United States presidential election, 2016

For other elections in the United States on the same day, see United States elections, 2016. The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th and most recent quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence, running on the Republican ticket, defeated the Democratic Party's nominees former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

Voters selected members of the Electoral College by "winner-takes-all" plurality in each state; those electors will in turn vote for a new president and vice president on December 19, 2016. Trump obtained the required majority to become President-elect of the United States, winning 30 states with 306 electors out of 538. His victory had been considered unlikely by most media forecasts. Trump is expected to take office as the 45th President on January 20, 2017; Pence is expected to take office as the 48th Vice President.

Trump is projected to win the Electoral College by 74 votes, with 30 states and Maine's 2nd congressional district going to him, and 20 states and the District of Columbia going to Clinton. Clinton received about 2.9 million more votes nationwide (2.1% of the total cast). This is the fifth time after the 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000 elections that the president-elect lost the popular vote.[3][4][5][6][a] Third-party candidates Gary Johnson (Libertarian) and Jill Stein (Greens) scored respectively 3.3% and 1.1% of the national vote.

The 2016 election marked the first time in American presidential history that a candidate was elected without any prior experience in public service, and the first time a woman was nominated by a major party. It was also the first time that a woman won the popular vote, the first time that a woman carried a state, and it is also poised to be the first-time that a woman has received votes for President from the electoral college.

The estimated 137.7 million ballots surpassed the 2008 election as the largest number of votes ever cast for a presidential election. With 63 million votes, Trump received more votes than any other Republican candidate in history and fourth most votes among all Presidential elections, whereas Clinton received the third most votes ever with 65.8 million, behind Obama's 2008 and 2012 totals.

On December 9, the Central Intelligence Agency issued an assessment to lawmakers in the US Senate, stating that Russia intervened in the election to assist Donald Trump. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is not convinced of the idea that Russia had a particular aim in its involvement, saying they are not sure that Russia had a "a specific goal or mix of related goals".[10] The Director of National Intelligence does not dispute the CIA's analysis of Russian hacking operations, but it has not endorsed the CIA's assessment because "they can't prove intent" since the CIA does not have "agents in on the decision-making in Moscow", saying that the CIA had "a thin reed upon which to base an analytical judgment".[11] President Barack Obama ordered a "full review" into such possible intervention.[12]President-elect Trump mocked the assessment and criticized US intelligence services,[13] and WikiLeaks denied any involvement of Russian authorities.[14]

Contents
[hide]
 * 1Background
 * 2Primary process
 * 3Republican Party
 * 3.1Primaries
 * 3.2Nominees
 * 3.3Other major candidates
 * 3.4Vice presidential selection
 * 4Democratic Party
 * 4.1Primaries
 * 4.2Nominees
 * 4.3Other major candidates
 * 4.4Vice presidential selection
 * 5Third parties and independents
 * 5.1Libertarian Party
 * 5.2Green Party
 * 5.3Independents
 * 5.4Constitution Party
 * 5.5Other nominations
 * 5.6Candidates gallery
 * 6General election campaign
 * 6.1Ballot access
 * 6.2Party conventions
 * 6.3Campaign finance
 * 6.4Newspaper endorsements
 * 6.5Russian involvement
 * 7Debates
 * 7.1Primary election debates
 * 7.2General election debates
 * 8Results
 * 8.1Results by state
 * 8.2Close races
 * 9Aftermath
 * 9.1Post-election protests
 * 9.2Forecasting
 * 9.3Recount petitions
 * 9.4Electoral College lobbying and petitions
 * 9.5Electronic vote tampering and Russian hacking concerns
 * 10Maps
 * 11Voter demographics
 * 12Viewership
 * 13See also
 * 13.1Notes
 * 14References
 * 15External links

Background
Further information: United States presidential election § Procedure

Barack Obama, the incumbent president, whose term expires 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 of the United States, 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, is ineligible to seek reelection to a third term due to restrictions of the Twenty-second Amendment; in accordance with Section I of the Twentieth Amendment, his term expires at 12 noon on January 20, 2017.

