1996 United States presidential election in Mississippi
← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →
 
Nominee Bob Dole Bill Clinton Ross Perot
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Home state Kansas Arkansas Texas
Running mate Jack Kemp Al Gore Pat Choate
Electoral vote 7 0 0
Popular vote 439,838 394,022 52,222
Percentage 49.21% 44.08% 5.84%
County Results
President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

The 1996 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 5, 1996. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Mississippi voters chose seven electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. Mississippi was won by the Republican nominee, Kansas Senator Bob Dole, who was running against incumbent Democrat President Bill Clinton of Arkansas. Clinton ran a second time with former Tennessee Senator Al Gore as Vice President, and Dole ran with former New York Congressman Jack Kemp.[1]

Mississippi weighed in for this election as 13.5% more Republican than the national average. The presidential election of 1996 was a very multi-partisan election for Mississippi's standards, with almost seven percent of the electorate voting for third-party candidates. During this election, the vast majority of counties in Mississippi voted in majority for the Republican candidate, with the notable exceptions of Jackson’s highly populated Hinds County and a Democratic stronghold of counties bordering the Mississippi River, which have tended to vote Democratic.

In his second bid for the presidency, Ross Perot led the newly reformed Reform Party to gain over 5% of the votes in Mississippi, and to pull in support nationally as the most popular third-party candidate to run for United States Presidency in recent times. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Alcorn, Amite, Lawrence, Walthall, and Montgomery.[2]

This is the closest a Democrat has come to winning the state since Jimmy Carter's slim defeat in 1980. Clinton was the first Democrat to win two terms without ever carrying the state.

67% of white voters supported Dole while 24% supported Clinton. 8% supported Perot.[3]

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Results

1996 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Bob Dole 439,838 49.21% 7
Democratic Bill Clinton (incumbent) 394,022 44.08% 0
Independent Ross Perot 52,222 5.84% 0
Libertarian Harry Browne 2,809 0.31% 0
Taxpayers’ Howard Phillips 2,314 0.26% 0
Natural Law Dr. John Hagelin 1,447 0.16% 0
Independent Charles Collins 1,205 0.13% 0
Totals 893,857 100.00% 7
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)

