Presidential election results map.Red denotes states won by Trump/Pence andblue denotes those won by Clinton/Kaine. Numbers indicateelectoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia. On election night, Trump won 306 electors and Clinton 232. However, because of sevenfaithless electors (five Democratic and two Republican), Trump received 304 votes and Clinton 227.
With ballot access to the entire national electorate,Libertarian nomineeGary Johnson received nearly 4.5 million votes (3.27%), the highest nationwide vote share for a third-party candidate sinceRoss Perot in1996,[27] whileGreen Party nomineeJill Stein received almost 1.45 million votes (1.06%). Independent candidateEvan McMullin received21.4% of the vote in his home state of Utah, the highest share of the vote for a non-major party candidate in any state since 1992.[28]
On January 6, 2017, theU.S. Intelligence Community concluded that theRussian government had interfered in the election[29][30] in order to "undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency".[31] ASpecial Counsel investigation[32][33] concluded in March 2019 that Russia had interfered "in sweeping and systematic fashion" in favor of Trump's candidacy, but did not establish that members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.[34][35]
Both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as third parties such as the Green and Libertarian parties, held a series ofpresidential primary elections and caucuses that took place between February and June 2016, staggered among the 50 states, theDistrict of Columbia, andU.S. territories. This nominating process was also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party'snominating convention, who in turn elected their party's presidential nominee. Speculation about the 2016 campaign began almost immediately following the 2012 campaign, withNew York magazine declaring that the race had begun in an article published on November 8, two days after the 2012 election.[38] On the same day,Politico released an article predicting that the 2016 general election would be between Clinton and formerFlorida GovernorJeb Bush, while an article inThe New York Times namedNew Jersey GovernorChris Christie and SenatorCory Booker fromNew Jersey as potential candidates.[39][40]
With seventeen major candidates entering the race, starting withTed Cruz on March 23, 2015, this was the largest presidential primary field for any political party in American history,[41] before being overtaken by the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.[42]
Prior to theIowa 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 theNew Hampshire primary, Christie, Fiorina, and Gilmore abandoned the race. Bush followed suit after scoring fourth place to Trump, Rubio, and Cruz inSouth Carolina. On March 1, the first of four "Super Tuesday" primaries, Rubio won his first contest in Minnesota, Cruz won Alaska, Oklahoma, and his home state of Texas, and Trump won the other seven states that voted. Failing to gain traction, Carson suspended his campaign a few days later.[43] On March 15, 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.[44]
Between March 16 and May 3, 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 the 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, securing all 57 of the state's delegates. Without any further chances of forcing acontested convention, both Cruz[45] and Kasich[46] suspended their campaigns. Trump remained the only active candidate and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee byRepublican National Committee chairmanReince Priebus on the evening of May 3.[47]
A 2018 study found that media coverage of Trump led to increased public support for him during the primaries. The study showed that Trump received nearly $2 billion in free media, more than double any other candidate. Political scientistJohn M. Sides argued that Trump's polling surge was "almost certainly" due to frequent media coverage of his campaign. Sides concluded "Trump is surging in the polls because the news media has consistently focused on him since he announced his candidacy on June 16".[48] Prior to clinching the Republican nomination, Trump received little support from establishment Republicans.[49]
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 popular vote from the primaries
It was on July 12 reported that Trump had narrowed his list of possible running mates down to three: Christie, Gingrich, and Pence.[89] Two days later, several major media outlets reported that Trump had selected Pence as his running mate. Trump confirmed these reports in a messageTwitter on July 15, and formally made the announcement the following day in New York.[90][91] On July 19, the second night of the2016 Republican National Convention, Pence won the Republican vice presidential nomination by acclamation.[92]
Former secretary of stateHillary Clinton, who also served in the U.S. Senate and was thefirst 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.[93] Whilenationwide opinion polls in 2015 indicated that Clinton was thefront-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, she faced strong challenges from independent SenatorBernie Sanders of Vermont,[94] who became the second major candidate when he formally announced on April 30, that he was running for the Democratic nomination.[95] September 2015 polling numbers indicated a narrowing gap between Clinton and Sanders.[94][96][97] On May 30, formergovernor of MarylandMartin O'Malley was the third major candidate to enter the Democratic primary race,[98] followed by former independent governor and Republican senator of Rhode IslandLincoln Chafee on June 3,[99][100] former Virginia senatorJim Webb on July 2,[101] and former Harvard law professorLawrence Lessig on September 6.[102]
On October 20, Webb announced his withdrawal from the primaries, and explored a potential independent run.[103] The next day, Vice PresidentJoe Biden decided not to run, ending months of speculation, stating, "While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent".[104][105] 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".[106] 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.[107]
On February 1, 2016, Clinton won theIowa 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 theNew Hampshire primary with 60% of the vote. In the remaining two February contests, Clinton won theNevada caucuses with 53% of the vote and scored a decisive victory in theSouth Carolina primary with 73% of the vote.[108][109] On March 1, eleven 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 wonColorado, Minnesota,Oklahoma, and his home state of Vermont and 340 delegates. The following weekend, Sanders won victories inKansas,Nebraska, andMaine with 15- to 30-point margins, while Clinton won theLouisiana primary with 71% of the vote. On March 8, despite never having a lead in theMichigan 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 inMississippi.[110] On March 15, the second "Super Tuesday", Clinton won inFlorida,Illinois,Missouri,North Carolina, andOhio. Between March 22 and April 9, Sanders won six caucuses inIdaho,Utah,Alaska,Hawaii,Washington, andWyoming, as well as theWisconsin primary, while Clinton won theArizona primary. On April 19, Clinton won theNew York primary with 58% of the vote. On April 26, in the third "Super Tuesday" dubbed the "Acela primary", she won contests inConnecticut,Delaware,Maryland, andPennsylvania, while Sanders won inRhode Island. Over the course of May, Sanders accomplished another surprise win in theIndiana primary[111] and also won inWest Virginia andOregon, while Clinton won theGuam caucus andKentucky primary (and also non-binding primaries in Nebraska and Washington).
On June 4–5, Clinton won two victories in theVirgin Islands caucus andPuerto Rico primary. Two days later, theAssociated Press andNBC News reported that Clinton had become thepresumptive nominee after reaching the required number of delegates, including pledged delegates andsuperdelegates, to secure the nomination, becoming thefirst woman to ever clinch the presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party.[112] On June 7, Clinton secured a majority of pledged delegates after winning primaries inCalifornia,New Jersey,New Mexico, andSouth Dakota, while Sanders won onlyMontana andNorth Dakota. Clinton also won the final primary in theDistrict 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 714unpledged delegates or "superdelegates" who were set to vote in theconvention in July, Clinton received endorsements from 560 (78%), while Sanders received 47 (7%).[113]
Although Sanders had not formally dropped out of the race, he announced on June 16, that his main goal in the coming months would be to work with Clinton to defeat Trump in the general election.[114] On July 8, appointees from the Clinton campaign, the Sanders campaign, and the Democratic National Committee negotiated a draft of the party's platform.[115] On July 12, Sanders formally endorsed Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire in which he appeared with her.[116] Sanders then went on to headline 39 campaign rallies on behalf of Clinton in 13 key states.[117]
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 popular vote from the primaries
On July 22, Clinton announced that she had chosen Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia as her running mate.[126] The delegates at the2016 Democratic National Convention, which took place July 25–28, formally nominated the Democratic ticket.
