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The2016 United States presidential election in Nevada was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated.Nevada voters chose electors to represent them in theElectoral College via a popular vote, pitting theRepublican Party's nominee, businessmanDonald Trump (and his running mateIndiana GovernorMike Pence), against theDemocratic Party's nominee, formerU.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton (and her running mate VirginiaSenatorTim Kaine). Nevada has six votes in the Electoral College.[1]
Clinton won the state with 47.92% of the vote, while Trump won 45.5%, which represents a tight margin between the two. Clinton's vote share marked a considerable decline from the vote sharesBarack Obama got from the state in2008 and2012. Despite this, Nevada was the only state that Clinton won in 2016 thatKamala Harris lost in2024. (Harris also wonNebraska's 2nd congressional district, which Clinton lost.)
With his overall victory in the presidential election, Trump became the first Republican sinceWilliam McKinley in1900 to win the presidency without carryingWashoe County. This is also the only time sinceWilliam Howard Taft in1908 that a Republican won the presidency without Nevada, and the last time that neither major party won a majority of the vote in Nevada. Trump later won the state in 2024, maintaining its streak of voting for every winner of the popular vote since 2004.
The2016 Nevada Democratic caucuses took place on February 20 in the U.S. state ofNevada, traditionally marking theDemocratic Party's third nominating contest in their series ofpresidential primaries ahead of the2016 presidential election.
With all other candidates having dropped out of the race ahead of the Nevada caucuses, the two remaining candidates wereBernie Sanders andHillary Clinton.[2]
Of the total number of 43 delegates the Nevada Democratic Party may send to the2016 Democratic National Convention, 35 are pledged and 8 are unpledged.
The delegate selection process is a system with three levels:
A majority of participants at the February caucuses supported Hillary Clinton. However, the county conventions on April 2, 2016, resulted in more Sanders delegates than Clinton delegates being sent to the state convention in May.
October 2015 debate in Las Vegas
On October 13, 2015, the Democratic Party's first debate was held at theWynn Hotel inLas Vegas. Hosted byAnderson Cooper, it aired onCNN and was broadcast on radio byWestwood One. Participants were the candidatesHillary Clinton,Bernie Sanders,Jim Webb,Martin O'Malley, andLincoln Chafee. It was the only debate appearance of Chafee and Webb, who ended their campaigns on October 23 and October 20, respectively.
February 2016 forum in Las Vegas
On February 18, MSNBC and Telemundo hosted a forum in Las Vegas.
| Nevada Democratic caucuses, February 20, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | County delegates | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 6,440 | 52.64% | 20 | 4 | 24 |
| Bernie Sanders | 5,785 | 47.29% | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| Uncommitted | 8 | 0.07% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 12,233 | 100% | 35 | 8 | 43 |
| Source:[3] | |||||
The County Conventions were marked by bickering between Clinton and Sanders supporters, most notably in Clark County,[4] which had been won by Clinton during the caucuses and led to the attempted arrest of the head of the credentials committee, Sanders supporter Christine Kramar, after the Clinton supporters on the Clark County Democratic committee attempted to depose her from her position. Kramar had discovered that the Clark County Democratic Party had been having private correspondence with only Clinton's campaign, as opposed to both campaigns.
The results statewide goes as follows:[5] Sanders 3846 (55.23%)Clinton 2124 (44.77%)
Sanders won most of the northern counties in Nevada, including Washoe County, and Clinton won most of the southern counties, including Clark County.
The state convention was held in May as the final stage of the delegate selection process. Supports of Senator Sanders were angered when Party officials declined to accept the credentials of close to 60 pro-Sanders delegates. Nevada Democratic Party Chairwoman, Roberta Lange, allegedly received numerous death threats and threats to the lives of her family and grandchildren; a criminal investigation has yet to confirm these claims or the identities of those allegedly involved. At the convention, Sanders supporters protested until the staff cancelled the event.[6][7] The event was later criticized as being violent, although there is no evidence that violence occurred.[8]
Despite charges by Sanders supporters that the convention was rigged against their candidate, according to Jon Ralston,[7] "the facts reveal that the Sanders folks disregarded rules, then when shown the truth, attacked organizers and party officials as tools of a conspiracy to defraud the senator of what was never rightfully his in the first place."[7][9] After Sanders campaign ChairJeff Weaver repeated assertions of process-rigging by Democratic Party officials,Politifact examined the evidence and concluded that, while the Party's selection process was "arcane" and "incredibly confusing", the fact is that "Clinton’s supporters simply turned out (attended the Convention) in larger numbers and helped her solidify her delegate lead." Moreover, according to Politifact: "There’s no clear evidence the state party 'hijacked' the process or ignored 'regular procedure.'"[10]
The Nevada Democratic Party wrote to theDemocratic National Committee accusing Sanders supporters of having a "penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior — indeed, actual violence — in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting."[11] Sanders responded by denouncing the alleged use of violence while asserting that they were not treated with "fairness and respect" in a statement.[11]
In a TV segment, comedianSamantha Bee reported on the fracas,[12][13] as didLast Week Tonight with John Oliver[14] andLate Night with Seth Meyers in "A Closer Look" segment.[15]
Delegates fromNevada to theRepublican National Convention were allocated proportionally based on the caucus results.
