United States presidential election, 2016

This article is about the United States presidential election held in 2016. For information about information about other elections held within the United States in 2016, see United States elections, 2016. Template:Use mdy dates

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine. Trump took office as the 45th President, and Pence as the 48th Vice President, on January 20, 2017. Concurrent with the presidential election, Senate, House, and many gubernatorial and state and local elections were also held on November 8.

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.Template:Efn While Clinton received about 2.9 million more votes nationwide, a margin of 2.1%, Trump won with 56% of electors in the Electoral College, winning 30 states with 306 pledged electors out of 538. He won the perennial swing states of Florida, Iowa and Ohio, as well as Clinton's "blue wall" states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which had been Democratic strongholds in presidential elections since the 1990s. Leading up to the election, a Trump victory was considered unlikely by almost all media forecasts.

In the Electoral College vote on December 19, seven electors voted against their pledged candidates: two against Trump and five against Clinton. A further three electors attempted to vote against Clinton but were replaced or forced to vote again. Ultimately, Trump received 304 electoral votes and Clinton garnered 227, while Colin Powell won three, and John Kasich, Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, and Faith Spotted Eagle each received one.

Trump is the fifth person in U.S. history to become president despite losing the nationwide popular vote.Template:Efn He is the first president without any prior experience in public service or the military, while Clinton was the first woman to be the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

This was the first time since the landslide 1984 re-election of Ronald Reagan that Wisconsin voted for the Republican nominee, and the first time since 1988 that the Republican nominee won the states of Pennsylvania and Michigan as well as Maine's 2nd Congressional District. It was also the first time since the 1828 election of Democratic nominee Andrew Jackson that an electoral vote split occurred in Maine.

Background

File:Barack Obama in 2016.jpg

Barack Obama, the incumbent president in 2016, whose term expired on January 20, 2017.

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 I of the Twentieth Amendment, his term expired at noon on January 20, 2017.

Primary process

File:2016 Presidential Election ballot.jpg

A general election ballot, listing the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

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. 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.

Republican Party

Primaries

Main article: Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016

With seventeen major candidates entering the race, starting with Ted Cruz on March 23, 2015, this was the largest presidential primary field for any political party in American history.

Prior to the Iowa caucuses on February 1, 2016, Perry, Walker, Jindal, Graham and Pataki withdrew due to low polling numbers. Despite leading many polls in Iowa, Trump came in second to Cruz, after which Huckabee, Paul and Santorum withdrew due to poor performances at the ballot box. Following a sizable victory for Trump in the New Hampshire primary, Christie, Fiorina and Gilmore abandoned the race. Bush followed suit after scoring fourth place to Trump, Rubio and Cruz in South Carolina. On March 1, 2016, the first of four "Super Tuesday" primaries, Rubio won his first contest in Minnesota, Cruz won Alaska, Oklahoma and his home of Texas and Trump won the other seven states that voted. Failing to gain traction, Carson suspended his campaign a few days later. On March 15, 2016, the second "Super Tuesday", Kasich won his only contest in his home state of Ohio and Trump won five primaries including Florida. Rubio suspended his campaign after losing his home state.

Between March 16 and May 3, 2016, only three candidates remained in the race: Trump, Cruz and Kasich. Cruz won the most delegates in four Western contests and in Wisconsin, keeping a credible path to denying Trump the nomination on first ballot with 1,237 delegates. Trump then augmented his lead by scoring landslide victories in New York and five Northeastern states in April, followed by a decisive victory in Indiana on May 3, 2016, securing all 57 of the state's delegates. Without any further chances of forcing a contested convention, both Cruz and Kasich suspended their campaigns. Trump remained the only active candidate and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee by Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on the evening of May 3, 2016.

Nominees

Republican Party (United States) Republican Party ticket, 2016
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Chairman of The Trump Organization (1971–2017)	50th Governor of Indiana (2013–2017)
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Other major candidates

Main article: Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016

Major candidates were determined by the various media based on common consensus. The following were invited to sanctioned televised debates based on their poll ratings.

Trump received 14,010,177 total votes in the primary. Trump, Cruz, Rubio and Kasich each won at least one primary, with Trump receiving the highest number of votes and Ted Cruz receiving the second highest.

Candidates in this section are sorted by reverse date of withdrawal from the primaries
John Kasich	Ted Cruz	Marco Rubio	Ben Carson	Jeb Bush	Jim Gilmore	Carly Fiorina	Chris Christie
120x120px	120x120px		120x120px	120x120px	120x120px	120x120px	120x120px
69th Governor of Ohio (2011–present)	U.S. Senator from Texas (2013–present)	U.S. Senator from Florida (2011–present)	Dir. of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital (1984–2013)	43rd Governor of Florida (1999–2007)	68th Governor of Virginia (1998–2002)	CEO of Hewlett-Packard (1999–2005)	55th Governor of New Jersey (2010–present)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: May 4 4,287,479 votes	W: May 3 7,811,110 votes	W: Mar 15 3,514,124 votes	W: Mar 4 857,009 votes	W: Feb 20 286,634 votes	W: Feb 12 18,364 votes	W: Feb 10 40,577 votes	W: Feb 10 57,634 votes
Rand Paul	Rick Santorum	Mike Huckabee	George Pataki	Lindsey Graham	Bobby Jindal	Scott Walker	Rick Perry
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U.S. Senator from Kentucky (2011–present)	U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1995–2007)	44th Governor of Arkansas (1996–2007)	53rd Governor of New York (1995–2006)	U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2003–present)	55th Governor of Louisiana (2008–2016)	45th Governor of Wisconsin (2011–present)	47th Governor of Texas (2000–2015)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: Feb 3 66,781 votes	W: Feb 3 16,622 votes	W: Feb 1 51,436 votes	W: December 29, 2015 2,036 votes	W: December 21, 2015 5,666 votes	W: November 17, 2015 222 votes	W: September 21, 2015 1 write-in vote in New Hampshire	W: September 11, 2015 1 write-in vote in New Hampshire

Vice presidential selection

Main article: Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 2016

Trump turned his attention towards selecting a running mate after he became the presumptive nominee on May 4, 2016. In mid-June, Eli Stokols and Burgess Everett of Politico reported that the Trump campaign was considering New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich from Georgia, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. A June 30 Washington Post report also included Senators Bob Corker from Tennessee, Richard Burr from North Carolina, Tom Cotton from Arkansas, Joni Ernst from Iowa, and Indiana Governor Mike Pence as individuals still being considered for the ticket. Trump also stated that he was considering two military generals for the position, including retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.

In July 2016, it was reported that Trump had narrowed his list of possible running mates down to three: Christie, Gingrich, and Pence.

On July 14, 2016, several major media outlets reported that Trump had selected Pence as his running mate. Trump confirmed these reports in a message on Twitter on July 15, 2016, and formally made the announcement the following day in New York. On July 19, the second night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Pence won the Republican vice presidential nomination by acclamation.

Democratic Party

Primaries

Main article: Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also served in the U.S. Senate and was the First Lady of the United States, became the first woman to formally launch a major candidacy for the presidency. Clinton made the announcement on April 12, 2015, via a video message. While nationwide opinion polls in 2015 indicated that Clinton was the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, she faced challenges from Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who became the second major candidate when he formally announced on April 30, 2015, that he was running for the Democratic nomination. September 2015 polling numbers indicated a narrowing gap between Clinton and Sanders. On May 30, 2015, former Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley was the third major candidate to enter the Democratic primary race, followed by former Independent Governor and Republican Senator of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee on June 3, 2015, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb on July 2, 2015, and former Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig on September 6, 2015.

On October 20, 2015, Webb announced his withdrawal from the Democratic primaries, and explored a potential Independent run. The next day Vice-President Joe Biden decided not to run, ending months of speculation, stating, "While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent." On October 23, Chafee withdrew, stating that he hoped for "an end to the endless wars and the beginning of a new era for the United States and humanity". On November 2, after failing to qualify for the second DNC-sanctioned debate after adoption of a rule change negated polls which before might have necessitated his inclusion in the debate, Lessig withdrew as well, narrowing the field to Clinton, O'Malley, and Sanders.

On February 1, 2016, in an extremely close contest, Clinton won the Iowa caucuses by a margin of 0.2 points over Sanders. After winning no delegates in Iowa, O'Malley withdrew from the presidential race that day. On February 9, Sanders bounced back to win the New Hampshire primary with 60% of the vote. In the remaining two February contests, Clinton won the Nevada caucuses with 53% of the vote and scored a decisive victory in the South Carolina primary with 73% of the vote. On March 1, 11 states participated in the first of four "Super Tuesday" primaries. Clinton won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia and 504 pledged delegates, while Sanders won Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and his home state of Vermont and 340 delegates. The following weekend, Sanders won victories in Kansas, Nebraska and Maine with 15–30-point margins, while Clinton won the Louisiana primary with 71% of the vote. On March 8, despite never having a lead in the Michigan primary, Sanders won by a small margin of 1.5 points and outperforming polls by over 19 points, while Clinton won 83% of the vote in Mississippi. On March 15, the second "Super Tuesday", Clinton won in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Between March 22 and April 9, Sanders won six caucuses in Idaho, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington and Wyoming, as well as the Wisconsin primary, while Clinton won the Arizona primary. On April 19, Clinton won the New York primary with 58% of the vote. On April 26, in the third "Super Tuesday" dubbed the "Acela primary", she won contests in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, while Sanders won in Rhode Island. Over the course of May, Sanders accomplished another surprise win in the Indiana primary and also won in West Virginia and Oregon, while Clinton won the Guam caucus and Kentucky primary.

On June 4 and 5, Clinton won two victories in the Virgin Islands caucus and Puerto Rico primary. On June 6, 2016, the Associated Press and NBC News reported that Clinton had become the presumptive nominee after reaching the required number of delegates, including pledged delegates and superdelegates, to secure the nomination, becoming the first woman to ever clinch the presidential nomination of a major United States political party. On June 7, Clinton secured a majority of pledged delegates after winning primaries in California, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, while Sanders only won in Montana and North Dakota. Clinton also won the final primary in the District of Columbia on June 14. At the conclusion of the primary process, Clinton had won 2,204 pledged delegates (54% of the total) awarded by the primary elections and caucuses, while Sanders had won 1,847 (46%). Out of the 714 unpledged delegates or "superdelegates" who were set to vote in the convention in July, Clinton received endorsements from 560 (78%), while Sanders received 47 (7%).

