California — 1996 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1996 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentClintonD+12.9
How it voted
Share of the 1996 vote
| Bill Clinton ✓Democratic | 51.1% | 5,119,835 |
|---|---|---|
| Bob DoleRepublican | 38.2% | 3,828,380 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 10.7% | 1,071,269 |
1996presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 1996 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 54 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+42.7 |
| Alpine County, CA | Republican | R+1.0 |
| Amador County, CA | Republican | R+6.9 |
| Butte County, CA | Republican | R+10.4 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Republican | R+9.5 |
| Colusa County, CA | Republican | R+17.7 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Democratic | D+20.6 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+0.2 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Republican | R+15.5 |
| Fresno County, CA | Republican | R+2.1 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+24.8 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+8.7 |
| Imperial County, CA | Democratic | D+18.5 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+17.5 |
| Kern County, CA | Republican | R+17.2 |
| Kings County, CA | Republican | R+4.3 |
| Lake County, CA | Democratic | D+13.9 |
| Lassen County, CA | Republican | R+19.0 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+28.4 |
| Madera County, CA | Republican | R+17.1 |
| Marin County, CA | Democratic | D+29.9 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Republican | R+13.3 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Democratic | D+15.9 |
| Merced County, CA | Democratic | D+2.0 |
| Modoc County, CA | Republican | R+21.3 |
| Mono County, CA | Republican | R+7.4 |
| Monterey County, CA | Democratic | D+16.5 |
| Napa County, CA | Democratic | D+14.8 |
| Nevada County, CA | Republican | R+14.8 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+13.8 |
| Placer County, CA | Republican | R+15.7 |
| Plumas County, CA | Republican | R+14.0 |
| Riverside County, CA | Republican | R+2.6 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Democratic | D+9.1 |
| San Benito County, CA | Democratic | D+11.8 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Democratic | D+0.8 |
| San Diego County, CA | Republican | R+1.5 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+56.6 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Democratic | D+1.5 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Republican | R+6.3 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Democratic | D+31.3 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Democratic | D+4.5 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Democratic | D+24.7 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Democratic | D+29.6 |
| Shasta County, CA | Republican | R+22.1 |
| Sierra County, CA | Republican | R+17.8 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Republican | R+8.9 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+20.4 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Democratic | D+26.0 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Democratic | D+1.1 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+23.3 |
| Tehama County, CA | Republican | R+14.7 |
| Trinity County, CA | Republican | R+5.5 |
| Tulare County, CA | Republican | R+15.8 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Republican | R+6.5 |
| Ventura County, CA | Democratic | D+0.6 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+24.5 |
| Yuba County, CA | Republican | R+14.1 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Bill Clinton+197,322 | 303,90365.8% | 106,58123.1% | 27,2905.9% | 462,044 |
| Alpine County | Bob Dole+6 | 25842.0% | 26443.0% | 294.7% | 614 |
| Amador County | Bob Dole+1,002 | 5,86840.6% | 6,87047.5% | 4473.1% | 14,452 |
| Butte County | Bob Dole+8,310 | 30,65138.5% | 38,96149.0% | 3,5454.5% | 79,550 |
| Calaveras County | Bob Dole+1,633 | 6,64638.6% | 8,27948.1% | 6693.9% | 17,206 |
| Colusa County | Bob Dole+993 | 2,05436.6% | 3,04754.3% | 1071.9% | 5,612 |
| Contra Costa County | Bill Clinton+72,558 | 196,51255.7% | 123,95435.2% | 11,7203.3% | 352,602 |
| Del Norte County | Bob Dole+18 | 3,65241.1% | 3,67041.3% | 3423.8% | 8,889 |
| El Dorado County | Bob Dole+9,802 | 22,95736.3% | 32,75951.8% | 2,4033.8% | 63,196 |
| Fresno County | Bob Dole+4,365 | 94,44845.3% | 98,81347.4% | 4,1702.0% | 208,393 |
