United States presidential election, 2016

United States presidential election, 2016

November 8, 2016
538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	55.7%[1] 0.8 pp
Nominee Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Party Republican Democratic Home state New York New York Running mate Mike Pence Tim Kaine Electoral vote 304[lower-alpha 1] 227[lower-alpha 1] States carried 30 + ME-02 20 + DC Popular vote 62,984,828 65,853,514 Percentage 7001461000000000000♠46.1% 7001482000000000000♠48.2%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Trump/Pence, blue denotes those won by Clinton/Kaine. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state. Faithless votes: Colin Powell 3 (WA), John Kasich 1 (TX), Ron Paul 1 (TX), Bernie Sanders 1 (HI), Faith Spotted Eagle 1 (WA)
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Donald Trump Republican

2016 U.S. presidential election
Timeline General election debates Parties Polling national statewide by demographics international Newspaper endorsements primary general Russian interference Social media International reactions Electors Recounts Faithless electors
Republican Party
Primaries Candidates Debates and forums Polling national statewide straw polls Endorsements Results Nominee Convention
Democratic Party
Primaries Candidates Debates and forums Polling national statewide straw polls Endorsements Results Nominee Convention Superdelegates
Third parties
Third party and independent candidates Libertarian Party primaries debates nominee convention Green Party primaries debates nominee convention Constitution Party primaries nominee Independents McMullin
Related races
House Senate Governors Vice President Republican Democratic
2012 ← 2016 → 2020

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. In a surprise victory, 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.^[2] Trump took office as the 45th President, and Pence as the 48th Vice President, on January 20, 2017. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama was ineligible to serve a third term due to the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment. Concurrent with the presidential election, Senate, House, and many gubernatorial and state and local elections were also held on November 8.

Clinton secured the Democratic nomination after fending off a strong primary challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders. Amidst a wide Republican field, Trump emerged as the front-runner, defeating Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Jeb Bush and other candidates. Clinton ran on a platform of continuing and expanding President Obama's policies, emphasizing issues of racial, LGBT, and women's rights, and "inclusive capitalism";^[3] whereas Trump promised to "Make America Great Again" by implementing a populist and nationalist agenda, opposing political correctness, illegal immigration, and many free-trade agreements.^[4] The tone of the general election campaign was widely characterized as divisive and negative,^[5][6][7] with both candidates beleaguered by controversy. Trump made numerous controversial remarks about race and immigration, was accused of inciting violence against protestors at his rallies,^[8][9][10] and faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct (which he denied), but was also able to garner extensive free media coverage.^[11][12] Clinton, whose public approval ratings had declined sharply since the end of her tenure as Secretary of State,^[13] was dogged by an FBI investigation of her improper use of a private email server, while her assertion that "half" of Trump's supporters were bigoted "deplorables" met with polarized reactions. Clinton held the lead in nearly every pre-election nationwide poll and in most swing state polls.

Voters selected members of the Electoral College in each state, in most cases by "winner-takes-all" plurality; those state electors in turn voted for a new president and vice president on December 19, 2016.^{[lower-alpha 1]} While Clinton received over 2.8 million more votes nationwide, a margin of 2.1%, Trump won 30 states with a total of 306 electors, or 57% of the 538 available. He won two perennial swing states which typically decide an election, in Florida and Ohio. Trump also won three "blue wall" stronghold states that had not gone Republican since the 1980s: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He also won Maine's 2nd congressional district, which had also not been won by a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. Leading up to the election, a Trump victory was considered unlikely by almost all media forecasts. After his victory was assured, some commentators compared the election to President Harry S. Truman's victorious campaign in 1948 as one of the greatest political upsets in modern American history.^[14][15]

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 while losing the nationwide popular vote.^{[lower-alpha 2]} He is the first president without any prior experience in public service or the military, as well as the wealthiest and the oldest at inauguration, while Clinton was the first woman to be the presidential nominee of a major American party and the first woman to win the popular vote. Clinton's popular vote win was also the largest ever margin by a candidate who lost the electoral college.^[17]

On January 6, 2017, the United States government's intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had interfered in the 2016 United States elections.^[18][19][20] A joint U.S. intelligence community review stated with high confidence that "Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election" and that "Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency."^[21] President Trump repeatedly criticized these intelligence claims, citing a lack of evidence and calling the issue a "hoax" and "fake news".^[22][23][24] Investigations regarding potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials were started by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,^[25] the Senate Intelligence Committee,^[26] and the House Intelligence Committee.^[27] Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel in May 2017 by Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to oversee the ongoing investigation into "any links and/or coordination" between the Trump campaign and the Russian government in its election interference and any related illegal acts.^[28]

Background

Barack Obama, the incumbent President of the United States in 2016, whose second term expired at noon 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 1 of the Twentieth Amendment, his term expired at noon on January 20, 2017.

