1996 United States presidential election in Texas

1996 United States presidential election in Texas

← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →
Turnout	53.24% (of registered voters) 40.97% (of voting age population)[1]
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 32 0 0 Popular vote 2,736,167 2,459,683 378,537 Percentage 48.76% 43.83% 6.75%
County Results Precinct Results Dole   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Clinton   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70–80%   80–90%   90-100% Perot   60-70%
President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

Elections in Texas
Federal government Presidential elections 1848 1852 1856 1860 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Republican 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 U.S. Senate 1846 1847 1851 1853 1857 1859 1859 sp 1870 1871 1875 1876 1881 1882 1887 1888 1892 sp 1893 1894 1899 1901 1905 1907 1911 1913 1913 sp 1916 1918 1922 1924 1928 1930 1934 1936 1940 1941 sp 1942 1946 1948 1952 1954 1957 sp 1958 1960 1961 sp 1964 1966 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1993 sp 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2012 2014 2018 2020 2024 2026 U.S. House of Representatives 1846 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1866 1869 1870 1871 1872 1874 1876 1878 1879 6th sp 1880 1882 1884 1886 1887 2nd sp 1888 1890 1892 9th sp 1894 1896 11th sp 1898 1900 1901 6th sp 1902 4th sp 1903 8th sp 1904 1905 8th sp 1906 1908 1910 1912 1913 10th sp 1914 1916 1918 1919 12th sp 1920 1922 13th sp 1924 1926 1928 1930 17th sp 1931 14th sp 1932 1933 7th sp 8th sp 15th sp 1934 1936 1937 10th sp 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 6th sp 1947 9th sp 16th sp 1948 15th sp 1950 18th sp 1951 13th sp 1952 7th sp 1954 1956 1958 1960 1961 20th sp 1962 4th sp 13th sp 1963 10th sp 1964 1966 8th sp 1968 3rd sp 1970 1972 1974 1976 1st sp 22nd sp 1978 1980 1982 1983 6th sp 1984 1985 1st sp 1986 1988 1989 12th sp 18th sp 1990 1991 3rd sp 1992 1994 1996 1997 28th sp 1998 2000 2002 2003 19th sp 2004 2006 22nd 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 27th sp 2020 2021 6th sp 2022 34th sp 2024
State government General elections 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Gubernatorial elections 1845 1847 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1866 1866 1869 1873 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Lieutenant gubernatorial elections 2010 2014 2018 2022 Attorney General elections 2018 2022 Comptroller elections 2022 Senate elections 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 House of Representatives elections 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Constitutional amendments 1972 2005 2007 2021 2023
Austin Mayoral elections 2003 2006 2009 2012 2014 2018 2022 2024 Austin municipal elections 2022 2024
Corpus Christi Mayoral elections 2012 2014 2016 2017 sp 2018 2020
Dallas–Fort Worth Arlington mayoral elections 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 Dallas mayoral elections 1856 1857 1875 1904 1925 1961 1963 1965 1995 1999 2002 sp 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 Dallas municipal elections 2015 2019 2021 Fort Worth mayoral elections 2003 2007 2009 2011 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 Denton mayoral elections 2020 2022 Plano municipal elections 2017 2019 2021
El Paso Mayoral elections 2001 2003 2005 2009 2013 2017 2020 Municipal elections 2017 2020
Houston Mayoral elections 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2019 2023 Municipal elections 2005 2007 2009
Laredo Mayoral elections 2018 2022
Lubbock Mayoral elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
San Antonio Mayoral elections 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025
Government
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The 1996 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 5, 1996. All fifty states, and the District of Columbia, took part in the 1996 United States presidential election. State voters chose 32 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Texas was won by Kansas Senator Bob Dole, who was running against incumbent President Bill Clinton of Arkansas. Clinton ran a second time with incumbent Vice President Al Gore as his running mate, and Dole ran with former New York Representative Jack Kemp. Texas provided both two of the nation's three most Republican counties – High Plains-based Ochiltree in its north and Glasscock in the central plains – and its most Democratic county in rock-ribbed Tejano Starr County at the opposite end of the state.^[2]

Texas weighed in for this election as 13% more Republican than the national average. With its 32 electoral votes, Texas was Dole's biggest electoral college prize, If Clinton had won the state, then he would have won over 400 electoral votes with it being 411. The presidential election of 1996 was a very multi-partisan election for Texas, with more than 7% of the electorate voting for third-party candidates. In his second bid for the presidency, Ross Perot led the newly reformed Reform Party to gain over 6% of the votes in his home state of Texas, and to pull in support nationally as the most popular third-party candidate to run for United States presidency in recent times. Loving County, Texas was one of two counties nationwide in which Ross Perot came in second place, ahead of one of the two major-party nominees, in 1996, the other being Arthur County, Nebraska.

Thanks to the political realignment of rural America in the 21st century, and aided by Texas Governor George W. Bush being the Republican nominee in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, the state's rural areas--particularly traditional Democratic strongholds like East Texas--grew dramatically more Republican after this election. Primarily due to Clinton's rural appeal, this was the last election where rural Texas played a factor in the close margin, as almost all of these counties switched from Democrat to Republican beginning in 2000.