Bill Clinton Democratic Bill Clinton Democratic The 1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 5, 1996, and was part of the 1996 United States presidential election.

The major contenders were incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican Senator from Kansas Bob Dole, with Reform Party candidate Ross Perot – listed as an "Independent" in New Jersey – running a distant third.

As recently as the 1980s, Republican presidential candidates had easily carried the state by double-digit margins.

As in neighboring New York and many other states, Clinton in 1996 drastically improved his electoral performance among suburban voters, a key voting bloc in New Jersey.

Despite this, Dole is currently the only Republican to fail to garner 40 percent of the New Jersey ballot since Barry Goldwater in 1964.