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From January 29 to June 4, 1996, voters of theDemocratic Party chose its nominee forpresident in the1996 United States presidential election. Incumbent PresidentBill Clinton was again selected as the nominee through a series ofprimary elections andcaucuses culminating in the1996 Democratic National Convention held from August 26 to August 29, 1996, inChicago,Illinois.
This was the first Democratic presidential primary in16 years in which an incumbent president was a candidate. Clinton went on to win reelection, thereby becoming the first Democratic president sinceFranklin D. Roosevelt to win two consecutive presidential elections.
With the advantage ofincumbency, Bill Clinton's path to renomination by theDemocratic Party was uneventful. At the1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton - along with incumbentVice PresidentAl Gore - was renominated following a primary race in which he faced only token opposition.Perennial candidateLyndon LaRouche qualified for one delegate from Virginia and one delegate from Louisiana, but the state parties refused to award him delegates and the First District Court of Appeals upheld their decision.[1] FormerPennsylvania governorBob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.[2][3] That leftJimmy Griffin, the formermayor of Buffalo, New York, as the highest-ranking challenger still in the race. After finishing in eighth place, behind even the perennial candidates, in the New Hampshire primaries, Griffin dropped out of the race. Clinton easily won primaries nationwide, with margins consistently higher than 80%.[4]
Roland Riemers scored a victory in theNorth Dakota primary, where Clinton did not file to appear on the ballot.[5][6]
Backed by a loyal following, LaRouche managed to get on the ballot in most states and amassed over half a million votes nationwide in the primary. His highest percentage was 13.4% in West Virginia and received over a hundred thousand votes in California.
Another notable campaign besides LaRouche's to challenge President Clinton was Chicago housewifeElvena Lloyd-Duffie, who was reported to have outraised him at one point[7] and got as high as 11% of the vote in Oklahoma[8] and 7% in Louisiana.
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home state | Campaign Withdrawal date | Popular vote | Contests won | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Clinton |  | President of the United States (1993–2001) |  Arkansas |  | 9,706,802 (89.0%) | 34 | Al Gore |  | |
With a number of non-notable people running against Clinton and LaRouche in several states, The nationwide totals went as follows:[10]
| Candidate | Popular vote | Contests won |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Clinton | 9,706,802 (88.94%) | 34 |
| Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. | 596,422 (5.47%) | |
| Uncommitted | 411,270 (3.77%) | 1 |
| Elvena Lloyd-Duffie | 92,324 (0.85%) | |
| Fred Hudson | 32,232 (0.30%) | |
| Heather Anne Harder | 29,147 (0.27%) | |
| Ted Gunderson | 15,712 (0.14%) | |
| Sal Casamassima | 9,693 (0.08%) | |
| Ralph Nader† | 6,786 (0.06%) | |
| Pat Buchanan† | 3,362 (0.03%) | |
| Lamar Alexander† | 1,888 (0.02%) | |
| Pat Paulsen | 1,317 (0.01%) | |
| Steve Forbes† | 1,297 (0.01%) | |
| Bob Dole† | 1,257 (0.01%) | |
| Al Gore† | 679 (0.006%) | |
| Carmen C. Chimento | 656 (0.006%) | |
| Roland Riemers | 651 (0.006%) | 1 |
| Richard Lugar† | 410 (0.004%) | |
| Vernon Clemenson | 384 (0.004%) | |
| Bruce C. Daniels | 312 (0.003%) | |
| James D. Griffin | 307 (0.003%) | |
| Alan L. Keyes† | 281 (0.003%) | |
| Colin Powell† | 280 (0.003%) | |
| Steve Michael | 94 (0.0008%) | |
| Willie Felix Carter | 85 (0.0008%) | |
| Robert D. Rucker | 81 (0.0007%) | |
| David S. Pauling | 74 (0.0007%) | |
| Vincent S. Hamm | 72 (0.0007%) | |
| Frank Legas | 63 (0.0006%) | |
| Ronald Spangler | 62 (0.0006%) | |
| Michael E. Dass | 57 (0.0005%) | |
| Ben J. Tomeo | 47 (0.0004%) | |
| John Safran | 42 (0.0004%) | |
| Total | 10,914,146 | 36 |
† Indicates awrite-in candidate
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