1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina

Main article: 1996 United States presidential election

1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina

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Turnout	42% (VAP) [1]
Nominee Bob Dole Bill Clinton Ross Perot Party Republican Democratic Reform Alliance Patriot Home state Kansas Arkansas Texas Running mate Jack Kemp Al Gore Pat Choate Electoral vote 8 0 0 Popular vote 573,458 504,051 64,386 Percentage 49.89% 43.85% 5.60%
County Results Dole   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Clinton   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

The 1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 7, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 8 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Carolina was won by Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), with Dole winning 49.89% to 43.85% over President Bill Clinton (D) by a margin of 6.04%. ^[2] Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Reform-TX) finished in third, with 5.6% of the popular vote.

This marked the first time that a Democratic nominee was elected twice without winning South Carolina either time. Once a Democratic bastion with a tiny all-white electorate, the state has moved towards the Republicans after their party was taken over by conservatives and Southerners in the 1980s and 1990s. No Democrat has won the state since 1976, and it is now considered one of the safest red states.

As of the 2024 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Chesterfield, Georgetown, Abbeville, Lancaster, and Union. ^[3]

Results

1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Bob Dole	Jack Kemp	573,458	49.89%	8
	Democratic	Bill Clinton (incumbent)	Al Gore (incumbent)	504,051	43.85%	0
	Reform/Patriot	Ross Perot [a]	Patrick Choate	64,386	5.60%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	Jo Jorgensen	4,271	0.37%	0
	U.S. Taxpayers'	Howard Phillips	Herbert Titus	2,043	0.18%	0
	Natural Law	Dr. John Hagelin	Dr. V. Tompkins	1,248	0.11%	0

