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| Turnout | 65.53% (of registered voters) 9.79pp52.56% (of eligible voters) 1.96pp[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results
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The1996 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.California, was won by IncumbentPresidentBill Clinton (D) over SenatorBob Dole (R), with Clinton winning 51.1% to 38.21% by a margin of 12.89%. Billionaire businessmanRoss Perot (Reform Party) finished in third, with 6.96% of the popular vote.[2]
California had grown increasingly Democratic relative to the rest of the nation in the prior three elections, culminating in Bill Clinton's becoming the first Democrat to carry California in1992 sinceLyndon Johnson's1964 landslide. In 1996, Clinton carried California once again by double digits, representing the first time California had voted Democratic in back-to-back elections since1948. This was also the first time since 1964 that a Democrat won a majority of the vote in California. Nevertheless, Clinton's margin of victory shrank from 13.40% to 12.89%, even as his national margin swelled by 3%. Dole reclaimed eleven counties for the GOP:San Diego,Riverside,Fresno,San Luis Obispo,Butte,Tehama,Tuolumne,Siskiyou,Del Norte,Plumas, andMariposa. He also carriedTrinity County, the one county in the state in which Ross Perot had won a plurality in 1992. Of these counties, San Diego, Riverside, Fresno, and San Luis Obispo cast over 100,000 votes; and San Diego County was the largest county in the country to switch parties in 1996.
In contrast, Clinton flipped no counties in the state from red to blue, making this the first election since1980 in which no red counties in the state turned blue. Clinton became the first Democrat to win the White House without carryingFresno County since the county's founding in 1856, and remains the only one to have done so as of2020.[3] He also became the first Democrat sinceWoodrow Wilson in1912 to win the White House without carryingPlumas County.[3] Nevertheless, Clinton retained seven counties that he had been the first Democrat to carry since 1964 in 1992:San Bernardino,Ventura,San Joaquin,Santa Barbara,Monterey,Imperial, andSan Benito, of which all save Imperial and San Benito cast over 100,000 votes. He also retained all the counties that had voted Democratic in1988, including a number of sizeable ones that had voted Republican in1976, such asSanta Clara,Contra Costa,San Mateo, andSonoma. This was the last election in which California voted to the right of Arkansas, Michigan, Minnesota, or West Virginia. This was also the first election since 1912 in which California voted differently than nearbyMontana.
