incumbent Vice President Al Gore were renominated with token opposition. Formerly incarcerated fringe candidate Lyndon LaRouche won a few Arkansas delegates who were barred from the convention. Jimmy Griffin, former Mayor of Buffalo, New York, mounted a brief campaign but withdrew after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. Former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.[4][5]

Clinton easily won primaries nationwide, with margins consistently higher than 80%.

Popular primaries vote:[6]

Convention tally:[7]

  • Bill Clinton (inc.) – 4,277
  • Not voting – 12

Republican Party nomination

Main articles: Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign, 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries, and 1996 Republican National Convention

Republican Candidates

More information Bob Dole, Jack Kemp ...
Thumb
Republican Party (United States)
1996 Republican Party ticket
Bob Dole Jack Kemp
for President for Vice President
Thumb
Thumb
U.S. Senator
from Kansas
(1969–1996)		 9th
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
(1989–1993)
Campaign
Thumb
Close

A number of Republican candidates entered the field to challenge the incumbent Democratic president, Bill Clinton.

The fragmented field of candidates debated issues such as a flat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return to supply-side economic policies popularized by Ronald Reagan. More attention was drawn to the race by the budget stalemate in 1995 between Congress and the president, which caused temporary shutdowns and slowdowns in many areas of federal government service.

Former Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin of Illinois, who served in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois's 16th District and was the 1990 Republican U.S. Senate nominee losing to incumbent Paul Simon conducted a bid for most of 1995, but withdrew before the Iowa caucuses as polls showed her languishing far behind. She participated in a number of primary presidential debates before withdrawing.[8] Martin's predecessor in Congress, John Anderson had made first a Republican then independent presidential bid in 1980. Also, Simon who defeated Martin for the U.S. Senate had run for president as a Democrat in 1988.

Former U.S. Army General Colin Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former Secretary of Defense and future Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney was touted by many as a possible candidate for the presidency, but he declared his intentions not to run in early 1995. Former and future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld formed a presidential campaign exploratory committee, but declined to formally enter the race. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Secretary of Education William Bennett both flirted with bids, both even set up exploratory committees, for a number of months but both finally declared within days of each other they would not run either.[9]

Primaries and convention

Main article: 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries

Ahead of the 1996 primary contest, Republican Leader of the United States Senate and former vice-presidential candidate Bob Dole was seen as the most likely winner. However, Steve Forbes finished first in Delaware and Arizona while paleoconservative firebrand Pat Buchanan managed early victories in Alaska and Louisiana, in addition to a strong second place in the Iowa caucuses and a surprising victory in the small but key New Hampshire primary. Buchanan's New Hampshire win alarmed the Republican "establishment" sufficiently as to provoke prominent Republicans to quickly coalesce around Dole,[10] and Dole won every primary starting with North and South Dakota. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 and the Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, for president.

Popular primaries vote:[6]

Convention tally:[11]

Former Representative and Housing Secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation for vice president, the following day. This was the only Republican ticket between 1980 and 2004 that did not include a member of the Bush family.

Reform Party nomination

Main articles: 1996 Reform Party presidential primaries and Ross Perot 1996 presidential campaign
More information Ross Perot, Pat Choate ...
1996 Reform Party ticket
Ross Perot Pat Choate
for President for Vice President
Thumb
Thumb
President and CEO of Perot Systems
(1988–2009)		 Economist
Campaign
Thumb
Close
Thumb
Ross Perot was on the ballot in every state.

The United States Reform Party had great difficulty in finding a candidate willing to run in the general election. Lowell Weicker, Tim Penny, David Boren and Richard Lamm were among those who toyed with the notion of seeking its presidential nomination, though all but Lamm decided against it; Lamm had himself come close to withdrawing his name from consideration. Lamm designated Ed Zschau as his vice presidential candidate.

Ultimately, the Reform Party nominated its founder Ross Perot from Texas in its first election as an official political party. Although Perot easily won the nomination, his victory at the party's national convention led to a schism as supporters of Lamm accused him of rigging the vote to prevent them from casting their ballots. This faction walked out of the national convention and eventually formed their own group, the American Reform Party, and attempted to convince Lamm to run as an Independent in the general election; Lamm declined, pointing out a promise he made before running that he would respect the Party's final decision.

Economist Pat Choate was nominated for Vice President.

Minor parties and independents

Main article: Third-party and independent candidates for the 1996 United States presidential election

Parties in this section obtained ballot access in enough states to theoretically obtain the minimum number of electoral votes needed to win the election. Individuals included in this section completed one or more of the following actions: received, or formally announced their candidacy for, the presidential nomination of a third party; formally announced intention to run as an independent candidate and obtained enough ballot access to win the election; filed as a third party or non-affiliated candidate with the FEC (for other than exploratory purposes). Within each party, candidates are listed alphabetically by surname.

