1996 United States presidential election in Arizona

Main article: 1996 United States presidential election

1996 United States presidential election in Arizona

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Nominee Bill Clinton Bob Dole Ross Perot Party Democratic Republican Reform Home state Arkansas Kansas Texas Running mate Al Gore Jack Kemp Pat Choate Electoral vote 8 0 0 Popular vote 653,288 622,073 112,072 Percentage 46.52% 44.29% 7.98%

County results Congressional district results Clinton   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Dole   40–50%   50–60%

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

The 1996 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Arizona was won by President Bill Clinton (D) over Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), with Clinton winning 46.5% to 44.3% by a margin of 2.2%. ^{[1] [2]}

Clinton had come fairly close to winning Arizona four years earlier. In his re-election bid, he was able to gain a larger share of the vote in Democratic-trending Pima County as well as most of northern Arizona. He also increased his support in Maricopa County, although it was again carried by the Republican candidate. His statewide margin of victory was slightly over 31,000 votes out of about 1.4 million cast. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Reform-TX) finished in third, with 8.0% of the popular vote. Exit polls suggest he did not change the outcome. ^[3] As of 2024, this is the last election in which the following counties have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Gila, Greenlee, Navajo, Pinal and La Paz. ^[4]

This is the last election in which Arizona would vote differently from Georgia, as both had Republican winning streaks from 2000 to 2016, before both flipping to Joe Biden in 2020 followed by both going back to Donald Trump in 2024.

This is the only presidential election in Arizona's history in which Maricopa County, containing more than half of Arizona's population, voted for a candidate that lost the state, and one of only two elections in which Yavapai County, home to the city of Prescott, did so. This was the first time a Democrat had won Arizona in a presidential election since 1948, ^[5] and the last time until 2020. This is also the only presidential election since 1944 in which Arizona voted Democratic while Colorado voted Republican.

Results

1996 United States presidential election in Arizona [6]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Bill Clinton (incumbent)	Al Gore (incumbent)	653,288	46.52%	8
	Republican	Robert Dole	Jack Kemp	622,073	44.29%	0
	Reform	Ross Perot	Patrick Choate	112,072	7.98%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	Jo Jorgensen	14,358	1.02%	0
	Green	Ralph Nader (write-in)	Winona LaDuke	2,062	0.15%	0
	U.S. Taxpayers'	Howard Phillips (write-in)	[a]	347	0.02%	0
	Natural Law	John Hagelin (write-in)	Mike Tompkins	153	0.01%	0
	No Party	Charles Collins (write-in)	Rosemary Giumarra	36	0.00%	0
	Maverick Democratic	Caroline Killeen (write-in)	William F. Buckley Jr.	16	0.00%	0
	No Party	Robert B. Winn (write-in)		5	0.00%	0
Totals				1,404,405	100.00%	8

By county

County [6]	Bill Clinton Democratic		Bob Dole Republican		Ross Perot Reform		Harry Browne Libertarian		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Apache	12,394	66.33%	4,761	25.48%	1,296	6.94%	204	1.09%	29	0.16%	7,633	40.85%	18,684
Cochise	13,782	43.17%	14,365	45.00%	3,346	10.48%	383	1.20%	47	0.15%	-583	-1.83%	31,923
Coconino	20,475	53.15%	13,638	35.40%	3,666	9.52%	609	1.58%	137	0.35%	6,837	17.75%	38,522
Gila	8,577	49.26%	6,407	36.80%	2,211	12.70%	204	1.17%	12	0.07%	2,170	12.46%	17,411
Graham	3,938	42.36%	4,222	45.42%	1,034	11.12%	100	1.08%	2	0.02%	-284	-3.06%	9,296
Greenlee	1,755	51.72%	1,159	34.16%	426	12.56%	53	1.56%	0	0.00%	596	17.56%	3,393
La Paz	1,964	43.71%	1,902	42.33%	597	13.29%	30	0.67%	0	0.00%	62	1.38%	4,493
Maricopa	363,991	44.53%	386,015	47.22%	58,479	7.15%	7,551	0.92%	1,396	0.18%	-22,024	-2.69%	817,432
Mohave	16,629	40.04%	17,997	43.33%	6,369	15.33%	481	1.16%	57	0.14%	-1,368	-3.29%	41,533
Navajo	12,912	51.78%	9,262	37.14%	2,461	9.87%	272	1.09%	31	0.12%	3,650	14.64%	24,938
Pima	137,983	52.16%	104,121	39.36%	18,809	7.11%	2,894	1.09%	745	0.28%	33,862	12.80%	264,552
Pinal	19,579	53.07%	13,034	35.33%	3,972	10.77%	293	0.79%	17	0.04%	6,545	17.74%	36,895
Santa Cruz	5,241	64.17%	2,256	27.62%	600	7.35%	65	0.80%	5	0.06%	2,985	36.55%	8,167
Yavapai	21,801	36.64%	29,921	50.29%	6,649	11.18%	1,009	1.70%	115	0.19%	-8,120	-13.65%	59,495
Yuma	12,267	44.33%	13,013	47.03%	2,157	7.80%	210	0.76%	24	0.08%	-746	-2.70%	27,671
Totals	653,288	46.52%	622,073	44.29%	112,072	7.98%	14,358	1.02%	2,614	0.19%	31,215	2.23%	1,404,405