Late in the 1996 campaign, Dole had made anupset victory over Clinton in California central to his strategy.[4] Dole hoped to capitalize on two issues that had been figuring prominently in California politics under GovernorPete Wilson,illegal immigration &affirmative action.[4] California is one of 13 states where on the election ballot, James Campbell of California, Perot's former boss at IBM, was listed as a stand-in vice-presidential candidate.[2][5] The Reform Party successfully conducted a drive to qualify as a party in California over the course of eighteen days in 1995.[6]
| 1996 United States presidential election in California[2][7] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | William Jefferson Clinton(Incumbent) | Albert Arnold Gore Jr.(Incumbent) | 5,119,835 | 51.10% | 54 | |
| Republican | Robert Joseph Dole | Jack French Kemp | 3,828,380 | 38.21% | 0 | |
| Reform | Henry Ross Perot | James Campbell | 697,847 | 6.96% | 0 | |
| Green | Ralph Nader | Winona LaDuke | 237,016 | 2.37% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Harry Browne | Jo Jorgensen | 73,600 | 0.73% | 0 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Marsha Feinland | Kate McClatchy | 25,332 | 0.25% | 0 | |
| Taxpayers’ | Howard Phillips | Herbert Titus | 21,202 | 0.21% | 0 | |
| Natural Law | John Hagelin | Dr. V. Tompkins | 15,403 | 0.15% | 0 | |
| Write-in | Charles Collins | 765 | 0.01% | 0 | ||
| Write-in | James Harris | 77 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Write-in | Joel Neuberg | 13 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Write-in | Willie Carter | 12 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Write-in | Isabell Masters | 2 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Invalid or blank votes | 242,155 | 2.36% | — | |||
| Totals | 10,261,639 | 100.0% | 54 | |||
| Voter turnout | 65.53% | — | ||||
| County | Bill Clinton Democratic | Bob Dole Republican | Ross Perot Reform | Ralph Nader Green | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 303,903 | 65.77% | 106,581 | 23.07% | 24,270 | 5.25% | 20,432 | 4.42% | 6,858 | 1.48% | 197,322 | 42.70% | 462,044 |
| Alpine | 258 | 42.02% | 264 | 43.00% | 63 | 10.26% | 19 | 3.09% | 10 | 1.63% | -6 | -0.98% | 614 |
| Amador | 5,868 | 40.60% | 6,870 | 47.54% | 1,267 | 8.77% | 264 | 1.83% | 183 | 1.27% | -1,002 | -6.94% | 14,452 |
| Butte | 30,651 | 38.53% | 38,961 | 48.98% | 6,393 | 8.04% | 2,409 | 3.03% | 1,136 | 1.43% | -8,310 | -10.45% | 79,550 |
| Calaveras | 6,646 | 38.63% | 8,279 | 48.12% | 1,612 | 9.37% | 338 | 1.96% | 331 | 1.92% | -1,633 | -9.49% | 17,206 |
| Colusa | 2,054 | 36.60% | 3,047 | 54.29% | 404 | 7.20% | 42 | 0.75% | 65 | 1.16% | -993 | -17.69% | 5,612 |
| Contra Costa | 196,512 | 55.73% | 123,954 | 35.15% | 20,416 | 5.79% | 7,334 | 2.08% | 4,386 | 1.24% | 72,558 | 20.58% | 352,602 |
| Del Norte | 3,652 | 41.08% | 3,670 | 41.29% | 1,225 | 13.78% | 199 | 2.24% | 143 | 1.61% | -18 | -0.21% | 8,889 |
| El Dorado | 22,957 | 36.33% | 32,759 | 51.84% | 5,077 | 8.03% | 1,439 | 2.28% | 964 | 1.53% | -9,802 | -15.51% | 63,196 |