Results by county

County	Bob Dole Republican		Bill Clinton Democratic		Ross Perot Reform		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Abbeville	3,054	43.01%	3,493	49.20%	537	7.56%	16	0.23%	-439	-6.19%	7,100
Aiken	26,539	61.61%	14,314	33.23%	1,984	4.61%	237	0.55%	12,225	28.38%	43,074
Allendale	941	28.75%	2,222	67.89%	87	2.66%	23	0.70%	-1,281	-39.14%	3,273
Anderson	24,137	52.74%	17,460	38.15%	3,896	8.51%	276	0.60%	6,677	14.59%	45,769
Bamberg	1,715	32.29%	3,380	63.63%	192	3.61%	25	0.47%	-1,665	-31.34%	5,312
Barnwell	3,808	48.98%	3,620	46.57%	310	3.99%	36	0.46%	188	2.41%	7,774
Beaufort	17,575	53.00%	13,532	40.81%	1,838	5.54%	217	0.65%	4,043	12.19%	33,162
Berkeley	17,691	53.22%	13,358	40.18%	1,922	5.78%	271	0.82%	4,333	13.04%	33,242
Calhoun	2,520	45.02%	2,716	48.52%	316	5.64%	46	0.82%	-196	-3.50%	5,598
Charleston	48,675	50.34%	43,571	45.06%	3,514	3.63%	928	0.96%	5,104	5.28%	96,688
Cherokee	6,689	49.04%	5,821	42.68%	1,064	7.80%	65	0.48%	868	6.36%	13,639
Chester	3,157	34.80%	5,108	56.31%	758	8.36%	49	0.54%	-1,951	-21.51%	9,072
Chesterfield	4,028	38.11%	5,734	54.25%	768	7.27%	39	0.37%	-1,706	-16.14%	10,569
Clarendon	3,841	37.66%	5,930	58.15%	395	3.87%	32	0.31%	-2,089	-20.49%	10,198
Colleton	4,462	42.90%	5,329	51.24%	550	5.29%	60	0.58%	-867	-8.34%	10,401
Darlington	8,220	45.18%	8,943	49.15%	898	4.94%	133	0.73%	-723	-3.97%	18,194
Dillon	2,774	39.29%	3,992	56.54%	275	3.89%	20	0.28%	-1,218	-17.25%	7,061
Dorchester	15,283	56.63%	9,931	36.80%	1,591	5.90%	182	0.67%	5,352	19.83%	26,987
Edgefield	3,640	48.62%	3,576	47.77%	244	3.26%	26	0.35%	64	0.85%	7,486
Fairfield	2,414	32.29%	4,719	63.12%	284	3.80%	59	0.79%	-2,305	-30.83%	7,476
Florence	18,490	51.26%	15,804	43.81%	1,563	4.33%	213	0.59%	2,686	7.45%	36,070
Georgetown	7,023	42.95%	8,298	50.75%	950	5.81%	81	0.50%	-1,275	-7.80%	16,352
Greenville	71,210	59.13%	41,605	34.55%	6,761	5.61%	844	0.70%	29,605	24.58%	120,420
Greenwood	8,865	48.81%	8,193	45.11%	985	5.42%	120	0.66%	672	3.70%	18,163
Hampton	2,111	28.85%	4,828	65.98%	344	4.70%	34	0.46%	-2,717	-37.13%	7,317
Horry	26,159	47.86%	23,722	43.40%	4,446	8.13%	326	0.60%	2,437	4.46%	54,653
Jasper	2,024	31.29%	4,053	62.66%	348	5.38%	43	0.66%	-2,029	-31.37%	6,468
Kershaw	8,513	52.05%	6,764	41.36%	996	6.09%	81	0.50%	1,749	10.69%	16,354
Lancaster	7,544	42.01%	8,752	48.74%	1,598	8.90%	63	0.35%	-1,208	-6.73%	17,957
Laurens	8,057	48.69%	7,055	42.64%	1,341	8.10%	94	0.57%	1,002	6.05%	16,547
Lee	1,973	33.40%	3,588	60.73%	320	5.42%	27	0.46%	-1,615	-27.33%	5,908
Lexington	39,658	63.23%	18,907	30.15%	3,703	5.90%	452	0.72%	20,751	33.08%	62,720
McCormick	1,104	35.35%	1,858	59.49%	148	4.74%	13	0.42%	-754	-24.14%	3,123
Marion	3,595	34.40%	6,359	60.85%	356	3.41%	141	1.35%	-2,764	-26.45%	10,451
Marlboro	2,148	26.76%	5,348	66.63%	494	6.15%	37	0.46%	-3,200	-39.87%	8,027
Newberry	5,670	50.48%	4,804	42.77%	682	6.07%	76	0.68%	866	7.71%	11,232
Oconee	10,503	52.64%	7,398	37.08%	1,961	9.83%	90	0.45%	3,105	15.56%	19,952
Orangeburg	10,494	34.62%	18,610	61.39%	1,112	3.67%	99	0.33%	-8,116	-26.77%	30,315
Pickens	17,151	61.47%	8,369	30.00%	2,211	7.92%	169	0.61%	8,782	31.47%	27,900
Richland	39,092	41.05%	52,222	54.84%	3,158	3.32%	758	0.80%	-13,130	-13.79%	95,230
Saluda	2,825	49.56%	2,486	43.61%	371	6.51%	18	0.32%	339	5.95%	5,700
Spartanburg	35,972	53.53%	26,814	39.90%	3,885	5.78%	525	0.78%	9,158	13.63%	67,196
Sumter	12,080	47.57%	12,198	48.04%	933	3.67%	181	0.71%	-118	-0.47%	25,392
Union	3,855	38.34%	5,407	53.77%	749	7.45%	44	0.44%	-1,552	-15.43%	10,055
Williamsburg	3,957	34.84%	6,987	61.52%	375	3.30%	38	0.33%	-3,030	-26.68%	11,357
York	22,222	52.26%	16,873	39.68%	3,173	7.46%	255	0.60%	5,349	12.58%	42,523
Totals	573,458	49.89%	504,051	43.85%	64,386	5.60%	7,562	0.66%	69,407	6.04%	1,149,457

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Edgefield

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Sumter
• Union

Notes

1. Perot vote is the fusion of Reform and Patriot Parties.

References

1. Liep, Dave. "1996 Presidential General Election Data". US Election Atlas. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
2. Dave Leip's Atlas of United States Presidential Election Results – 1996 South Carolina Results
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