Although Sanders had not formally dropped out of the race, he announced on June 16, 2016, that his main goal in the coming months would be to work with Clinton to defeat Trump in the general election. On July 8, appointees from the Clinton campaign, the Sanders campaign, and the Democratic National Committee negotiated a draft of the party's platform. On July 12, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire in which he appeared with her. On July 22, three days before the start of the Democratic National Convention, the Clinton campaign announced that Virginia Senator Tim Kaine had been selected as her running mate.

Nominees

Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party ticket, 2016
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for President	for Vice President
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67th U.S. Secretary of State (2009–2013)	U.S. Senator from Virginia (2013–present)
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Other major candidates

Main article: Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2016

The following candidates were frequently interviewed by major broadcast networks and cable news channels, or were listed in publicly published national polls. Lessig was invited to one forum, but withdrew when rules were changed which prevented him from participating in officially sanctioned debates.

Clinton received 16,849,779 votes in the primary.

Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries
Bernie Sanders	Martin O'Malley	Lawrence Lessig	Lincoln Chafee	Jim Webb
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U.S. Senator from Vermont (2007–present)	61st Governor of Maryland (2007–2015)	Harvard Law Professor (2009–2016)	74th Governor of Rhode Island (2011–2015)	U.S. Senator from Virginia (2007–2013)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
Template:Abbr: July 26, 2016 13,167,848 primary votes and 1,846 delegates	Template:Abbr: February 1, 2016 110,423 votes	Template:Abbr: November 2, 2015 4 write-in votes in New Hampshire	Template:Abbr: October 23, 2015 0 votes	Template:Abbr: October 20, 2015 2 write-in votes in New Hampshire

Vice presidential selection

Main article: Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 2016

In April 2016, the Clinton campaign began to compile a list of 15 to 20 individuals to vet for the position of running mate, even though Sanders continued to challenge Clinton in the Democratic primaries. In mid-June, The Wall Street Journal reported that Clinton's shortlist included Representative Xavier Becerra from California, Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey, Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro from Texas, Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti from California, Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia, Labor Secretary Tom Perez from Maryland, Representative Tim Ryan from Ohio, and Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts. Subsequent reports stated that Clinton was also considering Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, retired Admiral James Stavridis, and Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado. In discussing her potential vice presidential choice, Clinton stated that the most important attribute she looked for was the ability and experience to immediately step into the role of president.

On July 22, Clinton announced that she had chosen Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia as her running mate. The delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, which took place July 25–28, formally nominated the Democratic ticket.

Third parties and independents

Third party and independent candidates that have obtained more than 100,000 votes nationally and one percent of the vote in at least one state, are listed separately.

Libertarian Party

Main article: Libertarian Party (United States)

• Gary Johnson, 29th Governor of New Mexico. Vice-presidential nominee: Bill Weld, 68th Governor of Massachusetts

Additional Party Endorsements: Independence Party of New York

Ballot access to all 538 electoral votes

Nominees

30px Libertarian Party ticket, 2016
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for President	for Vice President
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29th Governor of New Mexico (1995–2003)	68th Governor of Massachusetts (1991–1997)
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Green Party

Main article: Green Party of the United States

• Jill Stein, physician from Lexington, Massachusetts. Vice-presidential nominee: Ajamu Baraka, activist from Washington, DC

Ballot access to 480 electoral votes (522 with write-in): – map

• As write-in: Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina
• Ballot access lawsuit pending: Oklahoma
• No ballot access: Nevada, South Dakota

Nominees

175px Green Party ticket, 2016
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for President	for Vice President
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Physician from Lexington, Massachusetts	Activist from Washington, DC
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Independents

Main article: Evan McMullin presidential campaign, 2016

• Evan McMullin, Chief policy director for the House Republican Conference. Vice-presidential nominee: Mindy Finn, President of Empowered Women

Additional Party Endorsement: Independence Party of Minnesota, South Carolina Independence Party

Ballot access to 84 electoral votes (451 with write-in): – map

• As write-in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
• No ballot access: District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming

In some states, Evan McMullin's running mate was listed as Nathan Johnson on the ballot rather than Mindy Finn, although Nathan Johnson was intended to only be a placeholder until an actual running mate was chosen.

Independent ticket, 2016
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for President	for Vice President
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Chief policy director for the House Republican Conference (2015–2016)	President of Empowered Women (2015–present)
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Constitution Party

Main article: Constitution Party of the United States

• Darrell Castle, Attorney from Memphis, Tennessee. Vice-presidential nominee: Scott Bradley, Businessman from Utah

Template:Hidden begin Ballot access to 207 electoral votes (451 with write-in): – map

• As write-in: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia
• No ballot access: California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma

Nominees

250px Constitution Party ticket, 2016
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for President	for Vice President
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Attorney from Memphis, Tennessee	Businessman from Utah
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File:Castle 2016 logo, flat.png

Other nominations

Main article: United States third-party and independent presidential candidates, 2016

Party	Presidential nominee	Vice presidential nominee	Attainable Electors (write-in)	Popular Vote	States with ballot access (write-in)
American Delta Party Reform Party	Rocky De La Fuente Businessman from California	Michael Steinberg Lawyer from Florida	147 (305) map	33,133 (0.02%)	Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming (Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia)
Party for Socialism and Liberation Peace and Freedom Liberty Union Party	Gloria La Riva Newspaper printer and activist from California	Eugene Puryear Activist from Washington, DC	112 (226) map	74,402 (0.05%)	California, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington (Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia)
Socialist Workers Party	Alyson Kennedy Mineworker and Labor Leader from Illinois	Osborne Hart of Pennsylvania	70 (123) map	12,465 (0.01%)	Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah, Washington (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Workers World Party	Monica Moorehead perennial candidate and political activist from Alabama	Lamont Lilly of North Carolina	30 (235) map	4,319 (0.00%)	New Jersey, Utah, Wisconsin (Alabama, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New, York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia)
Socialist Party USA Natural Law Party	Mimi Soltysik former National Co-Chair of the Socialist Party USA from California Campaign	Angela Nicole Walker of Wisconsin	25 (209) map	2,704 (0.00%)	Colorado, Michigan, Guam (Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin)
Prohibition Party	James Hedges former Tax Assessor for Thompson Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania	Bill Bayes of Mississippi	21 (116) map	5,617 (0.00%)	Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi (Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia)
Independent	Mike Smith Lawyer, Colorado	Daniel White	20 (222)	9,345 (0.01%)	Colorado, Tennessee (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington. West Virginia)
Independent	Richard Duncan Real Estate Agent from Ohio	Ricky Johnson Preacher from Pennsylvania	18 (173)	24,307 (0.02%)	Ohio (Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia)
Independent	Laurence Kotlikoff Economics Professor at Boston University, Massachusetts	Edward E. Leamer Economics Professor at UCLA, California	17 (428) map	3,596 (0.00%)	Colorado, Louisiana (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin)
America's Party	Tom Hoefling activist from Iowa	Steve Schulin of South Carolina	17 (369) map	4,845 (0.00%)	Colorado, Louisiana (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin)
Veterans Party of America	Chris Keniston reliability engineer from Texas	Deacon Taylor of Nevada	17 (196) map	7,248 (0.01%)	Colorado, Louisiana (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin)
Legal Marijuana Now Party	Dan Vacek of Minnesota	Mark Elworth Jr. of Nebraska	16 (77)	13,537 (0.01%)	Iowa, Minnesota (Alabama, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Independent	Lynn Kahn Doctor of Clinical Psychology from Maryland	Kathleen Monahan of Florida	12 (160)	5,730 (0.00%)	Arkansas, Iowa (Alabama, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia)
American Solidarity Party	Mike Maturen sales professional and magician from Michigan	Juan Muñoz of Texas	9 (332) map	6,714 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin)
Independent	Joseph Allen Maldonado of Oklahoma	Douglas K. Terranova	9 (212)	961 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin)
Independent	Ryan Alan Scott	Bruce Kendall Barnard	9 (108)	749 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
American Party (South Carolina)	Peter Skewes Animal Science Professor at Clemson University, South Carolina	Michael Lacy	9 (83)	3,246 (0.00%)	South Carolina (Alabama, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Approval Voting Party	Frank Atwood of Colorado	Blake Huber of Colorado	9 (76)	337 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Independent American Party	Kyle Kenley Kopitke of Michigan	Narthan R. Sorenson	9 (76)	1,096 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Nutrition Party	Rod Silva restaurateur from New Jersey	Richard Silva	9 (76)	751 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
United States Pacifist Party	Bradford Lyttle peace activist from Illinois	Hannah Walsh	9 (76)	382 (0.00%)	Colorado (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Socialist Equality Party	Jerry White peace activist from Michigan	Niles Niemuth journalist from Wisconsin	8 (166)	481 (0.00%)	Louisiana (Alabama, California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia)
Independent	Princess Khadijah Jacob-Fambro of California	Milton Fambro of California	8 (75)	749 (0.00%)	Louisiana (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Independent American Party	Rocky Giordani from California	Farley Anderson activist from Utah	6 (79)	2,752 (0.00%)	Utah (Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Constitution Party of Idaho	Scott Copeland of Texas	J.R. Meyers	4 (71)	2,356 (0.00%)	Idaho (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)

Candidates gallery

• Gary Johnson campaign portrait.jpg

  Gary Johnson
  (Campaign)

• Jill Stein by Gage Skidmore.jpg

  Jill Stein
  (Campaign)

• Evan McMullin 2016-10-21 headshot.jpg

  Evan McMullin
  (Campaign)

• DCastle08.jpg

  Darrell Castle
  (Campaign)

General election campaign

Hillary Clinton focused her candidacy on several themes, including raising middle class incomes, expanding women's rights, instituting campaign finance reform, and improving the Affordable Care Act. In March 2016, she laid out a detailed economic plan basing her economic philosophy on inclusive capitalism, which proposed a "clawback" which would rescind tax relief and other benefits for companies that move jobs overseas; with provision of incentives for companies that share profits with employees, communities and the environment, rather than focusing on short-term profits to increase stock value and rewarding shareholders; as well as increasing collective bargaining rights; and placing an "exit tax" on companies that move their headquarters out of America in order to pay a lower tax rate overseas. Clinton promoted equal pay for equal work to address current alleged shortfalls in how much women are paid to do the same jobs men do, promoted explicitly focus on family issues and support of universal preschool, expressed support for the right to same-sex marriage, and proposed allowing undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship stating that it "Template:Brackets at its heart a family issue."

Donald Trump's campaign drew heavily on his personal image, enhanced by his previous media exposure. The primary slogan of the Trump campaign, extensively used on campaign merchandise, was Make America Great Again. The red baseball cap with the slogan emblazoned on the front became a symbol of the campaign, and has been frequently donned by Trump and his supporters. Trump's right-wing populist positions—reported by The New Yorker to be nativist, protectionist, and semi-isolationist—differ in many ways from traditional conservatism. He opposed many free trade deals and military interventionist policies that conservatives generally support, and opposed cuts in Medicare and Social Security benefits. Moreover, he has insisted that Washington is "broken" and can only be fixed by an outsider. Trump support was high among working and middle-class white male voters with annual incomes of less than $50,000 and no college degree. This group, particularly those with less than a high-school education, suffered a decline in their income in recent years. According to The Washington Post, support for Trump is higher in areas with a higher mortality rate for middle-age white people. A sample of interviews with more than 11,000 Republican-leaning respondents from August to December 2015 found that Trump at that time found his strongest support among Republicans in West Virginia, followed by New York, and then followed by six Southern states.

Clinton had an uneasy, and at times adversarial relationship with the press throughout her life in public service. Weeks before her official entry as a presidential candidate, Clinton attended a political press corps event, pledging to start fresh on what she described as a "complicated" relationship with political reporters. Clinton was initially criticized by the press for avoiding taking their questions, after which she provided more interviews.

In contrast, Trump benefited from free media more than any other candidate. From the beginning of his campaign through February 2016, Trump received almost $2 billion in free media attention, twice the amount that Clinton received. According to data from the Tyndall Report, which tracks nightly news content, through February 2016, Trump alone accounted for more than a quarter of all 2016 election coverage on the evening newscasts of NBC, CBS and ABC, more than all the Democratic campaigns combined. Observers noted Trump's ability to garner constant mainstream media coverage "almost at will". However, Trump frequently criticized the media for writing what he alleged to be false stories about him and he has called upon his supporters to be "the silent majority". Trump also said the media "put false meaning into the words I say", and says he does not mind being criticized by the media as long as they are honest about it.

Both Clinton and Trump were seen unfavorably by the general public. In consequence, the controversial nature of both main parties' campaigns marked the road to the election.

Clinton's practice of using her own private email address and server during her time as Secretary of State, in lieu of State Department servers, gained widespread public attention back in March 2015. Concerns were raised about security and preservation of emails, and the possibility that laws may have been violated. After allegations were raised that some of the emails in question fell into this so-called "born classified" category, an FBI probe was initiated regarding how classified information was handled on the Clinton server. The FBI probe was concluded on July 5, 2016, with a recommendation of no charges, a recommendation that was followed by the Justice Department. On October 28, eleven days before the election, FBI Director James Comey informed Congress that the FBI was analyzing additional emails obtained during its investigation of an unrelated case. On November 6, he notified Congress that the new emails did not change the FBI's earlier conclusion.

Also, on September 9, 2016, Clinton stated: "You know, just to be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. They're racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it." Donald Trump criticized Clinton's remark as insulting his supporters. The following day Clinton expressed regret for saying "half", while insisting that Trump had deplorably amplified "hateful views and voices". Previously on August 25, 2016, Clinton gave a speech criticizing Trump's campaign for using "racist lies" and allowing the alt-right to gain prominence.

On the other side, on October 7, 2016, video and accompanying audio were released by The Washington Post in which Trump referred obscenely to women in a 2005 conversation with Billy Bush while they were preparing to film an episode of Access Hollywood. The audio was met with a reaction of disbelief and disgust from the media. Following the revelation, Trump's campaign issued an apology, stating that the video was of a private conversation from "many years ago". The incident was condemned by numerous prominent Republicans like Reince Priebus, Mitt Romney, John Kasich, Jeb Bush and the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. By October 8 several dozen Republicans had called for Trump to withdraw from the campaign and let Pence head the ticket. Trump insisted he would never drop out.

The ongoing of the election made third parties attract voters' attention. On March 3, 2016, Libertarian Gary Johnson addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC, touting himself as the third-party option for anti-Trump Republicans. In early May, some commentators opined that Johnson was moderate enough to pull votes away from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump who are very disliked and polarizing. Both conservative and liberal media noted that Johnson could get votes from "Never Trump" Republicans and disaffected Bernie Sanders supporters. Johnson also began to get time on national television, being invited on ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and many other networks. In September and October 2016, Johnson suffered a "string of damaging stumbles when he has fielded questions about foreign affairs." On September 8, Johnson, when he appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, was asked by panelist Mike Barnicle, "What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?" (referring to a war-torn city in Syria). Johnson responded, "And what is Aleppo?" Johnson's "what is Aleppo?" question prompted widespread attention, much of it negative. Later that day, Johnson said that he had "blanked" and that he did "understand the dynamics of the Syrian conflict – I talk about them every day."

On the other hand, Green Party candidate Jill Stein stated that the Democratic and Republican parties are "two corporate parties" that have converged into one. Concerned by the rise of the far right internationally and the tendency towards neoliberalism within the Democratic Party, she has said, "The answer to neofascism is stopping neoliberalism. Putting another Clinton in the White House will fan the flames of this right-wing extremism."

In response to Johnson's growing poll numbers, the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic allies increased their criticism against Johnson in September 2016, warning that "a vote for a third party is a vote for Donald Trump" and deploying Senator Bernie Sanders (Clinton's former primary rival and then-supporter) to win over voters who might be considering voting for Johnson or for Stein.

Ballot access

Presidential ticket	Party	Ballot access			Votes	Percentage
		States	Electors	% of voters
Trump / Pence	Republican	50 + DC	538	100%	62,985,106	45.94%
Clinton / Kaine	Democratic	50 + DC	538	100%	65,853,625	48.03%
Johnson / Weld	Libertarian	50 + DC	538	100%	4,489,233	3.27%
Stein / Baraka	Green	44 + DC	480	89%	1,457,222	1.06%
McMullin / Finn	Independent	11	84	15%	731,709	0.53%
Castle / Bradley	Constitution	24	207	39%	203,069	0.15%

• Candidates in bold were on ballots representing 270 electoral votes, without needing write-in states.
• All other candidates were on the ballots of fewer than 25 states, but had write-in access greater than 270.

Party conventions

Democratic Party

Main article: 2016 Democratic National Convention

• July 25–28, 2016: Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Republican Party

Main article: 2016 Republican National Convention

• July 18–21, 2016: Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio.

Libertarian Party

Main article: 2016 Libertarian National Convention

• May 26–30, 2016: Libertarian National Convention was held in Orlando, Florida.

Green Party

Main article: 2016 Green National Convention

• August 4–7, 2016: Green National Convention was held in Houston, Texas.

Constitution Party

Main article: 2016 Constitution Party National Convention

• April 13–16, 2016: Constitution Party National Convention was held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Campaign finance

This is an overview of the money used in the campaign as it is reported to Federal Election Commission (FEC) and released in September 2016. Outside groups are independent expenditure only committees—also called PACs and SuperPACs. The sources of the numbers are the FEC and Center for Responsive Politics. Some spending totals are not available, due to withdrawals before the FEC deadline. As of September 2016, ten candidates with ballot access have filed financial reports with the FEC.

Candidate	Campaign committee (as of December 9)				Outside groups (as of December 9)			Total spent
	Money raised	Money spent	Cash on hand	Debt	Money raised	Money spent	Cash on hand
Hillary Clinton	$497,808,791	$435,367,811	$62,440,979	$111,238	$205,909,959	$204,267,754	$1,642,205	$639,635,565
Donald Trump	$247,541,449	$231,546,996	$15,994,454	$2,086,572	$74,905,285	$70,941,922	$3,963,363	$302,488,918
Gary Johnson	$11,410,313	$10,308,873	$1,101,440	$0	$1,386,554	$1,310,578	$75,976	$11,619,451
Rocky De La Fuente	$7,351,270	$7,354,663	-$3,392	$7,334,250	$0	$0	$0	$7,354,663
Jill Stein	$3,509,477	$3,451,174	$58,303	$87,740	$0	$0	$0	$3,451,174
Evan McMullin	$1,644,102	$1,642,165	$1,937	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1,642,165
Darrell Castle	$52,234	$51,365	$869	$2,500	$0	$0	$0	$51,365
Gloria La Riva	$29,243	$24,207	$5,034	$0	$0	$0	$0	$24,207
Monica Moorehead	$11,547	$9,127	$2,419	$4,500	$0	$0	$0	$9,127
Peter Skewes	$7,966	$4,238	$7,454	$8,000	$0	$0	$0	$4,238

Newspaper endorsements

Main article: Newspaper endorsements in the United States presidential election, 2016

Clinton was endorsed by The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Chicago Sun-Times and the New York Daily News editorial boards. Trump, who has frequently criticized the mainstream media, was not endorsed by the vast majority of newspapers, with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Florida Times-Union, and the tabloid National Enquirer his highest profile supporters. Several papers which endorsed Clinton, such as the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The San Diego Union-Tribune The Columbus Dispatch and The Arizona Republic, endorsed their first Democratic candidate for many decades. USA Today, which had not endorsed any candidate since it was founded in 1982, broke tradition by giving an anti-endorsement against Trump, declaring him "unfit for the presidency". The Atlantic, which has been in circulation since 1857, gave Clinton its third-ever endorsement (after Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson).

