1996 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

The 1996 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1996 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

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 Pat Choate Electoral vote 12 0 0 Popular vote 1,571,763 718,107 227,217 Percentage 61.47% 28.09% 8.89%

County Results Clinton   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

A solidly blue state, Massachusetts was won by incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton in a landslide. Clinton took 61.47% of the popular vote over Republican challenger Bob Dole, who took 28.09%, a victory margin of 33.39%. Reform Party candidate Ross Perot finished in third, with 8.89% of the popular vote.[1]

Like New England as a whole, Massachusetts is a largely secular and liberal society in the modern era, and thus it rejected an increasingly conservative Republican Party dominated by Evangelical Christians.

Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960. In fact, Clinton's landslide victory was indicative of a long-term trend in Massachusetts back toward being the overwhelmingly Democratic stronghold it had been in the 1960s, after having trended somewhat toward the GOP in the 1970s and 1980s. Clinton's 61.47% was the highest percentage a presidential candidate had received in Massachusetts since 1968, and his 33.39% victory margin was the widest margin by which any candidate won the state since the massive Democratic landslide of 1964.

Massachusetts was the only state in the union where Clinton broke 60% of the vote in 1996, with only the District of Columbia voting more Democratic. Massachusetts registered as a whopping 25% more Democratic than the national average, making it the most Democratic state in the 1996 election.

Results

1996 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Bill Clinton (incumbent)	1,571,763	61.47%	12
	Republican	Bob Dole	718,107	28.09%	0
	Reform	Ross Perot	227,217	8.89%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	20,426	0.80%	0
	Independent (Write-In)	Others	6,012	0.24%	0
	Natural Law	John Hagelin	5,184	0.20%	0
	Green (Write-in)	Ralph Nader	4,734	0.19%	0
	Workers World	Monica Moorehead	3,277	0.13%	0
	Socialist (Write-In)	Mary Cal Hollis	61	<0.01%	0
	Prohibition (Write-In)	Earl Dodge	4	<0.01%	0
Totals			2,556,785	100.0%	12

Results by county

County	Clinton%	Clinton#	Dole%	Dole#	Others%	Others#
Barnstable	53.5%	59,223	36.3%	40,144	10.3%	11,370
Berkshire	64.7%	39,338	21.5%	13,055	13.8%	8,381
Bristol	64.4%	127,725	23.8%	47,164	11.8%	23,324
Dukes	66.7%	5,137	22.6%	1,739	10.7%	826
Essex	58.7%	171,021	30.6%	89,120	10.7%	31,301
Franklin	60.3%	19,728	24.6%	8,055	15.1%	4,959
Hampden	61.0%	105,050	28.2%	48,513	10.9%	18,676
Hampshire	64.1%	41,844	22.6%	14,787	13.3%	8,678
Middlesex	63.4%	398,190	27.1%	169,926	9.5%	59,861
Nantucket	59.0%	2,453	29.4%	1,222	11.6%	484
Norfolk	60.1%	180,504	31.0%	92,982	9.0%	26,985
Plymouth	54.7%	106,072	33.3%	64,626	12.0%	23,313
Suffolk	73.0%	145,586	19.9%	39,753	7.1%	14,053
Worcester	58.3%	169,892	29.8%	87,021	11.9%	34,704

Results by municipality

Results by town. Blue indicates towns carried by Bill Clinton, red indicates towns carried by Bob Dole.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Massachusetts

References

1. "1996 Presidential General Election Results". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 8 January 2013.