| Perot '96 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Campaign | 1996 United States presidential election (Reform primaries) |
| Candidate | Ross Perot President and CEO of Perot Systems (1988–2009) Pat Choate economist |
| Affiliation | Reform Party |
| Status | Announced: July 10, 1996 Official nominee: August 18, 1996 Lost election: November 5, 1996 |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas |
| Key people | Russell Verney (Campaign manager) Sharon Holman (Press secretary) David Bryant (Political consultant) Clay Mulford (General counsel)[1][2] |
| Receipts | US$46,305,750.00[3] (1996-12-31) |
| Slogan | Ross for Boss |
| Website | |
| www.perot.org/ (archived - Dec. 11, 1997) | |
The 1996 presidential campaign of Ross Perot, an independent presidential candidate in 1992 and the founder of the Reform Party, was announced on July 10, 1996. Perot said he would seek the Reform Party nomination for president of the United States in the 1996 election during an appearance on Larry King Live.
After initially stating that he would not seek the nomination of the Reform Party, Perot reversed his decision and announced his campaign the day after former Colorado governor Richard Lamm announced his campaign. Perot easily won the nomination against Lamm in the mail-in primary[4] and selected economist Pat Choate as his vice presidential candidate.
Unlike his previous campaign, which was self-financed, Perot's ability to finance his own campaign was limited to $50,000 after accepting $30 million in presidential public funds;[5] he also suffered from single digit polling numbers after announcing his campaign.[6] Despite Perot's earlier success in the 1992 campaign, he was unable to replicate it in 1996 and did not appear in either of the presidential debates due to new rules established by the Commission on Presidential Debates requiring candidates to poll at least 15% in five national polls.
On Election Day (November 5), 1996, Perot took 8.40% of the popular vote and 0 electoral votes, a decrease of 10.51% from the previous election. However, it remains by far the most successful third party campaign run since Perot's first presidential campaign, with the Reform Party being the first and only third political party in United States history to secure federal matching funds by taking over 5% of the popular vote.[7] The Reform Party received $12.5 million in matching funds in 2000.[8]
- ^ "Ross Perot's Former Campaign Manager's Advice to Presidential Candidate Bloomberg". Archived from the original on 2018-02-28.
- ^ "Perot Presidential Campaign". Archived from the original on 2019-05-28.
- ^ "PEROT, ROSS". January 1995.
- ^ "Perot Wins Reform Party Nomination". CNN. 1996-08-17. Archived from the original on 2001-12-17. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ "Reform Party: Perot Or Lamm?". www3.cnn.com. 2001-10-31. Archived from the original on 2001-10-31. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ "The Perot Factor". Archived from the original on 2004-05-16.
- ^ "Perot Finishes A Distant Third". Archived from the original on 2006-05-02.
- ^ "Buchanan's cry: 'We want our country back'". Archived from the original on 2007-07-11.