411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Selection of the Democratic Party nominee
June 2025
1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries United States primary no 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries 1992 January 29 to June 4, 1996 2000 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2000 Image:Bill Clinton.jpg 150x150px Bill Clinton 6c00e8 Arkansas 34 9,706,802 89.0% File:NOTA Option Logo 3x4.svg Uncommitted 000000 – 1 411,270 3.8% File:3x4.svg Roland Riemers ea5b00 North Dakota 1 656 0.006% Image:Lyndon LaRouche (cropped).jpg Lyndon LaRouche 668c63 Virginia 0 596,422 5.5%
#6c00e8 Bill Clinton 1
#000000 Uncommitted 1
#ea5b00 Roland Riemers 1
#d3d3d3 No Primary Held 1 Democratic nominee Bill Clinton 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.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.Anyone left? The search for a Clinton challenger in 1996. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Anyone+left%3F+The+search+for+a+Clinton+challenger+in+1996.-a016914424 The Progressive TheFreeLibrary.com December 6, 2010 May 1, 1995Newton-Small Jay Can a Pro-Life Dem Bridge the Health-Care Divide? http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1942614,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20091127054042/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1942614,00.html dead November 27, 2009 Time December 6, 2010 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%.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.Winger Richard Ballot Access News -- March 6, 1996 https://www.ballot-access.org/1996/0306.html Ballot Access News 11 March 2020FEC: 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 pointThe Washington PostJune 2021 medicmedic and got as high as 11% of the vote in Oklahomahttps://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/presprim.htm Election and voting information and 7% in Louisiana.
Candidates
Nominee
CandidateMost recent officeHome stateCampaign
Withdrawal datePopular
voteContests wonRunning mateBill Clinton127x127pxPresident of the United States(1993–2001)Arkansas149x149px
(Campaign • Positions)Secured nomination: March 26, 19969,706,802
(89.0%)34Al Gorealt=|127x127px
Withdrew during primaries
Activist Lyndon LaRouche from Virginia
Former Mayor of Buffalo Jimmy Griffin from New York
Declined
Bill Bradley, U.S. senator from New JerseyLarry Sabato Larry Sabato 1997 Toward the millennium: the elections of 1996 https://archive.org/details/towardmillennium0000unse/page/26/mode/1up Allyn & Bacon 24–27 0205199070
Bob Casey Sr., former governor of Pennsylvania
Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York
Dick Gephardt, House minority leader and U.S. representative from Missouri
Gary Hart, former U.S. senator from Colorado
Jesse Jackson, 1984 and 1988 candidate
Bob Kerrey, U.S. senator from Nebraska
Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Republican)
Results
With a number of non-notable people running against Clinton and LaRouche in several states, The nationwide totals went as follows:https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55214&ShowAllCand=Y Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1996
CandidatePopular voteContests wonBill Clinton9,706,802 (88.94%) 34Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. 596,422 (5.47%)Uncommitted 411,270 (3.77%)1Elvena Lloyd-Duffie 92,324 (0.85%)Fred Hudson 32,232 (0.30%)Heather Anne Harder 29,147 (0.27%)Ted Gunderson 15,712 (0.14%)Sal Casamassima 9,693 (0.08%)Ralph Nader† 6,786 (0.06%)Pat Buchanan† 3,362 (0.03%)Lamar Alexander† 1,888 (0.02%) Pat Paulsen 1,317 (0.01%)Steve Forbes† 1,297 (0.01%)Bob Dole†1,257 (0.01%)Al Gore†679 (0.006%)Carmen C. Chimento656 (0.006%)Roland Riemers656 (0.006%)1Richard Lugar†410 (0.004%)Vernon Clemenson383 (0.004%)Bruce C. Daniels312 (0.003%)James D. Griffin307 (0.003%)Alan L. Keyes†281 (0.003%)Colin Powell†280 (0.003%)Steve Michael94 (0.0008%)Willie Felix Carter85 (0.0008%)Robert D. Rucker81 (0.0007%)David S. Pauling74 (0.0007%)Vincent S. Hamm72 (0.0007%)Frank Legas63 (0.0006%)Ronald Spangler62 (0.0006%)Michael E. Dass57 (0.0005%)Ben J. Tomeo47 (0.0004%)John Safran42 (0.0004%)Total10,914,15036
† Indicates a write-in candidate
See also
1996 Republican Party presidential primaries
References
1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries