1996 United States presidential election in North Carolina

The 1996 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on 5 November 1996 as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters in North Carolina chose 14 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1996 United States presidential election in North Carolina

November 5, 1996

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 14 0 0 Popular vote 1,225,938 1,107,849 168,059 Percentage 48.73% 44.04% 6.68%

County Results Dole   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Clinton   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President Bill Clinton Democratic

North Carolina was narrowly won by the Republican nominee, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, defeating incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton of Arkansas. Dole won with a plurality of 48.73% of the vote to Clinton's 44.04%, a margin of 4.69%. The Reform Party candidate, billionaire businessman Ross Perot, came in a distant third, with 6.68%.

In 1992, George H. W. Bush had become the first losing Republican to carry North Carolina in the party's history. Bush carried the state by 0.79%. Although it remained close in 1996, Dole improved non-trivially on Bush's margin on his way to becoming only the second losing Republican to carry the state, reflecting the state's increasingly Republican orientation. Much of Dole's strength came from wins in large counties anchored by, or adjoining, an urban area. He flipped Wake County, home of Raleigh and the largest county in the nation he flipped outside California, carrying it by 2.3%. His top two raw vote margins in the state came from Gaston County, a suburban county adjoining Mecklenburg County (home of Charlotte), and Forsyth County, home of Winston-Salem; in the latter, he increased Bush's '92 margin of 3.2% to 11.3%. He also shrank Bill Clinton's margin in Guilford County, home of Greensboro, from 4.2% to 1.0%. (Clinton did, however, flip Mecklenburg County itself.)

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which the following counties have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Camden, Duplin, Franklin, Haywood, Jones, Madison, Montgomery, Perquimans and Swain.[1]

Results

1996 United States presidential election in North Carolina

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Bob Dole	1,225,938	48.73
	Democratic	Bill Clinton (incumbent)	1,107,849	44.04
	Reform	Ross Perot	168,059	6.68
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	8,740	0.35
	Natural Law	John Hagelin	2,771	0.11
	Independent	Ralph Nader (write-in)	2,108	0.08
	Independent	Howard Phillips (write-in)	258	0.01
	Independent	James Harris (write-in)	84	0.00
Turnout			2,515,807