Primary process
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.[15] 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.[16][17]

Primaries
Main article: Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016 Seventeen major candidates entered the race starting March 23, 2015, when Senator Ted Cruz from Texas was the first to announce his candidacy: former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson from Maryland, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, businesswoman Carly Fiorina from California, former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia, Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, former Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, former Governor George Pataki of New York, Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky, former Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, former Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, businessman Donald Trump from New York and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. This was the largest presidential primary field for any political party in American history.[18]

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.[19] 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,[20] but retained a large share of his delegates for the national convention, which he released to Trump.[20][not in citation given]

Between March 16 and May 3, 2016, only three candidates remained in the race: Trump, Cruz and Kasich. Cruz won 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 and he grabbed all 57 delegates in the Indiana primary of May 3, 2016. Without any further chances of forcing a contested convention, both Cruz[21] and Kasich[22] 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.[23]

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.

Vice presidential selection
Main article: Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 2016

Donald Trump turned his attention towards selecting a running mate after he became the presumptive nominee on May 4, 2016.[62] 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.[63] 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.[64] Trump also stated that he was considering two military generals for the position, including retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.[65]

In July 2016, it was reported that Trump had narrowed his list of possible running mates down to three: Christie, Gingrich, and Pence.[66]

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.[67][68] On July 19, the second night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Pence won the Republican vice presidential nomination by acclamation.[69]

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 to formally launch a major candidacy for the presidency. Clinton made the announcement on April 12, 2015, via a video message.[70] 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,[71] who became the second major candidate when he formally announced on April 30, 2015, that he was running for the Democratic nomination.[72] September 2015 polling numbers indicated a narrowing gap between Clinton and Sanders.[71][73][74] On May 30, 2015, former Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley was the third major candidate to enter the Democratic primary race,[75]followed by former Independent Governor and Republican Senator of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee on June 3, 2015,[76][77] former Virginia Senator Jim Webb on July 2, 2015,[78] and former Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig on September 6, 2015.[79]

On October 20, 2015, Webb announced his withdrawal from the Democratic primaries, and explored a potential Independent run.[80] 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."[81][82] 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".[83] 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.[84]

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.[85][86] 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 Mainewith 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.[87] On March 15, the second "Super Tuesday", Clinton won in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Between March 22 and April 9, 2016, 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[88] 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.[89] 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%).[90]

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.[91] On July 8, appointees from the Clinton campaign, the Sanders campaign, and the Democratic National Committee negotiated a draft of the party's platform.[92] On July 12, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire in which he appeared with Clinton.[93] 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.

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.

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.[103] 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.[104] Subsequent reports stated that Clinton was also considering Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, retired Admiral James Stavridis, and Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado.[105] 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.[105]

On July 22, Clinton announced that she had chosen Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia as her running mate.[106] 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 articles: Libertarian Party (United States) and Libertarian Party presidential primaries, 2016 Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party [show]
 * Gary Johnson, 29th Governor of New Mexico. Vice-presidential nominee: Bill Weld, 68th Governor of Massachusetts

Green Party
Main articles: Green Party of the United States and Green Party presidential primaries, 2016 Jill Stein, Green Party [show]
 * Jill Stein, Physician from Lexington, Massachusetts. Vice-presidential nominee: Ajamu Baraka, Activist from Washington, DC

Independents
Main article: Evan McMullin presidential campaign, 2016 Evan McMullin, Independents [show]
 * Evan McMullin, Chief policy director for the House Republican Conference. Vice-presidential nominee: Mindy Finn, President of Empowered Women

Constitution Party
Main articles: Constitution Party of the United States and Constitution Party presidential primaries, 2016 Darrell Castle, Constitution Party [show]
 * Darrell Castle, Attorney from Memphis, Tennessee. Vice-presidential nominee: Scott Bradley, Businessman from Utah

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

Other nominations [show]

Candidates gallery
(Campaign) (Campaign) (Campaign) (Campaign)
 * Gary Johnson
 * Jill Stein
 * Evan McMullin
 * Darrell Castle