Primary process

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.^[29] 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.^[30][31]

Nominations

Republican Party

This article is part of a series about Donald Trump
President of the United States Incumbent Presidency Transition Inauguration Timeline Executive actions proclamations pardons Polls Protests Trips 2017 2018 international Riyadh summit Singapore summit Helsinki summit Appointments Cabinet formation Ambassadors Federal judges Gorsuch Kavanaugh Supreme Court candidates U.S. Attorneys Dismissals Comey Policies Economy tax cuts tariffs China trade war Environment Paris withdrawal Foreign policy Iran Jerusalem Immigration Social issues cannabis Presidential election 2016 campaign 2000 2020 Rallies Primaries Convention Endorsements Debates Never Trump list Sexual misconduct allegations Access Hollywood tape Controversies involving Russia Business projects in Russia Election interference timeline Links of associates with Russian officials Steele dossier Trump Tower meeting Trump Tower wiretapping allegations Classified information disclosure Special Counsel investigation 2017 2018 Business and personal Business career The Trump Organization The Apprentice Books Eponyms Family Foundation Golf Health Honors Legal affairs Stormy Daniels scandal Racial views Residences Social media

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.^[32]

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.^[33] 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.^[34]

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^[35] and Kasich^[36] 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.^[37]

Nominees

Republican Party ticket, 2016
Donald Trump	Mike Pence
for President	for Vice President
Chairman of The Trump Organization (1971–2017)	50th Governor of Indiana (2013–2017)
Campaign
[38][39][40]

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
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 (2010–2018)
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
[41]	[42][43][44]	[45][46][47]	[48][49][50]	[51][52]	[53][54]	[55][56]	[57][58]
Rand Paul	Rick Santorum	Mike Huckabee	George Pataki	Lindsey Graham	Bobby Jindal	Scott Walker	Rick Perry
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
[59][60][61]	[62][63]	[64][65]	[66]	[67][68]	[69][70]	[71][72][73]	[73][74][75]

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.^[76] 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.^[77] A June 30 report from The Washington Post 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.^[78] Trump also stated that he was considering two military generals for the position, including retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.^[79]

In July 2016, it was reported that Trump had narrowed his list of possible running mates down to three: Christie, Gingrich, and Pence.^[80]

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.^[81][82] On July 19, the second night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Pence won the Republican vice presidential nomination by acclamation.^[83]

Democratic Party

This article is part of a series about Hillary Clinton
Political positions Electoral history Clinton Foundation State Department controversy Onward Together U.S. Secretary of State Tenure Obama's foreign policy QDDR Email controversy Hillary Doctrine Campaign for the presidency 2016 Primaries Convention Endorsements political non-political Campaign for the presidency 2008 Primaries Endorsements U.S. Senator from New York Tenure 2000 election 2006 re-election First Lady of the United States Role Health care plan SCHIP Whitewater and other investigations Response to Lewinsky scandal Awards and honors Books

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 Democrat in the field to formally launch a major candidacy for the presidency with an announcement on April 12, 2015, via a video message.^[84] While nationwide opinion polls in 2015 indicated that Clinton was the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, she faced strong challenges from Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont,^[85] who became the second major candidate when he formally announced on April 30, 2015, that he was running for the Democratic nomination.^[86] September 2015 polling numbers indicated a narrowing gap between Clinton and Sanders.^[85][87][88] On May 30, 2015, former Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley was the third major candidate to enter the Democratic primary race,^[89] followed by former Independent Governor and Republican Senator of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee on June 3, 2015,^[90][91] former Virginia Senator Jim Webb on July 2, 2015,^[92] and former Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig on September 6, 2015.^[93]

On October 20, 2015, Webb announced his withdrawal from the Democratic primaries, and explored a potential Independent run.^[94] 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."^[95][96] 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".^[97] 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.^[98]

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.^[99][100] 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.^[101] 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^[102] 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.^[103] 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%).^[104]