| Glenn County | Bob Dole+2,200 | 2,84132.0% | 5,04156.9% | 1962.2% | 8,866 |
| Humboldt County | Bill Clinton+4,825 | 24,62844.2% | 19,80335.5% | 5,5159.9% | 55,757 |
| Imperial County | Bill Clinton+4,886 | 14,59155.3% | 9,70536.8% | 3261.2% | 26,400 |
| Inyo County | Bob Dole+1,323 | 2,60134.4% | 3,92451.8% | 2333.1% | 7,569 |
| Kern County | Bob Dole+29,493 | 62,65836.6% | 92,15153.8% | 3,1301.8% | 171,391 |
| Kings County | Bob Dole+1,114 | 11,25443.6% | 12,36847.9% | 4481.7% | 25,815 |
| Lake County | Bill Clinton+2,974 | 10,43248.9% | 7,45835.0% | 9064.2% | 21,335 |
| Lassen County | Bob Dole+1,876 | 3,31833.6% | 5,19452.6% | 2832.9% | 9,875 |
| Los Angeles County | Bill Clinton+684,085 | 1,430,62959.3% | 746,54431.0% | 76,0893.2% | 2,411,014 |
| Madera County | Bob Dole+5,256 | 11,25436.7% | 16,51053.8% | 7062.3% | 30,662 |
| Marin County | Bill Clinton+34,692 | 67,40658.0% | 32,71428.2% | 9,4618.1% | 116,140 |
| Mariposa County | Bob Dole+1,056 | 2,92036.7% | 3,97650.0% | 3244.1% | 7,949 |
| Mendocino County | Bill Clinton+5,187 | 14,95245.7% | 9,76529.9% | 4,29013.1% | 32,692 |
| Merced County | Bill Clinton+939 | 21,78646.4% | 20,84744.4% | 8781.9% | 46,938 |
| Modoc County | Bob Dole+917 | 1,36831.8% | 2,28553.1% | 1222.8% | 4,303 |
| Mono County | Bob Dole+302 | 1,58038.6% | 1,88246.0% | 1824.4% | 4,091 |
| Monterey County | Bill Clinton+17,906 | 57,70053.2% | 39,79436.7% | 3,8243.5% | 108,558 |
| Napa County | Bill Clinton+7,149 | 24,58850.9% | 17,43936.1% | 2,0384.2% | 48,319 |
| Nevada County | Bob Dole+6,415 | 15,36935.6% | 21,78450.4% | 2,7366.3% | 43,219 |
| Orange County | Bob Dole+119,232 | 327,48537.9% | 446,71751.7% | 24,1792.8% | 864,576 |
| Placer County | Bob Dole+14,827 | 34,98137.0% | 49,80852.7% | 3,0963.3% | 94,427 |
| Plumas County | Bob Dole+1,365 | 3,54036.3% | 4,90550.3% | 3864.0% | 9,750 |
| Riverside County | Bob Dole+10,032 | 168,57943.0% | 178,61145.6% | 8,9422.3% | 391,613 |
| Sacramento County | Bill Clinton+36,970 | 203,01949.8% | 166,04940.8% | 14,4903.6% | 407,414 |
| San Benito County | Bill Clinton+1,646 | 7,03050.6% | 5,38438.7% | 4483.2% | 13,906 |
| San Bernardino County | Bill Clinton+3,237 | 183,37244.4% | 180,13543.6% | 10,5182.5% | 413,355 |
| San Diego County | Bob Dole+12,912 | 389,96444.1% | 402,87645.6% | 28,2743.2% | 884,151 |
| San Francisco County | Bill Clinton+164,298 | 209,77772.2% | 45,47915.7% | 25,4708.8% | 290,385 |
| San Joaquin County | Bill Clinton+2,122 | 67,25346.3% | 65,13144.9% | 3,0642.1% | 145,140 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Bob Dole+6,338 | 40,39540.2% | 46,73346.5% | 5,1685.1% | 100,500 |
| San Mateo County | Bill Clinton+78,796 | 152,30460.6% | 73,50829.2% | 10,6734.2% | 251,532 |
| Santa Barbara County | Bill Clinton+6,735 | 70,65046.9% | 63,91542.4% | 6,7234.5% | 150,745 |
| Santa Clara County | Bill Clinton+129,348 | 297,63956.9% | 168,29132.2% | 22,4534.3% | 523,291 |
| Santa Cruz County | Bill Clinton+30,484 | 58,25056.5% | 27,76626.9% | 10,49110.2% | 103,062 |
| Shasta County | Bob Dole+13,888 | 20,84833.1% | 34,73655.2% | 1,5022.4% | 62,961 |
| Sierra County | Bob Dole+304 | 57333.6% | 87751.4% | 875.1% | 1,707 |
| Siskiyou County | Bob Dole+1,631 | 7,02238.4% | 8,65347.3% | 7394.0% | 18,293 |
| Solano County | Bill Clinton+23,902 | 64,64455.1% | 40,74234.7% | 3,2112.7% | 117,279 |
| Sonoma County | Bill Clinton+47,183 | 100,73855.6% | 53,55529.5% | 13,1427.2% | 181,297 |
| Stanislaus County | Bill Clinton+1,335 | 53,73845.9% | 52,40344.8% | 2,5062.1% | 117,007 |
| Sutter County | Bob Dole+5,760 | 8,50434.4% | 14,26457.6% | 4441.8% | 24,745 |
| Tehama County | Bob Dole+3,002 | 7,29035.7% | 10,29250.3% | 5362.6% | 20,443 |
| Trinity County | Bob Dole+327 | 2,20337.4% | 2,53042.9% | 3045.2% | 5,893 |
| Tulare County | Bob Dole+13,603 | 32,66938.1% | 46,27253.9% | 1,7992.1% | 85,846 |
| Tuolumne County | Bob Dole+1,436 | 8,95040.7% | 10,38647.3% | 7113.2% | 21,972 |
| Ventura County | Bill Clinton+1,570 | 110,77244.1% | 109,20243.5% | 8,1663.3% | 251,194 |
| Yolo County | Bill Clinton+14,226 | 33,03356.9% | 18,80732.4% | 3,0895.3% | 58,079 |
| Yuba County | Bob Dole+2,182 | 5,78937.4% | 7,97151.5% | 4022.6% | 15,470 |
Nominees: Bill Clinton (D) · Bob Dole (R) · Ross Perot (Reform)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1996 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Same ballot, 1996CA
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 1996 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.