More information Libertarian, Green ...
Minor party candidates, 1996
Libertarian Green Natural Law U.S. Taxpayers'
Harry Browne Ralph Nader John Hagelin Howard Phillips
Thumb
Thumb
Thumb
Thumb
Investment analyst Author and
consumer advocate		 Scientist
and researcher		 Conservative
political activist
Close

Libertarian Party nomination

Thumb
Harry Browne was on the ballot in every state.

Libertarian candidates

The Libertarian Party nominated free-market writer and investment analyst, Harry Browne from Tennessee, and selected Jo Jorgensen from South Carolina as his running-mate. Browne and Jorgensen drew 485,798 votes (0.5% of the popular vote).

More information Presidential Ballot, 1st ...
The Balloting
Presidential Ballot1st
Harry Browne416
Rick Tompkins74
None61
Irwin Schiff32
Douglas J. Ohmen20
Jeffrey Diket1
Jo Jorgensen1
Close

Green Party nomination

Thumb
Ralph Nader was on the ballot in twenty-one states (225 Electoral Votes). Those states with a lighter shade are states in which he was an official write-in candidate.

The Green Party of the United States drafted Ralph Nader of Connecticut as a candidate for President of the United States on the Green Party ticket. He was not formally nominated by the Green Party USA, which was, at the time, the largest national Green group; instead, he was nominated independently by various state Green parties (in some areas, he appeared on the ballot as an independent). Nader vowed to spend only $5,000 in his election campaign (to avoid having to file a financial statement with the FEC). Winona LaDuke, a Native American activist and economist from Wisconsin, was named as his running-mate. In Iowa and Vermont, Anne Goeke was listed as Nader's running mate; in New Jersey it was Madelyn Hoffman and in New York it was Muriel Tillinghast.

Nader and his running mates drew 685,128 votes (0.71% of the popular vote).

Natural Law Party nomination

Thumb
John Hagelin was on the ballot in forty-three states (463 Electoral Votes). Those states with a lighter shade are states in which he was an official write-in candidate.

The Natural Law Party for a second time nominated scientist and researcher John Hagelin for president and Mike Tompkins for vice president. The party platform included preventive health care, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy technologies. During his campaigns, Hagelin favored abortion rights without public financing, campaign finance law reform, improved gun control, a flat tax, the eradication of PACs, a ban on soft money contributions, and school vouchers, and was a believer in "yogic flying."

Hagelin and Tompkins drew 113,671 votes (0.1% of the popular vote).

U.S. Taxpayers' Party nomination

Thumb
Howard Phillips was on the ballot in thirty-eight states (414 Electoral Votes). Those states with a lighter shade are states in which he was an official write-in candidate.

The U.S. Taxpayers Party had run its first presidential ticket in 1992, headed by Howard Phillips, who had failed to find any prominent conservative willing to take the mantle. In 1996 the situation ultimately proved the same, though Pat Buchanan for a time was widely speculated to be planning on bolting to the Taxpayers' Party should the expected Republican nominee, Senator Bob Dole, name a pro-choice running-mate. When Jack Kemp, who opposed abortion, was tapped for the position Buchanan agreed to endorse the Republican ticket. Phillips again led the Taxpayers ticket, with Herbert Titus nominated for the vice presidency.

Phillips and Titus drew 182,820 votes (0.2% of the popular vote).

General election

Campaign

Without meaningful primary opposition, Clinton was able to focus on the general election early, while Dole was forced to move to the right and spend his campaign reserves fighting off challengers. Political adviser Dick Morris urged Clinton to raise huge sums of campaign funds via soft money for an unprecedented early TV blitz of swing states promoting Clinton's agenda and record. As a result, Clinton could run a campaign through the summer defining his opponent as an aged conservative far from the mainstream before Dole was in a position to respond. Compared to the 50-year-old Clinton, then 73-year-old Dole appeared especially old and frail, as illustrated by an embarrassing fall off a stage during a campaign event in Chico, California. Dole further enhanced this contrast on September 18 when he made a reference to a no-hitter thrown the day before by Hideo Nomo of the "Brooklyn Dodgers", a team that had left Brooklyn for Los Angeles 38 years earlier. A few days later Dole would make a joke about the remark by saying, "And I'd like to congratulate the St. Louis Cardinals on winning the N.L. Central. Notice I said the St. Louis Cardinals, not the St. Louis Browns." (The Browns had left St. Louis after the 1954 season to become the Baltimore Orioles.)

Dole chose to focus on Clinton as being "part of the spoiled baby boomer generation"[citation needed] and said, "My generation won [World War II], and we may need to be called to service one last time." Although his message won appeal with older voters, surveys found that his age was widely held as a liability and his frequent allusions to WWII and the Great Depression in speeches and campaign ads "unappealing" to younger voters. To prove that he was still healthy and active, Dole released all of his medical records to the public and published photographs of himself running on a treadmill. After the falling incident in California, he joked that he "was trying to do that new Democratic dance, the macarena."[12]

The Clinton campaign avoided mentioning Dole's age directly, choosing to confront it in more subtle ways such as the slogan "Building Bridges to the Future" in contrast to the Republican candidate's frequent remarks that he was a "bridge to the past", before the social upheavals of the 1960s. Clinton, without actually calling Dole old, questioned the age of his ideas.[13]

Thumb
Dole (left) and Clinton (right) at the first presidential debate on October 6, 1996, at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut.