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.^[105] On July 8, appointees from the Clinton campaign, the Sanders campaign, and the Democratic National Committee negotiated a draft of the party's platform.^[106] On July 12, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire in which he appeared with her.^[107]

Nominees

Democratic Party ticket, 2016
Hillary Clinton	Tim Kaine
for President	for Vice President
67th U.S. Secretary of State (2009–2013)	U.S. Senator from Virginia (2013–present)
Campaign
[108][109][110]

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
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
LN: July 26, 2016 13,167,848 votes	W: February 1, 2016 110,423 votes	W: November 2, 2015 4 write-in votes in New Hampshire	W: October 23, 2015 0 votes	W: October 20, 2015 2 write-in votes in New Hampshire
[111]	[112][113]	[98]	[114]	[115]

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.^[116] 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.^[117] Subsequent reports stated that Clinton was also considering Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, retired Admiral James Stavridis, and Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado.^[118] 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.^[118]

On July 22, Clinton announced that she had chosen Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia as her running mate.^[119] The delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, which took place July 25–28, formally nominated the Democratic ticket.

Third parties and independents

Campaign signs of third-party candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, October 2016 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont

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 articles: Libertarian Party (United States) and Libertarian Party presidential primaries, 2016

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

Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party

This article is part of a series about Gary Johnson
Political positions Governor of New Mexico 1994 election 1998 re-election Campaign for the Presidency 2012 2012 Libertarian Convention Campaign for the Presidency 2016 2016 Libertarian Convention Primaries Campaign endorsements Our America Initiative

This article is part of a series about Bill Weld
Political ideology Libertarian Party Vice presidential nomination Convention Primaries Election 2016 New York gubernatorial campaign U.S. Senate campaign Governor of Massachusetts 1990 election 1994 re-election U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts

Additional Party Endorsements: Independence Party of New York

Ballot access to all 538 electoral votes

Nominees

Libertarian Party ticket, 2016
Gary Johnson	William Weld
for President	for Vice President
29th Governor of New Mexico (1995–2003)	68th Governor of Massachusetts (1991–1997)
Campaign
[120][121]

Green Party

Main articles: Green Party of the United States and Green Party presidential primaries, 2016

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

Jill Stein, Green Party

This article is part of a series about Jill Stein
Political positions Green New Deal Campaign for the Presidency 2016 Convention Primaries Campaign endorsements Election recounts Campaign for the Presidency 2012 Convention Primaries Political Parties Green-Rainbow Party Green Party of the United States Career Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2010

Ballot access to 480 electoral votes (522 with write-in):^[122] – map

• As write-in: Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina^[123][124]
• Ballot access lawsuit pending: Oklahoma^[125]
• No ballot access: Nevada, South Dakota^[123][126]

Nominees

Green Party ticket, 2016
Jill Stein	Ajamu Baraka
for President	for Vice President
Physician from Lexington, Massachusetts	Activist from Washington, DC
Campaign
[127][128]

Independent

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.

Evan McMullin, Independent

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

Ballot access to 84 electoral votes (451 with write-in):^[129] – 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^{[129][130][131][132][133][134][135]}
• 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.^[136]

Independent ticket, 2016
Evan McMullin	Mindy Finn
for President	for Vice President
Chief policy director for the House Republican Conference (2015–2016)	President of Empowered Women (2015–present)
Campaign
[137]

Constitution Party

Main articles: Constitution Party of the United States and Constitution Party presidential primaries, 2016

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

Darrell Castle, Constitution Party

Ballot access to 207 electoral votes (451 with write-in):^[138][139] – 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^{[138][140][141][142][143]}
• No ballot access: California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma^[138]

Nominees

Constitution Party ticket, 2016
Darrell Castle	Scott Bradley
for President	for Vice President
Attorney from Memphis, Tennessee	Businessman from Utah
Campaign
[144]

