The 1996 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 8 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Kentucky was won by President Bill Clinton (D) over Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), with Clinton winning 45.84% to 44.88% by a slim margin of 0.96%, thus marking Kentucky the closest contest in the entire election. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Reform-TX) finished in third, with 8.67% of the popular vote.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that the Democratic nominee carried Kentucky, as well as any of these 36 counties: Powell, Montgomery, Nicholas, Lawrence, Bourbon, Nelson, Simpson, McCracken, Hopkins, Calloway, Graves, Greenup, Clark, Marshall, Meade, Bell, Logan, Ohio, Johnson, Marion, Harrison, Henry, Union, Trigg, Morgan, Webster, Caldwell, Martin, Carroll, McLean, Livingston, Trimble, Gallatin, Lyon, Carlisle, and Hickman.
Until this election a swing state, Kentucky has been carried by Republicans by double-digits in every subsequent election, and the party's margin of victory has almost exclusively increased in the 21st century, making this a last time it was regarded as a swing state by some outlets.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “1996 United States presidential election in Kentucky”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.