| Fresno | 94,448 | 45.32% | 98,813 | 47.42% | 10,962 | 5.26% | 2,523 | 1.21% | 1,647 | 0.79% | -4,365 | -2.10% | 208,393 |
| Glenn | 2,841 | 32.04% | 5,041 | 56.86% | 788 | 8.89% | 85 | 0.96% | 111 | 1.25% | -2,200 | -24.82% | 8,866 |
| Humboldt | 24,628 | 44.17% | 19,803 | 35.52% | 5,811 | 10.42% | 4,651 | 8.34% | 864 | 1.55% | 4,825 | 8.65% | 55,757 |
| Imperial | 14,591 | 55.27% | 9,705 | 36.76% | 1,778 | 6.73% | 154 | 0.58% | 172 | 0.65% | 4,886 | 18.51% | 26,400 |
| Inyo | 2,601 | 34.36% | 3,924 | 51.84% | 811 | 10.71% | 127 | 1.68% | 106 | 1.40% | -1,323 | -17.48% | 7,569 |
| Kern | 62,658 | 36.56% | 92,151 | 53.77% | 13,452 | 7.85% | 1,289 | 0.75% | 1,841 | 1.07% | -29,493 | -17.21% | 171,391 |
| Kings | 11,254 | 43.59% | 12,368 | 47.91% | 1,745 | 6.76% | 205 | 0.79% | 243 | 0.94% | -1,114 | -4.32% | 25,815 |
| Lake | 10,432 | 48.90% | 7,458 | 34.96% | 2,539 | 11.90% | 583 | 2.73% | 323 | 1.51% | 2,974 | 13.94% | 21,335 |
| Lassen | 3,318 | 33.60% | 5,194 | 52.60% | 1,080 | 10.94% | 131 | 1.33% | 152 | 1.54% | -1,876 | -19.00% | 9,875 |
| Los Angeles | 1,430,629 | 59.34% | 746,544 | 30.96% | 157,752 | 6.54% | 45,977 | 1.91% | 30,112 | 1.25% | 684,085 | 28.38% | 2,411,014 |
| Madera | 11,254 | 36.70% | 16,510 | 53.85% | 2,192 | 7.15% | 376 | 1.23% | 330 | 1.08% | -5,256 | -17.15% | 30,662 |
| Marin | 67,406 | 58.04% | 32,714 | 28.17% | 6,559 | 5.65% | 7,360 | 6.34% | 2,101 | 1.81% | 34,692 | 29.87% | 116,140 |
| Mariposa | 2,920 | 36.73% | 3,976 | 50.02% | 729 | 9.17% | 192 | 2.42% | 132 | 1.66% | -1,056 | -13.29% | 7,949 |
| Mendocino | 14,952 | 45.74% | 9,765 | 29.87% | 3,685 | 11.27% | 3,608 | 11.04% | 682 | 2.09% | 5,187 | 15.87% | 32,692 |
| Merced | 21,786 | 46.41% | 20,847 | 44.41% | 3,427 | 7.30% | 462 | 0.98% | 416 | 0.89% | 939 | 2.00% | 46,938 |
| Modoc | 1,368 | 31.79% | 2,285 | 53.10% | 528 | 12.27% | 49 | 1.14% | 73 | 1.70% | -917 | -21.31% | 4,303 |
| Mono | 1,580 | 38.62% | 1,882 | 46.00% | 447 | 10.93% | 96 | 2.35% | 86 | 2.10% | -302 | -7.38% | 4,091 |
| Monterey | 57,700 | 53.15% | 39,794 | 36.66% | 7,240 | 6.67% | 2,391 | 2.20% | 1,433 | 1.32% | 17,906 | 16.49% | 108,558 |
| Napa | 24,588 | 50.89% | 17,439 | 36.09% | 4,254 | 8.80% | 1,242 | 2.57% | 796 | 1.65% | 7,149 | 14.80% | 48,319 |
| Nevada | 15,369 | 35.56% | 21,784 | 50.40% | 3,330 | 7.70% | 2,097 | 4.85% | 639 | 1.48% | -6,415 | -14.84% | 43,219 |
| Orange | 327,485 | 37.88% | 446,717 | 51.67% | 66,195 | 7.66% | 11,842 | 1.37% | 12,337 | 1.43% | -119,232 | -13.79% | 864,576 |
| Placer | 34,981 | 37.05% | 49,808 | 52.75% | 6,542 | 6.93% | 1,875 | 1.99% | 1,221 | 1.29% | -14,827 | -15.70% | 94,427 |
| Plumas | 3,540 | 36.31% | 4,905 | 50.31% | 919 | 9.43% | 214 | 2.19% | 172 | 1.76% | -1,365 | -14.00% | 9,750 |
| Riverside | 168,579 | 43.05% | 178,611 | 45.61% | 35,481 | 9.06% | 4,814 | 1.23% | 4,128 | 1.05% | -10,032 | -2.56% | 391,613 |