With respect to the issues, Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction in income tax rates and made former congressman and supply side advocate Jack Kemp his running mate. Bill Clinton framed the narrative against Dole early, painting him as a mere clone of unpopular House speaker Newt Gingrich, warning America that Bob Dole would work in concert with the Republican Congress to slash popular social programs, like Medicare and Social Security, dubbed by Clinton as "Dole-Gingrich".[14] Bob Dole's tax-cut plan found itself under attack from the White House, who said it would "blow a hole in the deficit," which had been cut nearly in half during his opponent's term.[15]

The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking out Perot and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Perot, who had been allowed to participate in the 1992 debates, would eventually take his case to court, seeking damages from not being in the debate, as well as citing unfair coverage from the major media outlets.

In a first for either major party in a presidential election, both the Clinton and Dole campaigns had official websites. Dole invited viewers to visit his "homepage" at the end of the first debate.[16]

Throughout the campaign, Clinton maintained leads in the polls over Dole and Perot, generally by large margins. In October, Republican National Committee "operatives urg[ed] their party's Congressional candidates to cut loose from Bob Dole and press voters to maintain a Republican majority"[17] and spent $4 million on advertising in targeted districts.[18]

Presidential debates

Main article: 1996 United States presidential debates

Three debates, organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, took place—two between the presidential candidates and one between the vice presidential candidates:

More information No., Date ...
Debates among candidates for the 1996 U.S. presidential election
No. Date Host Location Moderators Participants Viewership
(millions)
P1 Sunday, October 6, 1996 Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts Hartford, Connecticut Jim Lehrer President Bill Clinton
Senator Bob Dole		 46.1[19]
VP Wednesday, October 9, 1996 Mahaffey Theater St. Petersburg, Florida Jim Lehrer Vice President Al Gore
Secretary Jack Kemp		 26.6[19]
P2 Wednesday, October 16, 1996 University of San Diego San Diego, California Jim Lehrer President Bill Clinton
Senator Bob Dole		 36.6[19]
Close
Thumb
Bushnell Center for the Performing ArtsHartford, CT
Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
Hartford, CT
Mahaffey TheaterSt. Petersburg, FL
Mahaffey Theater
St. Petersburg, FL
University of San DiegoSan Diego CA
University of San Diego
San Diego CA
Sites of the 1996 general election debates

Campaign donations controversy

Main article: 1996 United States campaign finance controversy

In late September 1995, questions arose regarding the Democratic National Committee's fund-raising practices. In February the following year, China's alleged role in the campaign finance controversy first gained public attention after The Washington Post published a story stating that a U.S. Department of Justice investigation had discovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC before the 1996 presidential campaign. The paper wrote that intelligence information had showed the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC[20] in violation of U.S. law forbidding non-American citizens from giving monetary donations to U.S. politicians and political parties. Seventeen people were eventually convicted for fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the U.S. elections.

One of the more notable events learned involved Vice President Al Gore and a fund-raising event held at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisers John Huang and Maria Hsia. It is illegal under U.S. law for religious organizations to donate money to politicians or political groups due to their tax-exempt status. The U.S. Justice Department alleged Hsia facilitated $100,000 (~$179,387 in 2023) in illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign through her efforts at the Temple. Hsia was eventually convicted by a jury in March 2000.[21] The DNC eventually returned the money donated by the Temple's monks and nuns. Twelve nuns and employees of the Temple refused to answer questions by pleading the Fifth Amendment when they were subpoenaed to testify before Congress in 1997.[22]

Results

On election day, President Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, 1940, and 1944. In the popular vote, he out-polled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. The Electoral College map did not change much from the previous election, with the Democratic incumbent winning 379 votes to the Republican ticket's 159. In the West, Dole managed to narrowly win Colorado and Montana (both had voted for Clinton four years earlier), while Clinton became the first Democrat to win Arizona since Harry Truman in 1948. In the South, Clinton won Florida, a state he had failed to win in 1992, but lost Georgia, a state that he had carried. The election helped to cement Democratic presidential control in California, Vermont, Maine, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut; all went on to vote Democratic in every subsequent presidential election after having voted Republican in the five prior to 1992. 1996 marked the first time that Vermont voted for a Democrat in two successive elections. Pennsylvania and Michigan both voted Democratic, and would remain in the Democratic presidential fold until 2016.

