1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries

From January 29 to June 4, 1996, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1996 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Bill Clinton was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1996 Democratic National Convention held from August 26 to August 29, 1996, in Chicago, Illinois.

1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries

January 29 to June 4, 1996
 
Candidate Bill Clinton Uncommitted
Home state Arkansas
Contests won 34 1
Popular vote 9,706,802 411,270
Percentage 89.0% 3.8%

 
Candidate Roland Riemers Lyndon LaRouche
Home state North Dakota Virginia
Contests won 1 0
Popular vote 651 596,422
Percentage 0.006% 5.5%



Previous Democratic nominee

Bill Clinton

Democratic nominee

Bill Clinton

Primary race overview

With the advantage of incumbency, Bill Clinton's path to renomination by the Democratic Party was uneventful. At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton - along with incumbent Vice President Al Gore - was renominated following a primary race in which he faced only token opposition. Perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche qualified for one delegate from Virginia and one delegate from Louisiana, but the state parties refused to award him delegates and the First District Court of Appeals upheld their decision.[1] Former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.[2][3] That left Jimmy Griffin, the former mayor of Buffalo, New York, as the highest-ranking challenger still in the race. After finishing in eighth place, behind even the perennial candidates, in the New Hampshire primaries, Griffin dropped out of the race. Clinton easily won primaries nationwide, with margins consistently higher than 80%.[4]

Roland Riemers scored a victory in North Dakota, a state where Clinton did not file to appear on the ballot.[5][6]

Backed by a loyal following, LaRouche managed to get on the ballot in most states and amassed over half a million votes nationwide in the primary. His highest percentage was 13.4% in West Virginia and received over a hundred thousand votes in California.

Another notable campaign besides LaRouche's to challenge President Clinton was Chicago housewife Elvena Lloyd-Duffie, who was reported to have outraised him at one point[7] and got as high as 11% of the vote in Oklahoma.[8] and 7% in Louisiana.

Candidates

Nominee

Candidate Most recent office Home state Campaign Popular

vote

Contests won Running mate
Bill Clinton President of the United States
(1993–2001)
Arkansas
Arkansas

(CampaignPositions)
Secured nomination: March 26, 1996

9,706,802

(89.0%)

34
Al Gore

Withdrew during primaries

Declined

Results

With a number of non-notable people running against Clinton and LaRouche in several states, The nationwide totals went as follows:[10]

Candidate Popular vote Contests won
Bill Clinton9,706,802 (88.94%) 34
Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.596,422 (5.47%)
Uncommitted411,270 (3.77%) 1
Elvena E. Lloyd-Duffie92,324 (0.85%)
Fred Hudson32,232 (0.30%)
Heather Anne Harder29,147 (0.27%)
Ted Gunderson15,712 (0.14%)
Sal Casamassima9,693 (0.08%)
Ralph Nader6,786 (0.06%)
Pat Buchanan3,362 (0.03%)
Lamar Alexander1,888 (0.02%)
Pat Paulsen1,317 (0.01%)
Steve Forbes1,297 (0.01%)
Bob Dole1,257 (0.01%)
Al Gore 679 (0.006%)
Carmen C. Chimento 656 (0.006%)
Roland Riemers 651 (0.006%) 1
Richard Lugar 410 (0.004%)
Vernon Clemenson 384 (0.004%)
Bruce C. Daniels 312 (0.003%)
James D. Griffin 307 (0.003%)
Alan L. Keyes† 281 (0.003%)
Colin Powell 280 (0.003%)
Steve Michael 94 (0.0008%)
Willie Felix Carter 85 (0.0008%)
Robert D. Rucker 81 (0.0007%)
David S. Pauling 74 (0.0007%)
Vincent S. Hamm 72 (0.0007%)
Frank Legas 63 (0.0006%)
Ronald Spangler 62 (0.0006%)
Michael E. Dass 57 (0.0005%)
Ben J. Tomeo 47 (0.0004%)
John Safran 42 (0.0004%)
Total 10,914,146 36

† Indicates a write-in candidate

See also

References

  1. LaRouche v. Fowler. United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. 2008-08-28
  2. "Anyone left? The search for a Clinton challenger in 1996". The Progressive. TheFreeLibrary.com. May 1, 1995. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  3. Newton-Small, Jay (November 24, 2009). "Can a Pro-Life Dem Bridge the Health-Care Divide?". Time. Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  4. US President - D Primaries. OurCampaigns.
  5. Winger, Richard. "Ballot Access News -- March 6, 1996". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  6. FEC: 1996 Presidential Primary Results
  7. The Washington Post
  8. "Election and voting information".
  9. Sabato, Larry, ed. (1997). Toward the millennium: the elections of 1996. Allyn & Bacon. pp. 24–27. ISBN 0205199070.
  10. "Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1996".
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