Ballot access to 84 electoral votes (451 with write-in):[138]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[138][139][140][141][142][143][144]
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.[145]
California, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington[149][150] (Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia)[140][141][143][135][151][152][153][154][155]
A general election ballot, listing the presidential and vice presidential candidatesPresidential candidates Trump and Clinton campaigned in 26 states, excluding their home state, during the 2016 United States presidential election.[163]
Hillary Clinton focused her candidacy on several themes, including raising middle class incomes, expanding women's rights, instituting campaign finance reform, and improving theAffordable Care Act. In March 2016, she laid out a detailed economic plan basing her economic philosophy oninclusive capitalism, which proposed a "clawback" that rescindstax cuts 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 increasingcollective bargaining rights; and placing an "exit tax" on companies that move their headquarters out of the U.S. in order to pay a lower tax rate overseas.[164] Clinton promotedequal pay for equal work to address current alleged shortfalls in how much women are paid to do the same jobs men do,[165] promoted explicitly focus on family issues and support ofuniversal preschool,[166] expressed support for the right tosame-sex marriage,[166] and proposed allowingundocumented immigrants to have a path tocitizenship stating that it "[i]s at its heart a family issue".[167]
Donald Trump's campaign drew heavily on his personal image, enhanced by his previous media exposure.[168] The primary slogan of the Trump campaign, extensively used on campaign merchandise, wasMake 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.[169] Trump'sright-wing populist positions—reported byThe New Yorker to benativist,protectionist, and semi-isolationist—differ in many ways fromtraditional U.S. conservatism.[170] He opposed manyfree trade deals andmilitary interventionist policies that conservatives generally support, and opposed cuts inMedicare andSocial Security benefits. Moreover, he has insisted that Washington is "broken" and can be fixed only by an outsider.[171][172][173] Support for Trump was high among working and middle-class white male voters with annual incomes of less than $50,000 and nocollege degree.[174] This group, particularly those without ahigh-school diploma, suffered a decline in their income in recent years.[175] According toThe Washington Post, support for Trump is higher in areas with a higher mortality rate for middle-aged white people.[176] 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 inWest Virginia, followed byNew York, and then followed by six Southern states.[177]
Clinton had an uneasy—and, at times, adversarial—relationship with the press throughout her life in public service.[178] 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.[179] Clinton was initially criticized by the press for avoiding taking their questions,[180][181] 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.[182] According to data from theTyndall 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 ofNBC,CBS andABC, more than all the Democratic campaigns combined.[183][184][185] Observers noted Trump's ability to garner constant mainstream media coverage "almost at will".[186] However, Trump frequently criticized the media for writing what he alleged to be false stories about him[187] and he has called upon his supporters to be "thesilent majority".[188] 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.[189][190]
Clinton campaigning in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 22
According to a wide range of representative polls, both Clinton and Trump had significant net-unfavorability ratings, and their controversial reputations set the tone of the campaign.[191]
Clinton's practice during her time as Secretary of State ofusing a private email address and server, in lieu of State Department servers, gained widespread public attention back in March 2015.[192] Concerns were raised about security and preservation of emails, and the possibility that laws may have been violated.[193] 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.[194][195][196][197]The FBI probe was concluded on July 5, 2016, with a recommendation of no charges, a recommendation that was followed by the Justice Department.
Also, on September 9, Clinton said: "You know, just to be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call thebasket of deplorables. They're racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic—you name it",[198] adding "But that 'other' basket of people are people who feel the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures; and they're just desperate for change...Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well".[199]
Donald Trump criticized her remark as insulting his supporters.[200][201] The following day Clinton expressed regret for saying "half", while insisting that Trump had deplorably amplified "hateful views and voices".[202] Previously on August 25, Clinton gave a speech criticizing Trump's campaign for using "racist lies" and allowing thealt-right to gain prominence.[203]
On September 11, Clinton left a 9/11 memorial event early due to illness.[204] Video footage of Clinton's departure showed Clinton becoming unsteady on her feet and being helped into a van.[205] Later that evening, Clinton reassured reporters that she was "feeling great".[206] After initially stating that Clinton had become overheated at the event, her campaign later added that she had been diagnosed withpneumonia two days earlier.[205] The media criticized the Clinton campaign for a lack of transparency regarding Clinton's illness.[205] Clinton cancelled a planned trip to California due to her illness. The episode drew renewed public attention to questions about Clinton's health.[206]
On the other side, on October 7,video and accompanying audio were released byThe Washington Post in which Trump referred obscenely to women in a 2005 conversation withBilly Bush while they were preparing to film an episode ofAccess Hollywood. In the recording, Trump described his attempts to initiate a sexual relationship with a married woman and added that women would allow male celebrities to grope their genitalia (Trump used the phrase "grab 'em by the pussy"). The audio was met with a reaction of disbelief and disgust from the media.[207][208][209] Following the revelation, Trump's campaign issued an apology, stating that the video was of a private conversation from "many years ago".[210] The incident was condemned by numerous prominent Republicans likeReince Priebus,Mitt Romney,John Kasich,Jeb Bush[211] and theSpeaker of the HousePaul Ryan.[212] Many believed the video had doomed Trump's chances for election. By October 8, several dozen Republicans had called for Trump to withdraw from the campaign and let Pence andCondoleezza Rice head the ticket.[213] Trump insisted he would never drop out, but apologized for his remarks.[214][215]
Trump also delivered strong and controversial statements towards Muslims and Islam on the campaign trail, saying, "I think Islam hates us".[216] He was criticized and also supported for his statement at a rally declaring, "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".[217] Additionally, Trump announced that he would "look into" surveilling mosques, and mentioned potentially going after the families ofdomestic terrorists in the wake of theSan Bernardino shooting.[218] His strong rhetoric towards Muslims resulted in leadership from both parties condemning his statements. However, many of his supporters shared their support for his proposedtravel ban, despite the backlash.[217]
Throughout the campaign, Trump indicated in interviews, speeches, andTwitter posts that he would refuse to recognize the outcome of the election if he was defeated.[219][220] Trump falsely stated that the election would berigged against him.[221][222] During the finalpresidential debate of 2016, Trump refused to tellFox News anchorChris Wallace whether or not he would accept the election results.[223] The rejection of election results by a major nominee would have been unprecedented at the time as no major presidential candidate had ever refused to accept the outcome of an election until Trump did so himself in the following2020 presidential election.[224][225]
The ongoing controversy of the election made third parties attract voters' attention. On March 3, 2016, Libertarian Gary Johnson addressed theConservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, touting himself as the third-party option for anti-Trump Republicans.[226][227] 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.[228] Johnson also began to get time on national television, being invited onABC News,NBC News,CBS News,CNN,Fox News,MSNBC,Bloomberg, and many other networks.[229] In September–October 2016, Johnson suffered a "string of damaging stumbles when he has fielded questions about foreign affairs".[230][231] On September 8, Johnson, when he appeared onMSNBC'sMorning Joe, was asked by panelistMike Barnicle, "What would you do, if you were elected, aboutAleppo?" (referring to awar-torn city inSyria). Johnson responded, "And what is Aleppo?"[232] His response prompted widespread attention, much of it negative.[232][233] Later that day, Johnson said that he had "blanked" and that he did "understand the dynamics of theSyrian conflict—I talk about them every day".[233]
On the other hand, Green Party candidateJill Stein said the Democratic and Republican parties are "two corporate parties" that have converged into one.[234] Concerned by the rise of thefar right internationally and the tendency towardsneoliberalism within the Democratic Party, she has said, "The answer toneofascism is stopping neoliberalism. Putting another Clinton in the White House will fan the flames of this right-wing extremism".[235][236]
In response to Johnson's growing poll numbers, theClinton 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 SenatorBernie 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.[237]
On October 28, eleven days before the election,FBI DirectorJames Comey informed Congress that the FBI was analyzing additional Clinton emails obtained during its investigation ofan unrelated case.[238][239] On November 6, he notified Congress that the new emails did not change the FBI's earlier conclusion.[240][241] In the week following the "Comey Letter" of October 28, Clinton's lead dropped by 3 percentage points, leading some commentators - including Clinton herself - to conclude that this letter cost her the election,[242][243][244] though there are dissenting views.[243]
Wall Street spent a record $2 billion trying to influence the 2016 United States presidential election.[254][255]
The following table is an overview of the money used in the campaign as it is reported toFederal Election Commission (FEC) and released in September 2016. Outside groups areindependent expenditure-only committees – also calledPACs and SuperPACs. The sources of the numbers are the FEC andOpenSecrets.[256] Some spending totals are not available, due to withdrawals before the FEC deadline. As of September 2016[update], ten candidates with ballot access have filed financial reports with the FEC.
