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1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries

{{Short description|Selection of the Democratic Party nominee}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries

| country = United States

| type = primary

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries

| previous_year = 1992

| election_date = January 29 to June 4, 1996

| next_election = 2000 Democratic Party presidential primaries

| next_year = 2000

| image1 = Image:Bill Clinton.jpg

| image_size = 150x150px

| candidate1 = Bill Clinton

| color1 = 6c00e8

| home_state1 = Arkansas

| states_carried1 = 34

| popular_vote1 = 9,706,802

| percentage1 = 89.0%

| image2 = File:NOTA Option Logo 3x4.svg

| candidate2 = Uncommitted

| color2 = 000000

| home_state2 =

| states_carried2 = 1

| popular_vote2 = 411,270

| percentage2 = 3.8%

| image4 = File:3x4.svg

| candidate4 = Roland Riemers

| color4 = ea5b00

| home_state4 = North Dakota

| states_carried4 = 1

| popular_vote4 = 651

| percentage4 = 0.006%

| image5 = Image:Lyndon LaRouche (cropped).jpg

| candidate5 = Lyndon LaRouche

| colour5 = 668c63

| home_state5 = Virginia

| states_carried5 = 0

| popular_vote5 = 596,422

| percentage5 = 5.5%

| map_image = {{1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries imagemap}}

| map_size =

| map_caption =

{{Col-begin}}

{{Col-break}}

{{legend|#6c00e8|Bill Clinton |border=1}}

{{legend|#000000|Uncommitted |border=1}}

{{Col-break}}

{{legend|#ea5b00|Roland Riemers |border=1}}

{{legend|#d3d3d3|No Primary Held |border=1}}

{{Col-end}}

| title = Democratic nominee

| before_election = Bill Clinton

| after_election = Bill Clinton

}}

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.

This was the first Democratic presidential primary in 16 years in which an incumbent president was a candidate. Clinton went on to win reelection, thereby becoming the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win two consecutive presidential elections.

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.[http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/199808/96-7191a.txt LaRouche v. Fowler]. United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. 2008-08-28 Former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.{{cite web|title=Anyone left? The search for a Clinton challenger in 1996.|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Anyone+left%3F+The+search+for+a+Clinton+challenger+in+1996.-a016914424|work=The Progressive|publisher=TheFreeLibrary.com|access-date=December 6, 2010|date=May 1, 1995}}{{cite magazine|last=Newton-Small|first=Jay|title=Can a Pro-Life Dem Bridge the Health-Care Divide?|url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1942614,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091127054042/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1942614,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 27, 2009|magazine=Time|access-date=December 6, 2010|date=November 24, 2009}} 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%.[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55214 US President - D Primaries]. OurCampaigns.

Roland Riemers scored a victory in the North Dakota primary, where Clinton did not file to appear on the ballot.{{cite web |last1=Winger |first1=Richard |title=Ballot Access News -- March 6, 1996 |url=http://www.ballot-access.org/1996/0306.html |website=Ballot Access News |access-date=11 March 2020}}[https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/presprim.htm#nd FEC: 1996 Presidential Primary Results]

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[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/18/lqeither-a-woman-youve-never-heard-of-outraised-bill-clinton-in-1996-or-campaign-finance-reports-are-murky/ The Washington Post]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and got as high as 11% of the vote in Oklahoma{{Cite web|url=https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/presprim.htm|title = Election and voting information}} and 7% in Louisiana.

Candidates

=Nominee=

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="3" |Candidate

! class="unsortable" |Most recent office

!Home state

! data-sort-type="date" |Campaign

Withdrawal date

!Popular

vote

!Contests won

!Running mate

style="background:linen;"

! data-sort-="" scope="row" style="background:linen;" |Bill Clinton

| style="min-width:80px;" |127x127px

| style="background:#6c00e8;" |

|President of the United States
(1993–2001)

|{{flag|Arkansas}}

| data-sort-value="0" |149x149px

(Campaign • Positions)
Secured nomination: March 26, 1996

| data-sort-value="14,015,993" |9,706,802

(89.0%)

| data-sort-value="44" |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:{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55214&ShowAllCand=Y|title = Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1996}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;"
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"

!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 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 Nader†6,786 (0.06%)

|

Pat Buchanan†3,362 (0.03%)

|

Lamar Alexander†1,888 (0.02%)

|

Pat Paulsen1,317 (0.01%)

|

Steve Forbes†1,297 (0.01%)

|

Bob Dole†1,257 (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

{{Reflist}}

{{U.S. presidential primaries}}

{{United States presidential election, 1996}}

{{Bill Clinton}}

{{Democratic Party (United States)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1996}}

Category:Mario Cuomo