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.[183] Clinton promoted equal pay for equal work to address current shortfalls in how much women are paid to do the same jobs men do,[184] promoted explicitly focus on family issues and support of universal preschool,[185] expressed support for the right to same-sex marriage,[185] and proposed allowing undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship stating that it "[i]s at its heart a family issue."[186]

Donald Trump's campaign drew heavily on his personal image, enhanced by his previous media exposure.[187] 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.[188] Trump's right-wing populist positions—nativist, protectionist, and semi-isolationist—differ in many ways from traditional conservatism.[189] 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.[190][191][192] Trump support was high among working and middle-class white male voters with annual incomes of less than $50,000 and no college degree.[193] This group, particularly those with less than a high-school education, suffered a decline in their income in recent years.[194] According to The Washington Post, support for Trump is higher in areas with a higher mortality rate for middle-age white people.[195] 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.[196]

Clinton had an uneasy, and at times adversarial relationship with the press throughout her life in public service.[197] 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.[198] Clinton was initially criticized by the press for avoiding taking their questions,[199][200] 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.[201] 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.[202][203][204] Observers noted Trump's ability to garner constant mainstream media coverage "almost at will".[205] However, Trump frequently criticized the media for writing what he alleged to be false stories about him[206] and he has called upon his supporters to be "the silent majority".[207] 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.[208][209]

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.[210]

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.[211] Concerns were raised about security and preservation of emails, and the possibility that laws may have been violated.[212] 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.[213][214][215][216] 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 Comeyinformed Congress that the FBI was analyzing additional emails obtained during its investigation of an unrelated case.[217][218] On November 6, he notified Congress that the new emails did not change the FBI's earlier conclusion.[219][220]

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."[221] Donald Trump criticized Clinton's remark as insulting his supporters.[222][223] The following day Clinton expressed regret for saying "half", while insisting that Trump had deplorably amplified "hateful views and voices".[224] 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.[225]

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.[226][227][228] Following the revelation, Trump's campaign issued an apology, stating that the video was of a private conversation from "many years ago".[229] The incident was condemned by numerous prominent Republicans like Reince Priebus, Mitt Romney, John Kasich, Jeb Bush [230] and the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.[231] By October 8 several dozen Republicans had called for Trump to withdraw from the campaign and let Pence head the ticket.[232] Trump insisted he would never drop out.[233]

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.[234][235] 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.[236] Both conservative and liberal media noted that Johnson could get votes from "Never Trump" Republicans and disaffected Bernie Sanders supporters.[237] 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.[238] In September and October 2016, Johnson suffered a "string of damaging stumbles when he has fielded questions about foreign affairs."[239][240] 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?"[241] Johnson's "what is Aleppo?" question prompted widespread attention, much of it negative.[241][242] 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."[242]

On the other hand, Green Party Jill Stein stated that the Democratic and Republican parties are "two corporate parties" that have converged into one.[243] 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."[244][245]

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 now-supporter) to win over voters who might be considering voting for Johnson or for Stein.[246]

Ballot access

 * 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.

ballot access ballot access ballot access
 * Jill Stein
 * Evan McMullin
 * Darrell Castle

Party conventions
Philadelphia

Cleveland

Orlando

Houston

Salt Lake City

Democratic Party

Republican Party

Libertarian Party

Green Party

Constitution Party Main article: 2016 Democratic National Convention Main article: 2016 Republican National Convention Main article: 2016 Libertarian National Convention Main article: 2016 Green National Convention Main article: 2016 Constitution Party National Convention
 * Democratic Party
 * July 25–28, 2016: Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[247]
 * Republican Party
 * July 18–21, 2016: Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio.[248][249]
 * Libertarian Party
 * May 26–30, 2016: Libertarian National Convention was held in Orlando, Florida.[250][251]
 * Green Party
 * August 4–7, 2016: Green National Convention was held in Houston, Texas.[252][253]
 * Constitution Party
 * April 13–16, 2016: Constitution Party National Convention was held in Salt Lake City, Utah.[254]

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.[255] 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.

