1996 U.S.G.R Presidential Election

The **1996 United States presidential election** was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. After Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton was found out to be having an affair with Monica Lewinsky he dropped out to run again leaving a wide range of candidates including democrat house representative, Kathy Holchul, who won the primary with just a 3% lead over her nearest challenger.

During the election Ross Perot managed to lose support especially in states such as Maine and other important close states after he took a critical lost in percentage of the vote after the first presidential debate happened where he under performed against both other candidates, meanwhile Bob Dole seemed to perform quite well during these debates and appealed to many rural voters especially in the rockies and almost all support for the democrats were wiped out from the south.

On election night it was a close race with it coming down to just a few states: Iowa, New Mexico, Florida, and Ohio with almost all the closest states being declared for Dole. However Ohio with just a difference of 1,263 votes was declared for Holchul giving her the election and making her the first female president of the US and USGR. In one interview with the New York times after the election one Democrat senator from the South said that "The loss of the South (Dixie) was a mixture of being presented as too much to the left and the loss of Clinton and his conservative attitude." This along with other factors contributed to the loss of key southern states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia and other close southern states.

Although Holchul's northern heritage came in useful during the election and her liberal moderate attitude won over many traditional Democratic states further strengthening "the democratic strangle hold over the north" (-Phil Gramm) and winning over every state in the New England region along with other liberal states such as California, Washington and Oregon where the majority of democratic votes increased significantly however she failed to win any moderate state in the rockies especially after the final call of New Mexico which went to Dole with a 1.1% lead and Nevade with a 5% lead for Dole, it is estimated that Holchul won over the majority of the minority vote (except from Asian) however lost both white men and women to Dole, she took even more significant losses to the older age groups who went to Dole with a much more significant lead reversing the progress Clinton had made in the previous election towards older conservative voters.

For a bite of context in 1995, the Republican Party was riding high on the significant gains made in the 1994 mid-term elections. In those races, the Republicans, led by whip Newt Gingrich, captured the majority of seats in the House for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in the Senate for the first time in eight years. Gingrich became Speaker of the House, while Bob Dole was elevated to Senate Majority leader.

The Republicans of the 104th Congress pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by their Contract with America, but were often forced to compromise with President Clinton, who wielded veto power. A budget impasse between Congress and the Clinton Administration eventually resulted in a government shutdown. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP's welfare reform, and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his own health care plan.

## Results:

currently Kathy Holchul has followed a mostly progressive agenda however her current biggest opponent for re-election appears to be kristie Noem, Republican governor of the Great Lakes region who appeals to both democrats and republicans along with Noem openly saying that if she was to be nominated she would place very popular republican, Sarah Palin, making a strong republican ticket however it will all be decided in the 2000 election and depends on if this very good ticket will face opposition from other Republican candidates.

### Close states

Margin of victory less than 1% (58 electoral votes):

1. **Ohio** **0.0003% (1,263 votes)**
2. **Iowa** **0.20%** **(2,468 votes)**
3. **Florida** **0.43% (22,806 votes)**
4. **New Mexico** **0.99% (5,512 votes)**

Margin of victory less than 5% (25 electoral votes):

1. **Nevada** **1.36%**
2. **Pennsylvania** **1.53%**
3. **Arkansas** **2.56%**
4. **Missouri** **2.83%**
5. **Arizona** **3.67%**
6. **Indiana 4.53%**
7. **West Virginia** **4.72%**

Margin of victory over 5%, but less than 10% (138 electoral votes):

1. **Kentucky** **5.26%**
2. **Louisiana** **5.37%**
3. **Colorado** **6.80%**
4. **New Hampshire** **6.04%**
5. **Tennessee 7.83%**

Tipping point:

1. **Ohio** **0.0003% (1,263 votes)**