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Cochise

County flips from 1992 to 1996:

Republican   Hold   Gain from Democratic

By congressional district

Clinton won three of six congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans. ^[7]

District	Dole	Clinton	Perot	Representative
1st	47%	46%	7%	Matt Salmon
2nd	29%	64%	7%	Ed Pastor
3rd	48%	42%	10%	Bob Stump
4th	49%	44%	7%	John Shadegg
5th	44%	48%	8%	Jim Kolbe
6th	45%	47%	8%	J.D. Hayworth

Electors

Bill Clinton & Al Gore Democratic Party	Bob Dole & Jack Kemp Republican Party	Ross Perot & Pat Choate Reform Party
Thomas Bean Andrew S. Gordon Rose Mofford Scott Thomas Olson Sr. Daniel R. Ortega Jr. Jeanne M. Perpich E. C. Rosenbaum Mary V. Thomas	Linda Barber Malcolm W. Barrett Franklin Roy Dunton Paul Robert Fannin Donna Flanigan William W. Goldsmith Jack Londen Kay Van Sant	Dean Clifton Bailey James Edward Bourassa Mary Martha Bourassa James Wilbur Callis Kathleen Durkin Janice Kennedy Eugene John Kerkman Rosella Elaine Quinn

Harry Browne & Jo Jorgensen Libertarian Party	Ralph Nader & Winona LaDuke Green Party	Howard Phillips U.S. Taxpayers Party
Carolyn Campbell Darlene Franklin Alfred S. Fuller Sloane Haywood Donna Pulling Timothy D. Shinabarger Edward Allen Silk Alva d'Orgeix	Shirly C. Bardella Kelly Jarvis Kenneth C. Kurtzhalz William Stewart Norton Joyce Oldfather Joel Sullins Marie Joan Yappel Leonard Julius Zimont	Jan Cohn Ted J. Goldstein Deborah J. Goldstein Kathleen Hansen Keith Hansen Sashi Jorden James Romaine Evelyn Romaine

John Hagelin & Mike Tompkins Natural Law Party	Charles Collins & Rosemary Giumarra Independent	Caroline Killeen & William F. Buckley Jr. Maverick Democratic	Robert B. Winn Independent
Mike Dugger Barbara Elizabeth Grainger Scott Grainger Ernest Hancock Donna Hancock Kathy L. Harrer Linda M. McDermott Timothy P. McDermott	Tina Booher Elizabeth Bovee Carol N. Kruger Leonard Pawlak Mike Reeves Carol A. Spoor Bernard L. Weaver Doreen Yonkmans	Kate Allan Joseph Larsson Brian McInerney Don Rainwater Lybrand Smith-Mayes Alison Stout Sherri Whitaker Alec W. Young	Doyle Adair Joyce Adair Dean A. Brinkerhoff Natalie V. Gregg Sherry Lynn Gruwell Dixie L. Holmes Arthur W. Parker George L. Sheppard

Notes

1. Phillips' running mate on the national US Taxpayers ticket was Herbert Titus, but in Arizona, Phillips was listed without a running mate as a write-in candidate.

References

1. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1996 Presidential General Election Results – Arizona
2. Our Campaigns; AZ US President Race, November 05, 1996
3. "AllPolitics – Arizona President Exit Poll Results". CNN . November 6, 1996. Archived from the original on February 20, 1999.
4. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
5. Stone, Daria; Caldwell, Alicia A. (November 6, 1996). "Clinton takes Arizona, nation". Arizona Daily Wildcat. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
6. "State of Arizona Official Canvass General Election - November 5, 1996". Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
7. "1996 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District". Western Washington University. Retrieved February 6, 2025.