1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey

November 5, 1996
 
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 vote 15 0 0
Popular vote 1,652,329 1,103,078 262,134
Percentage 53.72% 35.86% 8.52%

County Results

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.

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.

New Jersey voted to the left of neighboring Pennsylvania for the first time since 1964. This marked the first time since 1964 that the state voted Democratic in consecutive elections. 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.

Clinton also became the first Democrat since 1964 to win Cape May, Ocean, Monmouth, Bergen and Passaic Counties – the last pair having never voted for a Republican since.[1] It is also the last time that Cape May and Ocean Counties voted Democratic in a presidential election, and the last time that Cape May County voted Democratic in a statewide election.

Results

1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Bill Clinton (incumbent) 1,652,329 53.72% 15
Republican Bob Dole 1,103,078 35.86% 0
Independent Ross Perot 262,134 8.52% 0
Green Ralph Nader 32,465 1.06% 0
Libertarian Harry Browne 14,763 0.48% 0
Natural Law John Hagelin 3,887 0.13% 0
Constitution Howard Phillips 3,440 0.11% 0
Socialist Workers James Harris 1,837 0.06% 0
Workers World Monica Moorehead 1,337 0.04% 0
Socialist Equality Jerome White 537 0.02% 0
Totals 3,075,807 100.00% 15
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 51%/71%

Results by county

County William Jefferson Clinton
Democratic
Robert Joseph Dole
Republican
Henry Ross Perot
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  % #  %
Atlantic 44,434 53.15% 29,538 35.33% 8,261 9.88% 1,368 1.64% 14,896 17.82% 83,601
Bergen 191,085 52.66% 141,164 38.90% 25,512 7.03% 5,126 1.41% 49,921 13.76% 362,887
Burlington 85,086 51.94% 57,337 35.00% 18,407 11.24% 2,979 1.82% 27,749 16.94% 163,809
Camden 114,962 60.59% 52,791 27.83% 17,433 9.19% 4,537 2.39% 62,171 32.77% 189,723
Cape May 19,849 44.07% 19,357 42.98% 4,978 11.05% 852 1.89% 492 1.09% 45,036
Cumberland 25,444 54.68% 14,744 31.69% 5,348 11.49% 997 2.14% 10,700 22.99% 46,533
Essex 175,368 68.99% 65,162 25.63% 9,513 3.74% 4,153 1.63% 110,206 43.35% 254,196
Gloucester 51,915 51.66% 32,116 31.96% 14,361 14.29% 2,103 2.09% 19,799 19.70% 100,495
Hudson 116,121 69.95% 38,288 23.06% 8,965 5.40% 2,635 1.59% 77,833 46.88% 166,009
Hunterdon 18,446 35.66% 26,379 51.00% 5,686 10.99% 1,216 2.35% -7,933 -15.34% 51,727
Mercer 77,641 58.94% 40,559 30.79% 10,536 8.00% 2,990 2.27% 37,082 28.15% 131,726
Middlesex 145,201 56.20% 82,433 31.90% 24,643 9.54% 6,109 2.36% 62,768 24.29% 258,386
Monmouth 120,414 48.37% 99,975 40.16% 22,754 9.14% 5,818 2.34% 20,439 8.21% 248,961
Morris 81,092 41.43% 95,830 48.96% 15,299 7.82% 3,524 1.80% -14,738 -7.53% 195,745
Ocean 94,243 46.43% 82,830 40.81% 22,864 11.26% 3,039 1.50% 11,413 5.62% 202,976
Passaic 85,879 56.15% 53,594 35.04% 10,944 7.16% 2,534 1.66% 32,285 21.11% 152,951
Salem 12,044 46.34% 9,294 35.76% 4,124 15.87% 530 2.04% 2,750 10.58% 25,992
Somerset 50,673 44.87% 51,869 45.93% 8,377 7.42% 2,010 1.78% -1,196 -1.06% 112,929
Sussex 19,525 36.04% 26,746 49.36% 6,705 12.37% 1,207 2.23% -7,221 -13.33% 54,183
Union 108,102 56.82% 65,912 34.65% 12,432 6.53% 3,795 1.99% 42,190 22.18% 190,241
Warren 14,805 39.27% 17,160 45.52% 4,992 13.24% 744 1.97% -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. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  2. "1996 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
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