1996 United States presidential election in Florida
The 1996 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose twenty-five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Florida was won by President Bill Clinton over Senator Bob Dole, with Clinton winning 48.02% to 42.32% by a margin of 5.7%. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot finished in third, with 9.12% of the popular vote.
Florida was heavily targeted by the Clinton campaign. Clinton capitalized on Republican-proposed cuts to Medicare and Social Security during the 1995 shutdown that caused a backlash in this state with a significant amount of elderly, this message having resonated with many senior citizens who lived in the state. Clinton also managed to turn out a growing minority demographic of Hispanics and blacks within the state, while the booming economy eased long-standing skepticism of the Democrats in the state among middle-class voters. Ultimately his victory would solidify Florida's status as a swing state, a trend which started with his narrow loss of the state in 1992. At 7:00 P.M. on election night CNN called Florida for Bill Clinton.
, this is the last election in which Calhoun County, Dixie County, Gilchrist County, Franklin County, Glades County, Gulf County, Hamilton County, Hendry County, Levy County, Madison County, Okeechobee County, Putnam County, Sumter County, Taylor County, Wakulla County, and Citrus County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and the last election in which Orange County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.Results