Other nominations

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

Other nominations

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[139][145][146][147][148][149][150] (Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia)[130][131][132][134][140][142][151][152][153][154][155][156][143][157][158]
Party for Socialism and Liberation Peace and Freedom[159] Liberty Union Party[160]	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[161][162] (Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia)[131][132][134][142][151][152][156][158][163]
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[161] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
Workers World Party	Monica Moorehead perennial candidate and political activist from Alabama[164]	Lamont Lilly of North Carolina[165]	30 (235) map	4,319 (0.00%)	New Jersey, Utah, Wisconsin[161] (Alabama, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New, York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia)[132][134][151][153][157][158][166][167][168][169][170][171]
Socialist Party USA Natural Law Party[172]	Mimi Soltysik former National Co-Chair of the Socialist Party USA from California[173] Campaign	Angela Nicole Walker of Wisconsin	25 (209) map	2,704 (0.00%)	Colorado, Michigan, Guam[161][162][174] (Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin)[134][142][151][153][156][157][163][169][171][175][176]
Prohibition Party	James Hedges former Tax Assessor for Thompson Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania[177][178]	Bill Bayes of Mississippi[177]	21 (116) map	5,617 (0.00%)	Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi[161] (Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia)[132][142][151][156][158][166][169]
Independent	Mike Smith Lawyer, Colorado	Daniel White	20 (222)	9,345 (0.01%)	Colorado, Tennessee[161] (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)[131][132][140][142][143][151][152][156][157][158][163][166][169][170][175][179][180]
Independent	Richard Duncan Real Estate Agent from Ohio	Ricky Johnson Preacher from Pennsylvania	18 (173)	24,307 (0.02%)	Ohio[181] (Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia)[142][151][152][153][155][156][158][162][163][166][169][179][180]
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[161] (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)[130][131][133][135][140][142][143][151][153][156][157][158][162][163][166][167][168][169][170][171][175][176][179][180][182][183][184][185]
America's Party	Tom Hoefling activist from Iowa[186]	Steve Schulin of South Carolina	17 (369) map	4,845 (0.00%)	Colorado, Louisiana[161][187] (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)[131][132][133][134][140][141][142][143][151][152][153][155][156][157][158][163][166][168][169][170][171][175][176][179][180][183][185]
Veterans Party of America	Chris Keniston reliability engineer from Texas[188]	Deacon Taylor of Nevada[189]	17 (196) map	7,248 (0.01%)	Colorado, Louisiana[161] (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin)[134][143][151][155][156][157][163][166][170][176][179][180]
Legal Marijuana Now Party	Dan Vacek of Minnesota	Mark Elworth Jr. of Nebraska	16 (77)	13,537 (0.01%)	Iowa, Minnesota[161] (Alabama, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
Independent	Lynn Kahn Doctor of Clinical Psychology from Maryland	Kathleen Monahan of Florida	12 (160)	5,730 (0.00%)	Arkansas, Iowa[148][161] (Alabama, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia)[132][134][142][151][152][155][156][157][158][163][166][169]
American Solidarity Party	Mike Maturen sales professional and magician from Michigan	Juan Muñoz of Texas	9 (332) map	6,714 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (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)[130][132][134][135][141][142][143][151][155][156][157][163][166][168][170][171][176][179][180]
Independent	Joseph Allen Maldonado of Oklahoma	Douglas K. Terranova	9 (212)	961 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (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)[131][140][142][151][152][153][155][156][157][158][163][169][170][176][179][180][183]
Independent	Ryan Alan Scott	Bruce Kendall Barnard	9 (108)	749 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (Alabama, Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[134][151][152][156]
American Party (South Carolina)	Peter Skewes Animal Science Professor at Clemson University, South Carolina	Michael Lacy	9 (83)	3,246 (0.00%)	South Carolina[191] (Alabama, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[131][151][156]
Approval Voting Party	Frank Atwood of Colorado	Blake Huber of Colorado	9 (76)	337 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
Independent American Party	Kyle Kenley Kopitke of Michigan	Narthan R. Sorenson	9 (76)	1,096 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
Nutrition Party	Rod Silva restaurateur from New Jersey[192][193]	Richard Silva	9 (76)	751 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
United States Pacifist Party	Bradford Lyttle peace activist from Illinois	Hannah Walsh	9 (76)	382 (0.00%)	Colorado[190] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
Socialist Equality Party	Jerry White peace activist from Michigan	Niles Niemuth journalist from Wisconsin	8 (166)	481 (0.00%)	Louisiana[194] (Alabama, California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia)[130][142][151][152][156][158][163][180]
Independent	Princess Khadijah Jacob-Fambro of California	Milton Fambro of California	8 (75)	749 (0.00%)	Louisiana[194] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]
Independent American Party	Rocky Giordani from California	Farley Anderson activist from Utah	6 (79)	2,752 (0.00%)	Utah[175] (Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[132][151][156]
Constitution Party of Idaho	Scott Copeland of Texas	J.R. Meyers	4 (71)	2,356 (0.00%)	Idaho[195] (Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)[151][156]

