United States elections, 1996

The 1996 United States elections were held on November 5. Democratic President Bill Clinton won re-election, while the Republicans maintained their majorities in both houses of the United States Congress.

Clinton defeated Republican nominee Bob Dole and independent candidate Ross Perot in the presidential election, taking 379 of the 538 electoral votes. Due in part to Perot's fairly strong third party performance, Clinton did not win a majority of the popular vote, but his popular margin of 8.5 percentage points remains largest popular vote margin won by either party since the 1984 presidential election. Dole defeated Pat Buchanan and several other candidates in the 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries to win his party's nomination for president.

In the congressional elections, Republicans successfully defended the majorities that they had won in the 1994 elections. Republicans picked up a net of two Senate seats, while Democrats picked up a net of eight seats in the House of Representatives. In the gubernatorial elections, each party picked up a single seat that had previously been held by the other party.

As of 2020, this is the last time a president was elected with both chambers of Congress being of the opposing party.

Federal elections

Presidential election

Democratic incumbent President Bill Clinton won re-election, defeating Republican former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. Billionaire and 1992 independent presidential candidate Ross Perot of Texas, the nominee of the newly founded Reform Party, though performing strongly for a third party candidate and receiving 8.4% of the vote, was unable to replicate his 1992 performance.

Congressional elections

Senate elections

During the 1996 U.S. Senate elections, elections for all thirty-three regularly scheduled Class II Senate seats as well as special elections in Oregon and Kansas were held.

Republicans captured three seats in Alabama, Arkansas, and Nebraska, but lost two in Oregon (via a special election not held concurrently with the other Senate elections in November) and South Dakota.

House of Representatives elections

During the 1996 House elections, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives as well as the seats of all non-voting Delegates from territories and the District of Columbia were up for election that year.

Democrats won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 0.1 percentage points and won a net gain of eight seats. Nonetheless, Republicans retained control of the chamber.

In addition to all regularly scheduled House elections, there were five special elections held. They were held to fill vacancies for California's 37th congressional district (on March 26), Maryland's 7th congressional district (April 16), Oregon's 3rd congressional district (May 21), Kansas's 2nd congressional district, and Missouri's 8th congressional district (both on November 5).

State elections

Gubernatorial elections

During the 1996 gubernatorial elections, the governorships of the eleven states and two territories were up for election.

Going into the elections, Republicans held the governorships of thirty-two states, Democrats held those of seventeen states, all territories, and the Mayorship of the District of Columbia, and one Governor was a member of neither party. Republicans won in West Virginia, but this was countered by a Democratic victory in New Hampshire. Thus, there was no net change in the balance of power.

Other statewide elections

In some states where the positions were elective offices, voters elected candidates for state executive branch offices. These include lieutenant governors (though some were elected on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee), secretaries of state, state treasurers, state auditors, state attorneys general, state superintendents of education, commissioners of insurance, agriculture, or labor, and state judicial branch offices (seats on state supreme courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).

References

{{United States elections
1996