1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina
← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →
 
Nominee Bob Dole Bill Clinton Ross Perot
Party Republican Democratic Reform
Alliance Patriot
Home state Kansas Arkansas Texas
Running mate Jack Kemp Al Gore Pat Choate
Electoral vote 8 0 0
Popular vote 573,458 504,051 64,386
Percentage 49.89% 43.85% 5.60%
County Results
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Bill Clinton
Democratic

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Bill Clinton
Democratic

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The 1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 7, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 8 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Carolina was won by Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), with Dole winning 49.89% to 43.85% over President Bill Clinton (D) by a margin of 6.04%.[1] Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Reform-TX) finished in third, with 5.6% of the popular vote.

This marked the first time that a Democratic nominee was elected twice without winning South Carolina either time. Once a Democratic bastion with a tiny all-white electorate, the state has moved towards the Republicans after their party was taken over by conservatives and Southerners in the 1980s and 1990s. No Democrat has won the state since 1976, and it is now considered one of the safest red states.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Chesterfield, Georgetown, Abbeville, Lancaster, and Union.[2]

Results

1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Bob Dole Jack Kemp 573,458 49.89% 8
Democratic Bill Clinton (incumbent) Al Gore (incumbent) 504,051 43.85% 0
Reform/Patriot Ross Perot[a] Patrick Choate 64,386 5.60% 0
Libertarian Harry Browne Jo Jorgensen 4,271 0.37% 0
U.S. Taxpayers' Howard Phillips Herbert Titus 2,043 0.18% 0
Natural Law Dr. John Hagelin Dr. V. Tompkins 1,248 0.11% 0

