2016 United States Presidential Election: 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

Businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence, defeated former secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia senator Tim Kaine on the Republican Party ticket.

2016 United States presidential election

← 2012 November 8, 2016 2020 →
538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	55.7% 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 304 227 States carried 30 + ME-02 20 + DC Popular vote 62,984,828 65,853,514 Percentage 46.1% 48.2%
Presidential election results map. Red shows states won by Trump/Pence. Numbers show the number of electoral votes from each state. Blue shows states won by Clinton/Kaine.
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Donald Trump Republican

Find more about 2016 U.S. presidential election at Wikipedia's sister projects
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	News stories from Wikinews
	Data from Wikidata

Then-incumbent President Barack Obama was term limited by the Twenty-second amendment, which made him unable to serve a third presidential term. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination. Trump became his party's front-runner against many candidates in the Republican primary, defeating Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, and Ohio Governor John Kasich among other candidates.

Many third-party candidates ran, such as Gary Johnson. Trump chose Governor of Indiana Mike Pence as his running mate, and Clinton chose Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate.

Trump received 304 electoral votes, 34 more votes than what was needed to win, while Clinton received 227. Even though Trump lost the popular vote, the electoral votes decide the actual winner of the election. Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

Article Two of the United States Constitution says that for a person to be elected and serve as President of the United States, they must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for a period of no less than 14 years.

Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various 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. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf.

President Barack Obama was unable to seek re-election for a third term because of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that a president may only serve up to two terms. His term as president ended at noon eastern standard time on January 20, 2017.

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

Withdrawn candidates

Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries
Bernie Sanders	Rocky De La Fuente	Martin O'Malley	Lawrence Lessig	Lincoln Chafee	Jim Webb
U.S. Senator from Vermont (2007–present)	Entrepreneur (1979–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	Campaign
LN: July 26, 2016 13,167,848 primary votes and 1,846 delegates	LN: July 26, 2016 67,457 primary 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

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

Withdrawn candidates

 

Wikinews has related news:

• Indiana primaries: Bernie Sanders wins Democratic, Donald Trump wins Republican

Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from race
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–present)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: May 4	W: May 3	W: Mar 15	W: Mar 4	W: Feb 20	W: Feb 12	W: Feb 10	W: Feb 10
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	W: Feb 3	W: Feb 1	W: Dec 29, 2015	W: Dec 21, 2015	W: Nov 17, 2015	W: Sept 21, 2015	W: Sept 11, 2015

Libertarian Party

 

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

Withdrawn candidates

• Robert David Steele, activist and author from Virginia; candidate for the Reform Party's nomination in 2012. Suspended campaign on January 6, 2016
• Marc Allan Feldman, Anesthesiologist at The Cleveland Clinic (since 1998). Suspended after convention
• John McAfee, businessman and computer scientist, founder of McAfee. Suspended after convention
• Austin Petersen, businessman and founder and CEO of Stonegait, LLC. Suspended after convention. Endorsed Gary Johnson
• Vermin Supreme, performance artist and activist; candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination in 2012 and 2016. Suspended after convention.

•  
  Activist
  Robert David Steele
  of Virginia
•  
  Anesthesiologist
  Marc Allan Feldman
  of Ohio
•  
  Businessman
  John McAfee
  of Tennessee
•  
  Businessman
  Austin Petersen
  of Missouri
  Endorsed Gary Johnson
•  
  Activist
  Vermin Supreme
  of New Hampshire

Constitution Party

Ballot access to 207 electoral votes (451 with write-in): –

 

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

Nominees

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

Green Party

 

Ballot access to 493(451) electoral votes: Ballot access currently in process: North Dakota, Rhode Island, Wyoming

States currently under litigation for ballot access: Nevada, Oklahoma

States with no ballot access: South Dakota
As write-in: Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina.

