1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Last updated
1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Flag of the United States.svg
  1992 January 29 to June 4, 1996 2000  
  Bill Clinton.jpg NOTA Option Logo 3x4.svg
Candidate Bill Clinton Uncommitted
Home state Arkansas
Contests won34 1
Popular vote9,706,802411,270
Percentage89.0%3.8%

  3x4.svg Lyndon LaRouche (cropped).jpg
Candidate Roland Riemers Lyndon LaRouche
Home state North Dakota Virginia
Contests won 1 0
Popular vote651596,422
Percentage0.006%5.5%

United States Democratic presidential primary, 1996.svg


Previous Democratic nominee

Bill Clinton

Democratic nominee

Bill Clinton

From January 29 to June 4, 1996, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1996 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Bill Clinton was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1996 Democratic National Convention held from August 26 to August 29, 1996, in Chicago, Illinois.

Contents

This was the first Democratic presidential primary in 16 years in which an incumbent president was a candidate. Clinton went on to win reelection, thereby becoming the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win two consecutive presidential elections.

Primary race overview

With the advantage of incumbency, Bill Clinton's path to renomination by the Democratic Party was uneventful. At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton - along with incumbent Vice President Al Gore - was renominated following a primary race in which he faced only token opposition. Perennial candidate Lyndon 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] Former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid. [2] [3] That left Jimmy Griffin, the former mayor 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 the North 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 housewife Elvena 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.

Candidates

Nominee

CandidateMost recent officeHome stateCampaign

Withdrawal date

Popular

vote

Contests wonRunning mate
Bill Clinton Bill Clinton.jpg President of the United States
(1993–2001)
Flag-map of Arkansas.svg
Arkansas
Clinton Gore 96.svg

(CampaignPositions)
Secured nomination:March 26, 1996

9,706,802

(89.0%)

34
Al Gore

Withdrew during primaries

Declined

Results

With a number of non-notable people running against Clinton and LaRouche in several states, The nationwide totals went as follows: [10]

CandidatePopular voteContests won
Bill Clinton 9,706,802 (88.94%)34
Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. 596,422 (5.47%)
Uncommitted411,270 (3.77%) 1
Elvena Lloyd-Duffie 92,324 (0.85%)
Fred Hudson32,232 (0.30%)
Heather Anne Harder29,147 (0.27%)
Ted Gunderson 15,712 (0.14%)
Sal Casamassima9,693 (0.08%)
Ralph Nader6,786 (0.06%)
Pat Buchanan3,362 (0.03%)
Lamar Alexander1,888 (0.02%)
Pat Paulsen 1,317 (0.01%)
Steve Forbes1,297 (0.01%)
Bob Dole1,257 (0.01%)
Al Gore679 (0.006%)
Carmen C. Chimento656 (0.006%)
Roland Riemers 651 (0.006%) 1
Richard Lugar410 (0.004%)
Vernon Clemenson384 (0.004%)
Bruce C. Daniels312 (0.003%)
James D. Griffin 307 (0.003%)
Alan L. Keyes†281 (0.003%)
Colin Powell280 (0.003%)
Steve Michael 94 (0.0008%)
Willie Felix Carter85 (0.0008%)
Robert D. Rucker 81 (0.0007%)
David S. Pauling74 (0.0007%)
Vincent S. Hamm72 (0.0007%)
Frank Legas63 (0.0006%)
Ronald Spangler62 (0.0006%)
Michael E. Dass57 (0.0005%)
Ben J. Tomeo47 (0.0004%)
John Safran42 (0.0004%)
Total10,914,14636

† Indicates a write-in candidate

See also

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References

  1. LaRouche v. Fowler. United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. 2008-08-28
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Anyone left? The search for a Clinton challenger in 1996". The Progressive. TheFreeLibrary.com. May 1, 1995. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  3. Newton-Small, Jay (November 24, 2009). "Can a Pro-Life Dem Bridge the Health-Care Divide?". Time. Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  4. US President - D Primaries. OurCampaigns.
  5. Winger, Richard. "Ballot Access News -- March 6, 1996". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  6. FEC: 1996 Presidential Primary Results
  7. The Washington Post [ dead link ]
  8. "Election and voting information".
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sabato, Larry, ed. (1997). Toward the millennium: the elections of 1996. Allyn & Bacon. pp. 24–27. ISBN   0205199070.
  10. "Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1996".