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

Clinton was endorsed by The New York Times,[270] the Los Angeles Times,[271] the Houston Chronicle,[272] the San Jose Mercury News,[273] the Chicago Sun-Times[274] and the New York Daily News[275] editorial boards. Trump, who has frequently criticized the mainstream media, was not endorsed by a major newspaper,[276][277] with the tabloid National Enquirer[278] and the Las Vegas Review-Journal his highest profile supporters.[279] Several papers which endorsed Clinton, such as the Houston Chronicle,[272] The Dallas Morning News,[280] The San Diego Union-Tribune[281] The Columbus Dispatch[282] and The Arizona Republic,[283] endorsed their first Democratic candidate for many decades. USA Today, which had not endorsed any candidate since it was founded 34 years ago, broke tradition by giving an anti-endorsement against Trump, declaring him "unfit for the presidency".[284][285] The Atlantic, which has been in circulation since 1857, gave Clinton its third-ever endorsement (after Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson).[286]

Other traditionally Republican papers, including the New Hampshire Union Leader, which had endorsed the Republican nominee in every election for the last 100 years,[287] The Detroit News, which had not endorsed a non-Republican in its 143 years,[288] and the Chicago Tribune,[289] endorsed Gary Johnson. Trump received favorable coverage, but no explicit endorsement, from Breitbart, a right-wing news and opinion website that is often considered alt-right.[290]

Russian involvement
Main article: Russian involvement in the 2016 United States presidential election

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 is not convinced on the idea that the Russians had a particular aim in its involvement, saying they are not sure that the Russians had a "a specific goal or mix of related goals".[291] Intelligence agencies do not have specific intelligence showing officials in the Kremlin “directing” the identified individuals to pass the Democratic emails to WikiLeaks, saying that the hackers were one step removed from the Russian Government.[291] The Director of National Intelligence does not dispute the CIA's analysis of Russian hacking operations, but it has not endorsed the CIA's assessment because "they can't prove intent" since the CIA does not have "agents in on the decision-making in Moscow", saying that they had "a thin reed upon which to base an analytical judgment".[292] President Barack Obama ordered a "full enquiry" into such possible intervention.[293][13][14][294][14][295]

President-elect Trump mocked the report as fabricated,[13] and Wikileaks denied any involvement of Russian authorities.[14] Several U.S. senators – including Republicans John McCain, Richard Burr, and Lindsey Graham – demanded a congressional investigation.[296] Other Republicans, such as Rand Paul of Kentucky and James Lankford of Oklahoma also indicated their support for a full investigation.[297]

Primary election debates
Main articles: Democratic Party presidential debates and forums, 2016; Republican Party presidential debates and forums, 2016; Libertarian Party presidential debates and forums, 2016; and Green Party presidential debates and forums, 2016

General election debates
Main article: United States presidential election 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."[298]

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.[299]

On August 19, Trump's campaign manager confirmed that he would participate in a series of three debates.[300][301][302][303] 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.[304] 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.[305]

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.[306] 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.[307] 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.[308]

PBS hosted a debate moderated by Tavis Smiley between Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.[309]

Results
See also: Swing states § Swing states for the 2016 election

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.[310] 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 blue, were won by Trump.[311]

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.[312][313] Clinton called Trump early on Wednesday morning, conceding defeat.[314] Clinton asked her supporters to accept the result and hoped that Trump would be "a successful president for all Americans".[315] 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".[316]

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). Trump won exactly 100 more Electoral College votes than Mitt Romney in 2012. Thirty-nine states swung more Republican compared to the previous Presidential election, while eleven states and the District of Columbia swung more Democratic.[317]

It is estimated that 137.74 million Americans cast a ballot in 2016. 65.8 million of those ballots have been counted for Clinton and 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.[2][318] Considering a voting age population (VAP) of 251.11 million people and voting eligible population (VEP) of 231.56 million people, this a turnout rate of 54.9% VAP and 59.5% VEP.[319] Voting turnout percentage was even compared to 2012 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.[319]

According to unofficial totals, Trump has received more votes than any other Republican in any presidential election, at least 900,000 more than George W. Bush in 2004. Clinton has also won more votes than any candidate except Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Third party and write-ins were the highest since 1996, accounting for over 8.1 million votes, 5.94% of valid votes, compared to 2.4 million and 1.85% in 2012.[2] Electoral vote figures are only projected, with the Electoral College voting on December 19, 2016.[320] Note: Popular vote count is preliminary until all states have certified their results.