Other traditionally Republican papers, including the New Hampshire Union Leader, which had endorsed the Republican nominee in every election for the last 100 years, The Detroit News, which had not endorsed a non-Republican in its 143 years, and the Chicago Tribune, endorsed Gary Johnson.

Debates

Primary election debates

Main article: Democratic Party presidential debates and forums, 2016

General election debates

Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2016

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a non-profit organization, hosted debates between qualifying presidential and vice-presidential candidates. According to the commission's website, to be eligible to opt to participate in the anticipated debates, "... in addition to being Constitutionally eligible, candidates must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College, and have a level of support of at least 15 percent of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recently publicly-reported results at the time of the determination."

The three locations chosen to host the presidential debates, and the one location selected to host the vice presidential debate, were announced on September 23, 2015. The site of the first debate was originally designated as Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; however, due to rising costs and security concerns, the debate was moved to Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

On August 19, Trump's campaign manager confirmed that he would participate in a series of three debates. Trump had complained that two of the scheduled debates, one on September 26 and the other October 9, will have to compete for viewers with National Football League games, referencing the similar complaints made regarding the dates with low expected ratings during the Democratic Party presidential debates. According to a survey by Rasmussen Reports, the majority of American voters believed that the debate moderators at the presidential debates would be helping Hillary Clinton.

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation announced plans to host an open debate among all presidential candidates who had ballot access sufficient to represent a majority of electoral votes. In October 2016 Free & Equal extended the invitation to all candidates with ballot lines representing at least 15% of the electoral vote. The nominees of the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Reform, and Socialism and Liberation parties, as well as independent candidate Evan McMullin, were invited to participate. The debate was held at the University of Colorado Boulder's Macky Auditorium on October 25, 2016. It was moderated by Ed Asner and Christina Tobin, with Darrell Castle, Rocky De La Fuente, and Gloria La Riva participating.

PBS hosted a debate moderated by Tavis Smiley between Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

Debates among candidates for the 2016 U.S. presidential election

No.	Date	Time	Host	City	Moderator(s)	Participants
Template:CPD	September 26, 2016	9 p.m. EDT	Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	Lester Holt	Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
Template:CPD	October 4, 2016	9 p.m. EDT	Longwood University	Farmville, Virginia	Elaine Quijano	Tim Kaine Mike Pence
Template:CPD	October 9, 2016	8 p.m. CDT	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	Anderson Cooper Martha Raddatz	Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
Template:CPD	October 19, 2016	6 p.m. PDT	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada	Chris Wallace	Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
P4	October 25, 2016	7 p.m. MDT	University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder, Colorado	Ed Asner Christina Tobin	Darrell Castle Rocky De La Fuente Gloria La Riva
Template:Colors = Sponsored by the CPD; Template:Colors = Sponsored by Free & Equal

Results

See also: Swing states#Swing states for the 2016 election

File:Barack Obama casts an early vote in the 2016 election (cropped).jpg

Incumbent President Barack Obama casts his vote early in Chicago on October 7, 2016.

The election was held on November 8, 2016. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton cast her vote in the New York City suburb of Chappaqua, while Republican candidate Donald Trump voted in a Manhattan public school. Throughout the day, the election process went more smoothly than many had expected, with only a few reports of long lines and equipment problems.

The Republican candidate performed surprisingly well in all battleground states, especially Florida, Ohio and North Carolina. Even Wisconsin and Michigan, states that were predicted to vote Democratic, were won by Trump. Cindy Adams, present at Trump Tower, reported that "Trumptown knew they’d won by 5:30. Math, calculations, candidate dislike causing voter abstention begat the numbers".

On November 9, 2016, at 3:00 AM Eastern Time, Trump secured over 270 electoral votes, the majority of the 538 electors in the Electoral College, enough to make him the president-elect of the United States. Clinton called Trump early on Wednesday morning, conceding defeat. Clinton asked her supporters to accept the result and hoped that Trump would be "a successful president for all Americans". In his victory speech Trump appealed for unity saying "it is time for us to come together as one united people" and praised Clinton who was owed "a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country".

Six states plus a portion of Maine that Obama won in 2012 switched to Trump. These are (with Electoral College votes in parentheses): Florida (29), Pennsylvania (20), Ohio (18), Michigan (16), Wisconsin (10), Iowa (6), and Maine's second congressional district (1). Initially, Trump won exactly 100 more Electoral College votes than Mitt Romney in 2012, with two lost to faithless electors the following month. Thirty-nine states swung more Republican compared to the previous Presidential election, while eleven states and the District of Columbia swung more Democratic.

It is estimated that 138.8 million Americans cast a ballot in 2016. 65.8 million of those ballots have been counted for Clinton and just under 63 million for Trump, representing 20.3% (Clinton) and 19.4% (Trump) of the U.S. Census Bureau estimate of U.S. population that day of 324.9 million. Considering a voting age population (VAP) of 251.1 million people and voting eligible population (VEP) of 230.6 million people, this is a turnout rate of 55.3% VAP and 60.2% VEP. Voting turnout percentage was up compared to 2012 (54.9% VAP) but down compared to 2008 (58.2% VAP). More votes were cast in the 2016 election than any prior election due to an increase in the voting population.

Source (Popular Vote):

For Bernie Sanders and John Kasich: CA: and NH: VT: NC: PA: [5] RI:

^(a) Received electoral vote(s) from a faithless elector.

^(b) Two faithless electors from Texas cast their presidential votes for Ron Paul and John Kasich, respectively. Chris Suprun stated that he cast his presidential vote for John Kasich and his vice presidential vote for Carly Fiorina. The other faithless elector in Texas, Bill Greene, cast his presidential vote for Ron Paul but cast his vice presidential vote for Mike Pence, as pledged. John Kasich received recorded write-in votes in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

^(c) Candidate received votes as a write-in. The exact amounts of write-in votes for Sanders have been published for 3 states. In California, his official running mate was Tulsi Gabbard and in New Hampshire and Vermont there was not a running mate attached to Sanders. It was possible to vote Sanders as a write-in candidate in 14 states.

Note: Popular vote count is preliminary until all states have certified their results.

Results by state

Template:Update A total of 29 third party and independent presidential candidates appeared on the ballot in at least one state. Former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson and physician Jill Stein repeated their 2012 roles as the nominees for the Libertarian Party and the Green Party, respectively. With ballot access to the entire national electorate, Johnson received nearly 4.5 million votes (3.28%), the highest nationwide vote share for a third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996, while Stein received almost 1.45 million votes (1.06%), the most for a Green nominee since Ralph Nader in 2000.

Independent candidate Evan McMullin, who appeared on the ballot in 11 states, received over 725,000 votes (0.53%). He won 21.4% of the vote in his home state of Utah, the highest share of the vote for a third-party candidate in any state since 1992. Despite dropping out of the election following his defeat in the Democratic primary, Senator Bernie Sanders received 5.7% of the vote in his home state of Vermont, the highest write-in draft campaign percentage for a presidential candidate in American history. Johnson and McMullin were the first third party candidates since Nader to receive at least 5% of the vote in one or more states, with Johnson crossing the mark in 11 states and McMullin crossing it in two.

Aside from Florida and North Carolina, the states which secured Trump's victory are situated in the Great Lakes/Rust Belt region. Wisconsin went Republican for the first time since 1984, while Pennsylvania and Michigan went Republican for the first time since 1988. Stein petitioned for a recount in these states. The Clinton campaign pledged to participate in the Green Party recount efforts, while Trump backers challenged them in court. Meanwhile, American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente petitioned for and was granted a partial recount in Nevada.

