The 1996 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 5, 1996. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 11 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. Tennessee was won by incumbent United States President Bill Clinton of Arkansas, who was running against Kansas Senator Bob Dole. Clinton ran a second time with former Tennessee Senator Al Gore as vice president, and Dole ran with former New York Congressman Jack Kemp.
Tennessee weighed in for this election as 6.01 points more Republican than the national average. , this is the last time that the Democratic nominee carried Tennessee, as well as Montgomery County, Maury County, Carroll County, Weakley County, Obion County, McNairy County, Anderson County, Coffee County, Polk County, Putnam County, Sequatchie County, Morgan County, Fayette County, Cheatham County, Roane County, Lawrence County, Dyer County, Union County, Fentress County, Meigs County, and Moore County.
The presidential election of 1996 was a very multi-partisan election for Tennessee, with nearly seven percent of the electorate voting for third-party candidates. Most counties in Tennessee turned out for Clinton, including the highly populated Shelby County and Davidson County, by narrow margins. Both Shelby and Davidson counties have voted consistently Democratic since the prior election. In his second bid for the presidency, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot received over five percent of the votes in Tennessee, as part of the strongest national third-party presidential campaign in recent history. Tennessee nonetheless showed Perot his worst performance out of any state.
The Tennessee Democratic primary was held on March 12, 1996. Incumbent President Bill Clinton won the primary in a landslide, receiving 122,538 votes (88.9%) and effectively securing all 67 pledged delegates. The uncommitted option received 15,144 votes (11%) and did not earn any delegates. Clinton earned all 67 pledged delegates. Tennessee also had 8 unpledged party leader and elected official delegates (Superdelegates).
The Tennessee Republican primary was held on March 12, 1996. Senator Bob Dole comfortably won the state, earning all 37 delegates.
Dole's victory in Tennessee contributed to a series of wins across several Super Tuesday states that consolidated his position as the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Although Lamar Alexander had been viewed as a potential favorite-son candidate in Tennessee, he suspended his campaign shortly before the primary and endorsed Dole.
Despite losing the state, Dole won five of nine districts, including one which elected a Democrat, while the remaining four were won by Clinton, including one which elected a Republican.