Missouri was won by incumbent PresidentBill Clinton (D-AR) over Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), with Clinton winning 47.54% to Dole's 41.24% for a winning margin of 6.3%. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot (Reform-TX) finished in third, with 10.06% of the popular vote.[1] From 1904 to 2004, the state was carried by the winner of the presidential election each time with the exception of 1956. The state was carried by the Republicans in 2000, and continued to move rightward in future elections with its white, rural, culturally conservative population following in the direction of neighboring Southern states like Arkansas. Missouri lost its bellwether status, voting significantly more Republican than the nation since 2004.