States won by Clinton/Kaine

States won by Trump/Pence

Electoral methods

• WTA—Winner-takes-all
• CD—Congressional district^★

		Hillary Clinton Democratic			Donald Trump Republican			Gary Johnson Libertarian			Jill Stein Green			Evan McMullin Independent			Others			Margin★★		Total
State or district	Electoral method	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	#	State	Status
Alabama	WTA	729,547	34.36%	–	1,318,255	62.08%	9	44,467	2.09%	–	9,391	0.44%	–			–	21,712	1.02%	–	588,708	27.72%	2,123,372	AL	Official
Alaska	WTA	116,454	36.55%	–	163,387	51.28%	3	18,725	5.88%	–	5,735	1.80%	–			–	14,307	4.49%	–	46,933	14.73%	318,608	AK	Official
Arizona	WTA	1,161,167	45.13%	–	1,252,401	48.67%	11	106,327	4.13%	–	34,345	1.33%	–	17,449	0.68%	–	1,476	0.06%	–	91,234	3.54%	2,573,165	AZ	Official
Arkansas	WTA	380,494	33.65%	–	684,872	60.57%	6	29,949	2.65%	–	9,473	0.84%	–	13,176	1.17%	–	12,712	1.12%	–	304,378	26.92%	1,130,676	AR	Official
California	WTA	8,753,788	61.73%	55	4,483,810	31.62%	–	478,500	3.37%	–	278,657	1.96%	–	39,596	0.28%	–	147,244	1.04%	–	−4,269,978	−30.11%	14,181,595	CA	Official
Colorado	WTA	1,338,870	48.16%	9	1,202,484	43.25%	–	144,121	5.18%	–	38,437	1.38%	–	28,917	1.04%	–	27,391	0.99%	–	−136,386	−4.91%	2,780,220	CO	Official
Connecticut	WTA	897,572	54.57%	7	673,215	40.93%	–	48,676	2.96%	–	22,841	1.39%	–	2,108	0.13%	–	508	0.03%	–	−224,357	−13.64%	1,644,920	CT	Official
Delaware	WTA	235,603	53.18%	3	185,127	41.79%	–	14,757	3.33%	–	6,103	1.38%	–	706	0.16%	–	701	0.16%	–	−50,476	−11.39%	442,997	DE	Official
District of Columbia	WTA	282,830	90.48%	3	12,723	4.07%	–	4,906	1.57%	–	4,258	1.36%	–			–	6,551	2.52%	–	−270,107	−86.41%	311,268	DC	Official
Florida	WTA	4,504,975	47.82%	–	4,617,886	49.02%	29	207,043	2.20%	–	64,399	0.68%	–			–	25,736	0.28%	–	112,911	1.20%	9,420,039	FL	Official
Georgia	WTA	1,877,963	45.64%	–	2,089,104	50.77%	16	125,306	3.05%	–	7,674	0.19%	–	13,017	0.32%	–	1,668	0.04%	–	211,141	5.13%	4,114,732	GA	Official
Hawaii	WTA	266,891	62.22%	4	128,847	30.03%	–	15,954	3.72%	–	12,737	2.97%	–			–	4,508	1.05%	–	−138,044	−32.19%	428,937	HI	Official
Idaho	WTA	189,765	27.49%	–	409,055	59.26%	4	28,331	4.10%	–	8,496	1.23%	–	46,476	6.73%	–	8,132	1.18%	–	219,290	31.77%	690,255	ID	Official
Illinois	WTA	3,090,729	55.83%	20	2,146,015	38.76%	–	209,596	3.79%	–	76,802	1.39%	–	11,655	0.21%	–	1,627	0.03%	–	−944,714	−17.07%	5,536,424	IL	Official
Indiana	WTA	1,033,126	37.91%	–	1,557,286	56.82%	11	133,993	4.89%	–	7,841	0.27%	–			–	2,712	0.10%	–	524,160	18.91%	2,734,958	IN	Official
Iowa	WTA	653,669	41.74%	–	800,983	51.15%	6	59,186	3.78%	–	11,479	0.73%	–	12,366	0.79%	–	28,348	1.81%	–	147,314	9.41%	1,566,031	IA	Official
Kansas	WTA	427,005	36.05%	–	671,018	56.65%	6	55,406	4.68%	–	23,506	1.98%	–	6,520	0.55%	–	947	0.08%	–	244,013	20.60%	1,184,402	KS	Official
Kentucky	WTA	628,854	32.68%	–	1,202,971	62.52%	8	53,752	2.79%	–	13,913	0.72%	–	22,780	1.18%	–	1,879	0.10%	–	574,177	29.84%	1,924,149	KY	Official
Louisiana	WTA	780,154	38.45%	–	1,178,638	58.09%	8	37,978	1.87%	–	14,031	0.69%	–	8,547	0.42%	–	9,684	0.48%	–	398,484	19.64%	2,029,032	LA	Official
Maine (at-large)	CDTemplate:Efn	357,735	47.83%	2	335,593	44.87%	–	38,105	5.09%	–	14,251	1.91%	–	1,887	0.25%	–	356	0.05%	–	−22,142	−2.96%	747,927	ME–a/l	Official
Maine, 1st	CDTemplate:Efn	212,774	53.96%	1	154,384	39.15%	–	18,592	4.71%	–	7,563	1.92%	–	807	0.20%	–	209	0.05%	–	−58,390	−14.81%	394,329	ME-1
Maine, 2nd	CDTemplate:Efn	144,817	40.98%	–	181,177	51.26%	1	19,510	5.52%	–	6,685	1.89%	–	1,080	0.31%	–	147	0.04%	–	36,360	10.28%	353,416	ME-2
Maryland	WTA	1,677,928	60.33%	10	943,169	33.91%	–	79,605	2.86%	–	35,945	1.29%	–	9,630	0.35%	–	35,169	1.26%	–	−734,759	−26.42%	2,781,446	MD	Official
Massachusetts	WTA	1,995,196	60.01%	11	1,090,893	32.81%	–	138,018	4.15%	–	47,661	1.43%	–	2,719	0.08%	–	50,559	1.52%	–	−904,303	−27.20%	3,325,046	MA	Official
Michigan	WTA	2,268,839	47.27%	–	2,279,543	47.50%	16	172,136	3.59%	–	51,463	1.07%	–	8,177	0.17%	–	19,126	0.40%	–	10,704	0.23%	4,799,284	MI	Official
Minnesota	WTA	1,367,716	46.44%	10	1,322,951	44.92%	–	112,972	3.84%	–	36,985	1.26%	–	53,076	1.80%	–	51,113	1.74%	–	−44,765	−1.52%	2,944,813	MN	Official
Mississippi	WTA	485,131	40.11%	–	700,714	57.94%	6	14,435	1.19%	–	3,731	0.31%	–			–	5,346	0.44%	–	215,583	17.83%	1,209,357	MS	Official
Missouri	WTA	1,071,068	38.14%	–	1,594,511	56.77%	10	97,359	3.47%	–	25,419	0.91%	–	7,071	0.25%	–	13,177	0.47%	–	523,443	18.63%	2,808,605	MO	Official
Montana	WTA	177,709	35.75%	–	279,240	56.17%	3	28,037	5.64%	–	7,970	1.60%	–	2,297	0.46%	–	1,894	0.38%	–	101,531	20.42%	497,147	MT	Official
Nebraska (at-lrg)	CD	284,494	33.70%	–	495,961	58.75%	2	38,946	4.61%	–	8,775	1.04%	–			–	16,051	1.90%	–	211,467	25.05%	844,227	NE–a/l	Official
Nebraska, 1st	CD	100,126	35.46%	–	158,626	56.18%	1	14,031	4.97%	–	3,374	1.19%	–			–	6,181	2.19%	–	58,500	20.72%	282,338	NE-1
Nebraska, 2nd	CD	131,030	44.92%	–	137,564	47.16%	1	13,245	4.54%	–	3,347	1.15%	–			–	6,494	2.23%	–	6,534	2.24%	291,680	NE-2
Nebraska, 3rd	CD	53,290	19.73%	–	199,657	73.92%	1	11,657	4.32%	–	2,054	0.76%	–			–	3,451	1.28%	–	146,367	54.19%	270,109	NE-3
Nevada	WTA	539,260	47.92%	6	512,058	45.50%	–	37,384	3.32%	–			–			–	36,683	3.26%	–	−27,202	−2.42%	1,125,385	NV	Official
New Hampshire	WTA	348,526	46.98%	4	345,790	46.61%	–	30,777	4.15%	–	6,496	0.88%	–	1,064	0.14%	–	11,643	1.24%	–	−2,736	−0.37%	744,296	NH	Official
New Jersey	WTA	2,148,278	54.99%	14	1,601,933	41.00%	–	72,477	1.86%	–	37,772	0.97%	–			–	13,586	1.18%	–	−546,345	−13.99%	3,874,046	NJ	Official
New Mexico	WTA	385,234	48.26%	5	319,667	40.04%	–	74,541	9.34%	–	9,879	1.24%	–	5,825	0.73%	–	3,173	0.40%	–	−65,567	−8.22%	798,319	NM	Official
New York	WTA	4,547,562	58.40%	29	2,814,589	36.15%	–	176,296	2.26%	–	107,762	1.38%	–	10,367		–	2,440	0.17%	–	−1,732,973	−22.25%	7,659,016	NY	Official
North Carolina	WTA	2,189,316	46.17%	–	2,362,631	49.83%	15	130,126	2.74%	–	12,105	0.26%	–			–	47,386	1.00%	–	173,315	3.66%	4,741,564	NC	Official
North Dakota	WTA	93,758	27.23%	–	216,794	62.96%	3	21,434	6.22%	–	3,780	1.10%	–			–	8,594	2.49%	–	123,036	35.73%	344,360	ND	Official
Ohio	WTA	2,394,164	43.56%	–	2,841,005	51.69%	18	174,498	3.17%	–	46,271	0.84%	–	12,574	0.23%	–	27,975	0.51%	–	446,841	8.13%	5,496,487	OH	Official
Oklahoma	WTA	420,375	28.93%	–	949,136	65.32%	7	83,481	5.75%	–			–			–	N/A	N/A	–	528,761	36.39%	1,452,992	OK	Official
Oregon	WTA	1,002,106	50.07%	7	782,403	39.09%	–	94,231	4.71%	–	50,002	2.50%	–			–	72,594	3.63%	–	−219,703	−10.98%	2,001,336	OR	Official
Pennsylvania	WTA	2,926,441	47.85%	–	2,970,733	48.58%	20	146,715	2.40%	–	49,941	0.82%	–	0	0.00%	–	21,572	0.35%	–	44,292	0.73%	6,115,402	PA	Official
Rhode Island	WTA	252,525	54.41%	4	180,543	38.90%	–	14,746	3.18%	–	6,220	1.34%	–			–	10,110	2.18%	–	−71,982	−15.51%	464,144	RI	Official
South Carolina	WTA	855,373	40.67%	–	1,155,389	54.94%	9	49,204	2.34%	–	13,034	0.62%	–	21,016	1.00%	–	9,011	0.43%	–	300,016	14.27%	2,103,027	SC	Official
South Dakota	WTA	117,458	31.74%	–	227,721	61.53%	3	20,850	5.63%	–			–			–	4,064	1.10%	–	110,263	29.79%	370,093	SD	Official
Tennessee	WTA	870,695	34.72%	–	1,522,925	60.72%	11	70,397	2.81%	–	15,993	0.64%	–	11,991	0.48%	–	16,026	0.64%	–	652,230	26.00%	2,508,027	TN	Official
Texas	WTA	3,877,868	43.24%	–	4,685,047	52.23%	38	283,492	3.16%	–	71,558	0.80%	–	42,366	0.47%	–	8,895	0.10%	–	807,179	8.99%	8,969,226	TX	Official
Utah	WTA	310,676	27.46%	–	515,231	45.54%	6	39,608	3.50%	–	9,438	0.83%	–	243,690	21.54%	–	12,732	1.12%	–	204,555	18.08%	1,131,375	UT	Official
Vermont	WTA	178,573	55.72%	3	95,369	29.76%	–	10,078	3.14%	–	6,758	2.11%	–	629	0.20%	–	23,660	9.07%	–	−83,204	−25.96%	315,067	VT	Official
Virginia	WTA	1,981,473	49.75%	13	1,769,443	44.43%	–	118,274	2.97%	–	27,638	0.69%	–	54,054	1.36%	–	31,870	0.80%	–	−212,030	−5.32%	3,982,752	VA	Official
Washington	WTA	1,742,718	54.30%	12	1,221,747	38.07%	–	160,879	5.01%	–	58,417	1.82%	–			–	25,453	0.79%	–	−520,971	−16.23%	3,209,214	WA	Unofficial
West Virginia	WTA	188,794	26.48%	–	489,371	68.63%	5	23,004	3.23%	–	8,075	1.13%	–			–	3,807	0.53%	–	300,577	42.15%	713,051	WV	Official
Wisconsin	WTA	1,382,536	46.45%	–	1,405,284	47.22%	10	106,674	3.58%	–	31,072	1.04%	–	11,855	0.40%	–	38,729	1.30%	–	22,748	0.77%	2,976,150	WI	Official
Wyoming	WTA	55,973	21.63%	–	174,419	67.40%	3	13,287	5.13%	–	2,515	0.97%	–			–	9,655	3.73%	–	118,446	45.77%	255,849	WY	Official
U.S. Total	–	65,853,625	48.03%	227	62,985,106	45.94%	304	4,489,233	3.27%	–	1,457,222	1.06%	–	731,709	0.53%	–	1,583,334	1.15%	–	−2,868,519	−2.09%	137,100,229	US

^★Two states (Maine and Nebraska) allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates.Template:Efn The winner within each congressional district gets one electoral vote for the district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes. Results are from The New York Times.