Results by county

County	Robert Joseph Dole[2] Republican		William Jefferson Clinton[2] Democratic		Henry Ross Perot[2] Reform		Harry Edson Browne[2] Libertarian		Various candidates[2] Other parties		Margin
	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Yadkin	68.54%	8,439	23.77%	2,927	7.41%	913	0.18%	22	0.10%	12	44.77%	5,512
Mitchell	65.15%	3,874	25.16%	1,496	9.23%	549	0.34%	20	0.12%	7	39.99%	2,378
Avery	62.83%	3,870	25.75%	1,586	10.63%	655	0.45%	28	0.32%	20	37.08%	2,284
Davie	64.51%	8,141	27.93%	3,525	7.25%	915	0.21%	27	0.10%	12	36.58%	4,616
Randolph	61.36%	23,030	28.73%	10,783	9.57%	3,593	0.22%	82	0.13%	47	32.63%	12,247
Stokes	61.82%	9,471	31.13%	4,769	6.69%	1,025	0.29%	45	0.07%	10	30.69%	4,702
Davidson	58.75%	24,797	32.21%	13,593	8.76%	3,698	0.21%	89	0.07%	30	26.55%	11,204
Wilkes	58.39%	12,395	32.00%	6,793	9.27%	1,967	0.27%	58	0.07%	15	26.39%	5,602
Henderson	58.70%	19,182	32.52%	10,626	8.20%	2,679	0.41%	135	0.17%	54	26.18%	8,556
Catawba	58.03%	26,898	33.66%	15,601	7.83%	3,629	0.37%	171	0.12%	55	24.37%	11,297
Gaston	58.42%	33,149	34.29%	19,458	6.91%	3,921	0.28%	158	0.09%	53	24.13%	13,691
Alexander	57.53%	6,748	33.72%	3,955	8.56%	1,004	0.13%	15	0.07%	8	23.81%	2,793
Rowan	57.94%	22,754	34.28%	13,461	7.39%	2,902	0.30%	117	0.10%	39	23.66%	9,293
Johnston	58.23%	18,704	34.79%	11,175	6.73%	2,163	0.17%	55	0.07%	22	23.44%	7,529
Union	57.03%	18,802	34.96%	11,525	7.51%	2,477	0.35%	117	0.15%	49	22.07%	7,277
Iredell	56.57%	21,163	35.02%	13,102	7.94%	2,970	0.30%	114	0.16%	60	21.55%	8,061
Stanly	56.29%	11,446	35.07%	7,131	8.31%	1,690	0.23%	46	0.10%	20	21.22%	4,315
Cabarrus	55.76%	23,035	34.97%	14,447	8.78%	3,626	0.32%	132	0.17%	70	20.79%	8,588
Caldwell	55.18%	12,653	35.11%	8,050	9.15%	2,099	0.21%	48	0.35%	81	20.07%	4,603
Carteret	56.15%	11,721	36.24%	7,566	7.03%	1,467	0.36%	75	0.23%	47	19.90%	4,155
Onslow	55.70%	13,396	36.11%	8,685	7.72%	1,857	0.37%	88	0.10%	23	19.59%	4,711
Surry	55.53%	11,117	36.48%	7,303	7.68%	1,538	0.22%	44	0.09%	19	19.05%	3,814
Moore	55.74%	14,760	37.19%	9,847	6.65%	1,761	0.23%	61	0.19%	50	18.55%	4,913
Graham	54.76%	1,801	36.79%	1,210	8.21%	270	0.12%	4	0.12%	4	17.97%	591
Lincoln	54.86%	11,439	37.03%	7,721	7.76%	1,619	0.21%	43	0.13%	28	17.83%	3,718
Wayne	56.44%	16,588	39.40%	11,580	4.01%	1,178	0.10%	30	0.05%	14	17.04%	5,008
Alamance	53.66%	22,461	37.78%	15,814	8.11%	3,395	0.35%	145	0.11%	46	15.88%	6,647
McDowell	52.18%	6,407	37.08%	4,553	10.38%	1,275	0.21%	26	0.14%	17	15.10%	1,854
Nash	54.17%	15,309	39.42%	11,142	6.20%	1,751	0.18%	51	0.03%	9	14.74%	4,167
Transylvania	52.29%	6,734	37.60%	4,842	9.19%	1,183	0.42%	54	0.50%	64	14.69%	1,892
Rutherford	52.73%	9,792	38.57%	7,162	8.53%	1,585	0.11%	21	0.06%	11	14.16%	2,630
Ashe	52.33%	5,203	38.47%	3,825	8.70%	865	0.29%	29	0.20%	20	13.86%	1,378
Beaufort	53.59%	8,154	40.57%	6,172	5.48%	834	0.23%	35	0.13%	20	13.03%	1,982
Harnett	53.34%	11,596	40.33%	8,767	5.92%	1,287	0.15%	33	0.26%	56	13.01%	2,829
Polk	52.04%	3,516	40.02%	2,704	7.30%	493	0.44%	30	0.19%	13	12.02%	812
