The 1996 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 5, 1996. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Louisiana was won by President Bill Clinton (D) by a margin of 12.07%, a major increase from the statewide results in 1992 when he carried the state by a margin of 4.61%. Clinton won most of the parishes and congressional districts in the state and performed strongly in both the urban and rural areas of Louisiana. The only congressional district Dole won was the , which included all of St. Tammany Parish and parts of Jefferson Parish, two of the most heavily Republican parishes in the state.
Louisiana was generally more competitive in this time period than the rest of the Deep South due to its large black population and a sizeable minority of white Blue Dog Democrats. It is also very racially divided, with whites voting Republican and blacks voting Democratic. Clinton was able to carry 33 percent of white voters, which threw the state toward his column. Despite such a sizeable margin, Louisiana was the only state that Clinton won by more than a 2.4 point margin which wasn't called by news networks for him as soon as the polls closed.
This election also marked the end of Louisiana as a competitive state in federal elections, as future years saw the state's political alignment more closely resemble those in other, nearby Deep South states like Mississippi and Alabama, as well as in tandem with Arkansas, Clinton's home state. Rural, Democratic-voting cultural conservatives began siding with the Republican Party. Clinton's 927,837 votes is the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history.
, this is the last time Louisiana supported a Democratic presidential candidate, as well as the last time a Democrat carried the following parishes: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Iberia, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Lafourche, Lincoln, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Plaquemines, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Saint Bernard, Saint Charles, Saint Martin, Saint Mary, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Feliciana, and Winn.
It was also the last time a Democrat carried any state in the Deep South in a presidential election until Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020. This was the first time since 1944 that the state voted Democratic in consecutive elections.
Results
Results by parish ParishBill ClintonDemocraticBob DoleRepublicanRoss PerotReformHarry E. BrowneLibertarianVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%#%#%Acadia 12,300 51.41% 9,246 38.64% 2,234 9.34% 40 0.17% 107 0.45% 3,054 12.77% 23,927Allen 4,960 55.89% 2,589 29.18% 1,187 13.38% 38 0.43% 100 1.13% 2,371 26.71% 8,874Ascension 15,263 51.91% 10,885 37.02% 3,027 10.30% 65 0.22% 160 0.54% 4,378 14.89% 29,400Assumption 6,416 62.83% 2,698 26.42% 904 8.85% 65 0.64% 129 1.26% 3,718 36.41% 10,212Avoyelles 9,689 59.04% 4,433 27.01% 1,937 11.80% 89 0.54% 262 1.60% 5,256 32.03% 16,410Beauregard 4,925 39.40% 5,526 44.21% 1,834 14.67% 96 0.77% 118 0.94% -601 -4.81% 12,499Bienville 4,335 58.71% 2,402 32.53% 457 6.19% 108 1.46% 82 1.11% 1,933 26.18% 7,384Bossier 15,504 43.82% 16,852 47.63% 2,660 7.52% 141 0.40% 225 0.64% -1,348 -3.81% 35,382Caddo 55,543 55.89% 38,445 38.69% 4,821 4.85% 180 0.18% 390 0.39% 17,098 17.20% 99,379Calcasieu 38,238 51.91% 26,494 35.97% 8,281 11.24% 213 0.29% 435 0.59% 11,744 15.94% 73,661Caldwell 2,117 46.44% 1,842 40.40% 514 11.27% 39 0.86% 47 1.03% 275 6.04% 4,559Cameron 2,103 50.70% 1,365 32.91% 594 14.32% 30 0.72% 56 1.35% 738 17.79% 4,148Catahoula 2,692 52.11% 1,770 34.26% 615 11.90% 39 0.75% 50 0.97% 922 17.85% 5,166Claiborne 3,609 53.55% 2,500 37.10% 530 7.86% 41 0.61% 59 0.88% 1,109 16.45% 6,739Concordia 4,565 52.38% 3,134 35.96% 855 9.81% 78 0.90% 83 0.95% 1,431 16.42% 8,715DeSoto 6,221 59.13% 3,526 33.52% 646 6.14% 55 0.52% 72 0.68% 2,695 25.61% 10,520East Baton Rouge 83,493 48.93% 77,811 45.60% 7,990 4.68% 436 0.26% 917 0.54% 5,682 3.33% 170,647East Carroll 2,149 63.00% 1,008 29.55% 186 5.45% 24 0.70% 44 1.29% 1,141 33.45% 3,411East Feliciana 4,714 56.11% 2,949 35.10% 660 7.86% 16 0.19% 62 0.74% 