Candidates gallery

• 
  Gary Johnson
  Libertarian Party
  (campaign)
• 
  Jill Stein
  Green Party
  (campaign)
• 
  Evan McMullin
  Independent
  (campaign)
• 
  Darrell Castle
  Constitution Party
  (campaign)

General election campaign

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

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.^[196] 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,^[197] promoted explicitly focus on family issues and support of universal preschool,^[198] expressed support for the right to same-sex marriage,^[198] and proposed allowing undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship stating that it "[i]s at its heart a family issue."^[199]

Donald Trump's campaign drew heavily on his personal image, enhanced by his previous media exposure.^[200] 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.^[201] 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.^[202] 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.^{[203][204][205]} Trump support was high among working and middle-class white male voters with annual incomes of less than $50,000 and no college degree.^[206] This group, particularly those with less than a high-school education, suffered a decline in their income in recent years.^[207] According to The Washington Post, support for Trump is higher in areas with a higher mortality rate for middle-age white people.^[208] 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.^[209]

Clinton had an uneasy, and at times adversarial relationship with the press throughout her life in public service.^[210] 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.^[211] Clinton was initially criticized by the press for avoiding taking their questions,^[212][213] 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.^[214] 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.^{[215][216][217]} Observers noted Trump's ability to garner constant mainstream media coverage "almost at will".^[218] However, Trump frequently criticized the media for writing what he alleged to be false stories about him^[219] and he has called upon his supporters to be "the silent majority".^[220] 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.^[221][222]

Both Clinton and Trump were seen unfavorably by the general public, and their controversial nature set the tone of the campaign.^[223]

Trump campaigns in Phoenix, Arizona, October 29, 2016

Clinton's practice during her time as Secretary of State of using a private email address and server, in lieu of State Department servers, gained widespread public attention back in March 2015.^[224] Concerns were raised about security and preservation of emails, and the possibility that laws may have been violated.^[225] 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.^{[226][227][228][229]} 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.^[230][231] On November 6, he notified Congress that the new emails did not change the FBI's earlier conclusion.^[232][233]

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, Islamophobic—you name it."^[234] Donald Trump criticized Clinton's remark as insulting his supporters.^[235][236] The following day Clinton expressed regret for saying "half", while insisting that Trump had deplorably amplified "hateful views and voices".^[237] 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.^[238]

Clinton campaigns in Raleigh, North Carolina, October 22, 2016

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.^{[239][240][241]} Following the revelation, Trump's campaign issued an apology, stating that the video was of a private conversation from "many years ago".^[242] The incident was condemned by numerous prominent Republicans like Reince Priebus, Mitt Romney, John Kasich, Jeb Bush^[243] and the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.^[244] By October 8 several dozen Republicans had called for Trump to withdraw from the campaign and let Pence head the ticket.^[245] Trump insisted he would never drop out.^[246]

The ongoing controversy 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.^[247][248] In early May, some commentators opined that Johnson was moderate enough to pull votes away from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump who were very disliked and polarizing.^[249] Both conservative and liberal media noted that Johnson could get votes from "Never Trump" Republicans and disaffected Bernie Sanders supporters.^[250] 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.^[251] In September and October 2016, Johnson suffered a "string of damaging stumbles when he has fielded questions about foreign affairs."^[252][253] 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?"^[254] Johnson's "what is Aleppo?" question prompted widespread attention, much of it negative.^[254][255] 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."^[255]

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.^[256] 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."^[257][258]

In response to Johnson's growing poll numbers, the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic allies increased their criticism of 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, who supported her in the general election) to win over voters who might be considering voting for Johnson or for Stein.^[259]

Party conventions

Philadelphia

Cleveland

Orlando

Houston

Salt Lake City

  Democratic Party

  Republican Party

  Libertarian Party

  Green Party

  Constitution Party

Democratic Party

Main article: 2016 Democratic National Convention

• July 25–28, 2016: Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[262]

Republican Party

Main article: 2016 Republican National Convention

• July 18–21, 2016: Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio.^[263][264]

Libertarian Party

Main article: 2016 Libertarian National Convention

• May 26–30, 2016: Libertarian National Convention was held in Orlando, Florida.^[265][266]

