18 0 1,989,653 1,481,212 51.7% 38.5% Start date November 5, 1996 | 0 0 1,481,212 336,670 38.5% 8.8% | |
 | ||
The 1996 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 5, 1996. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Michigan voters chose 18 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the President and Vice President.
Michigan was won by incumbent United States President Bill Clinton of Arkansas, who was running against Kansas Senator Bob Dole. Clinton ran a second time with former Tennessee Senator and Al Gore as Vice President, and Dole ran with former New York Congressman Jack Kemp.
Michigan weighed in for this election as 2% more Democratic than the national average.
Partisan background
The presidential election of 1996 was a very multi-partisan election for Michigan, with nearly 10% of the electorate voting for third-party candidates. In typical form for the State, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan turned out mainly Democratic, and the Lower Peninsula turned out divided, but more Republican - with the notable exception of Detroit's highly populated Wayne County, which voted overwhelmingly Democratic.
In his second bid for the Presidency, Ross Perot lead the newly reformed Reform Party to gain over 8% of the votes in Michigan, and to pull in support nationally as the most popular third-party candidate to run for United States Presidency in recent times.