Although Clinton's margin of victory in the popular vote was slightly greater than that of George H.W. Bush eight years prior, he won fewer states, in part due to his relatively poor performance in areas of low population density – a precursor of the trend where future Democratic contenders for the presidency perform very well in populous metropolitan areas but vastly underperform in rural counties.

Reform Party nominee Ross Perot won approximately 8% of the popular vote. His vote total was less than half of his performance in 1992. The 1996 national exit poll showed that just as in 1992,[23] Perot drew supporters from Clinton and Dole equally.[24] In polls directed at Perot voters as to who would be a second choice, Clinton consistently held substantial leads.[25] Perot's best showing was in states that tended to strongly favor either Clinton (such as Maine) or Dole (particularly Montana, though the margin of victory there was much closer). Perot once again received his lowest amount of support in the South.

Although Clinton is a native of Arkansas and his running mate hailed from Tennessee, the Democratic ticket carried just four of the eleven states of the former Confederacy (and of those four only Florida and Georgia have voted Democratic in any election since). As such, Clinton's 1992 run was tied for the weakest performance in the region by a nationally successful Democratic presidential candidate up until that point. Clinton's performance both followed and preceded a substantial decline in support for the Democratic Party in the South; in the 2000 and 2004 elections, the Democrats would fail to carry even one of the former Confederate states, contributing to their defeat both times. This completed the Republican takeover of the American South, a region in which Democrats had held a near monopoly from 1880 to 1948. In 2008, the Democrats were able to win three former Confederate states (Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida), however this was still a worse performance than either of Clinton's. Since 1984, no winning presidential candidate has surpassed Bill Clinton's 8.5 percent popular vote margin, or his 220 electoral vote margin since 1988. Additionally, since 1964, no other Democratic presidential candidate has surpassed Clinton's electoral vote margin and, except Lyndon B. Johnson in that election, no Democratic presidential candidate has surpassed Clinton's 8.5 percentage popular vote margin since 1940.

The election also marked the first time in U.S. history that the winner was elected without winning the male vote, the third time in U.S. history that a candidate won two terms as president without winning a majority either time (after Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson, both Democrats).[24] Clinton also remains the last presidential candidate of either party to win at least one county in every state.[26] Clinton maintained a consistent polling edge over Dole, and he won re-election with a substantial margin in the popular vote and the Electoral College. Clinton became the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win two consecutive presidential elections. Dole won 40.7% of the popular vote and 159 electoral votes, while Perot won 8.4% of the popular vote. Despite Dole's defeat, the Republican Party was able to maintain majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Voter turnout was registered at 51.7%, the lowest for a presidential election since 1924.

As of 2020, this remains the last time that the states of Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee were carried by a Democratic presidential nominee. It was also the first time most Arizona voters chose a Democratic candidate since 1948,[27] which they would not do again until 2020. Five states switched party predominance in 1996 with their presidential voting: Montana, Colorado, and Georgia were flipped by Senator Dole, while Florida and Arizona were flipped by President Clinton. This is also the most recent time a third-party candidate finished with over 5% of the vote nationwide. This is the last time a Democratic president was re-elected with a higher share of the electoral or popular vote, while also being the last time when an incumbent Democratic candidate would flip any states (Arizona, and Florida in this instance) which they failed to win in their previous election bid.

More information Presidential candidate, Party ...
Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote		 Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Bill Clinton (incumbent) Democratic[a] Arkansas 47,401,185 49.24% 379 Al Gore (incumbent) Tennessee 379
Bob Dole Republican[b] Kansas 39,197,469 40.71% 159 Jack Kemp New York[29] 159
Ross Perot Reform[c] Texas 8,085,294 8.40% 0 Patrick Choate[d] Washington, D.C. 0
Ralph Nader Green Connecticut 684,871 0.71% 0 Winona LaDuke[e] California 0
Harry Browne Libertarian Tennessee 485,759 0.50% 0 Jo Jorgensen South Carolina 0
Howard Phillips Taxpayers Virginia 184,656 0.19% 0 Herbert Titus Oregon 0
John Hagelin Natural Law Iowa 113,667 0.12% 0 Mike Tompkins Massachusetts 0
Other[f] 121,663 0.12% — Other[g] —
Total 96,274,564 100% 538 538
Needed to win 270 270
Close

Official Source (Popular Vote): 1996 Official Presidential General Election Results

Source (popular and electoral vote): Federal Elections Commission Electoral and Popular Vote Summary unofficial Secondary Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. "1996 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 7, 2005.

Voting age population: 196,498,000

Percent of voting age population casting a vote for President: 49.00%

More information Popular vote ...
Popular vote
Clinton
 
 49.24%
Dole
 
 40.71%
Perot
 
 8.40%
Nader
 
 0.71%
Browne
 
 0.50%
Others
 
 0.44%
Close
More information Electoral vote ...
Electoral vote
Clinton
 
 70.45%
Dole
 
 29.55%
Close
Thumb
  • Thumb
    Results by congressional district, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.
  • Thumb
    Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.
  • Thumb
    Change in vote margins at the county level from the 1992 election to the 1996 election.

