1996 United States presidential election in Maine

Main article: 1996 United States presidential election

1996 United States presidential election in Maine

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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 James Campbell Electoral vote 4 0 0 Popular vote 312,788 186,378 85,970 Percentage 51.62% 30.76% 14.19%

County Results Congressional District Results Municipality Results Clinton   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Dole   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Perot   40–50%   60–70% Tie

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

The 1996 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that chooses two of its four representatives in the Electoral College based on the plurality vote in both its congressional districts instead of all four electors being chosen based on the statewide plurality vote.

Maine confirmed its status as a blue state, with Democratic nominee President Bill Clinton carrying the state with 51.62% of the vote over Republican Bob Dole, who received 30.76%. ^[1] As of 2024, Clinton's 20.86% margin of victory is the widest for a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, although several subsequent Democrats have won a higher vote percentage.

Maine has voted Democratic since 1992, and is the only state other than Nebraska to split its electoral votes. The last time Maine went Republican was for George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle in 1988. Third Party candidate Ross Perot had a lesser impact this time, only drawing 14% of the vote, compared to 30% in 1992. This would still be where Perot received the highest percentage of votes in 1996. ^[2] As of the 2024 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which Piscataquis County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. ^[3] This is also the most recent election in which all the counties of Maine voted for the same party.

Results

1996 United States presidential election in Maine
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Bill Clinton (incumbent)	Al Gore (incumbent)	312,788	51.62%	4
	Republican	Bob Dole	Jack Kemp	186,378	30.76%	0
	Reform	Ross Perot	James Campbell [1] [4]	85,970	14.19%	0
	Green	Ralph Nader	Winona LaDuke	15,279	2.52%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	Jo Jorgensen	2,996	0.49%	0
	U.S. Taxpayers' Party	Howard Phillips	Herbert Titus	1,517	0.25%	0
	Natural Law	John Hagelin	Mike Tompkins	825	0.14%	0
	No party	Write-in		144	0.02%	0

By congressional district

Clinton won both congressional districts.

District	Clinton	Dole	Perot	Representative
1st	52.1%	31.8%	12.6%	James B. Longley Jr. (104th Congress)
				Tom Allen (105th Congress)
2nd	51.2%	29.6%	16.0%	John Baldacci

Results by county

County	Bill Clinton Democratic		Bob Dole Republican		Ross Perot Reform		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Androscoggin	26,428	56.55%	12,053	25.79%	7,079	15.15%	1,171	2.51%	14,375	30.76%	46,731
Aroostook	18,022	51.80%	10,400	29.89%	5,747	16.52%	623	1.79%	7,622	21.91%	34,792
Cumberland	69,496	53.62%	42,620	32.88%	12,696	9.80%	4,798	3.70%	26,876	20.74%	129,610
Franklin	7,759	53.16%	3,757	25.74%	2,567	17.59%	513	3.51%	4,002	27.42%	14,596
Hancock	12,256	46.34%	8,345	31.55%	4,094	15.48%	1,753	6.63%	3,911	14.79%	26,448
Kennebec	30,257	54.37%	15,403	27.68%	8,281	14.88%	1,713	3.08%	14,854	26.69%	55,654
Knox	8,839	46.81%	6,192	32.79%	2,780	14.72%	1,072	5.68%	2,647	14.02%	18,883
Lincoln	8,130	44.74%	6,372	35.06%	2,923	16.08%	748	4.12%	1,758	9.68%	18,173
Oxford	13,580	52.05%	7,238	27.74%	4,589	17.59%	684	2.62%	6,342	24.31%	26,091
Penobscot	35,961	51.00%	22,885	32.45%	9,673	13.72%	1,998	2.83%	13,076	18.55%	70,517
Piscataquis	4,343	48.69%	2,815	31.56%	1,524	17.09%	238	2.67%	1,528	17.13%	8,920
Sagadahoc	8,417	49.73%	5,346	31.59%	2,451	14.48%	710	4.20%	3,071	18.14%	16,924
Somerset	11,773	50.94%	6,247	27.03%	4,449	19.25%	642	2.78%	5,526	23.91%	23,111
Waldo	8,012	46.37%	5,318	30.78%	2,816	16.30%	1,133	6.56%	2,694	15.59%	17,279
Washington	7,198	47.39%	4,793	31.56%	2,721	17.91%	477	3.14%	2,405	15.83%	15,189
York	42,317	51.00%	26,594	32.05%	11,580	13.96%	2,488	3.00%	15,723	18.95%	82,979
Totals	312,788	51.62%	186,378	30.76%	85,970	14.19%	20,761	3.43%	126,410	20.86%	605,897

Counties that flipped from Independent to Democratic

• Piscataquis
• Somerset
• Waldo

See also

• United States presidential elections in Maine
• Presidency of Bill Clinton

References

1. Dave Leip’ss Atlas of United States Presidential Election Results 1996 Presidential General Election Results — Maine
2. "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
3. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
4. Perot Names Stand-in Veep Candidate http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9608/21/perot.veep/ Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine