1996 United States presidential election in Vermont

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1996 United States presidential election in Vermont
Flag of Vermont.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 Reform
Home state Arkansas Kansas Texas
Running mate Al Gore Jack Kemp Patrick Choate
Electoral vote300
Popular vote137,89480,35231,024
Percentage53.35%31.09%12.00%

Vermont Presidential Election Results 1996.svg
Vermont Presidential Election Results 1996 by Municipality.svg

President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

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

Contents

Vermont was won by incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton over Republican Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, with Clinton winning 53.35% to Dole's 31.09%, a margin of 22.26%. The Reform Party candidate, businessman Ross Perot, finished in third, with 12.00% of the popular vote. [1] Clinton won almost every municipality in the state.

Although Clinton had carried the state comfortably in 1992, prior to that point Vermont had been one of the most reliably Republican states in the nation, voting Republican in every election from 1856 to 1988 except for the 1964 nationwide Democratic landslide. However Vermont had always favored a liberal, secular, Northeastern brand of Republicanism, and by the 1990s, the Republican Party had become increasingly dominated by conservative, Southern, and Evangelical Christian interests. Consequently, Vermont trended increasingly toward the Democratic Party, and Clinton was able to win an even bigger victory in the state in 1996 than he had in 1992, again sweeping every county in the state.

Clinton's win in 1996 marked the first time in history that Vermont had voted Democratic in two consecutive presidential elections, signifying a long-term realignment of the state away from the GOP. It was also the first time since 1964 that a Democratic candidate won a majority of the popular vote (Clinton won the state four years prior, but with only a plurality of 46.11%). Since then Vermont has become regarded as one of the safest of blue states; it has remained Democratic in every election that has followed, often by landslide margins.

To date, this is the last time that the town of Morgan voted Democratic.

Results

1996 United States presidential election in Vermont
PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic Bill Clinton (incumbent) Al Gore (incumbent)137,89453.35%3
Republican Robert Dole Jack Kemp 80,35231.09%0
Reform Ross Perot Patrick Choate 31,02412.00%0
Green Coalition Ralph Nader Anne Goeke [1] [a] 5,5852.16%0
Libertarian Harry Browne Jo Jorgensen 1,1830.46%0
No party Write-in 5600.22%0
Natural Law Dr. John Hagelin Dr. V. Tompkins 4980.19%0
Grassroots Dennis Peron Arlin Troutt Jr.4800.19%0
U.S. Taxpayers' Party Howard Phillips Albion W. Knight Jr. [1] [2] 3820.15%0
Liberty Union Mary Cal Hollis Eric Chester 2920.11%0
Socialist Workers Party James Harris Laura Garza 1990.08%0

Results by county

CountyBill Clinton [3]
Democratic
Bob Dole [3]
Republican
Ross Perot [3]
Reform
Ralph Nader [3]
Green
Various candidates [3]
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Addison 8,16452.83%4,79831.05%1,80811.70%4022.60%2811.82%3,36621.78%15,453
Bennington 8,13950.39%5,22932.37%2,27814.10%3572.21%1490.92%2,91018.02%16,152
Caledonia 5,59347.40%4,08934.66%1,78215.10%2011.70%1341.14%1,50412.74%11,799
Chittenden 36,29956.84%19,02029.78%6,1809.68%1,3952.18%9661.51%17,27927.06%63,860
Essex 1,12045.73%81933.44%44218.05%251.02%431.76%30112.29%2,449
Franklin 8,79054.24%4,61728.49%2,48815.35%1470.91%1641.01%4,17325.75%16,206
Grand Isle 1,55551.13%95831.50%44114.50%451.48%421.38%59719.63%3,041
Lamoille 4,99754.40%2,70529.45%1,21613.24%1461.59%1221.33%2,29224.95%9,186
Orange 6,10749.79%4,04332.96%1,59713.02%2792.27%2401.96%2,06416.83%12,266
Orleans 5,13751.44%3,11431.18%1,50815.10%1301.30%970.97%2,02320.26%9,986
Rutland 13,23048.59%9,93436.48%3,40812.52%3201.18%3371.24%3,29612.11%27,229
Washington 14,26755.12%7,75029.94%2,78810.77%7392.86%3401.31%6,51725.18%25,884
Windham 10,42655.12%5,26127.81%2,03310.75%8874.69%3081.63%5,16527.31%18,915
Windsor 14,07054.07%8,01530.80%3,05511.74%5121.97%3711.43%6,05523.27%26,023
Totals137,89453.35%80,35231.09%31,02412.00%5,5852.16%3,5941.39%57,54222.26%258,449

See also

Notes

  1. Vermont is one of the states where Ralph Nader's running mate (Winona LaDuke) was replaced on the ballot by Anne Goeke.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1996 Presidential General Election Results – Vermont". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
  2. President Elect - 1996 - http://presidentelect.org/e1996.html Archived 2012-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Our Campaigns; VT US Presidential Election Race, November 05, 1996