Results by state

Source: [33]

Legend
States/districts won by Clinton/Gore
States/districts won by Dole/Kemp
†At-large results (For states that split electoral votes)
More information Bill Clinton Democratic, Bob Dole Republican ...
Bill Clinton
Democratic		 Bob Dole
Republican		 Ross Perot
Reform		 Ralph Nader
Green		 Harry Browne
Libertarian		 Others Margin State Total
State elec­toral
votes		 #  % elec­toral
votes		 #  % elec­toral
votes		 #  % elec­toral
votes		 #  % elec­toral
votes		 #  % elec­toral
votes		 #  % elec­toral
votes		 #  % #
Alabama 9 662,165 43.16% – 769,044 50.12% 9 92,149 6.01% – – – – 5,290 0.34% – 5,701 0.37% – −106,879 −6.96% 1,534,349 AL
Alaska 3 80,380 33.27% – 122,746 50.80% 3 26,333 10.90% – 7,597 3.14% – 2,276 0.94% – 2,288 0.95% – −42,366 −17.53% 241,620 AK
Arizona 8 653,288 46.52% 8 622,073 44.29% – 112,072 7.98% – 2,062 0.15% – 14,358 1.02% – 552 0.04% – 31,215 2.23% 1,404,405 AZ
Arkansas 6 475,171 53.74% 6 325,416 36.80% – 69,884 7.90% – 3,649 0.41% – 3,076 0.35% – 7,066 0.80% – 149,755 16.94% 884,262 AR
California 54 5,119,835 51.10% 54 3,828,380 38.21% – 697,847 6.96% – 237,016 2.37% – 73,600 0.73% – 62,806 0.63% – 1,291,455 12.89% 10,019,484 CA
Colorado 8 671,152 44.43% – 691,848 45.80% 8 99,629 6.59% – 25,070 1.66% – 12,392 0.82% – 10,613 0.70% – −20,696 −1.37% 1,510,704 CO
Connecticut 8 735,740 52.83% 8 483,109 34.69% – 139,523 10.02% – 24,321 1.75% – 5,788 0.42% – 4,133 0.30% – 252,631 18.14% 1,392,614 CT
Delaware 3 140,355 51.80% 3 99,062 36.58% – 28,719 10.60% – 18 0.01% – 2,052 0.76% – 639 0.24% – 41,293 15.22% 270,845 DE
D.C. 3 158,220 85.19% 3 17,339 9.34% – 3,611 1.94% – 4,780 2.57% – 588 0.32% – 1,188 0.64% – 140,881 75.85% 185,726 DC
Florida 25 2,546,870 48.02% 25 2,244,536 42.32% – 483,870 9.12% – 4,101 0.08% – 23,965 0.45% – 452 0.01% – 302,334 5.70% 5,303,794 FL
Georgia 13 1,053,849 45.84% – 1,080,843 47.01% 13 146,337 6.37% – – – – 17,870 0.78% – 172 0.01% – −26,994 −1.17% 2,299,071 GA
Hawaii 4 205,012 56.93% 4 113,943 31.64% – 27,358 7.60% – 10,386 2.88% – 2,493 0.69% – 928 0.26% – 91,069 25.29% 360,120 HI
Idaho 4 165,443 33.65% – 256,595 52.18% 4 62,518 12.71% – – – – 3,325 0.68% – 3,838 0.78% – −91,152 −18.53% 491,719 ID
Illinois 22 2,341,744 54.32% 22 1,587,021 36.81% – 346,408 8.03% – 1,447 0.03% – 22,548 0.52% – 12,223 0.29% – 754,723 17.51% 4,311,391 IL
Indiana 12 887,424 41.55% – 1,006,693 47.13% 12 224,299 10.50% – 1,121 0.05% – 15,632 0.73% – 673 0.03% – −119,269 −5.58% 2,135,842 IN
Iowa 7 620,258 50.26% 7 492,644 39.92% – 105,159 8.52% – 6,550 0.53% – 2,315 0.19% – 7,149 0.58% – 127,614 10.34% 1,234,075 IA
Kansas 6 387,659 36.08% – 583,245 54.29% 6 92,639 8.62% – 914 0.09% – 4,557 0.42% – 5,286 0.49% – −195,586 −18.21% 1,074,300 KS
Kentucky 8 636,614 45.84% 8 623,283 44.88% – 120,396 8.67% – 701 0.05% – 4,009 0.29% – 3,705 0.27% – 13,331 0.96% 1,388,708 KY
Louisiana 9 927,837 52.01% 9 712,586 39.94% – 123,293 6.91% – 4,719 0.26% – 7,499 0.42% – 8,025 0.45% – 215,251 12.07% 1,783,959 LA
Maine† 2 312,788 51.62% 2 186,378 30.76% – 85,970 14.19% – 15,279 2.52% – 2,996 0.49% – 2,486 0.41% – 126,410 20.86% 605,897 ME
Maine-1 1165,05352.1%1100,85131.8%–39,84512.6%–––––––11,3723.6%–64,20220.3%317,121ME1
Maine-2 1147,73551.2%185,52729.6%–46,12516.0%–––––––9,3893.3%–62,20821.5%288,776ME2
Maryland 10 966,207 54.25% 10 681,530 38.27% – 115,812 6.50% – 2,606 0.15% – 8,765 0.49% – 5,950 0.33% – 284,677 15.98% 1,780,870 MD
Massachusetts 12 1,571,763 61.47% 12 718,107 28.08% – 227,217 8.89% – 4,565 0.18% – 20,426 0.80% – 14,708 0.58% – 853,656 33.39% 2,556,786 MA
Michigan 18 1,989,653 51.69% 18 1,481,212 38.48% – 336,670 8.75% – 2,322 0.06% – 27,670 0.72% – 11,317 0.29% – 508,441 13.21% 3,848,844 MI
Minnesota 10 1,120,438 51.10% 10 766,476 34.96% – 257,704 11.75% – 24,908 1.14% – 8,271 0.38% – 14,843 0.68% – 353,962 16.14% 2,192,640 MN
