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 The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic President Bill Clinton de ...

. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

. The major contenders were incumbent Democratic

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator from Kansas

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...

, with Reform Party candidate

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indepe ...

– listed as an "Independent" in New Jersey – running a distant third.

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

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 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and only the third time since

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

. This marked the first time since 1964 that the state voted Democratic in consecutive elections. As in neighboring

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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 Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...

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 Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president ...

. Clinton also became the first Democrat since 1964 to win

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...

Ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

, Monmouth,

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

and Passaic Counties – the last pair having never voted for a Republican since.Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016 It is also the last time that

and Ocean Counties voted Democratic in a presidential election, and the last time that Cape May County voted Democratic in a statewide election.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

(largest municipality: Hackensack) *

(largest municipality: Lower Township) * Monmouth (largest municipality: Middletown Township) *

(largest municipality: Lakewood Township) *

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

(largest municipality: Paterson) * Salem (largest municipality: Pennsville Township)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Presidential Election In New Jersey, 1996

1996 1996 New Jersey elections

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References