1996
The 1996 U.S. presidential election was won by Bill Clinton (Democratic) with 379 of 538 electoral votes, defeating Bob Dole (Republican). Electoral-vote margin: 220 (379 to 159). Popular-vote margin: 8.5 percentage points. Turnout was 51.7%. The cycle falls in the Modern Polarization era of American electoral history.
Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.
Bill Clinton and the 1996 map
Clinton won re-election comfortably over veteran Senator Bob Dole, running on the booming economy and declaring that 'the era of big government is over.' Clinton's triangulation strategy co-opted many Republican positions while defending the social safety net. Perot ran again on the Reform Party ticket but won only 8.4% compared to his 1992 total. The economy was in a strong expansion, and Clinton's incumbency advantages were decisive. No Democratic candidate had won consecutive terms since FDR.
Budget surplus; economic boom; welfare reform; Newt Gingrich's Republican Revolution
First Democrat re-elected since FDR; Perot ran again but won only half his 1992 support
This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.
Reform Party candidate H. Ross Perot received 7,866,284 popular votes for President, but no electoral votes.
National Archives, Electoral College results for 1996, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.
States · 51 reporting
State results · 1996
PennsylvaniaClinton won it by 9.2 points; its electoral votes took the total to 279, past the 270 needed.
Line up the states the winner carried from widest margin to narrowest and add up their electoral votes: the tipping point is the state that takes the total past a majority.
Scroll the table sideways for every column.
| State | Electoral votes | Bill Clinton Dem | Bob Dole Rep | Ross Perot Ref | Also named | Margin | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama1 | 9 EV | 662,165 43.2% | 769,044 50.1% | Not named | None | 106,879 7.0 pts | Dole Rep |
| Alaska | 3 EV | 80,380 33.3% | 122,746 50.8% | 26,333 10.9% | Ralph Nader 7,597 · 3.1% | 42,366 17.5 pts | Dole Rep |
| Arizona | 8 EV | 653,288 46.5% | 622,073 44.3% | 112,072 8.0% | Harry Browne 14,358 · 1.0% | 31,215 2.2 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Arkansas | 6 EV | 475,171 53.7% | 325,416 36.8% | 69,884 7.9% | None | 149,755 16.9 pts | Clinton Dem |
| California | 54 EV | 5,119,835 51.1% | 3,828,381 38.2% | 697,847 7.0% | Ralph Nader 237,016 · 2.4% | 1,291,454 12.9 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Colorado | 8 EV | 671,152 44.4% | 691,848 45.8% | 99,629 6.6% | Ralph Nader 25,070 · 1.7% | 20,696 1.4 pts | Dole Rep |
| Connecticut | 8 EV | 735,740 52.8% | 483,109 34.7% | 139,523 10.0% | Ralph Nader 24,321 · 1.7% | 252,631 18.1 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Delaware | 3 EV | 140,355 51.8% | 99,062 36.6% | 28,719 10.6% | None | 41,293 15.2 pts | Clinton Dem |
| District of Columbia | 3 EV | 158,220 85.2% | 17,339 9.3% | 3,611 1.9% | Ralph Nader 4,780 · 2.6% | 140,881 75.9 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Florida | 25 EV | 2,546,870 48.0% | 2,244,536 42.3% | 483,870 9.1% | None | 302,334 5.7 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Georgia | 13 EV | 1,053,849 45.8% | 1,080,843 47.0% | 146,337 6.4% | None | 26,994 1.2 pts | Dole Rep |
| Hawaii | 4 EV | 205,012 56.9% | 113,943 31.6% | 27,358 7.6% | Ralph Nader 10,386 · 2.9% | 91,069 25.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Idaho | 4 EV | 165,443 33.6% | 256,595 52.2% | 62,518 12.7% | None | 91,152 18.5 pts | Dole Rep |
| Illinois | 22 EV | 2,341,744 54.3% | 1,587,021 36.8% | 346,408 8.0% | None | 754,723 17.5 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Indiana | 12 EV | 887,424 41.6% | 1,006,693 47.1% | 224,299 10.5% | None | 119,269 5.6 pts | Dole Rep |
| Iowa | 7 EV | 620,258 50.3% | 492,644 39.9% | 105,159 8.5% | None | 127,614 10.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Kansas | 6 EV | 387,659 36.1% | 583,245 54.3% | 92,639 8.6% | None | 195,586 18.2 pts | Dole Rep |
| Kentucky | 8 EV | 636,614 45.8% | 623,283 44.9% | 120,396 8.7% | None | 13,331 1.0 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Louisiana | 9 EV | 927,837 52.0% | 712,586 39.9% | 123,293 6.9% | None | 215,251 12.1 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Maine | 4 EV | 312,788 51.6% | 186,378 30.8% | 85,970 14.2% | Ralph Nader 15,279 · 2.5% | 126,410 20.9 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Maryland | 10 EV | 966,207 54.3% | 681,530 38.3% | 115,812 6.5% | None | 284,677 16.0 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Massachusetts | 12 EV | 1,571,509 61.5% | 718,058 28.1% | 227,206 8.9% | None | 853,451 33.4 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Michigan | 18 EV | 1,989,653 51.7% | 1,481,212 38.5% | 336,670 8.7% | None | 508,441 13.2 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Minnesota | 10 EV | 1,120,380 51.1% | 766,395 35.0% | 257,698 11.8% | Ralph Nader 24,906 · 1.1% | 353,985 16.1 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Mississippi2 | 7 EV | 394,022 44.1% | 439,838 49.2% | Not named | None | 45,816 5.1 pts | Dole Rep |