Mississippi 7 394,022 44.08% – 439,838 49.21% 7 52,222 5.84% – – – – 2,809 0.31% – 4,966 0.56% – −45,816 −5.13% 893,857 MS
Missouri 11 1,025,935 47.54% 11 890,016 41.24% – 217,188 10.06% – 534 0.02% – 10,522 0.49% – 13,870 0.64% – 135,919 6.30% 2,158,065 MO
Montana 3 167,922 41.23% – 179,652 44.11% 3 55,229 13.56% – – – – 2,526 0.62% – 1,932 0.47% – −11,730 −2.88% 407,261 MT
Nebraska† 2 236,761 34.95% – 363,467 53.65% 2 71,278 10.52% – – – – 2,792 0.41% – 3,117 0.46% – −126,706 −18.70% 677,415 NE
Nebraska-1 187,71338.1%–114,56049.7%125,97311.3%–––––––2,0740.9%–-28,847-11.7%230,330 NE1
Nebraska-2 184,66638.0%–116,89252.5%118,9358.5%–––––––2,1641.0%–-32,226-14.5%222,660 NE2
Nebraska-3 164,38228.7%–132,01558.8%126,37011.8%–––––––1,6580.7%–-67,633-30.1%224,425 NE3
Nevada 4 203,974 43.93% 4 199,244 42.91% – 43,986 9.47% – 4,730 1.02% – 4,460 0.96% – 7,885 1.70% – 4,730 1.02% 464,279 NV
New Hampshire 4 246,214 49.32% 4 196,532 39.37% – 48,390 9.69% – – – – 4,237 0.85% – 3,802 0.76% – 49,682 9.95% 499,175 NH
New Jersey 15 1,652,329 53.72% 15 1,103,078 35.86% – 262,134 8.52% – 32,465 1.06% – 14,763 0.48% – 11,038 0.36% – 549,251 17.86% 3,075,807 NJ
New Mexico 5 273,495 49.18% 5 232,751 41.86% – 32,257 5.80% – 13,218 2.38% – 2,996 0.54% – 1,357 0.24% – 40,744 7.32% 556,074 NM
New York 33 3,756,177 59.47% 33 1,933,492 30.61% – 503,458 7.97% – 75,956 1.20% – 12,220 0.19% – 34,826 0.55% – 1,822,685 28.86% 6,316,129 NY
North Carolina 14 1,107,849 44.04% – 1,225,938 48.73% 14 168,059 6.68% – 2,108 0.08% – 8,740 0.35% – 3,113 0.12% – −118,089 −4.69% 2,515,807 NC
North Dakota 3 106,905 40.13% – 125,050 46.94% 3 32,515 12.20% – – – – 847 0.32% – 1,094 0.41% – −18,145 −6.81% 266,411 ND
Ohio 21 2,148,222 47.38% 21 1,859,883 41.02% – 483,207 10.66% – 2,962 0.07% – 12,851 0.28% – 27,309 0.60% – 288,339 6.36% 4,534,434 OH
Oklahoma 8 488,105 40.45% – 582,315 48.26% 8 130,788 10.84% – – – – 5,505 0.46% – – – – −94,210 −7.81% 1,206,713 OK
Oregon 7 649,641 47.15% 7 538,152 39.06% – 121,221 8.80% – 49,415 3.59% – 8,903 0.65% – 10,428 0.76% – 111,489 8.09% 1,377,760 OR
Pennsylvania 23 2,215,819 49.17% 23 1,801,169 39.97% – 430,984 9.56% – 3,086 0.07% – 28,000 0.62% – 27,060 0.60% – 414,650 9.20% 4,506,118 PA
Rhode Island 4 233,050 59.71% 4 104,683 26.82% – 43,723 11.20% – 6,040 1.55% – 1,109 0.28% – 1,679 0.43% – 128,367 32.89% 390,284 RI
South Carolina 8 506,283 43.96% – 573,458 49.79% 8 64,386 5.59% – – – – 4,271 0.37% – 3,291 0.29% – −67,175 −5.83% 1,151,689 SC
South Dakota 3 139,333 43.03% – 150,543 46.49% 3 31,250 9.65% – – – – 1,472 0.45% – 1,228 0.38% – −11,210 −3.46% 323,826 SD
Tennessee 11 909,146 48.00% 11 863,530 45.59% – 105,918 5.59% – 6,427 0.34% – 5,020 0.27% – 4,064 0.21% – 45,616 2.41% 1,894,105 TN
Texas 32 2,459,683 43.83% – 2,736,167 48.76% 32 378,537 6.75% – 4,810 0.09% – 20,256 0.36% – 12,191 0.22% – −276,484 −4.93% 5,611,644 TX
Utah 5 221,633 33.30% – 361,911 54.37% 5 66,461 9.98% – 4,615 0.69% – 4,129 0.62% – 6,880 1.03% – −140,278 −21.07% 665,629 UT
Vermont 3 137,894 53.35% 3 80,352 31.09% – 31,024 12.00% – 5,585 2.16% – 1,183 0.46% – 2,411 0.93% – 57,542 22.26% 258,449 VT
Virginia 13 1,091,060 45.15% – 1,138,350 47.10% 13 159,861 6.62% – – – – 9,174 0.38% – 18,197 0.75% – −47,290 −1.95% 2,416,642 VA
Washington 11 1,123,323 49.84% 11 840,712 37.30% – 201,003 8.92% – 60,322 2.68% – 12,522 0.56% – 15,955 0.71% – 282,611 12.54% 2,253,837 WA
West Virginia 5 327,812 51.51% 5 233,946 36.76% – 71,639 11.26% – – – – 3,062 0.48% – – – – 93,866 14.75% 636,459 WV
Wisconsin 11 1,071,971 48.81% 11 845,029 38.48% – 227,339 10.35% – 28,723 1.31% – 7,929 0.36% – 15,178 0.69% – 226,942 10.33% 2,196,169 WI
Wyoming 3 77,934 36.84% – 105,388 49.81% 3 25,928 12.25% – – – – 1,739 0.82% – 582 0.28% – −27,454 −12.97% 211,571 WY
TOTALS: 538 47,402,357 49.24% 379 39,198,755 40.71% 159 8,085,402 8.40% – 685,128 0.71% – 485,798 0.50% – 420,194 0.44% – 8,203,602 8.52% 96,277,634 US
Close

