1996 United States presidential election in California
1996 United States presidential election in California Turnout 65.53% (of registered voters) 9.79 pp 52.56% (of eligible voters) 1.96 pp [1]
County Results
Clinton
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
Dole
40–50%
50–60%
The 1996 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election . Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College , who voted for president and vice president . California , was won by Incumbent President Bill Clinton (D ) over Senator Bob Dole (R ), with Clinton winning 51.1% to 38.21% by a margin of 12.89%. Billionaire businessman Ross 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 in 1992 since Lyndon Johnson 's 1964 landslide. In 1996, Clinton carried California once again by double digits, representing the first time California had voted Democratic in back-to-back elections since 1948 . 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 , and Mariposa . He also carried Trinity 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 since 1980 in which no red counties in the state turned blue. Clinton became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Fresno County since the county's founding in 1856, and remains the only one to have done so as of 2020 .[3] He also became the first Democrat since Woodrow Wilson in 1912 to win the White House without carrying Plumas 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 , and San Benito , of which all save Imperial and San Benito cast over 100,000 votes. He also retained all the counties that had voted Democratic in 1988 , including a number of sizeable ones that had voted Republican in 1976 , such as Santa Clara , Contra Costa , San Mateo , and Sonoma . 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 nearby Montana .
Late in the 1996 campaign, Dole had made an upset 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 Governor Pete Wilson , illegal immigration and affirmative action .[4]
California is one of thirteen 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]
Results
1996 United States presidential election in California[2] [6]
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%
—
By county
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
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Counties that flipped from Independent to Republican
By congressional district
Clinton won 38 of 52 congressional districts, including eight held by Republicans. Dole won 14 districts, including one held by a Democrat.
References
^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF) . California Secretary of State . Retrieved May 5, 2022 .
^ a b c Dave Leip's Atlas of United States Presidential Election Results - 1996 California Results
^ a b "County winners, 1836-2016" . Google Docs . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ a b Ayres, B. Drummond Jr. (October 31, 1996). "Behind Dole's California Strategy: A Bid to Save His Campaign (Published 1996)" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ "Perot Names Stand-in Veep Candidate" . Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2012 .
^ Statement of Vote November 5, 1996, Prepared by Bill Jones California Secretary of State Archived July 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (access date 2012-02-05)