1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey

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1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Flag of New Jersey.svg
  1992 November 5, 1996 2000  
  Bill Clinton 1999.jpg Ks 1996 dole (cropped).jpg RossPerotColor.jpg
Nominee Bill Clinton Bob Dole Ross Perot
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Home state Arkansas Kansas Texas
Running mate Al Gore Jack Kemp Pat Choate
Electoral vote1500
Popular vote1,652,3291,103,078262,134
Percentage53.72%35.86%8.52%

New Jersey Presidential Election Results 1996.svg
New Jersey Presidential Results 1996 by Municipality.svg

President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

The 1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 5, 1996, and was part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. The major contenders were incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican Senator from Kansas Bob Dole, with Reform Party candidate Ross Perot – listed as an "Independent" in New Jersey – running a distant third.

Contents

New Jersey voted decisively to re-elect Democrat Bill Clinton, giving him 53.72% of the vote over Republican Bob Dole's 35.86%, a margin of 17.86%. This double-digit win indicated a major shift in New Jersey politics toward the Democratic Party. As recently as the 1980s, Republican presidential candidates had easily carried the state by double-digit margins. In 1992, Bill Clinton had won the state with a narrow 43-41 plurality over George H. W. Bush, however, the state was still 3% more Republican than the nation at large. However, in 1996, New Jersey voted 9.33% more Democratic than the rest of the nation, which represented the first time the state voted more Democratic than the nation since 1964 and only the third time since 1904, and a distinction the state has held ever since.

As in neighboring New York and many other states, Clinton in 1996 drastically improved his electoral performance among suburban voters, a key voting bloc in New Jersey. Following this election, New Jersey has become a reliable blue state in presidential elections, not being seriously contested by Republicans since. Despite this, Dole is currently the only Republican to fail to garner 40 percent of the New Jersey ballot since Barry Goldwater in 1964.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that Cape May and Ocean Counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.

Results

1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey [1]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic Bill Clinton (incumbent)1,652,32953.72%15
Republican Bob Dole 1,103,07835.86%0
Independent Ross Perot 262,1348.52%0
Green Ralph Nader 32,4651.06%0
Libertarian Harry Browne 14,7630.48%0
Natural Law John Hagelin 3,8870.13%0
Constitution Howard Phillips 3,4400.11%0
Socialist Workers James Harris 1,8370.06%0
Workers World Monica Moorehead 1,3370.04%0
Socialist Equality Jerome White 5370.02%0
Totals3,075,807100.00%15
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)51%/71%

Results by county

CountyBill Clinton
Democratic
Bob Dole
Republican
Ross Perot
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %
Atlantic 44,43453.15%29,53835.33%8,2619.88%1,3681.64%14,89617.82%83,601
Bergen 191,08552.66%141,16438.90%25,5127.03%5,1261.41%49,92113.76%362,887
Burlington 85,08651.94%57,33735.00%18,40711.24%2,9791.82%27,74916.94%163,809
Camden 114,96260.59%52,79127.83%17,4339.19%4,5372.39%62,17132.76%189,723
Cape May 19,84944.07%19,35742.98%4,97811.05%8521.89%4921.09%45,036
Cumberland 25,44454.68%14,74431.69%5,34811.49%9972.14%10,70022.99%46,533
Essex 175,36868.99%65,16225.63%9,5133.74%4,1531.63%110,20643.36%254,196
Gloucester 51,91551.66%32,11631.96%14,36114.29%2,1032.09%19,79919.70%100,495
Hudson 116,12169.95%38,28823.06%8,9655.40%2,6351.59%77,83346.89%166,009
Hunterdon 18,44635.66%26,37951.00%5,68610.99%1,2162.35%-7,933-15.34%51,727
Mercer 77,64158.94%40,55930.79%10,5368.00%2,9902.27%37,08228.15%131,726
Middlesex 145,20156.20%82,43331.90%24,6439.54%6,1092.36%62,76824.30%258,386
Monmouth 120,41448.37%99,97540.16%22,7549.14%5,8182.34%20,4398.21%248,961
Morris 81,09241.43%95,83048.96%15,2997.82%3,5241.80%-14,738-7.53%195,745
Ocean 94,24346.43%82,83040.81%22,86411.26%3,0391.50%11,4135.62%202,976
Passaic 85,87956.15%53,59435.04%10,9447.16%2,5341.66%32,28521.11%152,951
Salem 12,04446.34%9,29435.76%4,12415.87%5302.04%2,75010.58%25,992
Somerset 50,67344.87%51,86945.93%8,3777.42%2,0101.78%-1,196-1.06%112,929
Sussex 19,52536.04%26,74649.36%6,70512.37%1,2072.23%-7,221-13.32%54,183
Union 108,10256.82%65,91234.65%12,4326.53%3,7951.99%42,19022.17%190,241
Warren 14,80539.27%17,16045.52%4,99213.24%7441.97%-2,355-6.25%37,701
Totals1,652,32953.72%1,103,07835.86%262,1348.52%58,2661.89%549,25117.86%3,075,807

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

  1. "1996 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved February 5, 2013.