| Missouri | 11 EV | 1,025,935 47.5% | 890,016 41.2% | 217,188 10.1% | None | 135,919 6.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Montana | 3 EV | 167,922 41.3% | 179,652 44.1% | 55,229 13.6% | None | 11,730 2.9 pts | Dole Rep |
| Nebraska | 5 EV | 236,761 35.0% | 363,467 53.7% | 71,278 10.5% | None | 126,706 18.7 pts | Dole Rep |
| Nevada3 | 4 EV | 203,974 43.9% | 199,244 42.9% | 43,986 9.5% | Ralph Nader 4,730 · 1.0% | 4,730 1.0 pts | Clinton Dem |
| New Hampshire | 4 EV | 246,166 49.6% | 196,486 39.6% | 48,387 9.7% | None | 49,680 10.0 pts | Clinton Dem |
| New Jersey4 | 15 EV | 1,652,361 53.7% | 1,103,099 35.9% | Not named | None | 549,262 17.9 pts | Clinton Dem |
| New Mexico | 5 EV | 273,495 49.2% | 232,751 41.9% | 32,257 5.8% | Ralph Nader 13,218 · 2.4% | 40,744 7.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| New York5 | 33 EV | 3,756,177 58.3% | 1,933,492 30.0% | 503,458 7.8% | Ralph Nader 75,956 · 1.2% | 1,822,685 28.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| North Carolina | 14 EV | 1,107,849 44.0% | 1,225,938 48.7% | 168,059 6.7% | None | 118,089 4.7 pts | Dole Rep |
| North Dakota | 3 EV | 106,905 40.1% | 125,050 46.9% | 32,515 12.2% | None | 18,145 6.8 pts | Dole Rep |
| Ohio | 21 EV | 2,148,222 47.4% | 1,859,883 41.0% | 483,207 10.7% | None | 288,339 6.4 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Oklahoma | 8 EV | 488,105 40.4% | 582,315 48.3% | 130,788 10.8% | None | 94,210 7.8 pts | Dole Rep |
| Oregon | 7 EV | 649,641 47.2% | 538,152 39.1% | 121,221 8.8% | Ralph Nader 49,415 · 3.6% | 111,489 8.1 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Pennsylvania | 23 EV | 2,215,819 49.2% | 1,801,169 40.0% | 430,984 9.6% | None | 414,650 9.2 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Rhode Island | 4 EV | 233,050 59.7% | 104,683 26.8% | 43,723 11.2% | Ralph Nader 6,040 · 1.5% | 128,367 32.9 pts | Clinton Dem |
| South Carolina | 8 EV | 506,152 44.0% | 573,339 49.8% | 64,377 5.6% | None | 67,187 5.8 pts | Dole Rep |
| South Dakota6 | 3 EV | 139,333 43.0% | 150,543 46.5% | Not named | None | 11,210 3.5 pts | Dole Rep |
| Tennessee7 | 11 EV | 909,146 48.0% | 863,530 45.6% | Not named | None | 45,616 2.4 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Texas | 32 EV | 2,459,683 43.8% | 2,736,167 48.8% | 378,537 6.7% | None | 276,484 4.9 pts | Dole Rep |
| Utah | 5 EV | 221,633 33.3% | 361,911 54.4% | 66,461 10.0% | None | 140,278 21.1 pts | Dole Rep |
| Vermont | 3 EV | 137,894 53.4% | 80,352 31.1% | 31,024 12.0% | Ralph Nader 5,585 · 2.2% | 57,542 22.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Virginia | 13 EV | 1,091,060 45.1% | 1,138,350 47.1% | 159,861 6.6% | None | 47,290 2.0 pts | Dole Rep |
| Washington8 | 11 EV | 1,123,323 49.8% | 840,712 37.3% | 201,003 8.9% | None | 282,611 12.5 pts | Clinton Dem |
| West Virginia | 5 EV | 327,812 51.5% | 233,946 36.8% | 71,639 11.3% | None | 93,866 14.7 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Wisconsin9 | 11 EV | 1,071,971 48.8% | 845,029 38.5% | 227,339 10.4% | None | 226,942 10.3 pts | Clinton Dem |
| Wyoming | 3 EV | 77,934 36.8% | 105,388 49.8% | 25,928 12.3% | None | 27,454 13.0 pts | Dole Rep |
Shares are of each state’s total vote for president. “Not named”: the figures do not give that candidate a line of their own in that state — for example under 1% of the vote, not on the ballot there, or counted on an unnamed line (see the state’s note). Margin is the leader’s lead over the second-placed candidate.
Notes on the figures
- Alabama The source reports 95,030 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Mississippi The source reports 53,427 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Nevada 'Other candidates' includes 5,608 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- New Jersey The source reports 320,400 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- New York 'Other candidates' includes 123,000 blank, void, over- or under-vote or 'none of these candidates' ballots, which the source reports as lines of their own.
- South Dakota The source reports 32,478 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Tennessee The source reports 121,239 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Washington The source reports 62,696 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
- Wisconsin The source reports 32,766 votes under the label 'Independent' on one line with no candidate name, so the people they went to cannot be shown separately; they are counted in 'Other candidates'.
SourceMIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. President 1976–2024 . How these figures were compiled
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