Among states that offered early in-person voting to all voters in 2016, 27 percent of all votes were cast early in person. Across states where mail voting was available to all voters, 34 percent of all votes were cast by mail. Nationwide, a total of 40 percent of votes were cast before Election Day in the 2016 general election.[277]
Gary Johnson received endorsements from several major daily newspapers, including theChicago Tribune,[296] and theRichmond Times-Dispatch.[297] Other traditionally Republican papers, including theNew Hampshire Union Leader, which had endorsed the Republican nominee in every election for the last 100 years,[298] andThe Detroit News, which had not endorsed a non-Republican in its 143 years,[299] endorsed Gary Johnson.
"Because you'd be in jail": Off-the-cuff quip by Donald Trump during the second presidential debate, in rebuttal to Clinton stating it was "awfully good someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country".[300]
"Bigly": A word used by Donald Trump most notably during thefirst presidential debate,[301] Trump claims that he said, "I'm going to cut taxes big-league, and you're going to raise taxes big-league", but that it was misheard by many asbigly.[302]
"Build the wall": A chant used at many Trump campaign rallies, and Donald Trump's corresponding promise of theMexican Border Wall.[301]
"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.[303]
"Lock her up": A chant first used at theRepublican convention to claim that Hillary Clinton was guilty of a crime. The chant was later used at many Trump campaign rallies and even against other politicians critical of Trump, such as Michigan GovernorGretchen Whitmer[306][307] and (as "lock him up") against PresidentJoe Biden.[308] The phrase would also see use in the2024 United States presidential election by opponents of Trump in reference to hisindictments.
"Russia, if you're listening": Used by Donald Trump to invite Russia to "find the 30,000 emails that are missing" (from Hillary Clinton) during aJuly 2016 news conference.[311]
"They're not sending their best...They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people": Donald Trump's controversial description of those crossing theMexico–United States border during the June 2015 launch of his campaign.[318]
"What the hell do you have to lose?": Said by Donald Trump to inner-city African Americans at rallies starting on August 19, 2016.[319][320]
By Clinton and Democrats:
"Basket of deplorables": A controversial phrase coined by Hillary Clinton to describe half of those who support Trump.
"I'm with her": Clinton's unofficial campaign slogan ("Stronger Together" was the official slogan).[321]
"What, like with a cloth or something?": Said by Hillary Clinton in response to being asked whether she "wiped"her emails during an August 2015 press conference.[304]
"Why aren't I 50 points ahead?": Rhetorical question asked by Hillary Clinton during a video address to theLaborers' International Union of North America on September 21, 2016, which was then turned into an opposition ad by the Trump campaign.[322][323]
"Feel the Bern": A phrase chanted by supporters of theBernie Sanderscampaign which was officially adopted by his campaign.[325]
"Pokémon Go to the polls": An often-ridiculed phrase coined by Hillary Clinton to encourage young people to go to the polls.[326]
By others:
"What is Aleppo?": Said byLibertarian Party nomineeGary Johnson when questioned about the Syrian Civil War. The remark was largely credited as having derailed Johnson's campaign, which was polling in the double digits at the time of the remark.[327]
TheCommission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a non-profit organization, hosteddebates 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]
Clinton conceded victory to Trump on November 9.PresidentBarack Obama (right) and President-electDonald Trump (left) meet in theOval Office of theWhite House as part of the presidential transition.
The news media and election experts were surprised at Trump's winning of the Electoral College. On the eve of the vote, spread betting firmSpreadex had Clinton at an Electoral College spread of 307–322 against Trump's 216–231.[336] The final polls showed a lead by Clinton, and in the end she did receive more votes.[337] Trump himself expected, based on polling, to lose the election, and rented a small hotel ballroom to make a brief concession speech, later remarking: "I said if we're going to lose I don't want a big ballroom".[338] Trump performed surprisingly well in allbattleground states, especiallyFlorida,Iowa,Ohio, andNorth Carolina. Even the Democratic-leaningRust Belt states ofMichigan,Pennsylvania, andWisconsin were narrowly won by Trump.[339]
According to the authors ofShattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign, the White House had concluded by late Tuesday night that Trump would win the election. Obama's political directorDavid Simas called Clinton campaign managerRobby Mook to persuade Clinton to concede the election, with no success. Obama then called Clinton directly, citing the importance of continuity of government, to ask her to publicly acknowledge that Trump had won.[340] Believing that Clinton was still unwilling to concede, the president then called her campaign chairJohn Podesta, but the call to Clinton had likely already persuaded her.[341]
The Associated Press called Pennsylvania for Trump at 1:35 AM EST, putting Trump at 267 electoral votes. By 2:01 AM EST, they had called both Maine and Nebraska's second congressional districts for Trump, putting him at 269 electoral votes, making it impossible for Clinton to reach 270. One minute after this, John Podesta told Hillary Clinton's victory party in New York that the election was too close to call. At 2:29 AM EST, the Associated Press called Wisconsin, and the election, for Trump, giving him 279 electoral votes. By 2:37 AM EST, Clinton had called Trump to concede the election.[342][343]
On Wednesday morning at 2:30 AM EST, it was reported that Trump had secured Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, giving him a majority of the 538 electors in theElectoral College, enough to make him thepresident-elect of the United States,[344] and Trump gave his victory speech at 2:50 AM EST.[344] Later that day, Clinton asked her supporters to accept the result and hoped that Trump would be "a successful president for all Americans".[345] In his speech, Trump appealed for unity, saying "it is time for us to come together as one united people", and praised Clinton as someone who was owed "a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country".[346]
Statistical analysis
Trump's 2016 victory was among the few in which the electoral college winner received fewer popular votes than the rival (right end of chart).[347]
The 2016 election was the fifth and most recent presidential election in which thewinning candidate lost the popular vote.[2][4] Six states plus a portion of Maine that Obama won in 2012 switched to Trump (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 had in 2012, with two lost tofaithless electors in the final tally. Thirty-nine states swung more Republican compared to the previous presidential election, while eleven states and the District of Columbia swung more Democratic.[245] Based onUnited States Census Bureau estimates of the voting age population (VAP), turnout of voters casting a vote for president was nearly 1% higher than in 2012. Examining overall turnout in the2016 election, the University of Florida'sMichael McDonald estimated that 138.8 million Americans cast a ballot. Considering a VAP of 250.6 million people and a voting-eligible population (VEP) of 230.6 million people, this is a turnout rate of 55.4% VAP and 60.2% VEP.[348] Based on this estimate, voter turnout was up compared to 2012 (54.1% VAP) but down compared to 2008 (57.4% VAP). An FEC report of the election recorded an official total of 136.7 million votes cast for president—more than any prior election.[1]
By losing New York, Trump became the fourth and most recent victorious candidate to lose his home state, which also occurred in 1844, 1916, and 1968. Furthermore, along withJames Polk in 1844, Trump is one of two victorious presidential nominees to win without either their home state or birth state (in this case, both were New York). Data scientist Hamdan Azhar noted the paradoxes of the 2016 outcome, saying that "chief among them [was] 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. Hamdan also said Trump was "the highest vote earner of any Republican candidate ever", exceedingGeorge 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. He concluded, with help fromThe 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.[349] Clinton was the first former Secretary of State to be nominated by a major political party sinceJames G. Blaine in1884.
This is the first election since 1988 in which the Republican nominee won the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, and the first since 1984 in which they won Wisconsin. It was the first time since 1988 that the Republicans won Maine's second congressional district and the first time since George W. Bush's victory in New Hampshire in 2000 that they won any electoral votes in the Northeast. This marked the first time that Maine split its electoral votes since it began awarding them based on congressional districts in 1972, and the first time the state split its electoral vote since 1828. The 2016 election marked the eighth consecutive presidential election where the victoriousmajor party nominee did not receive apopular vote majority by a double-digit margin over the losing major party nominee(s), with the sequence of presidential elections from1988 through 2016 surpassing the sequence from1876 through1900 to become the longest sequence of such presidential elections in U.S. history.[350][351] It was also the sixth presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in1860,1904,1920,1940, and1944. It was also the first election since1928 that the Republicans won without having eitherRichard Nixon or one of theBushes on the ticket.