Results by state
A total of 29 third party and independent presidential candidates appeared on the ballot in at least one state. Favorite son independents Evan McMullin and Senator Bernie Sanders received 21.4% and 5.7% of the vote in their home states; Sanders received the highest write-in draft campaign percentage for a statewide presidential candidate in history.[321] 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.[322] With ballot access to the entire national electorate, Johnson acquired 4.5 million votes, the highest nationwide vote share for a third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996,[323] while Stein received 1.5 million votes, the most for a Green nominee since Ralph Nader in 2000.

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.[324][325][326] Stein petitioned for a recount in these states, which is currently underway in Wisconsin; a recount in Michigan was halted by court order, and whether a recount will occur in Pennsylvania is contingent on federal court proceedings. The Clinton campaign pledged to participate in the Green Party recount efforts, while Trump backers are challenging them in court.[327][328][329] Meanwhile, American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente petitioned for and was granted a partial recount in Nevada.[330] Electoral methods ★Two states (Maine and Nebraska) allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates.[b] The winner within each congressional district gets one electoral vote for the district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes.[382][383]Results are from the Associated Press.[384]
 * WTA – Winner-takes-all
 * CD – Congressional district★

Close races
Red denotes states (or congressional districts that contribute an electoral vote) 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): States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5% (84 electoral votes; 56 won by Trump, 28 by Clinton): States/districts where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (96 electoral votes; 78 won by Trump, 18 by Clinton):
 * 1) Michigan, 0.22%
 * 2) New Hampshire, 0.37%
 * 3) Pennsylvania, 0.73%
 * 4) Wisconsin, 0.77%
 * 1) Florida, 1.20%
 * 2) Minnesota, 1.52%
 * 3) Nevada, 2.42%
 * 4) Maine, 2.68%
 * 5) Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, 3.38%
 * 6) Arizona, 3.57%
 * 7) North Carolina, 3.66%
 * 8) Colorado, 4.91%
 * 1) Georgia, 5.16%
 * 2) Virginia, 5.32%
 * 3) Ohio, 8.13%
 * 4) New Mexico, 8.21%
 * 5) Texas, 8.99%
 * 6) Iowa, 9.50%

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

Trump's victory, considered unlikely by most forecasts,[385][386][387][388][389] was characterized as an "upset" and as "shocking" by the media.[390][391][392][393]

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 69 upon winning the 1980 election. Clinton, at 69, 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 will become 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 will be the second president born in New York City after Theodore Roosevelt. Trump will also become 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
News report about the protests in Los Angeles on November 12 from Voice of America

Further information: Protests against Donald Trump § Post-election protests

Following the announcement of Trump's election, large protests broke out across the United States with some continuing for several days.[394][395][396][397]

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".[394][398] The movement organized on Twitter under the hashtags #Anti-trump and #NotMyPresident.[399][400]

High school and college students walked out of classes to protest.[401] 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.[402][403][404] Celebrities such as Madonna, Cher, and Lady Gaga took part in New York.[405][406][407] 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.[408][409] In a number of cities, protesters were dispersed with rubber bullets, pepper spray and bean-bags fired by police.[410][411][412] In New York City, calls were made to continue the protests over the coming days after the Election.[413] Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani called protesters "a bunch of spoiled cry-babies."[414] Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti expressed understanding of the protests and praised those who peacefully wanted to make their voices heard.[415]

Forecasting
Further information: Nationwide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2016 and Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2016

There were many ways to try to predict the outcome of the 2016 election.[416] 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 and Electoral-Vote.[417] These models mostly showed a Democratic advantage since the nominees were confirmed.

