1996 United States presidential election in Georgia

← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →
Turnout	49.6%[1] 2.6 pp
Nominee Bob Dole Bill Clinton Ross Perot Party Republican Democratic Reform Home state Kansas Arkansas Texas Running mate Jack Kemp Al Gore Pat Choate Electoral vote 13 0 0 Popular vote 1,080,843 1,053,849 146,337 Percentage 47.01% 45.84% 6.37%
County Results Dole   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Clinton   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   80–90%
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

Elections in Georgia
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v t e

The 1996 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Georgia was won by Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) by a narrow 1.2% margin.^[2] Georgia was the third-closest contest that year, with only Kentucky and Nevada being closer, as well as Dole's closest race. Dole's victory was possible due to the declining support for Democrats in Georgia and many other Southeastern States, though the Democratic Party in Georgia would remain a significant institution until the early 2000s. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Ref-TX), who had unsuccessfully run for president as an Independent in the previous election, won 6.4% of the popular vote in Georgia, a significant total for a third-party candidate. Until the 2020 election (which Democrats won), this was the last time that a Democratic presidential nominee finished within 2% of the Republican candidate; this was also the last time any third-party candidate has won more than 5% of the popular vote in Georgia.

During the concurrent U.S. Senate election in Georgia, Secretary of State of Georgia Max Cleland (D) narrowly defeated businessman Guy Millner (R) 48.87% to 47.54% to win election to the seat that Incumbent Senator Sam Nunn (D) left open to retire. In addition, incumbent U.S. Representatives Sanford Bishop (D-GA-2), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA-8), and Charlie Norwood (R-GA-10) all received strong challenges that year during the House elections but were nonetheless re-elected.

Georgia weighed in for this election as 10 points more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Wheeler, Butts, Heard, Polk, Long, Hart, Chattooga, Elbert, Treutlen, Decatur, Screven, Wilkes, Greene, Dodge, Clinch, Crawford, Lanier, Miller, Brooks, Taylor, Turner, Wilcox, Cook, Marion, Jenkins, Atkinson, Berrien, Lamar, Crisp, Emanuel, Pulaski, Schley, Grady, Irwin, Johnson, Seminole, Putnam, Montgomery, Jasper, and Ben Hill counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.^[3]

Georgia was one of three states won by Clinton in 1992 that Bob Dole was able to flip, the others being Montana and Colorado.

Dole's victory was the first of six consecutive Republican victories in the state, as Georgia would not vote Democratic again until Joe Biden narrowly won the state in 2020. It has since become a swing state. This is the last election in which Georgia would vote differently from Arizona as both had Republican winning streaks from 2000 to 2016 before both flipping to Biden in 2020.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Bacon
• Bleckley
• Brantley
• Candler
• Franklin
• Haralson
• Jeff Davis
• Jones
• Laurens
• Lincoln
• Lumpkin
• Monroe
• Morgan
• Newton
• Pickens
• Ware (tied in 1992)
• Worth

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Chatham
• Clinch

Electors

Technically the voters of Georgia cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Georgia was allocated 13 electors because it had 11 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appeared on the ballot or qualified to receive write-in votes had to submit a list of 13 electors, who pledged to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever won the majority of votes in the state was awarded all 13 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met in December 1996 to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for Bob Dole and Jack Kemp.^[6]

1. Thomas J. Barnette
2. Dot Burns
3. Jeanne Ferst
4. Briggs A. Goggans
5. Camilla Johnson-Moore
6. Brenda R. (B.J.) Lopez
7. Mack Mattingly
8. Russell K. (Rusty) Paul
9. Oscar N. Persons
10. Alec Poitevint
11. John M. Stuckey, Jr.
12. Stan Wise
13. Ray Wooldridge