Trump was the first president with neither prior public service nor military experience. This election was the first since 1908 where neither candidate was currently serving in public office. This was the first election since 1980 where a Republican was elected without carrying every former Confederate state in the process, as Trump lost Virginia in this election.[b] Trump became the first Republican to earn more than 300 electoral votes since the 1988 election. This was the first time since 1976 that a Republican presidential candidate lost a pledged vote via a faithless elector, and, additionally, this was the first time since 1972 that the winning presidential candidate lost an electoral vote due to faithless electors. 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, while Stein received almost 1.45 million votes (1.06%), the most for a Green nominee since Ralph Nader in 2000. Johnson received the highest ever share of the vote for a Libertarian nominee, surpassing Ed Clark's 1980 result.[352]
Independent candidate Evan McMullin, who appeared on the ballot in eleven 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. Despite dropping out of the election following his defeat in the Democratic primary, Senator Bernie Sanders received 5.7% of the vote in his home state of Vermont, the highest write-in draft campaign percentage for a presidential candidate in American history. Johnson and McMullin were the first third-party candidates since Nader to receive at least 5% of the vote in one or more states, with Johnson crossing the mark in nine states and McMullin crossing it in two.[352] Trump became the oldest non-incumbent candidate elected president, besting Ronald Reagan in 1980, although this would be surpassed by Joe Biden in the next election only for it to return to Trump after his victory in 2024. Of the 3,153 counties/districts/independent cities making returns, Trump won the most popular votes in 2,649 (84.02%) while Clinton carried 504 (15.98%).[353]
^abIn state-by-state tallies, Trump earned 306 pledged electors, Clinton 232. They lost respectively two and five votes tofaithless electors. Vice presidential candidates Pence and Kaine lost one and five votes, respectively. Three other votes by electors were invalidated and recast.
^In 1980, Democrat Jimmy Carter carried his home state of Georgia, despite losing the election.
^Pence received 305 electoral votes for vice president, but only 304 as part of the Trump–Pence ticket; one faithless elector from Texas voted for Ron Paul as president instead of Trump, and is recorded separately below.[1]
^abcdefghCandidate received votes as a write-in. The exact numbers of write-in votes have been published for three states: California, New Hampshire, and Vermont.[355]
^abcTwo faithless electors from Texas cast their presidential votes for Ron Paul and John Kasich, respectively. Chris Suprun said he cast his presidential vote for John Kasich and his vice presidential vote for Carly Fiorina. The other faithless elector in Texas, Bill Greene, cast his presidential vote for Ron Paul but cast his vice presidential vote for Mike Pence, as pledged. John Kasich received recorded write-in votes inAlabama,Georgia,Illinois,New Hampshire,North Carolina,Pennsylvania, andVermont.
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.[2] The column labeled "Margin" shows Trump's margin of victory over Clinton (the margin is negative for every state that Clinton won). A total of 29third party and independent presidential candidates appeared on the ballot in at least one state. FormerGovernor of New MexicoGary Johnson and physicianJill Stein repeated their2012 roles as the nominees for theLibertarian Party and theGreen Party, respectively.[356]
Aside fromFlorida andNorth Carolina, the states that secured Trump's victory are situated in theGreat Lakes/Rust Belt region.Wisconsin went Republican for the first time since1984, whilePennsylvania andMichigan went Republican for the first time since1988.[357][358][359] Stein petitioned for arecount in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The Clinton campaign pledged to participate in the Green Party recount efforts, while Trump backers challenged them in court.[360][361][362] Meanwhile,American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidateRocky De La Fuente petitioned for and was granted a partial recount inNevada.[363] According to a 2021 study inScience Advances, conversion of voters who voted for Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016 contributed to Republican flips in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.[364]
Two states (Maine[b] and Nebraska) allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates by congressional districts. The winner within each congressional district gets one electoral vote for the district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes.[421][422] Results are fromThe New York Times.[423]
States and EV districts that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Vote margin swing by state2012 to 2016. Only eleven states (as well as the District of Columbia and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district) shifted more Democratic. Thelarge swing in Utah is mostly due to the votes for third-party candidateEvan McMullin and the 2012 candidacy ofMitt Romney.
Mostmedia outlets announced the beginning of the presidential race about twenty months prior toElection Day. Soon after the first contestants declared their candidacy,Larry Sabato listed Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada, and Ohio as the seven states most likely to be contested in thegeneral election. After Donald Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination, many pundits felt that the major campaign locations might be different from what had originally been expected.[424]
Rust Belt states such asPennsylvania,Wisconsin, and evenMichigan were thought to be in play with Trump as the nominee, while states with large minority populations, such asColorado andVirginia, were expected to shift towards Clinton.[425] By the conventions period and the debates, however, it did not seem as though the Rust Belt states could deliver a victory to Trump, as many of them were considered to be part of the "blue wall" of Democratic-leaning states. Trump's courting of thePolish-American vote, a sizable number of whom wereReagan Democrats, has been cited as the cause for the loss of the Rust Belt by the Democratic nominee.[426] According to Politico[427] and FiveThirtyEight, his path to victory went through states such as Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, and possibly Colorado.[428][429][430][431]
A consensus amongpolitical pundits developed throughout theprimary election season regarding swing states.[435] From the results of presidential elections from2004 through to2012, the Democratic and Republican parties would generally start with a safeelectoral vote count of about 150 to 200.[436][425] However, themargins required to constitute a swing state are vague, and can vary between groups of analysts.[437][438] It was thought that left-leaning states in theRust Belt could become moreconservative, as Trump had strong appeal among manyblue-collar workers.[439] They represent a large portion of the American populace and were a major factor in Trump's eventualnomination. Trump's primary campaign was propelled by victories in Democratic states, and his supporters often did not identify as Republican.[440]
Media reports indicated that both candidates planned to concentrate on Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina.[441][442] Among the Republican-leaning states, potential Democratic targets includedNebraska's second congressional district, Georgia, and Arizona.[443] Trump's relatively poor polling in some traditionally Republican states, such as Utah, raised the possibility that they could vote for Clinton, despite easy wins there by recentRepublican nominees.[444] However, many analysts asserted that these states were not yet viable Democratic destinations.[445][446] Several sites and individuals publish electoral predictions. These generally rate the race by the likelihood for each party to win a state.[447] The "tossup" label is usually used to indicate that neither party has an advantage, "lean" to indicate a party has a slight edge, "likely" to indicate a party has a clear but not overwhelming advantage, and "safe" to indicate a party has an advantage that cannot be overcome.[448]
As the parameters of the race established themselves, analysts converged on a narrower list of contested states, which were relatively similar to those of recent elections. On November 7, theCook Political Report categorized Arizona,Colorado,Florida,Iowa, Michigan,Nevada,New Hampshire, North Carolina,Ohio, Pennsylvania, andWisconsin as states with close races. Additionally, a district from each of Maine and Nebraska were considered to be coin flips.[449] Meanwhile,FiveThirtyEight listed twenty-two states as potentially competitive about a month beforethe election—Maine's two at-large electoral votes, New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, Arizona, Georgia, Alaska, South Carolina, Texas,Indiana, Missouri, and Utah—as well asMaine's second andNebraska's second congressional districts.[450]Nate Silver, the publication's editor-in-chief, subsequently removed Texas, South Carolina, Missouri, and Indiana from the list after the race tightened significantly.[451] These conclusions were supported bymodels such as thePrinceton Elections Consortium, the New York Times Upshot, and punditry evaluations fromSabato's Crystal Ball and theCook Political Report.[452][453][454][455]
