A presidential primary was organized by the Reform Party to determine the party's nominee for president of the United States in the 1996 election. Voting took place by mail, telephone, and electronically.[2] Voting began on August 11, 1996, and continued until August 17, when the results were announced.[3]

Businessman and party founder Ross Perot initially announced he would not seek the presidency again after losing the 1992 United States presidential election, but subsequently entered the race on July 11. The former governor of Colorado Dick Lamm was his opponent. Lamm carried Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, and Minnesota, while Perot won the remaining states and defeated Lamm by a nearly two-to-one margin in the national membership vote.[4]

Candidates

The mail-in primary

In 1995, former presidential candidate Ross Perot's lobbying group United We Stand America decided to become a political party. Thus, the Reform Party of the United States of America was created.

The Reform Party held a two-half 1996 Reform National Convention, on weekends bookending the start and finish of the primary. The results of the vote were announced on August 18, at the second portion of the convention.[5][6] Party members and those who had signed the party's ballot petitions were granted eligibility to participate in the primary, with approximately 1.4 million people being eligible to participate.[6] The primary was a mail-in primary, with eligible participates able to vote by mail, or by electronic voting over telephone or internet.[5][6] Additionally, votes could also be cast in-person by those at the location of the first half of the convention. Party coordinator Russ Verney noted that 1,113,000 ballots were mailed out to those who had signed ballot petitions for the party. The accounting firm Ernst & Young was contracted to supervise the tallying of votes.[7]

During the 1996 presidential primaries, the Reform Party was seeking an alternative candidate to party founder Ross Perot, who stated he didn't plan on running for president again. Reform Party activist Mark Sturdevant urged Colorado Governor Richard Lamm to seek the party's nomination. Initially hesitant, Lamm decided that if Ross Perot didn't run then he would enter the presidential race.[8]

Lamm was assured Perot had no intention of running, and he entered the Reform Party's primaries on June 9, with Ed Zschau as his running mate.

Lamm remained a registered member of the Democratic Party, stating: "you can't become a member of the Reform Party in Colorado. There is no Reform Party in Colorado.... I can participate by staying a Democrat. I couldn't become a member of the Reform Party if I wanted to, but I am encouraging people to sign petitions so that they can get on the ballot here in Colorado. We've got to be on the ballot in all 50 states."[9]

On March 19, Perot hinted that he may enter the Reform Party presidential primaries.[10] Later that summer, Perot announced his presidential candidacy. Most Reform Party members supported Perot, and he was the overwhelming victor during the primaries.

Lamm addressed the Reform Party's 1996 National Convention, held in Long Beach, California. In his speech, he criticized President Bill Clinton, saying: "no nation has ever borrowed its way to greatness!" He also blasted Political Action Committees for running dishonest commercials, and stated he hoped the Reform Party would become a "truth telling, straight talking political party... run by ordinary citizens."[11]

His speech received a standing ovation, and he congratulated Ross Perot on his primary victory.