Green Party

Main article: 2016 Green National Convention

• August 4–7, 2016: Green National Convention was held in Houston, Texas.^[267][268]

Constitution Party

Main article: 2016 Constitution Party National Convention

• April 13–16, 2016: Constitution Party National Convention was held in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[269]

Notable expressions, phrases, and statements

• Basket of deplorables – a controversial phrase coined by Hillary Clinton to describe Trump's supporters.
• Birdie Sanders – during a campaign stop in Portland, Oregon, a house finch^[313] landed on Sanders's lectern while he was addressing a large crowd of supporters.^[314] The event became popular with the Sanders community and Sanders even began to publicize the bird as "Birdie Sanders".^[314]
• Build that wall / Mexico will pay for the wall – Trump's campaign promise that if elected he will build a wall on the border between the US and Mexico, with Mexico financing the project.^[315][316]
• Drain the swamp – a phrase Donald Trump invoked late in the campaign to describe what needs to be done to fix problems in the federal government. Trump acknowledged that the phrase was suggested to him, and he was initially skeptical about using it.^[317]
• Fake news – stories that are untrue. Trump has used the expression to refer to stories he dislikes.^{[318][319][320]}
• Feel the Bern – a phrase chanted by supporters of the Bernie Sanders campaign which was officially adopted by his campaign.^[321]
• Grab 'em by the pussy – a remark made by Trump during a 2005 behind-the-scenes conversation with Billy Bush which was released during the campaign. The remark was part of a conversation in which Trump boasted that as a celebrity he can get away with things (such as grabbing women by their genitalia) that non-celebrities cannot.
• I'm with her – Clinton's unofficial campaign slogan ("Stronger Together" was the official slogan).^[322]
• Lock her up – a chant first used at the Republican convention to claim that Hillary Clinton is guilty of a crime. The chant was later used at many Trump campaign rallies.^[323]
• Make America great again – Trump's campaign slogan.
• Nevertheless, she persisted – said by Republican Senator Mitch McConnell to silence Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren’s objections to confirm Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. It became a popular expression by feminists groups and eventually reached the attention of Clinton.
• Trump's use of derogatory nicknames to deride his opponents – these include "Crooked Hillary", "Little Marco", "Low energy Jeb", and "Lying Ted."
• Small hands – Marco Rubio asserting that Trump has small hands, and implying that the size of his hands is proportional to the size of his genitals.^[324]
• What is Aleppo? – uttered by Gary Johnson during an interview when questioned about the status of Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War.^[325]
• What the hell do you have to lose? - said by Trump to inner-city African Americans at rallies starting on August 19, 2016.^[326][327]

Debates

General election debates

Main article: United States presidential debates, 2016

Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY

Longwood University
Farmville, VA

Washington University
St. Louis, MO

University of Nevada
Las Vegas

University of Colorado Boulder

Sites of the 2016 general election debates

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."^[328]

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.^[329]

On August 19, Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager confirmed that Trump would participate in a series of three debates.^{[330][331][332][333]} Trump had complained two of the scheduled debates, one on September 26 and the other October 9, would 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.^[334]

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.^[335] 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.^[336] 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.^[337]

PBS hosted a debate moderated by Tavis Smiley between Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.^[338]

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

No.	Date	Time	Host	City	Moderator(s)	Participants
P1	September 26, 2016	9 p.m. EDT	Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	Lester Holt	Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
VP	October 4, 2016	9 p.m. EDT	Longwood University	Farmville, Virginia	Elaine Quijano	Tim Kaine Mike Pence
P2	October 9, 2016	8 p.m. CDT	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	Anderson Cooper Martha Raddatz	Hillary Clinton Donald Trump
P3	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
= Sponsored by the CPD;        = Sponsored by Free & Equal

Results

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

The election was held on November 8, 2016. Clinton cast her vote in Chappaqua, Westchester County, New York, while Trump voted in a Manhattan public school.^[339] 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 news media and election experts were surprised twice, at Trump's winning the GOP nomination and in winning the electoral college. English political scientist Lloyd Gruber says, "One of the major casualties of the 2016 election season has been the reputation of political science, a discipline whose practitioners had largely dismissed Donald Trump's chances of gaining the Republican nomination."^[340] The final polls showed a lead by Clinton—and, in the end, she did receive more votes.^[341] Trump himself expected to lose the election based on polling, and rented a small hotel ballroom to make a brief concession speech; "I said if we're going to lose I don't want a big ballroom", he said.^[342] The Republican candidate performed surprisingly well in all battleground states, especially Florida, Iowa, Ohio and North Carolina. Even Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, states that had been predicted to vote Democratic, were won by Trump.^[343] 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."^[344] Trump said that he was surprised by how "that map was getting red as hell. That map was bleeding red ... I always used to believe in [polls]. I don't believe them anymore."^[342]