Hillary Clinton won states likeNew Mexico by less than 10 percentage points.[456] Among the states where the candidates finished at a margin of within seven percent, Clinton won Virginia (13 electoral votes), Colorado (9), Maine (2), Minnesota (10), and New Hampshire (4). On the other hand, Trump won Michigan (16), Pennsylvania (20), Wisconsin (10), Florida (29), North Carolina (15), Arizona (11), Nebraska's second district (1), and Georgia (16). States won by Obama in the2012, such as Ohio (18), Iowa (6), and Maine's second district (1), were also won by Trump. The close result inMaine was not expected by most commentators, nor were Trump's victory of over 10 points in the second district and their disparities.[457][458][459] The dramatic shift ofMidwestern states towards Trump were contrasted in the media against the relative movement ofSouthern states towards theDemocrats.[460] For example, former Democratic strongholds such asMinnesota andMaine leaned towards theGOP while still voting Democratic, albeit by smaller margins. Meanwhile, Iowa voted more Republican than Texas did, Georgia was more Democratic than Ohio, and the margin of victory for Trump was greater in North Carolina than Arizona.[461][462] Trump's smaller victories inAlaska andUtah also took some experts by surprise.[463]
Close states
States where the margin of victory was under 1% (50 electoral votes; 46 won by Trump, 4 by Clinton):
Results of election by congressional district, shaded by winning candidate's percentage of the vote
Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote forGary Johnson
Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote forJill Stein
Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote forEvan McMullin
Viewership
The 2016 election was highly viewed, setting viewership records onCNN andFox News. Over 28 million people watched the election oncable television, with 63.99 million viewers including broadcast television. While more highly viewed than 2012 (60.86 million viewers), it was less viewed than 2008 (71.5 million viewers).[465]
Legend
cable news network
broadcast network
Total television viewers 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. EST[465]
Voter demographic data for 2016 were collected by Edison Research for theNational Election Pool, a consortium ofABC News,CBS News,MSNBC,CNN,Fox News, and theAssociated Press. The voter survey is based onexit polls completed by 24,537 voters leaving 350 voting places throughout theUnited States onElection Day, in addition to 4,398 telephone interviews with early and absentee voters.[466] Trump's crucial victories in theMidwest were aided in large part by his strong margins amongnon-collegewhites—whileObama lost those voters by a margin of 10 points in2012, Clinton lost this group by 20 percent. The election also represented the first time that Republicans performed better among lower-income whites than among affluent white voters.[467] Clinton however had the majority amongst lower-income Americans overall. Voters 40 years of age or older (born in 1976 or earlier) were estimated to comprise 64% of the electorate in the exit poll, and subsequent survey data by thePew Research Center showed that theGreatest Generation, theSilent Generation,Baby boomers, andGeneration X accounted for 155 million of the 224 million eligible voters (or approximately 69%) and with Baby boomers and Generation X alone comprising 127 million (or approximately 57%).[468]
However, "more convincing data"[471] from the polling firm Latino Decisions indicates that Clinton received a higher share of the Hispanic vote, and Trump a lower share, than the Edison exit polls showed. Using wider, more geographically and linguistically representative sampling, Latino Decisions concluded that Clinton won 79% of Hispanic voters (also an improvement over Obama's share in 2008 and 2012), while Trump won only 18% (lower than previous Republicans such as Romney and McCain).[472] Additionally, the 2016Cooperative Congressional Election Study found that Clinton's share of the Hispanic vote was one percentage point higher than Obama's in 2012, while Trump's was seven percentage points lower than Romney's.[473]
Similarly, a large, multi-lingual study by theAsian American Legal Defense and Education Fund found that Clinton won 79% of Asian-American voters, higher than the Edison exit poll showed, while Trump won only 18%, a decrease from McCain's and Romney's numbers.[474] Furthermore, according to the AALDEF's report, Trump received merely 2% of the Muslim-American vote, whereas Clinton received 97%.[475]The low percentage of Muslim votes for Trump may have been influenced by much of his rhetoric during the campaign regarding Muslims and Islam. The issue of islamophobia was demonstrated to be an important political issue for Muslim voters; an ISPU study done in 2016 found that, "...outside the issues of discrimination and Islamophobia there aren't, like, one or two big issues that unite all Muslims".[476]
Various methods were used toforecast the outcome of the 2016 election.[477] There were many competing election forecast approaches includingNate Silver'sFiveThirtyEight,The Upshot atThe New York Times,Daily Kos,Princeton Election Consortium,Cook Political Report,Rothenberg and Gonzales, PollyVote,Sabato's Crystal Ball andElectoral-Vote. These models mostly showed a Democratic advantage since the nominees were confirmed, and were supported by pundits and statisticians, includingNate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, Nate Cohn atThe New York Times, andLarry Sabato from the Crystal Ball newsletter, who predicted a Democratic victory in competitive presidential races and projected consistent leads in several battleground states around the country.[478] However, FiveThirtyEight's model pointed to the possibility of an Electoral College-popular vote split widening in the final weeks based on Trump's improvement in swing states like Florida or Pennsylvania. This was due to the demographics targeted by Trump's campaign which lived in big numbers there, in addition to Clinton's poor performance in several of those swing states in comparison with Obama's performance in 2012, as well as having a big number of her potential voters in very populated traditionally 'blue' states, but also in some very populated states traditionally 'red', like Texas, which were projected safe for Trump.[479]
Earlyexit polls generally favored Clinton.[480] After the polls closed and some of the results came in, the forecasts were found to be inaccurate, as Trump performed better in the competitive Midwestern states, such asIowa,Ohio, andMinnesota, than expected. Three Rust Belt states (Pennsylvania,Wisconsin andMichigan) which were considered to be part of Clinton'sfirewall, were won by Trump.[480] Of the states in theGreat Lakes region, Clinton won the swing state ofMinnesota by one point, as well as traditional Democratic strongholds such asNew York andIllinois with populous urban centers. This result stands in contrast to that of2012, whenPresident Barack Obama won all butIndiana, which he carried in2008. This table displays the final polling average published byReal Clear Politics on November 7, the actual electoral margin, and the over-performance by either candidate relative to the polls.
Many pollsters were puzzled by the failure of mainstream forecasting models to predict the outcome of the 2016 election.[497][498] Some journalists compared the 2016 election to the failure of prognosticator Arthur Henning in the "Dewey Defeats Truman" incident from the1948 presidential election.[499][500]Sean Trende, writing forRealClearPolitics, wrote that many of the polls were accurate, but that the pundits' interpretation of these polls neglected polling error.[501]Nate Silver found that the high number of undecided and third-party voters in the election was neglected in many of these models, and that many of these voters decided to vote for Trump.[502] According to a February 2018 study byPublic Opinion Quarterly, the main sources of polling error were "a late swing in vote preference toward Trump and a pervasive failure to adjust for over-representation of college graduates (who favored Clinton)", whereas the share of "shy" Trump voters (who declined to admit their support for Trump to the pollsters) proved to be negligible.[503]Political scientist Lloyd Gruber said, "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".[504] Trump said that he was surprised, and added "I always used to believe in [polls]. I don't believe them anymore."[338]
FiveThirtyEight's final polls-plus forecast predicted 18 states, plus the second congressional districts ofMaine andNebraska, with an interval of confidence lower than 90%.[505][506] However, every major forecaster, including FiveThirtyEight,The New York Times Upshot,prediction markets aggregator PredictWise, ElectionBettingOdds from Maxim Lott andJohn Stossel, theDailyKos, thePrinceton Election Consortium, theHuffington Post, theCook Political Report,Larry Sabato'sCrystal Ball, and theRothenberg and Gonzales Report, called every state the same way (although Cook and Rothenberg-Gonzales left two and five states as toss-ups, respectively). The lone exception wasMaine's 2nd congressional district. Of the forecasters who published results on the district, theTimes gave Trump a 64% chance of winning and PredictWise a 52% chance, FiveThirtyEight gave Clinton a 51% chance of winning in polls-only and 54% in polls-plus, Princeton gave her a 60% chance, Cook labelled it a toss-up, and Sabato leaned it towards Trump.[113] The following table displays the final winning probabilities given by each outlet, along with the final electoral result. The states shown have been identified byPolitico,[507]WhipBoard,[508]The New York Times,[509] and the Crystal Ball as battlegrounds.