1,765 21.01% 8,401Evangeline 7,847 52.83% 5,278 35.53% 1,447 9.74% 100 0.67% 182 1.23% 2,569 17.30% 14,854Franklin 4,076 45.29% 3,961 44.01% 814 9.04% 61 0.68% 88 0.98% 115 1.28% 9,000Grant 2,980 40.87% 3,117 42.75% 1,055 14.47% 52 0.71% 88 1.21% -137 -1.88% 7,292Iberia 15,087 50.35% 12,014 40.09% 2,448 8.17% 196 0.65% 220 0.73% 3,073 10.26% 29,965Iberville 9,553 64.20% 4,031 27.09% 1,076 7.23% 68 0.46% 151 1.01% 5,522 37.11% 14,879Jackson 3,368 47.66% 3,030 42.88% 571 8.08% 36 0.51% 62 0.88% 338 4.78% 7,067Jefferson 80,407 43.59% 92,820 50.32% 9,667 5.24% 504 0.27% 1,068 0.58% -12,413 -6.73% 184,466Jefferson Davis 6,897 53.29% 4,311 33.31% 1,543 11.92% 72 0.56% 120 0.93% 2,586 19.98% 12,943Lafayette 32,504 43.65% 36,419 48.91% 4,631 6.22% 348 0.47% 566 0.76% -3,915 -5.26% 74,468Lafourche 18,810 52.84% 12,105 34.01% 3,984 11.19% 309 0.87% 388 1.09% 6,705 18.83% 35,596LaSalle 2,543 39.09% 2,925 44.96% 947 14.56% 28 0.43% 63 0.97% -382 -5.87% 6,506Lincoln 7,903 49.85% 6,973 43.98% 761 4.80% 117 0.74% 101 0.64% 930 5.87% 15,855Livingston 13,276 38.94% 16,159 47.39% 4,150 12.17% 188 0.55% 322 0.94% -2,883 -8.45% 34,095Madison 3,085 60.91% 1,591 31.41% 315 6.22% 26 0.51% 48 0.95% 1,494 29.50% 5,065Morehouse 6,160 49.31% 5,193 41.57% 963 7.71% 71 0.57% 106 0.85% 967 7.74% 12,493Natchitoches 8,296 54.69% 5,471 36.06% 1,053 6.94% 127 0.84% 223 1.47% 2,825 18.63% 15,170Orleans 144,720 76.20% 39,576 20.84% 3,805 2.00% 554 0.29% 1,256 0.66% 105,144 55.36% 189,911Ouachita 24,525 42.58% 28,559 49.59% 3,586 6.23% 466 0.81% 458 0.80% -4,034 -7.01% 57,594Plaquemines 5,348 49.53% 4,493 41.61% 856 7.93% 29 0.27% 71 0.66% 855 7.92% 10,797Pointe Coupee 6,835 60.32% 3,545 31.28% 845 7.46% 34 0.30% 73 0.64% 3,290 29.04% 11,332Rapides 23,004 46.07% 21,548 43.16% 4,670 9.35% 351 0.70% 358 0.72% 1,456 2.91% 49,931Red River 2,641 61.48% 1,344 31.28% 268 6.24% 23 0.54% 20 0.47% 1,297 30.20% 4,296Richland 4,143 46.50% 3,965 44.50% 645 7.24% 61 0.68% 96 1.08% 178 2.00% 8,910Sabine 4,263 47.33% 3,543 39.34% 1,043 11.58% 59 0.66% 99 1.10% 720 7.99% 9,007St. Bernard 14,312 46.33% 13,549 43.86% 2,664 8.62% 134 0.43% 233 0.75% 763 2.47% 30,892St. Charles 10,612 49.61% 9,316 43.55% 1,307 6.11% 38 0.18% 120 0.56% 1,296 6.06% 21,393St. Helena 3,692 65.83% 1,455 25.95% 417 7.44% 18 0.32% 26 0.46% 2,237 39.88% 5,608St. James 7,247 67.46% 2,832 26.36% 608 5.66% 15 0.14% 41 0.38% 4,415 41.10% 10,743St. John the Baptist 9,937 58.28% 6,025 35.34% 966 5.67% 41 0.24% 82 0.48% 3,912 22.94% 17,051St. Landry 20,636 58.21% 12,273 34.62% 2,311 6.52% 75 0.21% 158 0.45% 8,363 23.59% 35,453St. Martin 12,492 60.33% 6,296 30.41% 1,607 7.76% 112 0.54% 199 0.96% 6,196 29.92% 20,706St. Mary 12,402 54.95% 8,018 35.53% 1,850 8.20% 136 0.60% 163 0.72% 4,384 19.42% 22,569St. Tammany 24,281 32.58% 44,761 60.06% 4,741 6.36% 251 0.34% 492 0.66% -20,480 -27.48% 74,526Tangipahoa 18,617 49.53% 15,517 41.28% 3,144 8.36% 100 0.27% 213 0.57% 3,100 8.25% 37,591Tensas 1,882 60.73% 1,000 32.27% 176 5.68% 12 0.39% 29 0.94% 882 28.46% 3,099Terrebonne 18,550 51.02% 13,944 38.35% 3,359 9.24% 203 0.56% 305 0.84% 4,606 12.67% 36,361Union 4,260 44.64% 4,418 46.30% 696 7.29% 57 0.60% 112 1.17% -158 -1.66% 9,543Vermilion 12,609 55.64% 7,653 33.77% 1,954 8.62% 194 0.86% 251 1.11% 4,956 21.87% 22,661Vernon 6,195 44.36% 5,449 39.02% 2,068 14.81% 94 0.67% 160 1.15% 746 5.34% 13,966Washington 9,603 53.28% 6,642 36.85% 1,643 9.12% 61 0.34% 74 0.41% 2,961 16.43% 18,023Webster 9,688 55.31% 6,153 35.13% 1,324 7.56% 168 0.96% 184 1.05% 3,535 20.18% 17,517West Baton Rouge 5,697 58.14% 3,254 33.21% 799 8.15% 13 0.13% 35 0.36% 2,443 24.93% 9,798West Carroll 1,853 38.90% 2,366 49.66% 461 9.68% 29 0.61% 55 1.15% -513 -10.76% 4,764West Feliciana 2,416 53.62% 1,616 35.86% 388 8.61% 28 0.62% 58 1.29% 800 17.76% 4,506Winn 3,779 50.64% 2,803 37.56% 735 9.85% 47 0.63% 99 1.33% 976 13.08% 7,463Totals927,83752.01%712,58639.94%123,2936.91%7,4990.42%12,7440.71%215,25112.07%1,783,959
Parishes that flipped from Republican to Democratic East Baton Rouge Lincoln Plaquemines Rapides Richland Saint Bernard Saint Charles Terrebonne
See also United States presidential elections in Louisiana Presidency of Bill Clinton
References
Notes