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.^[345][346]

According to the authors of Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign, by late Tuesday night the White House had decided that Trump had won the election. Obama aide David Simas called Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook to unsuccessfully persuade Clinton to concede the election. Obama then called Clinton herself, citing the importance of continuity of government, to publicly acknowledge that Trump had won; believing that she was still unwilling to concede the president called Podesta, telling him that the election was over, but the call to Clinton had likely already persuaded her.^[347] Clinton called Trump early on Wednesday morning to concede defeat,^[348] and later that day asked her supporters to accept the result and hoped that Trump would be "a successful president for all Americans."^[349] 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."^[350]

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.^[261]

Based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates^[1] of the voting age population (VAP), turnout of voters casting a vote for President was nearly 1% higher than 2012. Examining overall turnout in the 2016 election, University of Florida Prof. Michael McDonald estimated^[351] that 138.8 million Americans cast a ballot in 2016. 65.9 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 a census estimate of U.S. population that day of 324 million.^[261][352] Considering a VAP of 250.6 million people and voting eligible population (VEP) of 230.6 million people, this is a turnout rate of 55.4% VAP and 60.2% VEP.^[1][351] Based on this estimate, voter turnout was up compared to 2012 (54.1% VAP) but down compared to 2008 (57.4% VAP). A FEC report of the 2016 Presidential General Election recorded an official total of 136.7 million votes cast for President — more than any prior election.^[1]

Data scientist Azhar Hamdan, explained the paradoxes of the 2016 outcome compared Trump's 30 states against Clinton's 20 states and the District of Columbia,^[353][354] saying "chief among them the discrepancy between the popular vote, which Hillary Clinton won by 2.8 million votes, and the electoral college, where Trump won 304-227". He said Trump outperformed Mitt Romney's 2012 results, while Clinton only just matched Barack Obama's 2012 totals.^[353] Hamdan also said Trump was "the highest vote earner of any Republican candidate ever," exceeding George W. Bush's 62.04 million votes in 2004, though neither reached Clinton's 65.9 million, nor Obama's 69.5 million votes in 2008, the overall record.^[353] He concluded, with help from The Cook Political Report, that the election hinged not on Clinton's large 2.8 million overall vote margin over Trump, but rather on about 78,000 votes from only three counties in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.^[353][355]

Results by state

The table below displays the official vote tallies by each state's Electoral College voting method. The source for the results of all states is the official Federal Election Commission report. The column labeled "Margin" shows Trump's margin of victory over Clinton (the margin is negative for every state the Clinton won).

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.^[365] With ballot access to the entire national electorate, Johnson received nearly 4.5 million votes (3.27%), the highest nationwide vote share for a third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996,^[366] 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 732,000 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.^[367] 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.^[368] (Because of this, some of his supporters have suggested that Bernie would have won, meaning that Sanders could have beaten Trump even though Clinton was unable to.) 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.^{[369][370][371]} 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.^{[372][373][374]} Meanwhile, American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente petitioned for and was granted a partial recount in Nevada.^[375]