 | This sectionshould include a summary ofNevada Republican caucuses, 2016. SeeWikipedia:Summary style for information on how to incorporate it into this article's main text.(April 2016) |
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Actual delegate count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |||
| Donald Trump | 34,531 | 45.75% | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Marco Rubio | 17,940 | 23.77% | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Ted Cruz | 16,079 | 21.30% | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Ben Carson | 3,619 | 4.79% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| John Kasich | 2,709 | 3.59% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Invalid | 266 | 0.35% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rand Paul(withdrawn) | 170 | 0.23% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeb Bush(withdrawn) | 64 | 0.08% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Christie(withdrawn) | 50 | 0.07% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carly Fiorina(withdrawn) | 22 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Huckabee(withdrawn) | 21 | 0.03% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Santorum(withdrawn) | 11 | 0.01% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Gilmore(withdrawn) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Unprojected delegates: | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total: | 75,482 | 100.00% | 30 | 0 | 30 |
| Source:The Green Papers | |||||
From the first poll conducted in May 2016, and throughout the summer, the race was a complete tossup with neither Clinton nor Trump having a large lead. Clinton won most polls in the summer by 1-2 points. From late September till October 20, Clinton won or tied in every poll. On October 20, Trump won a poll 47% to 44%. The race was neck and neck until election day, with neither candidate taking a significant lead. The average of the final 3 polls had Clinton up 45.6% to 45% for Trump.[16]
The following are final 2016 predictions from various organizations for Nevada as of Election Day.
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[17] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| Los Angeles Times[18] | Lean D | November 6, 2016 |
| CNN[19] | Tossup | November 8, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[20] | Tilt D | November 7, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[21] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| NBC[22] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| RealClearPolitics[23] | Tossup | November 8, 2016 |
| Fox News[24] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| ABC[25] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton | 539,260 | 47.92% | |
| Republican | Donald Trump | 512,058 | 45.50% | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | 37,384 | 3.29% | |
| None of these candidates | 28,863 | 2.54% | ||
| Constitution | Darrell Castle | 5,268 | 0.46% | |
| Reform | Rocky de la Fuente | 2,552 | 0.23% | |
| Total votes | 1,125,385 | 100.00% | ||
| County | Hillary Clinton Democratic | Donald Trump Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Carson City | 9,610 | 38.42% | 13,125 | 52.47% | 2,281 | 9.11% | -3,515 | -14.05% | 25,016 |
| Churchill | 2,210 | 20.20% | 7,830 | 71.59% | 898 | 8.21% | -5,620 | -51.39% | 10,938 |
| Clark | 402,227 | 52.43% | 320,057 | 41.72% | 44,872 | 5.85% | 82,170 | 10.71% | 767,156 |
| Douglas | 8,454 | 30.32% | 17,415 | 62.45% | 2,016 | 7.23% | -8,961 | -32.13% | 27,885 |
| Elko | 3,401 | 18.33% | 13,551 | 73.02% | 1,607 | 8.65% | -10,510 | -54.69% | 18,559 |
| Esmeralda | 65 | 15.37% | 329 | 77.78% | 29 | 6.85% | -264 | -62.41% | 423 |
| Eureka | 74 | 8.67% | 723 | 84.66% | 57 | 6.67% | -649 | -75.99% | 854 |
| Humboldt | 1,386 | 21.55% | 4,521 | 70.28% | 526 | 8.17% | -3,135 | -48.73% | 6,433 |
| Lander | 403 | 16.70% | 1,828 | 75.76% | 182 | 7.54% | -1,425 | -59.06% | 2,413 |
| Lincoln | 285 | 13.37% | 1,671 | 78.38% | 176 | 8.25% | -1,386 | -65.01% | 2,132 |
| Lyon | 6,146 | 25.86% | 16,005 | 67.36% | 1,611 | 6.78% | -9,856 | -41.50% | 23,762 |
| Mineral | 637 | 31.90% | 1,179 | 59.04% | 181 | 9.06% | -542 | -27.14% | 1,997 |
| Nye | 5,094 | 26.00% | 13,324 | 68.00% | 1,177 | 6.00% | -8,230 | -42.00% | 19,595 |
| Pershing | 430 | 21.70% | 1,403 | 70.79% | 149 | 7.51% | -973 | -49.09% | 1,982 |
| Storey | 752 | 29.40% | 1,616 | 63.17% | 190 | 7.43% | -864 | -33.77% | 2,558 |
| Washoe | 97,379 | 46.39% | 94,758 | 45.14% | 17,772 | 8.47% | 2,621 | 1.25% | 209,909 |
| White Pine | 707 | 18.74% | 2,723 | 72.17% | 343 | 9.09% | -2,016 | -53.43% | 3,773 |
| Totals | 539,260 | 47.92% | 512,058 | 45.50% | 74,067 | 6.58% | 27,202 | 2.42% | 1,125,385 |
Swing by county
Trend relative to the state by countyClinton and Trump each won two of the state's four congressional districts, with Trump carrying a district that elected a Democrat in the same cycle.[27]
| District | Clinton | Trump | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 62% | 33% | Dina Titus |
| 2nd | 40% | 52% | Mark Amodei |
| 3rd | 47% | 48% | Joe Heck |
| Jacky Rosen | |||
| 4th | 49% | 45% | Cresent Hardy |
| Ruben Kihuen |
Hillary Clinton won the state over nationwide winnerDonald Trump, marking the third consecutive presidential race that Nevada voted Democratic. Nevada is one of the leastcollege-educated states in the country (see the map), and Clinton's margins declined greatly in the state's counties. However, Nevada is also aSouthwestern state that isover 25% Hispanic, and Clinton's strength with Hispanics kept the state in her column.[28]
Most counties in the state of Nevada are rural, and voted heavily for Trump. As a whole, the rural counties outside ofLas Vegas andReno gave Donald Trump a 66–27 margin. However, Clinton won the state's two most populous counties,Clark County andWashoe County, which contain about 85% of the state's population, and thus won the state's electoral votes. Compared to2012, Clinton's margin of victory was narrower in these two counties and statewide.
This is the second time since1908, and the only time since1976, that Nevada voted for a losing presidential candidate.
State and district results of the2016 United States presidential election | ||
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