| Sacramento | 203,019 | 49.83% | 166,049 | 40.76% | 23,856 | 5.86% | 9,142 | 2.24% | 5,348 | 1.31% | 36,970 | 9.07% | 407,414 |
| San Benito | 7,030 | 50.55% | 5,384 | 38.72% | 1,044 | 7.51% | 236 | 1.70% | 212 | 1.52% | 1,646 | 11.83% | 13,906 |
| San Bernardino | 183,372 | 44.36% | 180,135 | 43.58% | 39,330 | 9.51% | 5,150 | 1.25% | 5,368 | 1.30% | 3,237 | 0.78% | 413,355 |
| San Diego | 389,964 | 44.11% | 402,876 | 45.57% | 63,037 | 7.13% | 15,858 | 1.79% | 12,416 | 1.40% | -12,912 | -1.46% | 884,151 |
| San Francisco | 209,777 | 72.24% | 45,479 | 15.66% | 9,659 | 3.33% | 21,471 | 7.39% | 3,999 | 1.38% | 164,298 | 56.58% | 290,385 |
| San Joaquin | 67,253 | 46.34% | 65,131 | 44.87% | 9,692 | 6.68% | 1,501 | 1.03% | 1,563 | 1.08% | 2,122 | 1.47% | 145,140 |
| San Luis Obispo | 40,395 | 40.19% | 46,733 | 46.50% | 8,204 | 8.16% | 3,854 | 3.83% | 1,314 | 1.31% | -6,338 | -6.31% | 100,500 |
| San Mateo | 152,304 | 60.55% | 73,508 | 29.22% | 15,047 | 5.98% | 7,336 | 2.92% | 3,337 | 1.33% | 78,796 | 31.33% | 251,532 |
| Santa Barbara | 70,650 | 46.87% | 63,915 | 42.40% | 9,457 | 6.27% | 4,774 | 3.17% | 1,949 | 1.29% | 6,735 | 4.47% | 150,745 |
| Santa Clara | 297,639 | 56.88% | 168,291 | 32.16% | 34,908 | 6.67% | 12,312 | 2.35% | 10,141 | 1.94% | 129,348 | 24.72% | 523,291 |
| Santa Cruz | 58,250 | 56.52% | 27,766 | 26.94% | 6,555 | 6.36% | 7,803 | 7.57% | 2,688 | 2.61% | 30,484 | 29.58% | 103,062 |
| Shasta | 20,848 | 33.11% | 34,736 | 55.17% | 5,875 | 9.33% | 675 | 1.07% | 827 | 1.31% | -13,888 | -22.06% | 62,961 |
| Sierra | 573 | 33.57% | 877 | 51.38% | 170 | 9.96% | 40 | 2.34% | 47 | 2.75% | -304 | -17.81% | 1,707 |
| Siskiyou | 7,022 | 38.39% | 8,653 | 47.30% | 1,879 | 10.27% | 372 | 2.03% | 367 | 2.01% | -1,631 | -8.91% | 18,293 |
| Solano | 64,644 | 55.12% | 40,742 | 34.74% | 8,682 | 7.40% | 1,868 | 1.59% | 1,343 | 1.15% | 23,902 | 20.38% | 117,279 |
| Sonoma | 100,738 | 55.57% | 53,555 | 29.54% | 13,862 | 7.65% | 9,547 | 5.27% | 3,595 | 1.98% | 47,183 | 26.03% | 181,297 |
| Stanislaus | 53,738 | 45.93% | 52,403 | 44.79% | 8,360 | 7.14% | 1,172 | 1.00% | 1,334 | 1.14% | 1,335 | 1.14% | 117,007 |
| Sutter | 8,504 | 34.37% | 14,264 | 57.64% | 1,533 | 6.20% | 208 | 0.84% | 236 | 0.95% | -5,760 | -23.27% | 24,745 |
| Tehama | 7,290 | 35.66% | 10,292 | 50.34% | 2,325 | 11.37% | 245 | 1.20% | 291 | 1.42% | -3,002 | -14.68% | 20,443 |
| Trinity | 2,203 | 37.38% | 2,530 | 42.93% | 856 | 14.53% | 159 | 2.70% | 145 | 2.46% | -327 | -5.55% | 5,893 |
| Tulare | 32,669 | 38.06% | 46,272 | 53.90% | 5,106 | 5.95% | 737 | 0.86% | 1,062 | 1.24% | -13,603 | -15.84% | 85,846 |
| Tuolumne | 8,950 | 40.73% | 10,386 | 47.27% | 1,925 | 8.76% | 427 | 1.94% | 284 | 1.29% | -1,436 | -6.54% | 21,972 |
| Ventura | 110,772 | 44.10% | 109,202 | 43.47% | 23,054 | 9.18% | 4,732 | 1.88% | 3,434 | 1.37% | 1,570 | 0.63% | 251,194 |
| Yolo | 33,033 | 56.88% | 18,807 | 32.38% | 3,150 | 5.42% | 2,377 | 4.09% | 712 | 1.23% | 14,226 | 24.50% | 58,079 |