Results by county

1996 United States presidential election in Mississippi by county
County Robert Joseph Dole
Republican 		William Jefferson Clinton
Democratic 		Henry Ross Perot
Independent 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 5,378 37.29% 8,218 56.99% 779 5.40% 46 0.32% -2,840 -19.69% 14,421
Alcorn 4,960 45.25% 4,964 45.28% 929 8.47% 109 0.99% -4 -0.04% 10,962
Amite 2,521 44.10% 2,824 49.41% 351 6.14% 20 0.35% -303 -5.30% 5,716
Attala 3,130 47.34% 3,092 46.76% 383 5.79% 7 0.11% 38 0.57% 6,612
Benton 993 31.36% 1,944 61.40% 209 6.60% 20 0.63% -951 -30.04% 3,166
Bolivar 4,027 30.56% 8,670 65.80% 320 2.43% 159 1.21% -4,643 -35.24% 13,176
Calhoun 2,470 49.19% 2,178 43.38% 351 6.99% 22 0.44% 292 5.82% 5,021
Carroll 2,629 53.28% 2,041 41.37% 245 4.97% 19 0.39% 588 11.92% 4,934
Chickasaw 2,535 42.75% 2,971 50.10% 401 6.76% 23 0.39% -436 -7.35% 5,930
Choctaw 1,715 53.15% 1,247 38.64% 247 7.65% 18 0.56% 468 14.50% 3,227
Claiborne 784 16.87% 3,739 80.46% 103 2.22% 21 0.45% -2,955 -63.59% 4,647
Clarke 3,470 56.04% 2,337 37.74% 366 5.91% 19 0.31% 1,133 18.30% 6,192
Clay 2,948 38.97% 4,267 56.41% 337 4.46% 12 0.16% -1,319 -17.44% 7,564
Coahoma 3,441 35.80% 5,776 60.10% 256 2.66% 138 1.44% -2,335 -24.30% 9,611
Copiah 4,138 46.23% 4,415 49.33% 375 4.19% 22 0.25% -277 -3.09% 8,950
Covington 3,219 51.05% 2,628 41.68% 417 6.61% 41 0.65% 591 9.37% 6,305
DeSoto 18,135 53.53% 10,282 30.35% 2,399 7.08% 3,065 9.05% 7,853 23.18% 33,881
Forrest 11,278 55.17% 7,965 38.96% 1,094 5.35% 105 0.51% 3,313 16.21% 20,442
Franklin 1,586 47.50% 1,381 41.36% 329 9.85% 43 1.29% 205 6.14% 3,339
George 3,311 55.71% 1,888 31.77% 710 11.95% 34 0.57% 1,423 23.94% 5,943
Greene 1,947 53.71% 1,347 37.16% 322 8.88% 9 0.25% 600 16.55% 3,625
Grenada 4,527 47.88% 4,402 46.56% 470 4.97% 56 0.59% 125 1.32% 9,455
Hancock 5,820 51.16% 4,303 37.82% 1,143 10.05% 111 0.98% 1,517 13.33% 11,377
Harrison 25,486 52.84% 18,775 38.92% 3,726 7.72% 248 0.51% 6,711 13.91% 48,235
Hinds 35,653 42.19% 45,410 53.73% 2,929 3.47% 517 0.61% -9,757 -11.55% 84,509
Holmes 1,536 23.96% 4,720 73.62% 140 2.18% 15 0.23% -3,184 -49.66% 6,411
Humphreys 1,382 36.24% 2,305 60.45% 110 2.88% 16 0.42% -923 -24.21% 3,813
Issaquena 269 30.81% 546 62.54% 42 4.81% 16 1.83% -277 -31.73% 873
Itawamba 3,490 48.22% 2,987 41.27% 732 10.11% 28 0.39% 503 6.95% 7,237
Jackson 24,918 59.86% 13,598 32.67% 2,947 7.08% 162 0.39% 11,320 27.20% 41,625
Jasper 2,615 42.50% 3,170 51.52% 353 5.74% 15 0.24% -555 -9.02% 6,153
Jefferson 489 15.68% 2,531 81.15% 89 2.85% 10 0.32% -2,042 -65.47% 3,119
Jefferson Davis 1,890 38.84% 2,663 54.73% 264 5.43% 49 1.01% -773 -15.89% 4,866
Jones 13,020 59.62% 7,360 33.70% 1,362 6.24% 95 0.44% 5,660 25.92% 21,837
Kemper 1,439 38.93% 2,048 55.41% 188 5.09% 21 0.57% -609 -16.48% 3,696
Lafayette 4,753 47.18% 4,646 46.12% 580 5.76% 95 0.94% 107 1.06% 10,074
Lamar 8,609 67.39% 3,169 24.81% 925 7.24% 71 0.56% 5,440 42.59% 12,774
Lauderdale 15,055 60.62% 8,668 34.90% 1,036 4.17% 75 0.30% 6,387 25.72% 24,834
Lawrence 2,392 44.54% 2,481 46.19% 471 8.77% 27 0.50% -89 -1.66% 5,371
Leake 3,017 47.60% 2,902 45.79% 406 6.41% 13 0.21% 115 1.81% 6,338
Lee 11,815 54.48% 8,438 38.91% 1,361 6.28% 72 0.33% 3,377 15.57% 21,686
Leflore 4,456 38.04% 6,853 58.51% 240 2.05% 164 1.40% -2,397 -20.46% 11,713
