United States presidential election in Florida, 1996

Main article: United States presidential election, 1996

United States presidential election in Florida

November 5, 1996

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 vote 25 0 0 Popular vote 2,546,870 2,244,536 483,870 Percentage 48.1% 42.3% 9.1%

450px County Results   Clinton—70-80%   Clinton—50-60%   Clinton—40-50%   Dole—40-50%   Dole—50-60%   Dole—80-90%

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

The 1996 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 5, 1996 as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 25 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Florida was won by President Bill Clinton (D) over Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), with Clinton winning 48.02% to 42.32% by a margin of 5.7%. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Reform Party of the United States of America-TX) finished in third with 9.12% of the popular vote.

Florida was heavily targeted by the Clinton campaign. Clinton capitalized on Republican-proposed cuts to Medicare and Social Security during the 1995 shutdown that caused a backlash in this state with a significant amount of elderly, this message having resonated with a lot of senior citizens who lived in the state. Clinton also managed to turnout a growing minority demographic of Hispanics and Blacks within the state, while the booming economy eased long standing skepticism of the Democrats in the state among middle class voters. Ultimately his victory would solidify Florida's status as a swing state, a trend which started with his narrow loss of the state in 1992. Clinton improved his numbers from the first time he ran. Clinton improved his numbers in Hillsborough County. At 7:00 P.M. on election night CNN called Florida for Bill Clinton.

Results

United States presidential election in Florida, 1996
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Bill Clinton	Al Gore	2,546,870	48.02%	25
	Republican	Bob Dole	Jack Kemp	2,244,536	42.32%	0
	Reform	Ross Perot	Patrick Choate	483,870	9.12%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	Jo Jorgensen	23,965	0.45%	0
	Write-in	Ralph Nader	Islara Souto	4,101	0.08%	0
	Write-in	John Hagelin	Dr. V. Tompkins	418	0.01%	0
	Write-in	Mary Cal Hollis	Eric Chester	21	0.00%	0
	Write-in	James Harris	Laura Garza	13	0.00%	0