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 Presidential election results map.Blue denotes states won by Clinton/Gore andred denotes those won by Dole/Kemp. Numbers indicateelectoral votes cast by each state and theDistrict of Columbia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1996. IncumbentDemocratic presidentBill Clinton and his running mate, incumbent vice presidentAl Gore, were elected to a second term. They defeated theRepublican ticket of former Senate majority leaderBob Dole and former secretary of housing and urban developmentJack Kemp and the Reform ticket of businessmanRoss Perot and economistPat Choate.
Clinton andVice President Gore were re-nominated without incident by the Democratic Party. Numerous candidates entered the1996 Republican primaries, with Dole considered the early frontrunner. Dole clinched the nomination after defeating challenges by publisherSteve Forbes andpaleoconservative leaderPat Buchanan. Dole's running mate wasJack Kemp, a formerNew York congressman and football player who had served as thehousing secretary under PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush.Ross Perot, who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as anindependent candidate in1992, ran as the candidate of theReform Party. Perot received less media attention in 1996 and was excluded from thepresidential debates.
Clinton's chances of winning were initially considered slim in the middle of his term, as his party had lost both theHouse of Representatives and theSenate in1994 for the first time in decades. He was able to regain ground as the economy began to recover from theearly 1990s recession with a relatively stable world stage. Clinton tied Dole toNewt Gingrich, the arch-conservative Republicanspeaker of the House, and expressed concern that Republicans would increase thedeficit and slash spending on popular programs likeSocial Security andMedicare. Dole promised an across-the-board 15% reduction infederal income taxes and labeled Clinton as a "spoiled"Baby Boomer who "never grew up" and "never sacrificed."[3] 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 ofKentucky,Louisiana,West Virginia,Arkansas,Missouri, andTennessee in a presidential election. He was also the last Democrat to winArizona until2020. This is also the last election where either major party nominee would get under 50,000,000 votes.
In 1995, theRepublican Party was riding high on thesignificant gains made in the1994 midterm elections. In those races, the Republicans, led by whipNewt Gingrich, captured the majority of seats in theHouse for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in theSenate for the first time in eight years. Gingrich becamespeaker of the House, whileBob Dole was elevated toSenate majority leader.
The Republicans of the104th Congress pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by theirContract with America, but were often forced to compromise with Clinton, who wieldedveto power. A budget impasse between Congress and theClinton administration eventually resulted ina government shutdown. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP'swelfare reform, and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his ownhealth care plan.
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Personal 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas 42nd President of the United States Tenure Appointments Presidential campaigns   | ||
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Democratic Candidates
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| Bill Clinton | Al Gore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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With the advantage of incumbency,Bill Clinton's path to renomination by theDemocratic Party was uneventful. At the1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton and incumbentVice PresidentAl Gore were renominated with token opposition. Formerly incarcerated fringe candidateLyndon LaRouche won a few Arkansas delegates who were barred from the convention.Jimmy Griffin, formerMayor of Buffalo, New York, mounted a brief campaign but withdrew after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. FormerPennsylvania governorBob 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]
Republican candidates:
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| Bob Dole | Jack Kemp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| U.S. Senator fromKansas (1969–1996) | 9th U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1989–1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Candidates in this section are sorted by popular vote from the primaries | ||||||
| Pat Buchanan | Steve Forbes | Lamar Alexander | Richard Lugar | Phil Gramm | ||
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| White House Communications Director (1985–1987) | Publisher and editor-in-chief ofForbes magazine (1990–) | United StatesSecretary of Education (1991–1993) | United States Senator fromIndiana (1977–2013) | United States Senator fromTexas (1985–2002) | ||
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| LN: August 15 3,184,943 votes | W: March 14 1,751,187 votes | W: March 9 495,590 votes | W: March 9 127,111 votes | |||
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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 aflat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return tosupply-side economic policies popularized byRonald 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 LaborLynn Martin of Illinois, who served in theUnited States House of Representatives fromIllinois's 16th District and was the 1990 Republican U.S. Senate nominee losing to incumbentPaul Simon conducted a bid for most of 1995, but withdrew before theIowa caucuses as polls showed her languishing far behind. She participated in a number of primarypresidential 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.