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	Source(s)
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	27.73%	2,123,372	AL	[376]
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	[377]
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	3.55%	2,573,165	AZ	[378]
Arkansas	WTA	380,494	33.65%	–	684,872	60.57%	6	29,829	2.64%	–	9,473	0.84%	–	13,255	1.17%	–	12,712	1.12%	–	304,378	26.92%	1,130,635	AR	[379]
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	[380]
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%	–	27,418	0.99%	–	−136,386	−4.91%	2,780,247	CO	[381]
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	[382]
Delaware	WTA	235,603	53.09%	3	185,127	41.72%	–	14,757	3.32%	–	6,103	1.37%	–	706	0.16%	–	1,518	0.34%	–	−50,476	−11.37%	443,814	DE	[383][384]
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	−86.78%	311,268	DC	[385]
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	[386]
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	[387][388]
Hawaii	WTA	266,891	62.22%	3	128,847	30.03%	–	15,954	3.72%	–	12,737	2.97%	–	–	–	–	4,508	1.05%	1	−138,044	−32.18%	428,937	HI	[389]
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	[390]
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	−17.06%	5,536,424	IL	[391]
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	19.17%	2,734,958	IN	[392]
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	[393]
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	[394]
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	[395]
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	[396]
Maine (at-lg)	WTA[lower-alpha 3]	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	[397][398]
Maine, 1st	CD[lower-alpha 3]	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	CD[lower-alpha 3]	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	10.29%	353,416	ME-2	[397][398]
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	[399]
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	[400]
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	0.22%	4,799,284	MI	[401]
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	[402]
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	[403]
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	18.64%	2,808,605	MO	[404]
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	[405][406]
Nebraska (at-lg)	WTA	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	[407]
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	[408]
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	[409]
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	−14.10%	3,874,046	NJ	[410]
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	−8.21%	798,319	NM	[411]
New York	WTA	4,556,124	59.01%	29	2,819,534	36.52%	–	176,598	2.29%	–	107,934	1.40%	–	10,373	0.13%	–	50,890	0.66%	–	−1,736,590	−22.49%	7,721,453	NY	[412]
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	[413]
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	[414]
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	[415]
Oklahoma	WTA	420,375	28.93%	–	949,136	65.32%	7	83,481	5.75%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	N/A	N/A	–	528,761	37.08%	1,452,992	OK	[416]
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	[417]
Pennsylvania	WTA	2,926,441	47.46%	–	2,970,733	48.18%	20	146,715	2.38%	–	49,941	0.81%	–	6,472	0.11%	–	65,176	1.06%	–	44,292	0.72%	6,165,478	PA	[418]
Rhode Island	WTA	252,525	54.41%	4	180,543	38.90%	–	14,746	3.18%	–	6,220	1.34%	–	516	0.11%	–	9,594	2.07%	–	−71,982	−15.51%	464,144	RI	[419]
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	[420]
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	[421]
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	26.01%	2,508,027	TN	[422]
Texas	WTA	3,877,868	43.24%	–	4,685,047	52.23%	36	283,492	3.16%	–	71,558	0.80%	–	42,366	0.47%	–	8,895	0.10%	2	807,179	9.00%	8,969,226	TX	[423]
Utah	WTA	310,676	27.46%	–	515,231	45.54%	6	39,608	3.50%	–	9,438	0.83%	–	243,690	21.54%	–	12,787	1.13%	–	204,555	18.08%	1,131,430	UT	[424]
Vermont	WTA	178,573	56.68%	3	95,369	30.27%	–	10,078	3.20%	–	6,758	2.14%	–	639	0.20%	–	23,650	7.51%	–	−83,204	−26.41%	315,067	VT	[425]
Virginia	WTA	1,981,473	49.73%	13	1,769,443	44.41%	–	118,274	2.97%	–	27,638	0.69%	–	54,054	1.36%	–	33,749	0.85%	–	−212,030	−5.32%	3,984,631	VA	[426]
Washington	WTA	1,742,718	52.54%	8	1,221,747	36.83%	–	160,879	4.85%	–	58,417	1.76%	–	–	–	–	133,258	4.02%	4	−520,971	−15.71%	3,317,019	WA	[427]
West Virginia	WTA	188,794	26.43%	–	489,371	68.50%	5	23,004	3.22%	–	8,075	1.13%	–	1,104	0.15%	–	4,075	0.57%	–	300,577	42.07%	714,423	WV	[428]
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	0.76%	2,976,150	WI	[429]
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	46.30%	255,849	WY	[430]
U.S. Total	–	65,853,514	48.18%	227	62,984,828	46.09%	304	4,489,341	3.28%	–	1,457,218	1.07%	–	731,991	0.54%	–	1,154,084	0.84%	7	−2,868,686	−2.10%	136,669,276	US

^★Two states (Maine and Nebraska) allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates.^{[lower-alpha 3]} The winner within each congressional district gets one electoral vote for the district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes.^[432][433] Results are from The New York Times.^[345]

Vote margin swing by state 2012 to 2016. Only twelve states trended more Democratic: Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington, Virginia and Utah. The large swing in Utah is mostly, but not completely, down to the votes for third candidate Evan McMullin and the 2012 candidacy of Mitt Romney.