| Yuba | 5,789 | 37.42% | 7,971 | 51.53% | 1,308 | 8.46% | 201 | 1.30% | 201 | 1.30% | -2,182 | -14.11% | 15,470 |
| Total | 5,119,835 | 51.10% | 3,828,380 | 38.21% | 697,847 | 6.96% | 237,016 | 2.37% | 136,406 | 1.36% | 1,291,455 | 12.89% | 10,019,484 |
Clinton won 36 of 52 congressional districts, including eight held by Republicans, with the remaining 16 going to Dole, including one held by a Democrat.[8]
| District | Clinton | Dole | Perot | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 48% | 35% | 10% | Frank Riggs |
| 2nd | 36% | 51% | 9% | Wally Herger |
| 3rd | 45% | 44% | 7% | Vic Fazio |
| 4th | 38% | 51% | 8% | John Doolittle |
| 5th | 57% | 34% | 5% | Bob Matsui |
| 6th | 57% | 29% | 7% | Lynn Woolsey |
| 7th | 65% | 25% | 6% | George Miller |
| 8th | 66% | 18% | 4% | Nancy Pelosi |
| 9th | 75% | 13% | 3% | Ron Dellums |
| 10th | 48% | 43% | 6% | Bill Baker |
| Ellen Tauscher | ||||
| 11th | 46% | 45% | 7% | Richard Pombo |
| 12th | 70% | 21% | 4% | Tom Lantos |
| 13th | 62% | 28% | 7% | Pete Stark |
| 14th | 58% | 31% | 6% | Anna Eshoo |
| 15th | 53% | 35% | 7% | Tom Campbell |
| 16th | 61% | 29% | 6% | Zoe Lofgren |
| 17th | 55% | 32% | 6% | Sam Farr |
| 18th | 46% | 45% | 7% | Gary Condit |
| 19th | 40% | 52% | 6% | George Radanovich |
| 20th | 52% | 41% | 6% | Cal Dooley |
| 21st | 34% | 56% | 8% | Bill Thomas |
| 22nd | 44.0% | 44.2% | 7% | Andrea Seastrand |
| Walter Capps | ||||
| 23rd | 46% | 42% | 9% | Elton Gallegly |
| 24th | 52% | 37% | 7% | Anthony Beilenson |
| Brad Sherman | ||||
| 25th | 41% | 47% | 9% | Buck McKeon |
| 26th | 65% | 25% | 7% | Howard Berman |
| 27th | 49% | 41% | 7% | Carlos Moorhead |
| Jim Rogan | ||||
| 28th | 45% | 44% | 8% | David Dreier |
| 29th | 67% | 24% | 5% | Henry Waxman |
| 30th | 71% | 20% | 5% | Xavier Becerra |
| 31st | 65% | 26% | 7% | Matthew G. Martínez |
| 32nd | 81% | 12% | 4% | Julian Dixon |
| 33rd | 80% | 14% | 4% | Lucille Roybal-Allard |
| 34th | 64% | 27% | 7% | Esteban Torres |
| 35th | 84% | 11% | 4% | Maxine Waters |
| 36th | 47% | 41% | 8% | Jane Harman |
| 37th | 82% | 13% | 4% | Walter R. Tucker III |
| Juanita Millender-McDonald | ||||
| 38th | 53% | 36% | 8% | Steve Horn |
| 39th | 41% | 48% | 8% | Ed Royce |
| 40th | 38% | 49% | 11% | Jerry Lewis |
| 41st | 43% | 47% | 8% | Jay Kim |
| 42nd | 54% | 36% | 9% | George Brown Jr. |
| 43rd | 43% | 46% | 9% | Ken Calvert |
| 44th | 44% | 45% | 9% | Sonny Bono |
| 45th | 38% | 51% | 8% | Dana Rohrabacher |
| 46th | 49% | 41% | 8% | Bob Dornan |
| Loretta Sánchez | ||||
| 47th | 36% | 54% | 7% | Christopher Cox |
| 48th | 34% | 56% | 8% | Ron Packard |
| 49th | 49% | 40% | 7% | Brian Bilbray |
| 50th | 60% | 32% | 6% | Bob Filner |
| 51st | 39% | 52% | 7% | Duke Cunningham |
| 52nd | 41% | 48% | 8% | Duncan Hunter |
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