FormerU.S. Army General and futureSecretary of StateColin Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former and futureDefense SecretaryDonald Rumsfeld formed a presidential campaign exploratory committee, but declined to formally enter the race. FormerSecretary of StateJames A. Baker III and formerSecretary of EducationWilliam Bennett both flirted with bids, and both even set up exploratory committees for a number of months, but both finally declared within days of each other that they would not run.[9]Former Secretary of Defense and future Vice President of the United StatesDick Cheney was touted by many as a possible candidate for the presidency, but he declared his intentions not to run in early 1995.[10] Then-Texas governor and future president George W. Bush was also urged by some party leaders to seek the Republican Party nomination, but opted against doing so.[citation needed]
Ahead of the 1996 primary contest,Republican Leader of the United States Senate and former vice-presidential candidateBob Dole was seen as the most likely winner. However,Steve Forbes finished first inDelaware andArizona whilepaleoconservative firebrandPat Buchanan managed early victories inAlaska andLouisiana, in addition to a strong second place in theIowa caucuses and a surprising victory in the small but keyNew Hampshire primary. Buchanan's New Hampshire win alarmed the Republican "establishment" sufficiently as to provoke prominent Republicans to quickly coalesce around Dole,[11] and Dole won every primary starting withNorth andSouth Dakota. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 and theRepublican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, for president.
Popular primaries vote:[6]
Convention tally:[12]
Former Representative and Housing SecretaryJack 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 theBush family.
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TheUnited States Reform Party had great difficulty in finding a candidate willing to run in the general election.Lowell Weicker,Tim Penny,David Boren andRichard 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 designatedEd Zschau as his vice presidential candidate.
Ultimately, the Reform Party nominated its founderRoss Perot fromTexas 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, theAmerican 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.
EconomistPat Choate was nominated forvice president.
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 athird party; formally announced intention to run as anindependent 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.
| Minor party candidates, 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Libertarian | Green | Natural Law | U.S. Taxpayers' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Harry Browne | Ralph Nader | John Hagelin | Howard Phillips | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Libertarian candidates:
TheLibertarian Party nominated free-market writer and investment analystHarry Browne from Tennessee, and selectedJo Jorgensen fromSouth Carolina as his running mate. Browne and Jorgensen drew 485,798 votes (0.5% of the popular vote).
| Presidential ballot | 1st |
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| Harry Browne | 416 |
| Rick Tompkins | 74 |
| None | 61 |
| Irwin Schiff | 32 |
| Douglas J. Ohmen | 20 |
| Jeffrey Diket | 1 |
| Jo Jorgensen | 1 |
TheGreen Party of the United StatesdraftedRalph Nader ofConnecticut as a candidate forpresident of the United States on the Green Party ticket. He was not formally nominated by theGreen 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 fromWisconsin, was named as his running mate. InIowa andVermont, Anne Goeke was listed as Nader's running mate; in New Jersey it was Madelyn Hoffman and in New York it wasMuriel Tillinghast.
Nader and his running mates drew 685,128 votes (0.71% of the popular vote).
TheNatural Law Party for a second time nominated scientist and researcherJohn Hagelin for president andMike 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 ofPACs, a ban onsoft money contributions, andschool vouchers, and was a believer in "yogic flying."
Hagelin and Tompkins drew 113,671 votes (0.1% of the popular vote).
TheU.S. Taxpayers' Party had run its first presidential ticket in 1992, headed byHoward Phillips, who had failed to find any prominent conservative willing to take the mantle. In 1996 the situation ultimately proved the same, thoughPat Buchanan for a time was widely speculated to be planning on bolting to the Taxpayers' Party should the expected Republican nominee, SenatorBob Dole, name a pro-choice running mate. WhenJack Kemp, whoopposed abortion, was tapped for the position Buchanan agreed to endorse the Republican ticket. Phillips again led the Taxpayers' ticket, withHerbert Titus nominated for the vice presidency.
