The 1996 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that chooses two of its four representatives in the Electoral College based on the plurality vote in both its congressional districts instead of all four electors being chosen based on the statewide plurality vote.
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Maine confirmed its status as a blue state, with Democratic nominee President Bill Clinton carrying the state with 51.62% of the vote over Republican Bob Dole, who received 30.76%.[1] As of 2020, Clinton's 20.86% margin of victory is the widest for a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, although several subsequent Democrats have won a higher vote percentage.
Maine has voted Democratic since 1992, and is the only state other than Nebraska to split its electoral votes. The last time Maine went Republican was for George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle in 1988. Third Party candidate Ross Perot had a lesser impact this time, only drawing 14% of the vote, compared to 30% in 1992. This would still be where Perot received the highest percentage of votes in 1996.[2] As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which Piscataquis County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[3] This is also the most recent election in which all the counties of Maine voted for the same party.
Results
edit| 1996 United States presidential election in Maine | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Bill Clinton (incumbent) | Al Gore | 312,788 | 51.62% | 4 | |
| Republican | Bob Dole | Jack Kemp | 186,378 | 30.76% | 0 | |
| Reform | Ross Perot | James Campbell [1][4] | 85,970 | 14.19% | 0 | |
| Green | Ralph Nader | Winona LaDuke | 15,279 | 2.52% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Harry Browne | Jo Jorgensen | 2,996 | 0.49% | 0 | |
| U.S. Taxpayers' Party | Howard Phillips | Herbert Titus | 1,517 | 0.25% | 0 | |
| Natural Law | John Hagelin | Mike Tompkins | 825 | 0.14% | 0 | |
| No party | Write-in | 144 | 0.02% | 0 | ||
Results by county
edit| County | Bill Clinton Democratic | Bob Dole Republican | Ross Perot Reform | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | |
| Androscoggin | 26,428 | 56.55% | 12,053 | 25.79% | 7,079 | 15.15% | 1,171 | 2.51% | 14,375 | 30.76% | 46,731 |
| Aroostook | 18,022 | 51.80% | 10,400 | 29.89% | 5,747 | 16.52% | 623 | 1.79% | 7,622 | 21.91% | 34,792 |
| Cumberland | 69,496 | 53.62% | 42,620 | 32.88% | 12,696 | 9.80% | 4,798 | 3.70% | 26,876 | 20.74% | 129,610 |
| Franklin | 7,759 | 53.16% | 3,757 | 25.74% | 2,567 | 17.59% | 513 | 3.51% | 4,002 | 27.42% | 14,596 |
| Hancock | 12,256 | 46.34% | 8,345 | 31.55% | 4,094 | 15.48% | 1,753 | 6.63% | 3,911 | 14.79% | 26,448 |
| Kennebec | 30,257 | 54.37% | 15,403 | 27.68% | 8,281 | 14.88% | 1,713 | 3.08% | 14,854 | 26.69% | 55,654 |
| Knox | 8,839 | 46.81% | 6,192 | 32.79% | 2,780 | 14.72% | 1,072 | 5.68% | 2,647 | 14.02% | 18,883 |
| Lincoln | 8,130 | 44.74% | 6,372 | 35.06% | 2,923 | 16.08% | 748 | 4.12% | 1,758 | 9.68% | 18,173 |
| Oxford | 13,580 | 52.05% | 7,238 | 27.74% | 4,589 | 17.59% | 684 | 2.62% | 6,342 | 24.31% | 26,091 |
| Penobscot | 35,961 | 51.00% | 22,885 | 32.45% | 9,673 | 13.72% | 1,998 | 2.83% | 13,076 | 18.55% | 70,517 |
| Piscataquis | 4,343 | 48.69% | 2,815 | 31.56% | 1,524 | 17.09% | 238 | 2.67% | 1,528 | 17.13% | 8,920 |
| Sagadahoc | 8,417 | 49.73% | 5,346 | 31.59% | 2,451 | 14.48% | 710 | 4.20% | 3,071 | 18.14% | 16,924 |
| Somerset | 11,773 | 50.94% | 6,247 | 27.03% | 4,449 | 19.25% | 642 | 2.78% | 5,526 | 23.91% | 23,111 |
| Waldo | 8,012 | 46.37% | 5,318 | 30.78% | 2,816 | 16.30% | 1,133 | 6.56% | 2,694 | 15.59% | 17,279 |
| Washington | 7,198 | 47.39% | 4,793 | 31.56% | 2,721 | 17.91% | 477 | 3.14% | 2,405 | 15.83% | 15,189 |
| York | 42,317 | 51.00% | 26,594 | 32.05% | 11,580 | 13.96% | 2,488 | 3.00% | 15,723 | 18.95% | 82,979 |
| Totals | 312,788 | 51.62% | 186,378 | 30.76% | 85,970 | 14.19% | 20,761 | 3.43% | 126,410 | 20.86% | 605,897 |
Counties that flipped from Independent to Democratic
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Dave Leip’ss Atlas of United States Presidential Election Results 1996 Presidential General Election Results — Maine
- ^ "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
- ^ Perot Names Stand-in Veep Candidate http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9608/21/perot.veep/ Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine