November 5, 1996 2000 → 0 0 106,905 32,515 | 3 0 125,050 106,905 46.94% 40.13% | |
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The 1996 United States presidential election in North Dakota took place on November 5, 1996. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1996 United States presidential election. North Dakota voters chose 3 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the President and Vice President.
North Dakota was won by Kansas Senator Bob Dole, who was running against incumbent United States President Bill Clinton of Arkansas. 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.
North Dakota weighed in for this election as 5% more third-party than the national average.
Partisan background
The presidential election of 1996 was a very multi-partisan election for North Dakota, with almost 13% of the electorate voting for third-party candidates. All major counties in North Dakota turned out for Dole, including the (relativity) highly populated center of Cass County, which contains the city of Fargo.
In his second bid for the Presidency, Ross Perot led the newly reformed Reform Party to gain over 12% of the votes in North Dakota, and to pull in support nationally as the most popular third-party candidate to run for United States Presidency in recent times.