Phillips and Titus drew 182,820 votes (0.2% of the popular vote).
Without meaningful primary opposition,Clinton was able to focus on the general election early, whileDole was forced to move to the right and spend his campaign reserves fighting off challengers. Political adviserDick Morris urged Clinton to raise huge sums of campaign funds viasoft 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 inChico, California. Dole further enhanced this contrast on September 18 when he made a reference to a no-hitter thrown the day before byHideo 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 theSt. Louis Cardinals on winning theN.L. Central. Notice I said the St. Louis Cardinals, not theSt. Louis Browns." (The Browns had left St. Louis after the 1954 season to become theBaltimore Orioles.)
Dole chose to focus on Clinton (and the manyBaby Boomer members of Clinton's administration) as representing a new "corps of the elite who never grew up, never did anything real, never sacrificed, never suffered and never learned."[3] Dole 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 theGreat 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 atreadmill. After the falling incident in California, he joked that he "was trying to dothat new Democratic dance, the macarena."[13]
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.[14]
With respect to the issues, Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction inincome tax rates and made former congressman andsupply side advocateJack Kemp his running mate.Bill Clinton framed the narrative against Dole early, painting him as a mere clone of House speakerNewt Gingrich, warning America that 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".[15] 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.[16]
The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking outPerot and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Perot, who had been allowed to participate in the1992 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.[17]
Throughout the campaign, Clintonmaintained 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"[18] and spent $4 million on advertising in targeted districts.[19]
Three debates, organized by theCommission on Presidential Debates, took place—two between the presidential candidates andone between the vice presidential candidates:
| 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[20] |
| VP | Wednesday, October 9, 1996 | Mahaffey Theater | St. Petersburg, Florida | Jim Lehrer | Vice President Al Gore Secretary Jack Kemp | 26.6[20] |
| P2 | Wednesday, October 16, 1996 | University of San Diego | San Diego, California | Jim Lehrer | President Bill Clinton Senator Bob Dole | 36.6[20] |
In late September 1995, questions arose regarding theDemocratic National Committee's fund-raising practices. In February the following year, China's alleged role in the campaign finance controversy first gained public attention afterThe Washington Post published a story stating that aU.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 shown the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC[21] 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 PresidentAl Gore and a fund-raising event held atHsi Lai Temple inHacienda Heights, California. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisersJohn Huang andMaria 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 (~$184,096 in 2024) 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.[22] 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 theFifth Amendment when they weresubpoenaed to testify before Congress in 1997.[23]
On election day, President Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections sinceFranklin D. Roosevelt in1936,1940, and1944. In the popular vote, he out-polled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. The Electoral College map did not change much from theprevious election, with the Democratic incumbent winning 379 votes to the Republican ticket's 159.
Since Dole was the vice presidential nominee in the1976 election, Dole's 1996 loss made him the only unsuccessful major party nominee for bothpresident andvice president in the history of theUnited States.[24] Although Clinton's margin of victory in the popular vote was slightly greater than that ofGeorge H.W. Bushin 1988, Dole won more states than Bush didin 1992 in part due to Clinton's 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 under-perform in rural counties. 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 sinceHarry S. Truman in1948.[25] 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 until2016 and2024.