Nominees

Presumptive Green Party Ticket, 2016
Jill Stein	Ajamu Baraka
for President	for Vice President
Physician from Lexington, Massachusetts	Activist from Washington, D.C.
Campaign

Other active candidates

• Darryl Cherney, Earth First! organizer and musician from California
• Sedinam Curry, 29th People's National Convention organizer from California
• William Kreml, Professor Emeritus of University of South Carolina from South Carolina. Endorsed Jill Stein
• Kent Mesplay, Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District of San Diego County (2001-2015) from California. Endorsed Jill Stein

•  
  Musician
  Darryl Cherney
  of California
•  
  Professor
  William Kreml
  of South Carolina
  Endorsed Jill Stein
•  
  Inspector
  Kent Mesplay
  of California
  Endorsed Jill Stein

Withdrawn candidates

• Midge Potts, transgender peace activist from Missouri. Suspended campaign during primaries

•  
  Activist
  Midge Potts
  of Missouri

American Delta Party and Reform Party

 

Ballot access to 147 electoral votes (305 with write-in)

• On the ballot: 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
• As write-in: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
• No ballot access: California, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming

American Delta Party and Reform Party ticket, 2016
Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente	Michael Steinberg
for President	for Vice President
Business Tycoon	Lawyer from Florida
Campaign

Independents

 

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

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

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

American Freedom Party

Ballot Access to 6 electoral votes: Mississippi

• Bob Whitaker, white nationalist and paleoconservative political activist from South Carolina. Vice-presidential nominee: Tom Bowie, from Maryland

Independent American Party

Ballot Access to 18 Electoral Votes: New Mexico, Oregon, Utah

• Farley Anderson, activist from Utah. Vice Presidential nominee: Vacant

Party for Socialism and Liberation

Ballot Access to 29 electoral votes: Florida

• Gloria La Riva, newspaper printer and activist from New Mexico; 2008 presidential nominee; vice-presidential nominee: Eugene Puryear

Prohibition Party

Ballot Access to 21 electoral votes: Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi

• James Hedges, Tax Assessor for Thompson Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania 2002–2007; vice-presidential nominee: Bill Bayes of Mississippi

Peace and Freedom Party & Party of Socialism and Liberation

Ballot Access to 84 electoral votes: California, Florida

• Gloria La Riva, newspaper printer and activist, from New Mexico

Socialist Party USA

Ballot Access to 0 electoral votes

• Mimi Soltysik, former National Co-chair of the Socialist Party USA from California; vice-presidential nominee: Angela Walker of Wisconsin

Nutrition Party

Ballot Access to 9 electoral votes: Colorado

• Rod Silva, restaurateur from New Jersey; Vice-presidential nominee: Vacant

Veterans Party of America

Ballot Access to 6 electoral votes: Mississippi

• Chris Keniston, reliability engineer from Texas; vice-presidential nominee: Deacon Taylor of Nevada

Workers World Party

Ballot Access to 0 electoral votes

• Monica Moorehead, perennial candidate and activist from New Jersey; vice-Presidential nominee: Lamont Lilly

Battleground states during the election were: Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio and North Carolina. Trump won Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and a congressional district in Maine. Clinton won Nevada, New Hampshire and Maine. Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were seen as likely 'Blue' states, but Trump won all three states in what was seen as a political upset.

 

 

Philadelphia

 

Cleveland

 

Orlando

 

Houston

 

Salt Lake City

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  Democratic Party

  Republican Party

  Libertarian Party

  Green Party

  Constitution Party

  Reform Party

Democratic Party

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

Republican Party

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

Green Party

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

Libertarian Party

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

Constitution Party

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

Reform Party

• July 29–31, 2016: Reform Party National Convention was held in Bohemia, New York.

On April 1, 2015, the Commission on Presidential Debates a (CPD) announced that each of the following 16 locations are under consideration to host one of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate:

• Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Dominican University of California in San Rafael, California
• Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky
• Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia
• Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York
• Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida
• Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia
• State University of New York Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
• West Virginia University and West Virginia State University in Charleston, West Virginia
• Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio
• Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
• Houston Community College in Houston, Texas
• McAllen, Texas

The three locations which will host the presidential debates and the one location selected to host the vice presidential debate are to be announced by the CPD in the fall of 2015.

Margin of victory

• Blue shows Clinton's margin of victory over Trump, while red shows Trump's margin of victory over Clinton.

The following table shows the swing in each state compared to the 2012 election.