1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey

← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →
Turnout	72.04%[1] ( 10.44%)
Nominee Bill Clinton Bob Dole Ross Perot Party Democratic Republican Independent Alliance Reform Home state Arkansas Kansas Texas Running mate Al Gore Jack Kemp Pat Choate Electoral vote 15 0 0 Popular vote 1,652,329 1,103,078 262,134 Percentage 53.72% 35.86% 8.52%
County Results Municipality Results Clinton   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Dole   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

The1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 5, 1996, and was part of the1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president. The major contenders were incumbentDemocraticPresidentBill Clinton andRepublican Senator from KansasBob Dole, withReform Party candidateRoss Perot – listed as an "Independent" in New Jersey – running a distant third.

New Jersey voted decisively to re-elect Democrat Bill Clinton, giving him 53.72% of the vote over Republican Bob Dole's 35.86%, a margin of 17.86%. This double-digit win indicated a major shift in New Jersey politics toward the Democratic Party. As recently as the 1980s, Republican presidential candidates had easily carried the state by double-digit margins. In1992, Bill Clinton had won the state with a narrow 43-41 plurality overGeorge H. W. Bush, however, the state was still 3% more Republican than the nation at large. However, in 1996, New Jersey voted 9.33% more Democratic than the rest of the nation, which represented the first time the state voted more Democratic than the nation since1964 and only the third time since1904, and a distinction the state has held ever since.

As in neighboringNew York and many other states, Clinton in 1996 drastically improved his electoral performance among suburban voters, a key voting bloc in New Jersey. Following this election, New Jersey has become a reliableblue state in presidential elections, not being seriously contested by Republicans since. Despite this, Dole is currently the only Republican to fail to garner 40 percent of the New Jersey ballot sinceBarry Goldwater in1964.

As of the2024 presidential election, this is the last time thatCape May andOcean Counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Republican — >15%
•   Republican — +12.5−15%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — >15%

County flips

Legend

• Democratic   Hold   Gain from Republican

  Republican   Hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Bergen
• Cape May
• Monmouth
• Ocean
• Passaic
• Salem

• United States presidential elections in New Jersey
• Presidency of Bill Clinton

• 1996 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in New Jersey
• 1996 New Jersey elections

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