1996 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection

This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1996 election. Former Kansas senator Bob Dole won the 1996 Republican nomination for President of the United States, and chose former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp as his running mate. Dole chose Kemp as his running mate in order to solidify support among the conservative wing of the Republican Party, despite the mutual personal distaste the two candidates had for each other.^[1][2] The Dole–Kemp ticket ultimately lost to the Clinton–Gore ticket in the general election.

1996 Republican vice presidential nomination

← 1988 2000 →

Nominee Jack Kemp Home state New York

Previous Vice Presidential nominee Dan Quayle Vice Presidential nominee Jack Kemp

Shortlist

^[2]

• 
  Former governor
  Carroll Campbell
  from South Carolina
  (1987–1995)
• 
  Governor
  John Engler
  from Michigan
  (1991–2003)
• 
  Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  Jack Kemp
  from New York
  (1989–1993)
• 
  Senator
  Connie Mack III
  from Florida
  (1989–2001)
• 
  Senator
  John McCain
  from Arizona
  (1987–2018)

Other potential candidates

^[3][4][5]

Members of Congress

• 
  Senator
  Kay Bailey Hutchison
  from Texas
  (1993–2013)
• 
  Representative
  John Kasich
  from Ohio
  (1983–2001)
• 
  Senator and 1996 presidential candidate
  Richard Lugar
  from Indiana
  (1977–2013)
• 
  Senator
  John Ashcroft
  from Missouri
  (1995–2001)
• 
  Senator
  Pete Domenici
  from New Mexico
  (1973–2009)
• 
  Representative
  Christopher Cox
  from California
  (1989–2005)
• 
  Senator
  Fred Thompson
  from Tennessee
  (1994–2003)
• 
  Senator and 1996 presidential candidate
  Phil Gramm
  from Texas
  (1985–2002)
• 
  Senator
  Don Nickles
  from Oklahoma
  (1981–2005)
• 
  Democratic Senator
  Sam Nunn
  from Georgia
  (1972–1997)

Governors

• 
  Tom Ridge
  of Pennsylvania
  (1995–2001)
• 
  Tommy Thompson
  of Wisconsin
  (1987–2001)
• 
  George Voinovich
  from Ohio
  (1991–1998)
• 
  Christine Todd Whitman
  from New Jersey
  (1994–2001)
• 
  George Allen
  from Virginia
  (1994–1998)
• 
  David Beasley
  from South Carolina
  (1995–1999)
• 
  George Deukmejian
  of California
  (1983–1991)
• 
  Jim Edgar
  of Illinois
  (1991–1999)
• 
  Pete Wilson
  of California, a 1996 presidential candidate
  (1991–1999)

Federal executive branch officials

• 
  Former Secretary of State
  James Baker
  (1989–1992)
• 
  Former Secretary of Defense
  Dick Cheney
  from Wyoming
  (1989–1993)
• 
  Former Secretary of Defense
  Donald Rumsfeld
  from Illinois
  (1975–1977)
• 
  Former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
  Lynne Cheney
  from Wyoming
  (1986–1993)

Other Individuals

• 
  Attorney General of California
  Dan Lungren
  from California
  (1991–1999)
• 
  Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  Colin Powell
  from New York
  (1989–1993)
• 
  Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
  Antonin Scalia
  from New Jersey
  (1986–2016)

See also

• Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign
• 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries
• 1996 Republican National Convention
• 1996 United States presidential election
• List of United States major party presidential tickets