File:Presidential Election Results Swing by State from 2012 to 2016.svg

Swing from 2012 to 2016 in each state.

^★★The column labeled 'Margin' shows Trump's margin of victory over Clinton (the margin is negative for every state that Clinton won).

Close races

Red denotes states (or congressional districts whose electoral votes are awarded separately) won by Republican Donald Trump; blue denotes those won by Democrat Hillary Clinton.

States where the margin of victory was under 1% (50 electoral votes; 46 won by Trump, 4 by Clinton):

1. Michigan, 0.23%
2. New Hampshire, 0.31%
3. Pennsylvania, 0.72%
4. Wisconsin, 0.76%

States/districts where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5% (83 electoral votes; 56 won by Trump, 27 by Clinton):

1. Florida, 1.20%
2. Minnesota, 1.52%
3. Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, 2.24%
4. Nevada, 2.42%
5. Maine, 2.96%
6. Arizona, 3.55%
7. North Carolina, 3.66%
8. Colorado, 4.91%

States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (96 electoral votes; 78 won by Trump, 18 by Clinton):

1. Georgia, 5.13%
2. Virginia, 5.32%
3. Ohio, 8.13%
4. New Mexico, 8.21%
5. Texas, 9.00%
6. Iowa, 9.41%

Breakdown by ticket

State	Party	Presidential vote	Vice presidential vote	Name of Elector	References
Nationwide	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	Donald Trump, 304	Mike Pence, 305	Pledged
	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	Hillary Clinton, 227	Tim Kaine, 227
Hawaii	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	Bernie Sanders (I-VT)	Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)	David Mulinix
Texas	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	John Kasich (R-OH)	Carly Fiorina (R-VA)	Christopher Suprun
	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	Ron Paul (L-TX / R-TX)	Mike Pence (as pledged)	Bill Greene
Washington	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	Colin Powell (R-VA)Template:Refn	Maria Cantwell (D-WA)	Levi Guerra
	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"|		Susan Collins (R-ME)	Esther John
	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"|		Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)	Bret Chiafalo
	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"|	Faith Spotted Eagle (I-SD)	Winona LaDuke (G-MN)	Robert Satiacum, Jr.

Battleground states

Most media outlets announced the beginning of the presidential race about twenty months prior to Election Day. Soon after the first contestants declared their candidacy, Larry Sabato listed Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada, and Ohio as the seven states most likely to be contested in the general election. After Donald Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination, many pundits felt that the major campaign locations might be different from what had originally been expected.

Rust Belt states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and even Michigan were thought to be in play with Trump as the nominee, while states with large minority populations, such as Colorado and Virginia, were expected to shift towards Clinton. By the conventions period and the debates, however, it did not seem as though the Rust Belt states could deliver a victory to Trump. According to Politico and the 538 online blog, his path to victory went though states such as Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, and possibly Colorado.

Early polling indicated a closer-than-usual race in former Democratic strongholds such as Washington, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine (for the two statewide electoral votes), and New Mexico. Meanwhile, research indicators from inside of a host of Republican-leaning states such as Arizona, Indiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alaska, Utah, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and South Dakota reported weaker support for Trump than expected, although the nominee's position solidified in a few other areas. Some reviews took this information as evidence of an expanded 'swing-state map'.

A consensus among political pundits developed throughout the primary election season regarding swing states. From the results of presidential elections from 2004 through to 2012, the Democratic and Republican parties would generally start with a safe electoral vote count of about 150 to 200. However, the margins required to constitute a swing state are vague, and can vary between groups of analysts. It was thought that left-leaning states in the Rust Belt could become more conservative, as Trump mostly appealed to blue-collar workers. They represent a large portion of the American populace and were a major factor in Trump's eventual nomination. Trump's primary campaign was propelled by victories in Democratic states, and his supporters often did not identify as Republican. In addition, local factors may come into play. For example, Utah was the reddest state in 2012, although the Republican share was boosted significantly by the candidacy of Mormon candidate Mitt Romney. Despite its partisan orientation, some reports suggested a victory there by independent candidate Evan McMullin, particularly if there was a nationwide blowout.

Media reports indicated that both candidates planned to concentrate on Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina. Among the Republican-leaning states, potential Democratic targets included Nebraska's second congressional district, Georgia, and Arizona. Trump's relatively poor polling in some traditionally Republican states, such as Utah, raised the possibility that they could vote for Clinton, despite easy wins there by recent Republican nominees. However, many analysts asserted that these states were not yet viable Democratic destinations. Several sites and individuals publish electoral predictions. These generally rate the race by the likelihood for each party to win a state. The "tossup" label is usually used to indicate that neither party has an advantage, "lean" to indicate a party has a slight edge, "likely" to indicate a party has a clear but not overwhelming advantage, and "safe" to indicate a party has an advantage that cannot be overcome.

As the parameters of the race established themselves, analysts converged on a narrower list of contested states, which were relatively similar to those of recent elections. On November 7, the Cook Political Report categorized Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin as states with close races. Additionally, a district from each of Maine and Nebraska were considered to be coin flips. Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight listed twenty-two states as potentially competitive about a month before the election – Maine's two at-large electoral votes, New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, Arizona, Georgia, Alaska, South Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, and Utah – as well as Maine's second and Nebraska's second congressional districts. Nate Silver, the publication's editor-in-chief, subsequently removed Texas, South Carolina, Missouri, and Indiana from the list after the race tightened significantly. These conclusions were supported by models such as the Princeton Elections Consortium, the New York Times Upshot, and punditry evaluations from Sabato's Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report.

Clinton won states like New Mexico by less than 10 percentage points. Among the states where the candidates finished at a margin of within 7 percent, Clinton won Virginia (13 electoral votes), Colorado (9), Maine (2), Minnesota (10), and New Hampshire (4). On the other hand, Trump won Michigan (16), Pennsylvania (20), Wisconsin (10), Florida (29), North Carolina (15), Arizona (11), Nebraska's second district (1), and Georgia (16). States won by Obama in the 2012 contest, such as Ohio (18), Iowa (6), and Maine's second district (1), were also won by Trump. The close result in Maine was not expected by most commentators, nor were Trump's victory of over 10 points in the second district and their disparities. The dramatic shift of Midwestern states towards Trump were contrasted in the media against the relative movement of Southern states towards the Democrats. For example, former Democratic strongholds such as Minnesota leaned towards the GOP and Iowa voted more Republican than Texas did, while Arizona and Georgia were more Democratic than Ohio. Mississippi's relatively close result, as well as Trump's larger victories in Alaska and Utah, also took some experts by surprise.

Faithless electors

Main article: Faithless electors in the United States presidential election, 2016

In the Electoral College vote on December 19, for the first time since 1808, multiple faithless electors voted against their pledged qualified presidential candidate.Template:Efn Five Democrats rebelled in Washington and Hawaii, while two Republicans rebelled in Texas. Two Democratic electors, one in Minnesota and one in Colorado, were replaced after voting for Bernie Sanders and John Kasich respectively. Electors in Maine conducted a second vote after one of its members voted for Sanders; the elector then voted for Clinton.

Likewise, for the first time since 1896,Template:Efn multiple faithless electors voted against the pledged qualified vice presidential candidate.

• One Clinton elector in Colorado attempted to vote for John Kasich. The single vote was ruled invalid by Colorado state law, the elector was dismissed, and an alternative elector was sworn in who voted for Clinton
• One Clinton elector in Minnesota voted for Bernie Sanders as President and Tulsi Gabbard as vice president; his votes were discarded and he was replaced by an alternate who voted for Clinton
• One Clinton elector in Maine voted for Bernie Sanders; this vote was invalidated as "improper" and the elector subsequently voted for Clinton
• Four Clinton electors in Washington did not vote for Clinton (three votes went to Colin Powell, and one to Faith Spotted Eagle)
• One Trump elector in Georgia resigned before the vote rather than vote for Trump and was replaced by an alternate
• Two Trump electors in Texas did not vote for Trump (one vote went to John Kasich, one to Ron Paul); one elector did not vote for Pence and instead voted for Carly Fiorina for Vice-President; a third resigned before the vote rather than vote for Trump and was replaced by an alternate.
• One Clinton elector in Hawaii voted for Bernie Sanders.

Of the faithless votes, Colin Powell and Elizabeth Warren were the only two to receive more than one; Powell received three electoral votes for President and Warren received two for Vice President. Receiving one valid electoral vote each were Sanders, John Kasich, Ron Paul and Faith Spotted Eagle for President, and Carly Fiorina, Susan Collins, Winona LaDuke and Maria Cantwell for Vice President. Sanders is the first Jewish American to receive an electoral vote for President. LaDuke is the first Green Party member to receive an electoral vote, and Paul is the third member of the Libertarian Party to do so, following the party's presidential and vice-presidential nominees each getting one vote in 1972. It is the first election with faithless electors from more than one political party. The seven people to receive electoral votes for president were the most in a single election since 1796, and more than any other election since the enactment of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804.

Aftermath

See also: International reactions to the United States presidential election, 2016

Trump's victory, considered unlikely by most forecasts, was characterized as an "upset" and as "shocking" by the media.