Craven	52.65%	13,264	40.96%	10,317	6.07%	1,528	0.26%	66	0.06%	16	11.70%	2,947
Forsyth	52.81%	59,160	41.54%	46,543	5.13%	5,747	0.37%	409	0.16%	174	11.26%	12,617
Macon	49.34%	5,267	39.43%	4,209	10.50%	1,121	0.41%	44	0.32%	34	9.91%	1,058
Cherokee	49.26%	3,883	39.69%	3,129	9.96%	785	0.42%	33	0.67%	53	9.56%	754
New Hanover	50.92%	27,889	41.70%	22,839	6.60%	3,615	0.59%	322	0.19%	104	9.22%	5,050
Greene	51.73%	2,689	42.79%	2,224	5.39%	280	0.04%	2	0.06%	3	8.95%	465
Clay	48.40%	1,769	40.00%	1,462	10.59%	387	0.85%	31	0.16%	6	8.40%	307
Burke	48.97%	13,853	41.28%	11,678	9.38%	2,654	0.27%	76	0.11%	30	7.69%	2,175
Rockingham	49.22%	14,255	41.77%	12,096	8.73%	2,528	0.12%	36	0.15%	44	7.46%	2,159
Lee	50.04%	7,321	42.99%	6,290	6.70%	980	0.19%	28	0.08%	11	7.05%	1,031
Currituck	45.51%	2,569	40.34%	2,277	13.64%	770	0.43%	24	0.09%	5	5.17%	292
Watauga	47.30%	8,146	42.67%	7,349	8.22%	1,415	0.81%	139	1.00%	173	4.63%	797
Lenoir	49.84%	9,433	45.63%	8,635	4.34%	822	0.12%	23	0.06%	12	4.22%	798
Dare	46.00%	4,977	41.79%	4,522	11.63%	1,258	0.30%	33	0.28%	30	4.21%	455
Wilson	49.03%	10,518	45.59%	9,779	5.13%	1,100	0.14%	31	0.11%	23	3.45%	739
Person	48.68%	4,883	45.26%	4,540	5.89%	591	0.13%	13	0.03%	3	3.42%	343
Alleghany	45.71%	1,936	42.53%	1,801	10.81%	458	0.76%	32	0.19%	8	3.19%	135
Cleveland	47.71%	13,474	45.07%	12,728	6.84%	1,931	0.25%	71	0.13%	37	2.64%	746
Wake	48.18%	108,780	45.88%	103,574	5.23%	11,811	0.43%	979	0.27%	611	2.31%	5,206
Pitt	47.95%	18,227	46.18%	17,555	5.36%	2,037	0.24%	90	0.27%	102	1.77%	672
Pamlico	47.39%	2,270	46.01%	2,204	6.20%	297	0.33%	16	0.06%	3	1.38%	66
Pender	46.38%	5,538	45.30%	5,409	7.91%	945	0.25%	30	0.15%	18	1.08%	129
Sampson	47.82%	8,241	47.30%	8,150	4.79%	825	0.07%	12	0.02%	4	0.53%	91
Yancey	45.75%	3,973	45.56%	3,956	8.29%	720	0.21%	18	0.20%	17	0.20%	17
Brunswick	45.70%	10,065	45.59%	10,041	8.24%	1,815	0.34%	75	0.12%	27	0.11%	24
Guilford	45.89%	67,727	46.89%	69,208	6.60%	9,739	0.41%	605	0.21%	308	-1.00%	-1,481
Buncombe	44.19%	30,518	45.84%	31,658	9.05%	6,254	0.49%	335	0.44%	302	-1.65%	-1,140
Mecklenburg	45.91%	97,719	48.59%	103,429	4.92%	10,473	0.36%	772	0.21%	452	-2.68%	-5,710
Madison	44.24%	3,110	47.41%	3,333	7.65%	538	0.23%	16	0.47%	33	-3.17%	-223
Jones	45.28%	1,682	49.23%	1,829	5.30%	197	0.13%	5	0.05%	2	-3.96%	-147
Camden	41.86%	1,074	46.22%	1,186	11.42%	293	0.27%	7	0.23%	6	-4.36%	-112
Cumberland	44.83%	29,804	49.25%	32,739	5.68%	3,776	0.17%	114	0.07%	46	-4.41%	-2,935
Duplin	43.83%	5,432	49.86%	6,179	6.18%	766	0.11%	14	0.01%	1	-6.03%	-747
Montgomery	43.11%	3,379	49.20%	3,856	7.49%	587	0.10%	8	0.10%	8	-6.09%	-477
Franklin	43.36%	5,648	49.50%	6,448	6.84%	891	0.22%	29	0.08%	10	-6.14%	-800
Haywood	39.84%	7,995	46.59%	9,350	12.93%	2,594	0.38%	77	0.26%	53	-6.75%	-1,355
Chatham	42.03%	7,731	50.84%	9,353	6.05%	1,113	0.56%	103	0.52%	96	-8.82%	-1,622
Jackson	40.40%	4,244	49.60%	5,211	9.23%	970	0.49%	51	0.29%	30	-9.20%	-967
Granville	42.95%	5,498	52.71%	6,747	3.38%	432	0.86%	110	0.10%	13	-9.76%	-1,249
