United States presidential election, 2016 (Stronger Together)

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United States presidential election, 2016
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← 2012 November 8, 2016 2020 →

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout 55.7% Increase 0.8 pp

  Hillary Clinton portrait.png Donald Trump August 19, 2015 3 by 2.jpg
Nominee Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New York New York
Running mate Tim Kaine Mike Pence
Electoral vote 333 201
States carried 25 + DC + NE-02 25 + ME-02
Popular vote 67,170,584 61,725,131
Percentage 50.2% 44.1%

2016 US presidential election results (Stronger Together).svg
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Clinton/Kaine, red denotes those won by Trump/Pence. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state. Faithless votes: Ted Cruz 2 (TX), Ron Paul 1 (TX), Bernie Sanders 1 (WA)

President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Hillary Clinton
Democratic

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of New York and her running mate, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, successfully defeated the Republican ticket of New York businessman Donald Trump and his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Clinton took office as the 45th President, and Pence as the 48th Vice President, on January 20, 2017. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama was ineligible to run for a third term due to the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment. Concurrent with the presidential election, Senate, House, and many gubernatorial and state and local elections were also held on November 8.

Clinton secured the Democratic nomination after fending off a strong primary challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders. Amidst a wide Republican field, Trump emerged as the front-runner, defeating Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Jeb Bush and other candidates. Clinton ran on a platform of continuing and expanding President Obama's policies, emphasizing issues of racial, LGBT, and women's rights, and "inclusive capitalism"; whereas Trump promised to "Make America Great Again" by implementing a populist and nationalist agenda, opposing political correctness, illegal immigration, and many free-trade agreements. The tone of the general election campaign was widely characterized as divisive and negative, with both candidates beleaguered by controversy. Trump made numerous controversial remarks about race and immigration, was accused of inciting violence against protestors at his rallies, and faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct (which he denied), but was also able to garner extensive free media coverage. Clinton, whose public approval ratings had declined sharply since the end of her tenure as Secretary of State, was dogged by an FBI investigation of her improper use of a private email server, while her assertion that "half" of Trump's supporters were bigoted "deplorables" met with polarized reactions. Clinton held the lead in nearly every pre-election nationwide poll and in most swing state polls.

Voters selected members of the Electoral College in each state, in most cases by "winner-takes-all" plurality; those state electors in turn voted for a new president and vice president on December 19, 2016. Clinton managed to defeat Donald Trump by about 6 points in the popular vote, along with securing a majority of the electoral votes. Despite this, four faithless electors defected from their bound candidates (three from Donald Trump and one from Hillary Clinton). Two faithless electors voted for Ted Cruz, one voted for former Congressman Ron Paul, and one voted for Senator Bernie Sanders.

Upon taking office, President Clinton became the first female president, along with being the first spouse of a former president to be elected president. The election marked the first time since 1960 that Ohio voted for the losing candidate.

Background[edit | edit source]

Barack Obama, the incumbent President of the United States in 2016, whose second term expired at noon on January 20, 2017
Further information: United States presidential election

Article Two of the United States Constitution provides that the President and Vice President of the United States must be natural-born citizens of the United States, at least 35 years old, and residents of the United States for a period of at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the political parties, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. Traditionally, the primary elections are indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The general election in November is also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors in turn directly elect the President and Vice President.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat and former U.S. Senator from Illinois, was ineligible to seek reelection to a third term due to the restrictions of the Twenty-second Amendment; in accordance with Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment, his term expired at noon on January 20, 2017.

Primary process[edit | edit source]

The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses took place between February and June 2016, staggered among the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. This nominating process was also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who in turn elected their party's presidential nominee.

Speculation about the 2016 campaign began almost immediately following the 2012 campaign, with New York magazine declaring the race had begun in an article published on November 8, two days after the 2012 election.[1] On the same day, Politico released an article predicting the 2016 general election would be between Clinton and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, while a New York Times article named New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey as potential candidates.[2][3]

Nominations[edit | edit source]