Both major-party candidates were unusually old. At 70 years of age, Trump became the oldest person ever to be elected to a first term as president, surpassing Ronald Reagan, who was Template:Age in years and days upon winning the 1980 election. Clinton, at Template:Age in years and days, would have been the second-oldest after Reagan.

Along with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Trump was born in 1946; this is the first time a single birth year has produced three presidents. (1946 was a year of unusually numerous births, marking the first year of the post–World War II baby boom.) Trump is the fifth president to be born in the state of New York, after Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; he is the second president born in New York City after Theodore Roosevelt. Trump is also the third president, after James K. Polk in 1844, and Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to win an election despite losing his home state.

Trump became the first person since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 to be elected president without having been elected to any other previous office, and the only individual to be elected president without any prior political or military experience. Among other presidents with limited military or political experience, William Howard Taft never served in the military and had been elected to political office only once, as an Ohio state judge, although he later held a number of appointed federal government positions, including in the Cabinet of a president. Herbert Hoover did not serve in the military and never held elected office, but he led two federal government agencies during and after World War I and served in the Cabinets of two other presidents. However, Trump is unique in not having any state or federal government experience: military, appointed, or elected.

Post-election protests

File:Protests in Los Angeles.webm

News report about the protests in Los Angeles on November 12 from Voice of America

Template:Further information Following the announcement of Trump's election, large protests broke out across the United States with some continuing for several days.

Protesters have held up a number of different signs and chanted various shouts including "Not my president" and "We don't accept the president-elect". The movement organized on Twitter under the hashtags #Anti-trump and #NotMyPresident.

High school and college students walked out of classes to protest. The protests were peaceful for the most part, although at some protests fires were lit, flags were burned and people yelled rude remarks about Trump. Celebrities such as Madonna, Cher, and Lady Gaga took part in New York. Some protesters took to blocking freeways in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Portland, Oregon, and were dispersed by police in the early hours of the morning. In a number of cities, protesters were dispersed with rubber bullets, pepper spray and bean-bags fired by police. In New York City, calls were made to continue the protests over the coming days after the Election. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani called protesters "a bunch of spoiled cry-babies." Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti expressed understanding of the protests and praised those who peacefully wanted to make their voices heard.

Forecasting

Various methods were used to forecast the outcome of the 2016 election. For the 2016 election, there were many competing election forecast approaches including Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight, The Upshot at The New York Times, Daily Kos, Princeton Election Consortium, Cook Political Report, Rothenberg and Gonzales, PollyVote, Sabato's Crystal Ball and Electoral-Vote. These models mostly showed a Democratic advantage since the nominees were confirmed, and were supported by pundits and statisticians, including Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, Nate Cohn at the New York Times, and Larry Sabato from the Crystal Ball newsletter, who predicted a Democratic victory in competitive presidential races and projected consistent leads in several battleground states around the country. However, FiveThirtyEight's model pointed the possibility of an Electoral College-popular vote split widening in final weeks based on Trump's improvement in swing states like Florida or Pennsylvania due to demographics targeted by Trump's campaign living in big numbers there, in addition of Clinton's poor performing in several of those swing states in comparison with Obama's performing in 2012, as well as having a big number of her potential voters in very populated states traditionally 'blue' but also in some very populated states traditionally 'red' like Texas which were projected safe for Trump.

Early exit polls generally favored Clinton. After the polls closed and some of the results came in, the forecasts were found to be inaccurate, as Trump performed better in the competitive Rust Belt states, such as Iowa, Ohio, and Minnesota, than expected. Even states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which were considered to be part of Clinton's firewall, were won by Trump. Of the Rust Belt group of states, only Minnesota was slightly won by Clinton. The states in the following table were all won by President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, with the exception of North Carolina, which he lost to Mitt Romney in 2012.

State	Electoral votes	Pre-election polling average	Margin of victory	Difference
Florida	29	Trump +0.2	Trump +1.2	Trump +1
Iowa	6	Trump +3	Trump +9.5	Trump +6.5
Nevada	6	Trump +0.8	Clinton +2.4	Clinton +3.2
New Hampshire	4	Clinton +0.6	Clinton +0.3	Trump +0.3
North Carolina	15	Trump +1	Trump +3.7	Trump +2.7
Maine CD-2	1	Trump +0.5	Trump +10.4	Trump +9.9
Michigan	16	Clinton +3.4	Trump +0.3	Trump +3.7
Minnesota	10	Clinton +10	Clinton +1.5	Trump +8.5
Nebraska CD-2	1	Trump +9	Trump +3.3	Clinton +5.7
Ohio	18	Trump +3.5	Trump +8.1	Trump +4.6
Pennsylvania	20	Clinton +1.9	Trump +0.7	Trump +2.6
Wisconsin	10	Clinton +6.5	Trump +0.7	Trump +7.2

Pollsters were puzzled by the failure of mainstream forecasting models to predict the 2016 election outcome. Sean Trende, writing for RealClearPolitics, wrote that many of the polls were accurate, but that the pundits' interpretation of these polls neglected polling error. Nate Silver found that the high amount of undecided and third-party voters in the election were neglected in many of these models, and that many of these voters decided to vote for Trump.

FiveThirtyEight's final polls-plus forecast predicted 18 states, plus the second congressional districts of Maine and Nebraska, with an interval of confidence lower than 90%. However, every major forecaster, including FiveThirtyEight, the New York Times Upshot, prediction markets aggregator PredictWise, ElectionBettingOdds from Maxim Lott and John Stossel, the DailyKos, the Princeton Election Consortium, the Huffington Post, the Cook Political Report, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, and the Rothenberg and Gonzales Report, called every state the same way (although Cook and Rothenberg-Gonzales left two and five states as toss-ups, respectively). The sole exception was Maine's 2nd congressional district. Of the forecasters who published results on the district, the Times gave Trump a 64% chance of winning and PredictWise a 52% chance, FiveThirtyEight gave Clinton a 51% chance of winning in polls-only and 54% in polls-plus, Princeton gave her a 60% chance, Cook labelled it a toss-up, and Sabato leaned it towards Trump. The following table displays the final winning probabilities given by each outlet, along with the final electoral result. The states shown have been identified by Politico, WhipBoard, the New York Times, and the Crystal Ball as battlegrounds.

State	New York Times Upshot	FiveThirtyEight	PredictWise	Princeton Election Consortium	Sabato's Crystal Ball	2012 margin	2016 margin
Alaska	83% R	76% R	94% R	96% R	Likely R	14 R	15 R
Arizona	84% R	67% R	82% R	91% R	Lean R	9 R	4 R
Colorado	89% D	78% D	95% D	96% D	Likely D	5 D	5 D
Florida	67% D	55% D	77% D	69% D	Lean D	1 D	1 R
Georgia	83% R	79% R	91% R	88% R	Likely R	8 R	6 R
Iowa	62% R	70% R	79% R	74% R	Lean R	6 D	10 R
Maine (statewide)	91% D	83% D	98% D	98% D	Likely D	15 D	3 D
Maine (CD-2)	64% R	51% D	52% R	60% D	Lean R	9 D	10 R
Michigan	94% D	79% D	95% D	79% D	Lean D	9 D	1 R
Minnesota	94% D	85% D	99% D	98% D	Likely D	8 D	2 D
Nebraska (CD-2)	80% R	56% R	75% R	92% R	Lean R	7 R	3 R
New Mexico	95% D	83% D	98% D	91% D	Likely D	10 D	8 D
Nevada	68% D	58% D	91% D	84% D	Lean D	7 D	2 D
New Hampshire	79% D	70% D	84% D	63% D	Lean D	6 D	1 D
North Carolina	64% D	56% D	66% D	67% D	Lean D	2 R	4 R
Ohio	54% R	65% R	67% R	63% R	Lean R	3 D	9 R
Pennsylvania	89% D	77% D	93% D	79% D	Lean D	5 D	1 R
Utah	73% R	83% R	86% R	99% R	Lean R	48 R	18 R
Virginia	96% D	86% D	98% D	98% D	Likely D	4 D	5 D
Wisconsin	93% D	84% D	98% D	98% D	Likely D	7 D	1 R

Electronic vote tampering concerns

After the election, computer scientists, including J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, urged the Clinton campaign to request an election recount in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (three swing states where Trump had won narrowly) for the purpose of excluding the possibility that the hacking of electronic voting machines had influenced the recorded outcome. However, statistician Nate Silver performed a regression analysis which demonstrated that the alleged discrepancy between paper ballots and electronic voting machines "completely disappears once you control for race and education level". On November 25, 2016, the Obama administration said the results from November 8, "accurately reflect the will of the American people." The following day, the White House released another statement saying, "the federal government did not observe any increased level of malicious cyberactivity aimed at disrupting our electoral process on Election Day."

Recount petitions

Main article: 2016 United States presidential election recounts

On November 23, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein launched a public fundraiser to pay for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, asserting that the election's outcome had been affected by hacking in those states; Stein did not provide evidence for her claims. Changing the outcome of these three states would make Clinton the winner, and this would require showing that less than 60 000 votes had been counted for Trump which should have been counted for Clinton. Stein filed for a recount in Wisconsin on November 25, after which Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias stated that their campaign would join Stein's recount efforts in that state and possibly others "in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides." Stein subsequently filed for a recount in Pennsylvania on November 28, and in Michigan on November 30. Concurrently, American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente sought and was granted a partial recount in Nevada that was unrelated to Stein's efforts.

President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement denouncing Stein's Wisconsin recount request saying, "The people have spoken and the election is over." Trump further commented that the recount "is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded." The Trump campaign and Republican Party officials moved to block Stein's three recount efforts through state and federal courts.

U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ordered a halt to the recount in Michigan on December 7, dissolving a previous temporary restraining order against the Michigan Board of Elections that allowed the recount to continue, stating in his order: "Plaintiffs have not presented evidence of tampering or mistake. Instead, they present speculative claims going to the vulnerability of the voting machinery – but not actual injury." On December 12, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond rejected an appeal by the Green Party and Jill Stein to force a recount in Pennsylvania, stating that suspicion of a hacked Pennsylvania election "borders on the irrational" and that granting the Green Party's recount bid could "ensure that no Pennsylvania vote counts" given the December 13, 2016, federal deadline to certify the vote for the Electoral College. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin recount was allowed to continue as it was nearing completion and had uncovered no significant irregularities.