Martin	41.98%	3,590	52.62%	4,500	5.20%	445	0.18%	15	0.02%	2	-10.64%	-910
Swain	38.80%	1,444	50.21%	1,869	10.77%	401	0.16%	6	0.05%	2	-11.42%	-425
Caswell	40.57%	3,310	52.86%	4,312	6.25%	510	0.20%	16	0.12%	10	-12.28%	-1,002
Perquimans	38.88%	1,561	51.53%	2,069	9.19%	369	0.30%	12	0.10%	4	-12.65%	-508
Chowan	38.80%	1,659	52.36%	2,239	8.40%	359	0.33%	14	0.12%	5	-13.56%	-580
Vance	39.97%	4,651	54.88%	6,385	4.94%	575	0.15%	17	0.06%	7	-14.90%	-1,734
Pasquotank	38.34%	2,999	54.12%	4,233	7.22%	565	0.20%	16	0.12%	9	-15.78%	-1,234
Hyde	38.30%	782	54.31%	1,109	7.00%	143	0.29%	6	0.10%	2	-16.01%	-327
Bladen	37.22%	3,335	55.27%	4,952	7.31%	655	0.11%	10	0.09%	8	-18.05%	-1,617
Columbus	36.96%	6,017	55.40%	9,019	7.19%	1,170	0.42%	69	0.03%	5	-18.44%	-3,002
Halifax	35.40%	5,700	59.31%	9,551	5.07%	816	0.15%	24	0.07%	12	-23.91%	-3,851
Scotland	34.44%	2,858	58.68%	4,870	6.60%	548	0.13%	11	0.14%	12	-24.24%	-2,012
Edgecombe	34.78%	6,010	61.16%	10,568	3.82%	660	0.18%	31	0.05%	9	-26.38%	-4,558
Durham	34.39%	27,825	60.79%	49,186	3.86%	3,122	0.41%	332	0.55%	445	-26.40%	-21,361
Hoke	32.28%	1,914	59.20%	3,510	8.11%	481	0.24%	14	0.17%	10	-26.92%	-1,596
Washington	34.47%	1,562	61.56%	2,790	3.77%	171	0.15%	7	0.04%	2	-27.10%	-1,228
Tyrrell	32.25%	488	60.01%	908	7.40%	112	0.26%	4	0.07%	1	-27.76%	-420
Richmond	31.04%	3,973	59.09%	7,564	9.61%	1,230	0.12%	16	0.14%	18	-28.05%	-3,591
Orange	32.19%	15,053	61.32%	28,674	3.28%	1,534	1.94%	906	1.28%	598	-29.13%	-13,621
Gates	30.27%	1,072	60.84%	2,155	8.67%	307	0.17%	6	0.06%	2	-30.58%	-1,083
Robeson	29.53%	8,146	62.95%	17,361	7.31%	2,015	0.15%	40	0.07%	19	-33.41%	-9,215
Anson	28.77%	2,193	64.15%	4,890	6.72%	512	0.26%	20	0.10%	8	-35.38%	-2,697
Warren	29.36%	1,861	65.33%	4,141	5.03%	319	0.16%	10	0.13%	8	-35.97%	-2,280
Bertie	27.83%	1,745	67.01%	4,202	5.04%	316	0.10%	6	0.03%	2	-39.18%	-2,457
Hertford	25.86%	1,823	68.89%	4,856	5.05%	356	0.10%	7	0.10%	7	-43.03%	-3,033
Northampton	25.08%	1,881	69.44%	5,207	5.36%	402	0.11%	8	0.01%	1	-44.35%	-3,326

Electors

Technically the voters of North Carolina cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. North Carolina was allocated 14 electors because it had 12 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates that appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 14 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 14 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 following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for Bob Dole and Jack Kemp:[3]

1. Howard B. Smith
2. Bettie West
3. J.D. Teachey
4. Nelson Dollar
5. Lee Q. McMillan
6. Carolyn McGee
7. Jim Cole
8. Tom Dwiggins
9. John Van Hanford
10. Gary Whitener
11. George Alexander Jones
12. Quentine Finch
13. Bill Graham
14. Dorothy Bursey

References

1. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
2. Our Campaigns; NC US President Race, November 05, 1996
3. "List of States, Electoral Votes and electors". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 7 January 2010.