Early exit polls favored Clinton. However, as polls closed and the results came in throughout the night, those exit polls and forecasts proved inaccurate as 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 blue, were won by Trump.[418] Pollsters were puzzled by the failure of mainstream forecasting models to predict the 2016 election outcome.[419][420] Further confusion was attributed to The New York Times ' live presidential election forecast website for misleading graphing after analyst Alp Toker identified the use of pseudorandom jitter to give the impression of live fluctuations in its outcome predictions.[421][422]

Recount petitions
Main article: 2016 United States presidential election recounts

On November 25, with 90 minutes remaining on the deadline to petition for a recount to the state's electoral body, Stein filed for a recount of the election results in Wisconsin. She signaled she intended to file for similar recounts in the subsequent days in Michigan and Pennsylvania.[423] The next day, Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias stated that their campaign would join Stein's recount efforts in Wisconsin and possibly others "in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."[328][424]Stein had by that date raised nearly six million dollars in donations to petition for the recounts.[425]

President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement denouncing the 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."[426]

Stein filed the recount petition in Pennsylvania on November 28.[427] On November 29, Stein delivered $3.5 million needed to initiate the presidential vote recount in the state of Wisconsin. With payment received, Wisconsin Elections Commission has ordered recount of the 2016 presidential election to begin on December 1.[428] Stein filed for a manual recount in the state of Michigan on November 30, paying the $973,250 fee required for filing.[429] On the same day, American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente requested a recount in five counties in Nevada and paid $14,000 required for the effort.[330]

On December 3, Stein dropped her court case to initiate a statewide recount in Pennsylvania. Lawyers for the Green Party stated they were unable to pay the court-ordered $1 million bond by the deadline on December 5. However, Green Party backed efforts to analyze election software in some Pennsylvania precincts continued.[430] The following day, the Green Party signaled that it would file a federal lawsuit on December 5 to force a recount in Pennsylvania, claiming that the state court system was not equipped to adequately address their case.[431]

On December 12, a federal judge, 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.[432]

On December 1, Trump campaign challenged Michigan's recount arguing that the recount couldn't be finished on time and that Stein's petition wasn't properly notarized, delaying the planned recount which was to begin the next day.[433]

On December 2, the Michigan Attorney General, Bill Schuette, filed a lawsuit in "an emergency motion" to the Michigan Supreme Court to stop the recount, calling it "frivolous, and expensive."[434]

A federal judge ordered a halt in the recount in Michigan on December 7, dissolving a previous temporary restraining order against the 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."[435]

Electoral College lobbying and petitions
Intense lobbying (in one case involving harassment and death threats[436]) and grass-roots campaigns have been directed at various GOP electors of the United States Electoral College[437] to convince a sufficient number of them (37) to not vote for Trump, thus precluding a Trump presidency.[438] Members of the Electoral College themselves have 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.[439][440][441][442] This group's members may become faithless electors in the presidential election.

On December 5, former candidate Lawrence Lessig and attorney Lawrence 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 Donald J. Trump.[443]

On December 6, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne 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.[444]

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[445][446] in light of Russian interference in the election to help Trump win the presidency.[447] After the letter was released, over 20 additional electors signed it.[448]

Electronic vote tampering and Russian hacking 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.[449][450][451] 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".[452] On November 25, 2016, the Obama administration said the results from November 8, “accurately reflect the will of the American people.”[453] 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.”[454] On December 9, however, President Obama ordered a full review of possible Russsian hacking of the electoral process (2016 United States election interference by Russia).[455]

Maps

 * Results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
 * Results by Vote Distribution Among States. Each state's pie chart is proportional to the number of electoral votes they have.
 * Results by county (Alaska is by state house district). Red denotes counties that went to Trump; blue denotes counties that went to Clinton.
 * Results by county (Alaska is by state house district), shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.
 * Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Trump
 * Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Clinton
 * Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote (Red-Purple-Blue view)
 * United States presidential election, 2016 cartogram
 * Electoral vote cartogram
 * County swing from 2012 to 2016
 * County swing from 2012 to 2016, relative to national swing

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.[456][457][458] Trump nearly doubled his support from Muslims compared to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.[459]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.[460]

Viewership
Source: adweek