Elections analysts and political pundits issue probabilistic forecasts of the composition of the Electoral College. These forecasts use a variety of factors to estimate the likelihood of each candidate winning the Electoral College electors for that state. Most election predictors use the following ratings:
"tossup": no advantage
"tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
"lean" or "leans": slight advantage
"likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
Trump's victory, considered unlikely by most forecasts,[510][511][512][513][514] was characterized as an "upset" and as "shocking" by news organizations.[515][516][517][518] Trump himself thought he would lose even as the polls were closing.[519]
Protests
News report about the protests in Los Angeles on November 12 fromVoice of America
Following the announcement of Trump's election, large protests broke out across the United States with some continuing for several days.[520][521][522][523]
Protesters held up a number of different signs and chanted various shouts including "Not my president" and "We don't accept the president-elect".[524][520] The movement organized onTwitter under the hashtags #Antitrump and #NotMyPresident.[525][526]
High school and college students walked out of classes to protest.[527] At a few protests fires were lit, flags and other items were burned and people yelled derogatory remarks about Trump. Rioters also broke glass at certain locations.[528][529]Celebrities such asMadonna,Cher, andLady Gaga took part in New York.[530][531][532]Kendrick Lamar's song "Alright" was used repeatedly by protestors, despite the movement receiving no endorsement from Lamar himself.[533][534][535] Some protesters took to blockingfreeways inLos Angeles,San Diego, andPortland, Oregon, and were dispersed by police in the early hours of the morning.[536][537] In a number of cities, protesters were dispersed with rubber bullets, pepper spray and bean-bags fired by police.[538][539][540]In New York City, calls were made to continue the protests over the coming days after the election.[541] Los Angeles mayorEric Garcetti expressed understanding of the protests and praised those who peacefully wanted to make their voices heard.[542]
Vote tampering concerns
"How Hard Is It to Hack the US Election" video report fromVoice of America, November5 (three days before the election)
After the election, computer scientists, includingJ. Alex Halderman, the director of theUniversity of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, urged the Clinton campaign to request anelection recount in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (three swing states where Trump had won narrowly) for the purpose of excluding the possibility that the hacking ofelectronic voting machines had influenced the recorded outcome.[543][544][545] However, statisticianNate Silver performed aregression analysis which demonstrated that the alleged discrepancy between paperballots and electronicvoting machines "completely disappears once you control for race and education level".[546] On November 25, theObama administration said the results from November8 "accurately reflect the will of the American people".[547] 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".[548][549]
In the years following the election, Hillary Clinton has alleged that official maleficence contributed to and may have caused her electoral loss, saying in 2022, "Literally within hours of the polls closing in 2016, we had so much evidence pouring in about voters being turned away in Milwaukee and not being able to vote in Detroit. These states were run by Republicans so there was no way to find out the truth about any of them".[550]
Donald Trump and New Hampshire governorChris Sununu both complained that liberal voters from Massachusetts were illegally bused into New Hampshire for the 2016 election, andScott Brown blamed the same phenomenon for losing his senate race in 2014.[551] The New Hampshire Secretary of State and New Hampshire Department of Justice issued a report in 2018 regarding complaints of voters being bused in from Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts for the 2016 election. They found that in every case, field inspectors were able to determine that the voters were from New Hampshire, though they were riding a bus operated by an out-of-state company (which has its name and address written on the outside of the bus, presumably the source of the confusion).[551] Out of 743,000 votes cast, four were determined to be cast illegally, either because the voters were told to go to the wrong location, or because the voter believed they were able to vote in each town in which they owned property.[551] Out of about 6,000 same-day voter registrations in the state, the report says only 66 voters could not have their residency confirmed (though fraud is not the only explanation for such a failure).[551]
On November 23,Green Party presidential candidateJill Stein launched a public fundraiser to pay for recounts inWisconsin,Michigan, andPennsylvania, asserting that the election's outcome had been affected by hacking in those states; Stein did not provide evidence for her claims.[552][553] Changing the outcome of these three states would make Clinton the winner, and this would require showing that fewer than 60,000 votes had been counted for Trump which should have been counted for Clinton. Stein filed for a recount in Wisconsin on November 25,[554] after which Clinton campaign general counselMarc Elias said their campaign would join Stein's recount efforts in that state and possibly others "in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides".[361][555] Stein subsequently filed for a recount in Pennsylvania on November 28,[556] and in Michigan on November 30.[557] Concurrently,American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidateRocky De La Fuente sought and was granted a partial recount in Nevada that was unrelated to Stein's efforts.[363]
President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement denouncing Stein's Wisconsin recount request saying, "The people have spoken and the election is over". Trump further commented that the recount "is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded".[558] The Trump campaign and Republican Party officials moved to block Stein's three recount efforts through state and federal courts.[559][560]
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ordered a halt to the recount in Michigan on December 7, dissolving a previous temporary restraining order against the Michigan Board of Elections that allowed the recount to continue, stating in his order: "Plaintiffs have not presented evidence of tampering or mistake. Instead, they present speculative claims going to the vulnerability of the voting machinery—but not actual injury".[561] On December 12,U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond rejected an appeal by the Green Party and Jill Stein to force a recount in Pennsylvania, stating that suspicion of a hacked Pennsylvania election "borders on the irrational" and that granting the Green Party's recount bid could "ensure that no Pennsylvania vote counts" given the December 13, federal deadline to certify the vote for the Electoral College.[562] Meanwhile, the Wisconsin recount was allowed to continue as it was nearing completion and had uncovered no significant irregularities.[563]
The recounts in Wisconsin and Nevada were completed on schedule, resulting in only minor changes to vote tallies.[564][565] A partial recount of Michigan ballot found some precinct imbalances in Detroit, which were corrected. A subsequent state audit found no evidence ofvoter fraud and concluded that the mistakes, which were "almost entirely" caused by poll-worker mistakes attributed to poor training, did not impair "the ability of Detroit residents to cast a ballot and have their vote counted".[566] The overall outcome of the election remained unchanged by the recount efforts.[564][565][567]
On December 6,Colorado Secretary of StateWayne W. Williams castigated Democratic electors who had filed a lawsuit in Federal court to have the state law binding them to the popular vote (in their case for Hillary Clinton) overturned.[576]
On December 19, several electorsvoted 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. The115th United States Congress officially certified the results on January 6, 2017.[582][583]
In the Electoral College vote on December 19, for the first time since the ratification of the 12th Amendment, multiplefaithless electors voted against their pledged qualified presidential candidate.[d] Five Democrats rebelled inWashington andHawaii, while two Republicans rebelled inTexas.[584] Two Democratic electors, one in Minnesota and one in Colorado, were replaced after voting forBernie Sanders andJohn Kasich, respectively.[585][586] Electors in Maine conducted a second vote after one of its members voted for Sanders; the elector then voted for Clinton.[587] Likewise, for the first time since1896,[e] multiple faithless electors voted against the pledged qualified vice presidential candidate.
One Clinton elector in Colorado attempted to vote for John Kasich.[588] The single vote was ruled invalid by Colorado state law, the elector was dismissed, and an alternative elector was sworn in who voted for Clinton.[589][586]
One Clinton elector in Minnesota voted for Bernie Sanders as president andTulsi Gabbard as vice president; his votes were discarded and he was replaced by an alternate who voted for Clinton.[589]
One Clinton elector in Maine voted for Bernie Sanders; this vote was invalidated as "improper" and the elector subsequently voted for Clinton.[589]
One Trump elector in Georgia resigned before the vote rather than vote for Trump and was replaced by an alternate.[591]
Two Trump electors in Texas did not vote for Trump (one vote went to John Kasich, one to Ron Paul); one elector did not vote for Pence and instead voted forCarly Fiorina for vice president; a third resigned before the vote rather than vote for Trump and was replaced by an alternate.[590]
One Clinton elector in Hawaii voted for Bernie Sanders.[592]
Of the faithless votes,Colin Powell andElizabeth Warren were the only two to receive more than one; Powell received three electoral votes for president and Warren received two for vice president. Receiving one valid electoral vote each were Sanders,John Kasich,Ron Paul andFaith Spotted Eagle for president, andCarly Fiorina,Susan Collins,Winona LaDuke andMaria Cantwell for vice president. Sanders is the firstJewish American to receive an electoral vote for president. LaDuke is the firstGreen Party member to receive an electoral vote, and Paul is the third member of theLibertarian Party to do so, following the party's presidential and vice-presidential nominees each getting one vote in1972. It is the first election with faithless electors from more than one political party.