†Maine and Nebraska each allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates. In both states, two electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote is awarded to the winner of each congressional district.[34]

States that flipped from Democratic to Republican

States that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Close states

State where the margin of victory was under 1% (8 electoral votes):

  1. Kentucky, 0.96% (13,331 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 5% (109 electoral votes):

  1. Nevada, 1.02% (4,730 votes)
  2. Georgia, 1.17% (26,994 votes)
  3. Colorado, 1.37% (20,696 votes)
  4. Virginia, 1.96% (47,290 votes)
  5. Arizona, 2.22% (31,215 votes)
  6. Tennessee, 2.41% (45,616 votes)
  7. Montana, 2.88% (11,730 votes)
  8. South Dakota, 3.46% (11,210 votes)
  9. North Carolina, 4.69% (118,089 votes)
  10. Texas, 4.93% (276,484 votes)

States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (143 electoral votes):

  1. Mississippi, 5.13% (45,816 votes)
  2. Indiana, 5.58% (119,269 votes)
  3. Florida, 5.70% (302,334 votes)
  4. South Carolina, 6.04% (69,407 votes)
  5. Missouri, 6.30% (135,919 votes)
  6. Ohio, 6.36% (288,339 votes)
  7. North Dakota, 6.81% (18,145 votes)
  8. Alabama, 6.96% (106,879 votes)
  9. New Mexico, 7.32% (40,744 votes)
  10. Oklahoma, 7.81% (94,210 votes)
  11. Oregon, 8.09% (111,489 votes)
  12. Pennsylvania, 9.20% (414,650 votes) (tipping point state)
  13. New Hampshire, 9.95% (49,682 votes)

Statistics

[33]

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)

  1. Starr County, Texas 86.94%
  2. Bronx County, New York 85.80%
  3. Macon County, Alabama 85.55%
  4. Washington, D.C. 85.19%
  5. Duval County, Texas 84.94%

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)

  1. Ochiltree County, Texas 79.20%
  2. Russell County, Kansas 78.98%
  3. Glasscock County, Texas 78.93%
  4. Hayes County, Nebraska 77.02%
  5. Sioux County, Iowa 77.00%