Lincoln 5,960 53.85% 4,294 38.80% 778 7.03% 35 0.32% 1,666 15.05% 11,067
Lowndes 9,169 56.40% 6,220 38.26% 750 4.61% 119 0.73% 2,949 18.14% 16,258
Madison 14,467 58.60% 9,354 37.89% 759 3.07% 108 0.44% 5,113 20.71% 24,688
Marion 5,023 50.39% 4,334 43.48% 585 5.87% 26 0.26% 689 6.91% 9,968
Marshall 3,272 28.85% 7,521 66.32% 482 4.25% 65 0.57% -4,249 -37.47% 11,340
Monroe 5,206 45.97% 5,184 45.78% 889 7.85% 45 0.40% 22 0.19% 11,324
Montgomery 1,943 47.15% 1,970 47.80% 197 4.78% 11 0.27% -27 -0.66% 4,121
Neshoba 4,545 58.37% 2,646 33.98% 560 7.19% 36 0.46% 1,899 24.39% 7,787
Newton 4,223 61.30% 2,163 31.40% 464 6.74% 39 0.57% 2,060 29.90% 6,889
Noxubee 1,287 29.94% 2,801 65.17% 119 2.77% 91 2.12% -1,514 -35.23% 4,298
Oktibbeha 6,142 49.04% 5,923 47.29% 395 3.15% 64 0.51% 219 1.75% 12,524
Panola 3,701 38.34% 5,408 56.03% 513 5.31% 30 0.31% -1,707 -17.69% 9,652
Pearl River 8,212 57.12% 4,892 34.03% 1,190 8.28% 83 0.58% 3,320 23.09% 14,377
Perry 2,178 53.72% 1,413 34.85% 450 11.10% 13 0.32% 765 18.87% 4,054
Pike 5,403 43.45% 6,302 50.68% 683 5.49% 47 0.38% -899 -7.23% 12,435
Pontotoc 4,289 55.64% 2,597 33.69% 774 10.04% 49 0.64% 1,692 21.95% 7,709
Prentiss 3,473 48.73% 3,053 42.84% 574 8.05% 27 0.38% 420 5.89% 7,127
Quitman 1,121 32.54% 2,186 63.45% 126 3.66% 12 0.35% -1,065 -30.91% 3,445
Rankin 24,585 69.40% 8,614 24.32% 2,093 5.91% 131 0.37% 15,971 45.09% 35,423
Scott 4,018 52.43% 3,163 41.27% 466 6.08% 17 0.22% 855 11.16% 7,664
Sharkey 906 34.59% 1,566 59.79% 70 2.67% 77 2.94% -660 -25.20% 2,619
Simpson 4,455 56.56% 2,851 36.19% 525 6.66% 46 0.58% 1,604 20.36% 7,877
Smith 3,371 58.47% 1,858 32.23% 522 9.05% 14 0.24% 1,513 26.24% 5,765
Stone 2,288 53.45% 1,551 36.23% 417 9.74% 25 0.58% 737 17.22% 4,281
Sunflower 2,926 35.57% 4,960 60.30% 290 3.53% 49 0.60% -2,034 -24.73% 8,225
Tallahatchie 1,676 34.00% 2,990 60.65% 251 5.09% 13 0.26% -1,314 -26.65% 4,930
Tate 3,694 50.40% 3,195 43.59% 406 5.54% 35 0.48% 499 6.81% 7,330
Tippah 3,249 46.80% 2,992 43.10% 661 9.52% 40 0.58% 257 3.70% 6,942
Tishomingo 2,766 45.28% 2,709 44.34% 609 9.97% 25 0.41% 57 0.93% 6,109
Tunica 557 29.53% 1,263 66.97% 55 2.92% 11 0.58% -706 -37.43% 1,886
Union 4,375 51.14% 3,316 38.76% 788 9.21% 76 0.89% 1,059 12.38% 8,555
Walthall 2,239 45.27% 2,240 45.29% 444 8.98% 23 0.47% -1 -0.02% 4,946
Warren 9,261 47.77% 8,774 45.26% 1,259 6.49% 91 0.47% 487 2.51% 19,385
Washington 6,762 38.77% 10,053 57.64% 437 2.51% 188 1.08% -3,291 -18.87% 17,440
Wayne 3,219 49.60% 2,652 40.86% 595 9.17% 24 0.37% 567 8.74% 6,490
Webster 2,254 57.85% 1,379 35.40% 255 6.55% 8 0.21% 875 22.46% 3,896
Wilkinson 1,016 24.77% 2,807 68.43% 226 5.51% 53 1.29% -1,791 -43.66% 4,102
Winston 3,498 47.03% 3,488 46.89% 434 5.83% 18 0.24% 10 0.13% 7,438
Yalobusha 1,711 38.04% 2,437 54.18% 332 7.38% 18 0.40% -726 -16.14% 4,498
Yazoo 4,152 44.49% 4,754 50.94% 362 3.88% 65 0.70% -602 -6.45% 9,333
Totals 439,838 49.21% 394,022 44.08% 52,222 5.84% 7,775 0.87% 45,816 5.13% 893,857

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

  1. ^ "1996 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  2. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. ^ "Mississippi President Exit Poll Results". CNN. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
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