Results by county

County Bob Dole
Republican 		Bill Clinton
Democratic 		Ross Perot
Reform 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Abbeville 3,054 43.01% 3,493 49.20% 537 7.56% 16 0.23% -439 -6.19% 7,100
Aiken 26,539 61.61% 14,314 33.23% 1,984 4.61% 237 0.55% 12,225 28.38% 43,074
Allendale 941 28.75% 2,222 67.89% 87 2.66% 23 0.70% -1,281 -39.14% 3,273
Anderson 24,137 52.74% 17,460 38.15% 3,896 8.51% 276 0.60% 6,677 14.59% 45,769
Bamberg 1,715 32.29% 3,380 63.63% 192 3.61% 25 0.47% -1,665 -31.34% 5,312
Barnwell 3,808 48.98% 3,620 46.57% 310 3.99% 36 0.46% 188 2.41% 7,774
Beaufort 17,575 53.00% 13,532 40.81% 1,838 5.54% 217 0.65% 4,043 12.19% 33,162
Berkeley 17,691 53.22% 13,358 40.18% 1,922 5.78% 271 0.82% 4,333 13.04% 33,242
Calhoun 2,520 45.02% 2,716 48.52% 316 5.64% 46 0.82% -196 -3.50% 5,598
Charleston 48,675 50.34% 43,571 45.06% 3,514 3.63% 928 0.96% 5,104 5.28% 96,688
Cherokee 6,689 49.04% 5,821 42.68% 1,064 7.80% 65 0.48% 868 6.36% 13,639
Chester 3,157 34.80% 5,108 56.31% 758 8.36% 49 0.54% -1,951 -21.51% 9,072
Chesterfield 4,028 38.11% 5,734 54.25% 768 7.27% 39 0.37% -1,706 -16.14% 10,569
Clarendon 3,841 37.66% 5,930 58.15% 395 3.87% 32 0.31% -2,089 -20.49% 10,198
Colleton 4,462 42.90% 5,329 51.24% 550 5.29% 60 0.58% -867 -8.34% 10,401
Darlington 8,220 45.18% 8,943 49.15% 898 4.94% 133 0.73% -723 -3.97% 18,194
Dillon 2,774 39.29% 3,992 56.54% 275 3.89% 20 0.28% -1,218 -17.25% 7,061
Dorchester 15,283 56.63% 9,931 36.80% 1,591 5.90% 182 0.67% 5,352 19.83% 26,987
Edgefield 3,640 48.62% 3,576 47.77% 244 3.26% 26 0.35% 64 0.85% 7,486
Fairfield 2,414 32.29% 4,719 63.12% 284 3.80% 59 0.79% -2,305 -30.83% 7,476
Florence 18,490 51.26% 15,804 43.81% 1,563 4.33% 213 0.59% 2,686 7.45% 36,070
Georgetown 7,023 42.95% 8,298 50.75% 950 5.81% 81 0.50% -1,275 -7.80% 16,352
Greenville 71,210 59.13% 41,605 34.55% 6,761 5.61% 844 0.70% 29,605 24.58% 120,420
Greenwood 8,865 48.81% 8,193 45.11% 985 5.42% 120 0.66% 672 3.70% 18,163
Hampton 2,111 28.85% 4,828 65.98% 344 4.70% 34 0.46% -2,717 -37.13% 7,317
Horry 26,159 47.86% 23,722 43.40% 4,446 8.13% 326 0.60% 2,437 4.46% 54,653
Jasper 2,024 31.29% 4,053 62.66% 348 5.38% 43 0.66% -2,029 -31.37% 6,468
Kershaw 8,513 52.05% 6,764 41.36% 996 6.09% 81 0.50% 1,749 10.69% 16,354
Lancaster 7,544 42.01% 8,752 48.74% 1,598 8.90% 63 0.35% -1,208 -6.73% 17,957
Laurens 8,057 48.69% 7,055 42.64% 1,341 8.10% 94 0.57% 1,002 6.05% 16,547
Lee 1,973 33.40% 3,588 60.73% 320 5.42% 27 0.46% -1,615 -27.33% 5,908
Lexington 39,658 63.23% 18,907 30.15% 3,703 5.90% 452 0.72% 20,751 33.08% 62,720
McCormick 1,104 35.35% 1,858 59.49% 148 4.74% 13 0.42% -754 -24.14% 3,123
Marion 3,595 34.40% 6,359 60.85% 356 3.41% 141 1.35% -2,764 -26.45% 10,451
Marlboro 2,148 26.76% 5,348 66.63% 494 6.15% 37 0.46% -3,200 -39.87% 8,027
Newberry 5,670 50.48% 4,804 42.77% 682 6.07% 76 0.68% 866 7.71% 11,232
Oconee 10,503 52.64% 7,398 37.08% 1,961 9.83% 90 0.45% 3,105 15.56% 19,952
Orangeburg 10,494 34.62% 18,610 61.39% 1,112 3.67% 99 0.33% -8,116 -26.77% 30,315
Pickens 17,151 61.47% 8,369 30.00% 2,211 7.92% 169 0.61% 8,782 31.47% 27,900
Richland 39,092 41.05% 52,222 54.84% 3,158 3.32% 758 0.80% -13,130 -13.79% 95,230
Saluda 2,825 49.56% 2,486 43.61% 371 6.51% 18 0.32% 339 5.95% 5,700
Spartanburg 35,972 53.53% 26,814 39.90% 3,885 5.78% 525 0.78% 9,158 13.63% 67,196
Sumter 12,080 47.57% 12,198 48.04% 933 3.67% 181 0.71% -118 -0.47% 25,392
Union 3,855 38.34% 5,407 53.77% 749 7.45% 44 0.44% -1,552 -15.43% 10,055
Williamsburg 3,957 34.84% 6,987 61.52% 375 3.30% 38 0.33% -3,030 -26.68% 11,357
York 22,222 52.26% 16,873 39.68% 3,173 7.46% 255 0.60% 5,349 12.58% 42,523
Totals 573,458 49.89% 504,051 43.85% 64,386 5.60% 7,562 0.66% 69,407 6.04% 1,149,457

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

  1. ^ Perot vote is the fusion of Reform and Patriot Parties.

References

  1. ^ Dave Leip's Atlas of United States Presidential Election Results – 1996 South Carolina Results
  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
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