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other)

  1. Mineral County, Montana 23.72%
  2. Grant County, North Dakota 21.55%
  3. Shoshone County, Idaho 21.55%
  4. Sanders County, Montana 21.24%
  5. Billings County, North Dakota 21.10%

Voter demographics

More information The presidential vote in social groups (percentages), Social group ...
The presidential vote in social groups (percentages)
Social group Clinton Dole Perot Others  % of
total vote
Total vote 49 41 8 2 100
Party and ideology
Conservative Republicans 6 88 5 1 21
Moderate Republicans 20 72 7 1 13
Liberal Republicans 44 46 9 1 2
Conservative independents 19 60 19 2 7
Moderate independents 50 30 17 3 15
Liberal independents 58 15 18 9 4
Conservative Democrats 69 23 7 1 6
Moderate Democrats 84 10 5 1 20
Liberal Democrats 89 5 4 2 13
Gender and marital status
Married men 40 48 10 2 32
Married women 48 43 7 2 33
Unmarried men 49 36 12 3 15
Unmarried women 62 28 7 3 20
Race
White 43 46 9 2 83
Black 84 11 4 1 10
Hispanic 72 21 6 1 5
Asian 43 48 8 1 1
Religion
Protestant 41 50 8 1 38
Catholic 53 37 9 1 29
Other Christian 45 41 12 2 16
Jewish 78 16 3 3 3
Other 60 23 11 6 6
None 59 23 13 5 7
White Religious Right
White Religious Right 26 65 8 1 17
Everyone else 54 35 9 2 83
Age
18–29 years old 53 34 10 3 16
30–44 years old 48 41 9 2 33
45–59 years old 48 41 9 2 26
60 and older 48 44 7 1 25
First time voters
First time voter 54 34 11 1 9
Everyone else 48 42 8 2 91
Sexual orientation
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual 66 23 7 4 5
Heterosexual 47 43 8 2 95
Education
Not a high school graduate 59 28 11 2 6
High school graduate 51 35 13 1 24
Some college education 48 40 10 2 27
College graduate 44 46 8 2 26
Postgraduate education 52 40 5 3 17
Family income
Under $15,000 59 28 11 2 11
$15,000–30,000 51 38 9 2 23
$30,000–50,000 48 40 10 2 27
$50,000–75,000 47 45 7 1 21
$75,000–100,000 44 48 7 1 9
Over $100,000 38 54 6 2 9
Region
East 55 34 9 2 23
Midwest 48 41 10 1 26
South 46 46 7 1 30
West 48 40 8 4 20
Community size
Population over 500,000 68 25 5 2 10
Population 50,000 to 500,000 50 39 8 3 21
Suburbs 47 42 8 3 39
Rural areas, towns 45 44 10 1 30
Close

Source: Voter News Service exit poll, reported in The New York Times, November 10, 1996, 28.[35]

Polling controversy

The polling in the election was criticized by Everett Carll Ladd, who argued that "polls had overestimated Clinton's lead during the campaign and had thereby dampened interest in the election."[36] Others such as Warren J. Mitofsky rebutted Ladd's view; in an analysis in Public Opinion Quarterly, Mitofsky wrote that "1996 was not the best but was far from the worst year for the polls", with accuracy surpassing the polling in 1948 and in 1980.[36] Because Clinton won the election by a comfortable margin, there was no major reaction towards the impreciseness of the polls.[36]

See also

Notes

  1. In New York, the Clinton vote was a fusion of the Democratic and Liberal slates. There, Clinton obtained 3,649,630 votes on the Democratic ticket and 106,547 votes on the Liberal ticket.[28]
  2. In New York, the Dole vote was a fusion of the Republican, Conservative, and Freedom slates. There, Dole obtained 1,738,707 votes on the Republican ticket, 183,392 votes on the Conservative ticket, and 11,393 votes on the Freedom ticket.[28]
  3. In South Carolina, the Perot vote was a fusion of the Reform and Patriot slates. There, Perot obtained 27,464 votes on the Reform ticket and 36,913 votes on the Patriot ticket.[28]
  4. On the California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas election ballots, James Campbell of California, Perot's former boss at IBM, was listed as a stand-in vice-presidential candidate until Perot decided on Pat Choate as his choice for Vice President.
  5. The Green Party vice presidential candidate varied from state to state. Winona LaDuke was his vice presidential candidate in eighteen of the twenty-two states where he appeared on the ballot. Anne Goeke was Nader's running mate in Iowa[30] and Vermont. Madelyn Hoffman was his running mate in New Jersey.[31] Muriel Tillinghast was his running mate in New York.[32]
  6. Candidates receiving less than 0.05% of the total popular vote.
  7. Candidates receiving less than 0.05% of the total popular vote.

References

Further reading

External links

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.

Chrome
Wikiwand for Chrome
Edge
Wikiwand for Edge
Firefox
Wikiwand for Firefox