Reform Party nomineeRoss 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,[26] Perot drew supporters from Clinton and Dole equally.[27] In polls directed at Perot voters as to who would be a second choice, Clinton consistently held substantial leads.[28] 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 theformer 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 the2000 and2004 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 from1880 to 1948. In2008, the Democrats were able to win three former Confederate states (Virginia,North Carolina, andFlorida), however this was still a worse performance than either of Clinton's. Since1984, no winning presidential candidate has surpassed Bill Clinton's 8.5 percent popular vote margin, or his 220 electoral vote margin since1988. Additionally, since1964, no other Democratic presidential candidate has surpassed Clinton's electoral vote margin and, exceptLyndon 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, and the third time in U.S. history that a candidate won two terms as president without winning a majority of the popular vote either time (afterGrover Cleveland andWoodrow Wilson, both Democrats.[27]) Clinton also remains the last presidential candidate of either party to win at least one county in every state.[29] Clinton maintained a consistent polling edge over Dole, and he won re-election with a substantial margin in the popular vote and theElectoral College. Clinton became the first Democrat sinceFranklin 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 theHouse of Representatives and theSenate. Voter turnout was registered at 48.99% of the voting-age population (or 51.7% of the voting-eligible population),[1] the lowest for a presidential election since1924.[30]
This is the most recent election in which a candidate got 70% or more of the electoral vote. As of 2024, this remains the last time that the states ofKentucky,Louisiana,West Virginia,Arkansas,Missouri, andTennessee were carried by a Democratic presidential nominee. This was the last election whereArizona voted Democratic until 2020, and Florida, Nevada, and Ohio until 2008. Five states switched party predominance in 1996 with their presidential voting:Montana,Colorado, andGeorgia were flipped by Senator Dole, whileFlorida andArizona were flipped by President Clinton. Having carried Georgia in 1992 and Arizona in 1996, Clinton was the last Democrat to win those two states until2020. 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. Since Dole was the losing vice presidential candidate in1976, Dole's loss makes him the only person in U.S. history to lose elections for both the vice presidency and the presidency while serving in neither office. This was the first presidential election since1944 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 between1980 and2004 in which aBush did not appear on the Republican ticket, the last winning Democratic ticket that did not haveJoe 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 since 1980, when the statistic began being measured across the voting-eligible population rather than the voting-age population.
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote[2] | Electoral vote | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
| Bill Clinton (incumbent) | Democratic[b] | Arkansas | 47,402,357 | 49.24% | 379 | Al Gore (incumbent) | Tennessee | 379 |
| Bob Dole | Republican[c] | Kansas | 39,198,755 | 40.71% | 159 | Jack Kemp | New York[32] | 159 |
| Ross Perot | Reform[d] | Texas | 8,085,402 | 8.40% | 0 | Patrick Choate[e] | Washington, D.C. | 0 |
| Ralph Nader | Green | Connecticut | 684,902 | 0.71% | 0 | Winona LaDuke[f] | California | 0 |
| Harry Browne | Libertarian | Tennessee | 485,798 | 0.50% | 0 | Jo Jorgensen | South Carolina | 0 |
| Howard Phillips | Taxpayers | Virginia | 184,658 | 0.19% | 0 | Herbert Titus | Oregon | 0 |
| John Hagelin | Natural Law | Iowa | 113,668 | 0.12% | 0 | Mike Tompkins | Massachusetts | 0 |
| Other[g] | 121,683 | 0.13% | — | Other[g] | — | |||
| Total | 96,277,223 | 100% | 538 | 538 | ||||
| Needed to win | 270 | 270 | ||||||
Official source (popular vote):1996 Official Presidential General Election Results
Source (popular and electoral vote):Federal Elections Commission Electoral and Popular Vote Summaryunofficial[clarification needed]Secondary source (popular vote):Leip, David."1996 Presidential Election Results".Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. RetrievedAugust 7, 2005.