Critics alleged racial bias after comparing the different sentences handed down to two white people and one black person who were convicted of attempting to vote illegally in the 2016 presidential election.[604]
On December 9, 2016, theCentral Intelligence Agency issued an assessment to lawmakers in the US Senate, stating that a Russian entity hacked the DNC andJohn Podesta's emails to assist Donald Trump. TheFederal Bureau of Investigation agreed.[605] PresidentBarack Obama ordered a "full review" into such possible intervention.[606] Director of National IntelligenceJames R. Clapper in early January 2017 testified before a Senate committee that Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign went beyond hacking, and included disinformation and the dissemination offake news, often promoted on social media.[607] Facebook revealed that during the 2016 United States presidential election, a Russian company funded byYevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman with ties toVladimir Putin,[608] had purchased advertisements on the website for US$100,000,[609] 25% of which were geographically targeted to the U.S.[610]
President-elect Trump originally called the report fabricated.[611]Julian Assange said the Russian government was not the source of the documents.[612] Days later, Trump said he could be convinced of the Russian hacking "if there is a unified presentation of evidence from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies".[613]
A formalSpecial Counsel investigation headed by former FBI directorRobert Mueller was initiated in May 2017 to uncover the detailed interference operations by Russia, and to determine whether any people associated with the Trump campaign were complicit in the Russian efforts. When questioned byChuck Todd onMeet the Press in March 2017, Clapper declared that intelligence investigations on Russian interference performed by theFBI,CIA,NSA and hisODNI office had found no evidence of collusion between theTrump campaign and Russia.[616] Mueller concluded his investigation on March 22, 2019, by submitting his report to Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr.[617]
On March 24, 2019, Barr submitteda letter describing Mueller's conclusions,[618][619] and on April 18, 2019, a redacted version of theMueller report was released to the public. It concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election did occur "in sweeping and systematic fashion" and "violated U.S. criminal law".[620][621]
The first method detailed in the final report was the usage of theInternet Research Agency, waging "a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton".[622] The Internet Research Agency also sought to "provoke and amplify political and social discord in the United States".[623]
The second method of Russian interference saw the Russian intelligence service, theGRU, hacking into email accounts owned by volunteers and employees of the Clinton presidential campaign, including that of campaign chairman John Podesta, and also hacking into "the computer networks of theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and theDemocratic National Committee (DNC)".[624] As a result, the GRU obtained hundreds of thousands of hacked documents, and the GRU proceeded by arranging releases of damaging hacked material via the WikiLeaks organization and also GRU's personas "DCLeaks" and "Guccifer 2.0".[625][626]To establish whether a crime was committed by members of the Trump campaign with regard to Russian interference, the special counsel's investigators "applied the framework ofconspiracy law", and not the concept of "collusion", because collusion "is not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in federal criminal law".[627][628] They also investigated if members of the Trump campaign "coordinated" with Russia, using the definition of "coordination" as having "an agreement—tacit or express—between the Trump campaign and the Russian government on election interference". Investigators further elaborated that merely having "two parties taking actions that were informed by or responsive to the other's actions or interests" was not enough to establish coordination.[629]
The Mueller report writes that the investigation "identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign", found that Russia "perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency" and that the 2016 Trump presidential campaign "expected it would benefit electorally" from Russian hacking efforts. Ultimately, "the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".[630][631]
However, investigators had an incomplete picture of what had really occurred during the 2016 campaign, due to some associates of Trump campaign providing either false, incomplete or declined testimony, as well as having deleted, unsaved or encrypted communications. As such, the Mueller report "cannot rule out the possibility" that information then unavailable to investigators would have presented different findings.[632][633] In March 2020, the US Justice Department dropped its prosecution of two Russian firms linked to interference in the 2016 election.[634][608]
Special CouncilRobert Mueller also investigated the Trump campaign's alleged ties toSaudi Arabia, theUnited Arab Emirates,Turkey,Qatar,Israel, andChina.[635][636] According toThe Times of Israel, Trump's longtime confidantRoger Stone "was in contact with one or more apparently well-connected Israelis at the height of the 2016 US presidential campaign, one of whom warned Stone that Trump was 'going to be defeated unless we intervene' and promised 'we have critical intell [sic].'"[637][638]
The Justice Department accusedGeorge Nader of providing $3.5 million in illicit campaign donations to Hillary Clinton before the elections and to Trump after he won the elections. According toThe New York Times, this was an attempt by the government ofUnited Arab Emirates to influence the election.[639]
In December 2018, a Ukrainian court ruled that prosecutors in Ukraine had meddled in the 2016 election by releasing damaging information on Trump campaign chairmanPaul Manafort.[640]
Voice of America reported in April 2020 that "U.S. intelligence agencies concluded theChinese hackers meddled in both the 2016 and 2018 elections".[641]
In July 2021, the US federal prosecutors accused Trump's former adviserTom Barrack for being an unregistered foreign lobbying agent for the United Arab Emirates during the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.[642] In 2022, Barrack was found not guilty on all charges.[643]
^The1872 presidential election also saw multiple electors vote for a different candidate than that pledged, due to the death ofLiberal Republican candidateHorace Greeley, after the popular vote, yet before the meeting of the Electoral College. Greeley still garnered three posthumous electoral votes which Congress subsequently dismissed.
^Wang, Sam (November 8, 2016)."Final Projections 2016".Princeton Election Consortium. Archived fromthe original on January 9, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 15, 2022.
^Abramowitz, Alan I. (June 25, 2020)."Do Campaign Visits Pay Off? Evidence from the 2016 Presidential Election".Sabato's Crystal Ball. RetrievedAugust 31, 2025.Following the election, there was considerable speculation that Trump's victory was due in part to the fact that he spent more time than Clinton campaigning in some of these swing states, including Wisconsin, which Clinton did not visit once during the campaign.
^Carnes, Nicholas; Lupu, Noam."The White Working Class and the 2016 Election"(PDF).noamlupu.com. Noam Lupu. RetrievedNovember 1, 2024.White working-class Americans have been supporting Republican presidential candidates at higher rates in recent elections, but that process long predates 2016, and narratives that center on Trump's alleged appeal obscure this important long-term trend.
^Mueller ReportArchived April 19, 2019, at theWayback Machine, vol. I, p. 1: "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion. [...] Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
^Stout, Christopher Timothy; Le, Danvy (October 8, 2012). "Living the Dream: Barack Obama and Blacks' Changing Perceptions of the American Dream".Social Science Quarterly.93 (5):1338–1359.doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00915.x.ISSN0038-4941.
^"Reince Priebus on Twitter".Twitter. May 3, 2016.Archived from the original on October 12, 2021. RetrievedNovember 13, 2016.."@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite..."
^Kemp, Brian (September 12, 2016)."Qualifying Candidate Information".sos.ga.gov. Georgia Secretary of State.Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 13, 2016.
^abc"2016 Candidate Listing".elections.state.md.us. Maryland State Board of Elections. 2016.Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 21, 2016.
^abMcMullin, Evan."34 States and Counting".Evan McMullin for President. Rumpf, Sarah. Archived fromthe original on October 2, 2016. RetrievedOctober 2, 2016.
^ab"Candidate Listing".elections.myflorida.com. Florida Department of State, Division of Elections. 2016.Archived from the original on September 12, 2019. RetrievedSeptember 13, 2016.
^abWinger, Richard (July 1, 2016)."Ballot Access News".ballot-access.org. p. 4.Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2016.States that allow write-ins in the general election, and don't have write-in filing laws, are legally obliged to count all write-ins: Alabama, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont... Only one state, South Carolina, has a law that says that although write-ins in general elections are permitted, they are not permitted for president.
^ab"Write-In Candidate Listing"(PDF).sos.wv.gov. West Virginia Secretary of State. 2016. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on September 10, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2016.