Results by state

States won by H. Ross Perot
States won by Richard Lamm
1996 Reform Party presidential primaries by state[12]
H. Ross Perot Richard Lamm Margin State Total
State # % # % # % #
Alabama 188 65.96 97 34.04 91 31.92 285 AL
Alaska 40 45.98 47 54.02 −7 −7.96 87 AK
Arizona 541 65.98 279 34.02 262 31.96 820 AZ
Arkansas 124 70.06 53 29.94 71 40.12 177 AR
California 11,174 64.46 6,161 35.54 5,013 28.92 17,335 CA
Colorado 318 18.28 1,422 81.72 −1,104 −63.44 1,740 CO
Connecticut 296 72.37 113 27.63 183 44.74 409 CT
Delaware 108 69.23 48 30.77 60 38.46 156 DE
D.C. 22 40.74 32 59.26 −10 −18.52 54 DC
Florida 2,981 76.24 929 23.76 2,052 52.48 3,910 FL
Georgia 467 60.89 300 39.11 167 21.78 767 GA
Hawaii 75 66.96 37 33.04 38 33.92 112 HI
Idaho 190 53.82 163 46.18 27 7.64 353 ID
Illinois 601 66.41 304 33.59 297 32.82 905 IL
Indiana 773 73.62 277 26.38 496 47.24 1,050 IN
Iowa 96 62.34 58 37.66 38 24.68 154 IA
Kansas 678 64.45 374 35.55 304 28.90 1,052 KS
Kentucky 310 71.43 124 28.57 186 42.86 434 KY
Louisiana 65 82.28 14 17.72 51 64.56 79 LA
Maine 915 66.35 464 33.65 451 32.70 1,379 ME
Maryland 306 54.64 254 45.36 52 9.28 560 MD
Massachusetts 353 59.03 245 40.97 108 18.06 598 MA
Michigan 726 71.04 296 28.96 430 42.08 1,022 MI
Minnesota 281 41.51 396 58.49 −115 −16.98 677 MN
Mississippi 63 80.77 15 19.23 48 61.54 78 MS
Missouri 401 72.25 154 27.75 247 44.50 555 MO
Montana 137 60.62 89 39.38 48 21.24 226 MT
Nebraska 111 60.99 71 39.01 40 21.98 182 NE
Nevada 235 72.53 89 27.47 146 45.06 324 NV
New Hampshire 173 65.53 91 34.47 82 31.06 264 NH
New Jersey 455 75.71 146 24.29 309 51.42 601 NJ
New Mexico 123 53.02 109 46.98 14 6.04 232 NM
New York 794 69.10 355 30.90 439 38.20 1,149 NY
North Carolina 458 61.39 288 38.61 170 22.78 746 NC
North Dakota 136 63.85 77 36.15 59 27.70 213 ND
Ohio 1,059 74.32 366 25.68 693 48.64 1,425 OH
Oklahoma 1,237 70.36 521 29.64 521 40.72 1,758 OK
Oregon 269 65.61 141 34.39 128 31.22 410 OR
Pennsylvania 752 70.94 308 29.06 444 41.88 1,060 PA
Rhode Island 47 69.12 21 30.88 26 38.24 68 RI
South Carolina 552 67.15 270 32.85 282 34.30 822 SC
South Dakota 69 68.32 32 31.68 37 36.64 101 SD
Tennessee 187 76.02 59 23.98 128 52.04 246 TN
Texas 1,877 72.70 705 27.30 1,172 45.40 2,582 TX
Utah 88 59.86 59 40.14 29 19.72 147 UT
Vermont 31 65.96 16 34.04 15 31.92 47 VT
Virginia 239 66.76 119 33.24 120 33.52 358 VA
Washington 272 68.86 123 31.14 149 37.72 395 WA
West Virginia 78 72.22 30 27.78 48 44.44 108 WV
Wisconsin 417 71.16 169 28.84 248 42.32 586 WI
Wyoming 254 55.46 204 44.54 50 10.92 458 WY
TOTALS: 32,145 65.25 17,121 34.75 15,024 30.50 49,266 US

References

  1. ↑ Congressional Quarterly 2010, p. 658.
  2. ↑ Toner, Robin (August 18, 1996). "Reform Party Names Perot Its Presidential Candidate". New York Times.
  3. ↑ Congressional Quarterly (2010). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (6th ed.). Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly. pp. 657–58.
  4. ↑ Winger, Richard D. (2020). "Nomination of Presidential Candidates by Minor Political Parties". In Mazo, Eugene D.; Dimino, Michael R. (eds.). The Best Candidate: Presidential Nomination in Polarized Times. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 364.
  5. 1 2 "Tension Highlights Reform Party Convention". The Daily Spectrum. The Associated Press. August 12, 1996. p. 4. Retrieved May 19, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 Kotok, C. David (August 12, 196). "Perot and Lamm Vie for Nomination of Reform Party". Omaha World-Herald. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Apple, R.W. Jr. (August 12, 1996). "Reform Party Convenes, Snipes At Status Quo; Richard Lamm, Ross Perot's Lone Challenger, Charges Both Major Parties With Driving Nation Into Bankruptcy". Portland, Maine: Portland Press Herald. The New York Times. p. 1B. Retrieved June 1, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Benjamin, Pat (2007). The Perot Legacy: A New Political Path. iUniverse, Inc. US. ISBN 978-0-595-70214-5.
  9. ↑ "Online NewsHour: Richard Lamm -- June 10, 1996". PBS. Archived from the original on November 17, 1999.
  10. ↑ "The Political Fray". CNN.
  11. ↑ "Reform Party Convention Acceptance Speeches | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org.
  12. ↑ "1996 Reform Party Presidential Mail Ballot". Ballot Access News. Vol. 12, no. 7. September 9, 1996. Archived from the original on January 27, 2002. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Reform_Party_presidential_primaries