Voting age population: 196,511,000
Percent of voting age population casting a vote for president: 48.99%
| Clinton | 49.24% | |||
| Dole | 40.71% | |||
| Perot | 8.40% | |||
| Nader | 0.71% | |||
| Browne | 0.50% | |||
| Others | 0.44% | |||
| Clinton | 70.45% | |||
| Dole | 29.55% | |||
Source:[36]
| States/districts won byClinton/Gore | |
| States/districts won byDole/Kemp | |
| † | At-large results (for states that split electoral votes) |
| Bill Clinton Democratic | Bob Dole Republican | Ross Perot Reform | Ralph Nader Green | Harry Browne Libertarian | Others | Margin | Margin Swing[h] | 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% | −0.19% | 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% | −8.36% | 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% | 4.18% | 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% | −0.79% | 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% | −0.51% | 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% | −5.63% | 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% | 11.71% | 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% | 7.03% | 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% | 0.23% | 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% | 7.59% | 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% | −1.76% | 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% | 13.90% | 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% | −4.92% | 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% | 3.27% | 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% | 0.54% | 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% | 4.32% | 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% | −13.07% | 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% | −2.25% | 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% | 7.46% | 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% | 12.48% | 605,897 | ME |
| Maine-1 | 1 | 165,053 | 52.1% | 1 | 100,851 | 31.8% | – | 39,845 | 12.6% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11,372 | 3.6% | – | 64,202 | 20.3% | 12.19% | 317,121 | ME1 |
| Maine-2 | 1 | 147,735 | 51.2% | 1 | 85,527 | 29.6% | – | 46,125 | 16.0% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9,389 | 3.3% | – | 62,208 | 21.5% | 12.70% | 288,776 | ME2 |
| 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% | 1.80% | 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% | 14.87% | 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% | 5.82% | 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% | 4.51% | 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% | 3.78% | 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% | −3.85% | 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% | −5.39% | 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% | −1.52% | 677,415 | NE |
| Nebraska-1 | 1 | 87,713 | 38.1% | – | 114,560 | 49.7% | 1 | 25,973 | 11.3% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,074 | 0.9% | – | -28,847 | -11.7% | -1.10% | 230,330 | NE1 |
| Nebraska-2 | 1 | 84,666 | 38.0% | – | 116,892 | 52.5% | 1 | 18,935 | 8.5% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,164 | 1.0% | – | -32,226 | -14.5% | 0.60% | 222,660 | NE2 |
| Nebraska-3 | 1 | 64,382 | 28.7% | – | 132,015 | 58.8% | 1 | 26,370 | 11.8% | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,658 | 0.7% | – | -67,633 | -30.1% | -3.90% | 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% | −1.61% | 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% | 8.73% | 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% | 15.49% | 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% | −1.24% | 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% | 13.01% | 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% | −3.90% | 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% | 5.23% | 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% | 4.53% | 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% | 0.82% | 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% | −1.86% | 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% | 0.18% | 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% | 14.87% | 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% | 2.31% | 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% | 0.06% | 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% | −2.24% | 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% | −1.45% | 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% | −2.26% | 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% | 6.56% | 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% | 2.43% | 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% | 1.10% | 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% | 1.73% | 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% | 5.98% | 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% | −7.39% | 211,571 | WY |
| TOTALS: | 538 | 47,402,357 | 49.24% | 379 | 39,198,755 | 40.71% | 159 | 8,085,402 | 8.40% | – | 684,902 | 0.71% | – | 485,798 | 0.50% | – | 420,009 | 0.44% | – | 8,203,602 | 8.52% | 2.96% | 96,277,223 | US |
†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.[37]
State where the margin of victory was under 1% (8 electoral votes):
States where the margin of victory was under 5% (109 electoral votes):
States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (143 electoral votes):
Counties with highest percent of vote (Democratic)
Counties with highest percent of vote (Republican)
Counties with highest percent of vote (other)
| 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 | ||
| Liberalindependents | 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 | ||
| OtherChristian | 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 ahigh school graduate | 59 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 6 | ||
| High school graduate | 51 | 35 | 13 | 1 | 24 | ||
| Somecollege 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 | ||
Source: Voter News Service exit poll, reported inThe New York Times, November 10, 1996, 28.[38]
The polling in the election was criticized byEverett Carll Ladd, who argued that "polls had overestimated Clinton's lead during the campaign and had thereby dampened interest in the election."[39] Others such asWarren J. Mitofsky rebutted Ladd's view; in an analysis inPublic 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 in1948 and in1980.[39] Because Clinton won the election by a comfortable margin, there was no major reaction towards the impreciseness of the polls.[39]
It's the age of his ideas that I question
Jack Kemp, whose home state of New York saw an even stronger anti-Republican swing in 1996
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