^Cassidy, John (February 29, 2016)."Donald Trump Is Transforming the G.O.P. Into a Populist, Nativist Party".The New Yorker.Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. RetrievedMarch 5, 2016.What is perhaps more surprising, at least to Washington-based conservatives, is how many Republicans are also embracing Trump's populist lines on ending free trade, protecting Social Security, and providing basic health care.
^"How Trump Exposed the Tea Party".Politico Magazine. September 3, 2015.For years the Republican elite has gotten away with promoting policies about trade and entitlements that are the exact opposites of the policies favored by much of their electoral base. Populist conservatives who want to end illegal immigration, tax the rich, protect Social Security and Medicare, and fight fewer foreign wars have been there all along. It's just that mainstream pundits and journalists, searching for a libertarian right more to their liking (and comprehension), refused to see them before the Summer of Trump.
^Confessore, Nicholas (March 28, 2016)."How the G.O.P. Elite Lost Its Voters to Donald Trump".The New York Times.Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. RetrievedMarch 28, 2016.While wages declined and workers grew anxious about retirement, Republicans offered an economic program still centered on tax cuts for the affluent and the curtailing of popular entitlements like Medicare and Social Security.
^Rattner, Steve (January 8, 2016)."White, working class men back Trump, charts show"(video).Morning Joe MNSBC.Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. RetrievedMarch 25, 2016.Steve Rattner breaks down the demographics of who is supporting Donald Trump and how these supporters are doing financially. Duration: 2:25
^Guo, Jeff (March 4, 2016)."Death predicts whether people vote for Donald Trump".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. RetrievedMarch 18, 2016.Even after controlling for these other factors, the middle-aged white death rate in a county was still a significant predictor of the share of votes that went to Trump
^Montanaro, Domenico (September 10, 2016)."Hillary Clinton's 'Basket Of Deplorables,' In Full Context Of This Ugly Campaign".NPR.Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. RetrievedApril 6, 2018.The remarks also remind of inflammatory remarks in recent presidential elections on both sides—from Barack Obama's assertion in 2008 that people in small towns are "bitter" and "cling to guns or religion," to Mitt Romney's 2012 statement that 47 percent of Americans vote for Democrats because they are "dependent upon government" and believe they are "victims," to his vice presidential pick Paul Ryan's comment that the country is divided between "makers and takers."
^Epstein, Jennifer (September 10, 2016)."Clinton Calls Some Trump Supporters 'Basket of Deplorables'".Bloomberg News.Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. RetrievedMarch 12, 2017.Republican pollster Frank Luntz described Clinton's comments as her "47 percent moment," a reference to Republican Mitt Romney's remarks at a private fundraiser in the 2012 campaign.
^Chozick, Amy (September 10, 2016)."Hillary Clinton Calls Many Trump Backers 'Deplorables,' and GOP Pounces".The New York Times.Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 28, 2017.Prof.Jennifer Mercieca, an expert in American political discourse at Texas A&M University, said in an email that the "deplorable" comment "sounds bad on the face of it" and compared it to Mr. Romney's 47 percent gaffe. "The comment demonstrates that she (like Romney) lacks empathy for that group," Professor Mercieca said.
^Benjy Sarlin,Anti-Trump forces have few options for third party alternativeArchived September 8, 2020, at theWayback Machine, MSNBC (March 4, 2016): "'I am the third party,' former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the party's 2012 nominee, told conservative gathering CPAC on Thursday. 'The Libertarian Party will be on the ballot in all 50 states.'"
^Nelson, Louis (October 10, 2016)."Conway walks back Trump's threat to jail Clinton, calling it a 'quip'".Politico. RetrievedNovember 12, 2020.Trump repeated his pledge that, if elected, he would instruct his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to examine Clinton's email practices, to which Clinton replied that "it's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country." "Because you would be in jail," Trump shot back.
^Gass, Nick (September 21, 2016)."Trump defends telling black voters "what do you have to lose?"".Politico. RetrievedMay 9, 2018.Then one day I said, 'what do you have to lose?' I mean what do you have to lose? I'm going to fix it. What do you have to lose?" Trump said. "And somehow that resonated.
^Fred Andrew Wright and Alec Aidan Wright, "How Surprising Was Trump's Victory? Notes on Predictions in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election" (January 16, 2017).SSRN2900394
^Woolley, John T. and Peters, Gerhard, Eds."Presidential Election Margin of Victory". The American Presidency Project (University of California). November 6, 2024.Archived from the original on March 29, 2025.
^"Statewide Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived fromthe original on December 25, 2016. RetrievedDecember 7, 2016.
^"County by County Report"(PDF).WEC Canvass Reporting System. Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 13, 2016. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on December 14, 2016. RetrievedDecember 13, 2016.
^Barreto, Matt; Schaller, Thomas; Segura, Gary (2017)."Latinos and the 2016 Election". In Sabato, Larry; Kondik, Kyle; Skelley, Geoffrey (eds.).Trumped: The 2016 Election That Broke All the Rules. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 123–135.ISBN9781442279407.
^Powell has several homes, including one in NYC (still)[596] and also one in DC, but is officially a VA resident perWikiLeaks emails,[597] and per his 'verified' social media account.[598]
^Mueller Report, vol. I, p. 4: At the same time that the IRA operation began to focus on supporting candidate Trump in early 2016, the Russian government employed a second form of interference: cyber intrusions (hacking) and releases of hacked materials damaging to the Clinton Campaign. The Russian intelligence service known as the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Army (GRU) carried out these operations. In March 2016, the GRU began hacking the email accounts of Clinton Campaign volunteers and employees, including campaign chairman John Podesta. In April 2016, the GRU hacked into the computer networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The GRU stole hundreds of thousands of documents from the compromised email accounts and networks. Around the time that the DNC announced in mid-June 2016 the Russian government's role in hacking its network, the GRU began disseminating stolen materials through the fictitious online personas "DCLeaks" and "Guccifer 2.0." The GRU later released additional materials through the organization WikiLeaks.
^Mueller Report, vol. I, p. 2: In evaluating whether evidence about the collective action of multiple individuals constituted a crime, we applied the framework of conspiracy law, not the concept of "collusion." In so doing, the Office recognized that the word "collud[e]" was used in communications with the Acting Attorney General confirming certain aspects of the investigation's scope and that the term has frequently been invoked in public reporting about the investigation. But collusion is not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in federal criminal law. For those reasons, the Office's focus in analyzing questions of joint criminal liability was on conspiracy as defined in federal law.
^Mueller Report, vol. I, p. 2: In connection with that analysis, we addressed the factual question of whether members of the Trump Campaign "coordinat[ed]"—a term that appears in the appointment order—with Russian election interference activities. Like collusion, "coordination" does not have a settled definition in federal criminal law. We understood coordination to require an agreement—tacit or express—between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference. That requires more than the two parties taking actions that were informed by or responsive to the other's actions or interests. We applied the term coordination in that sense when stating in the report that the investigation did not establish that the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
Lauck, Jon K. "Trump and The Midwest: The 2016 Presidential Election and The Avenues of Midwestern Historiography"Studies in Midwestern History (2017) vol 3#1online
Ross, Andrew S.; Rivers, Damian J. (April 2017). "Digital cultures of political participation: Internet memes and the discursive delegitimization of the 2016 U.S Presidential candidates".Discourse, Context & Media.16:1–11.doi:10.1016/j.dcm.2017.01.001.
West, Darrell M. (2017).Air Wars: Television Advertising and Social Media in Election Campaigns, 1952–2016. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.ISBN9781506329833.
External links
2016 U.S. presidential election at Wikipedia'ssister projects
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![Results by county.[c] Red denotes counties that went to Trump; blue denotes counties that went to Clinton.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a2016_Presidential_Election_by_County.svg)
![Results by county,[c] shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a2016_United_States_presidential_election_results_map_by_county.svg)
![Results by county flips from 2012 to the 2016 presidential election[c]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a2016_Presidential_Election_by_County_Flips.svg)
![County swing from 2012 to 2016[c]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aU.S._2012_to_2016_presidential_election_swing.svg)
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