The recounts in Wisconsin and Nevada were completed on schedule, resulting in only minor changes to vote tallies. While the incomplete Michigan recount did identify some instances of improper ballot handling and possible voter fraud in some Detroit precincts, no evidence of widespread hacking was found, and the overall outcome of the election remained unchanged by the recount efforts.

Electoral College lobbying and petitions

Intense lobbying (in one case involving claims of harassment and death threats) and grass-roots campaigns have been directed at various GOP electors of the United States Electoral College to convince a sufficient number of them (37) to not vote for Trump, thus precluding a Trump presidency. Members of the Electoral College themselves started a campaign for other members to "vote their conscience for the good of America" in accordance with Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Paper No. 68. This group's members may have become faithless electors in the presidential election.

On December 5, former candidate Lawrence Lessig and attorney Laurence Tribe established The Electors Trust under the aegis of EqualCitizens.US to provide pro bono legal counsel as well as a secure communications platform for members of the Electoral College who are regarding a vote of conscience against Trump.

On December 6, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne W. Williams castigated Democratic electors who had filed a lawsuit in Federal court to have the state law binding them to the popular vote (in their case for Hillary Clinton) overturned.

On December 10, ten electors, in an open letter headed by Christine Pelosi to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, demanded an intelligence briefing in light of Russian interference in the election to help Trump win the presidency. After the letter was released, over 20 additional electors signed it.

On December 19, several electors voted against their pledged candidates: two against Trump and five against Clinton. A further three electors attempted to vote against Clinton but were replaced or forced to vote again.

The 115th United States Congress officially certified the results on January 6, 2017.

Russian involvement

Main article: 2016 United States election interference by Russia

On December 9, the Central Intelligence Agency issued an assessment to lawmakers in the US Senate, stating that a Russian entity hacked the DNC and John Podesta's emails to assist Donald Trump. The Federal Bureau of Investigation agreed President Barack Obama ordered a "full enquiry" into such possible intervention. Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper in early January 2017 testified before a Senate committee that Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign went beyond hacking, and included disinformation and the dissemination of fake news often promoted on social media.

President-elect Trump originally called the report fabricated, and Wikileaks denied any involvement by Russian authorities. Days later, Trump said he could be convinced of the Russian hacking "if there is a unified presentation of evidence from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies."

Several U.S. senators—including Republicans John McCain, Richard Burr, and Lindsey Graham—demanded a congressional investigation. Other Republicans, such as Rand Paul of Kentucky and James Lankford of Oklahoma also indicated their support for a full investigation.

Maps

• Results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote 2016.svg

  Results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote

• 2016 Presidential Election by Vote Distribution Among States.svg

  Results by vote distribution among states. Each state's pie chart is proportional to the number of electoral votes they have.

• 2016 Presidential Election by County.svg

  Results by county. Red denotes counties that went to Trump; blue denotes counties that went to Clinton.

• United States presidential election results by county, 2016.svg

  Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote

• United States presidential election, 2016 Cartogram.png

  United States presidential election, 2016 cartogram

• 2016 Presidential Election by County (Red-Blue-Purple View).png

  Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote (Red-Purple-Blue view)

• Cartogram—2016 Electoral Vote.svg

  United States presidential election, 2016 cartogram

• 2016 presidential election, results by congressional district (popular vote margin).svg

  Results of 2016 U.S. presidential election by congressional district, shaded by vote margin

• USA 2012 to 2016 presidential election swing.svg

  County swing from 2012 to 2016

• 2016 Presidential Election by County - Trump.svg

  Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Trump

• 2016 Presidential Election by County - Clinton.svg

  Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Clinton

• Gary Johnson strength map by county, 2016.svg

  Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Johnson (0%–10% scale)

Voter demographics

Voter demographic data for 2016 were collected by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, a consortium of ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News. The voter survey is based on questionnaires completed by 24,537 voters leaving 350 voting places throughout the United States on Election Day including 4,398 telephone interviews with early and absentee voters. Trump's crucial victories in the Midwest were aided in large part by his strong margins among Northern whites without college degrees; while Obama (in 2012) and Kerry (in 2004) lost those voters by a margin of 10 points, Clinton lost them by a margin of 20 points. The election also represented the first time that Republicans performed better among lower-income whites than among affluent white voters. Additionally, Trump nearly doubled his support from Muslims compared to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. While exit polls are useful, they have in the past overstated or given partial portraits of the electorate, and further study with additional data is generally required.

2016 Presidential vote by demographic subgroup
Demographic subgroup	Template:Party shading/Democratic|Clinton	Template:Party shading/Republican|Trump	Template:Party shading/Independent|Other	% of total vote
Total vote	48	46	6	100
Ideology
Liberals	84	10	6	26
Moderates	52	41	7	39
Conservatives	15	81	4	35
Party
Democrats	89	9	2	37
Republicans	7	90	3	33
Independents	42	48	10	31
Party by gender
Democratic men	87	10	3	14
Democratic women	90	8	2	23
Republican men	6	90	2	17
Republican women	8	89	2	16
Independent men	37	51	10	17
Independent women	47	43	7	14
Gender
Men	41	52	7	47
Women	54	41	5	53
Gender by marital status
Married men	37	58	5	29
Married women	49	47	4	30
Non-married men	46	45	9	19
Non-married women	62	33	5	23
Race/ethnicity
White	37	58	5	70
Black	88	8	4	12
Asian	65	29	6	4
Other	56	37	7	3
Hispanic (of any race)	65	29	6	11
Gender by race/ethnicity
White men	31	63	5	34
White women	43	53	3	37
Black men	80	13	6	5
Black women	94	4	2	7
Latino men (of any race)	62	33	4	5
Latino women (of any race)	68	26	5	6
All other races	61	32	5	6
Religion
Protestant	37	60	3	27
Catholic	45	52	3	23
Mormon	25	61	14	1
Other Christian	43	55	2	24
Jewish	71	24	5	3
Other religion	58	33	9	7
None	68	26	6	15
Religious service attendance
Weekly or more	40	56	4	33
Monthly	46	49	5	16
A few times a year	48	47	5	29
Never	62	31	7	22
White evangelical or born-again Christian
White evangelical or born-again Christian	16	81	3	26
Everyone else	59	35	6	74
Age
18–24 years old	56	35	9	10
25–29 years old	53	39	8	9
30–39 years old	51	40	9	17
40–49 years old	46	50	4	19
50–64 years old	44	53	3	30
65 and older	45	53	2	15
Sexual orientation
LGBT	78	14	8	5
Heterosexual	47	48	5	95
First time voter
First time voter	56	40	4	10
Everyone else	47	47	6	90
Education
High school or less	45	51	4	18
Some college education	43	52	5	32
College graduate	49	45	6	32
Postgraduate education	58	37	5	18
Education by race/ethnicity
White college graduates	45	49	4	37
White no college degree	28	67	4	34
Non-white college graduates	71	23	5	13
Non-white no college degree	75	20	3	16
Family income
Under $30,000	53	41	6	17
$30,000–49,999	51	42	7	19
$50,000–99,999	46	50	4	31
$100,000–199,999	47	48	5	24
$200,000–249,999	48	49	3	4
Over $250,000	46	48	6	6
Issue regarded as most important
Foreign policy	60	34	6	13
Immigration	32	64	4	13
Economy	52	42	6	52
Terrorism	39	57	4	18
Community size
Cities (population 50,000 and above)	59	35	6	34
Suburbs	45	50	5	49
Rural areas	34	62	4	17
Age and Race
White 18–29	43	47	10	12
Black 18–29	85	9	6	3
Latino 18–29	68	26	6	3
White 30–44	37	54	9	16
Black 30–44	89	7	4	4
Latino 30–44	65	28	7	4
White 45–64	34	62	4	30
Black 45–64	90	9	1	5
Latino 45–64	64	32	4	4
White 65 and older	39	58	3	13
Black 65 and older	91	9	0	1
Latino 65 and older	73	25	2	1
All Others	61	31	8	6

Viewership

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break Legend

cable news network

broadcast network

Template:Col-break Total television viewers
8:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern

Network	Viewers
CNN	13,258,000
FNC	12,112,000
NBC	11,152,000
ABC	9,236,000
CBS	8,008,000
MSNBC	5,945,000
Fox	4,196,000

Template:Col-break Total cable TV viewers
2:00 to 3:00 AM Eastern

Network	Viewers
FNC	9,778,000
CNN	6,452,000
MSNBC	2,858,000

Template:Col-break Cable TV viewers 25 to 54
2:00 to 3:00 AM Eastern

Network	Viewers
FNC	3,955,000
CNN	3,372,000
MSNBC	1,207,000

Template:Col-end Source: adweek

See also

• History of the United States (1991–present)
• Inauguration of Donald Trump

Further reading

• Ott, Brian L. "The age of Twitter: Donald J. Trump and the politics of debasement." Critical Studies in Media Communication 34.1 (2017): 59–68.
• Patterson, Thomas E. "News Coverage of the 2016 Presidential Primaries: Horse Race Reporting Has Consequences." (2016). online
• Ross, Andrew S., and Damian J. Rivers. "Digital cultures of political participation: Internet memes and the discursive delegitimization of the 2016 US Presidential candidates." Discourse, Context & Media (2017).
• Schaffner, Brian, and John A. Clark. Making Sense of the 2016 Elections: A CQ Press Guide (CQ Press, 2017). ISBN 1506384188
• Visser, Beth A., Angela S. Book, and Anthony A. Volk. "Is Hillary dishonest and Donald narcissistic? A HEXACO analysis of the presidential candidates' public personas." Personality and Individual Differences 106 (2017): 281–86. online
• West, Darrell M. Air Wars: Television Advertising and Social Media in Election Campaigns, 1952–2016 (CQ Press, 2017).

External links

• Presidential election process from USA.gov, the official United States Federal Government web portal
• Template:Dmoz
• 2016 Presidential Form 2 Filers at the Federal Election Commission (FEC)
• Template:YouTube