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| United States presidential election, 1996 | ||||
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| November 5, 1996 | ||||
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| Candidate | Al Gore | Lamar Alexander | ||
| Party | Democratic | Republican | ||
| Home state | Tennessee | Tennessee | ||
| Running mate | Mario Cuomo | Sherman T. Sanders | ||
| Electoral vote | 422 | 320 | ||
| States carried | 33 + DC | 26 | ||
| Popular vote | 62,489,710 | |||
| Percentage | 51.3 | 48.7 | ||
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| Election results map. Red denotes states won by Gore/Cuomo, Blue denotes those won by Alexander/Sanders. | ||||
The United States presidential election of 1996 was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. It pitted Democratic candidate Al Gore, then a sitting US Senator from Tennessee, against Republican Lamar Alexander, also of Tennessee, and former governor of the state. Incumbent President George H.W. Bush was barred from seeking a third term by the 22nd Amendment. With Americans suffering from incumbency fatigue after sixteen years of Republican control of the White House, Gore won by a comfortable margin, picking up 33 states, the District of Columbia, and 422 electoral votes to 26 states and 320 electoral votes for Alexander (with a minimum of 370 needed to win). Gore won by a substantial margin in the popular vote as well, with 51.3% to Alexander's 48.7%. It marked the first modern election in which two opposing presidential candidates hailed from the same state, while Gore became the first Democrat elected to the presidency since Jerry Brown in 1976.