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| Turnout | 71.31% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Congressional district results Municipality results Precinct results
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The2016 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8, 2016, as part of the2016 United States elections in which all 50 states and theDistrict of Columbia participated.Pennsylvania voters chose electors to represent them in theElectoral College via a popular vote.
On April 26, 2016, in thepresidential primaries, voters selected theDemocratic,Republican, andGreen parties' respective nominees for president. Pennsylvania is aclosed primary state, meaning voters must have been previously registered with a particular political party in order to vote for one of that parties' candidates, to participate in their respective party primary.[1]
In the general election,Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, won Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes out of more than 6 million cast, a margin of 0.72% and the narrowest margin in a presidential election since1840, whenWilliam Henry Harrison defeatedMartin Van Buren by just 0.12%. Pennsylvania voted 2.82% more Republican than the nation-at-large, marking the first time since1948 that it voted to the right of the nation.
Before the election, Pennsylvania was expected to be close as polling showed the results within the margin of error, but many election experts viewed that Clinton had an edge.[2][3] However, on Election Day, Pennsylvania unexpectedly swung to Donald Trump. Trump carried 56 of the state's 67 counties, predominantly rural or suburban counties, while Clinton carried much of thePhiladelphia metropolitan area as well as other cities includingPittsburgh,Harrisburg andScranton. Nonetheless, some areas of traditional Democratic strength such asLuzerne County, whereWilkes-Barre is located, saw swings in margins of up to 25% toward Donald Trump.
Trump was the first Republican nominee for president to win the state of Pennsylvania sinceGeorge H. W. Bush in1988. Later in2024, Trump also became the first Republican to win a majority of the vote in the state since Bush in 1988.
| Pennsylvania Democratic primary, April 26, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Popular vote | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 935,107 | 55.61% | 106 | 20 | 126 |
| Bernie Sanders | 731,881 | 43.53% | 83 | 0 | 83 |
| Rocky De La Fuente | 14,439 | 0.86% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1,681,427 | 100% | 189 | 20 | 209 |
| Source:[4][5] | |||||
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Actual delegate count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |||
| Donald Trump | 902,593 | 56.61% | 17 | 42 | 59 |
| Ted Cruz | 345,506 | 21.67% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| John Kasich | 310,003 | 19.44% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Ben Carson(withdrawn) | 14,842 | 0.93% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Rubio(withdrawn) | 11,954 | 0.75% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeb Bush(withdrawn) | 9,577 | 0.60% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unprojected delegates: | 0 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Total: | 1,594,475 | 100.00% | 17 | 54 | 71 |
| Source:The Green Papers | |||||
Pennsylvania held a series of caucuses throughout April, culminating with a meeting on April 30 inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, where delegates were assigned.[6][7]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
 Jill Stein | - | - | 8 |
| William Kreml | - | - | 1 |
| Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry | - | - | - |
| Darryl Cherney | - | - | - |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | - |
| Total | - | 100.00% | 9 |
From July 25 to July 28, 2016, Philadelphia hosted the2016 Democratic National Convention. It was held at theWells Fargo Center with ancillary meetings at thePennsylvania Convention Center. FormerSecretary of StateHillary Clinton was chosen as the party's nominee for president by a 59.67% majority of delegates present at the convention roll call, winning the nomination, while runner-up rival SenatorBernie Sanders received 39.16% of votes from delegates. Clinton then became the first female candidate to be formally nominated by amajor national party as a presidential candidate in the United States. Her running mate, SenatorTim Kaine, thejuniorUnited States senator fromVirginia, was chosen by delegates as the party's nominee for vice president byacclamation.
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| CNN[8] | Lean D | November 4, 2016 |
| Cook Political Report[9] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| Electoral-vote.com[10] | Lean D | November 6, 2016 |
| NBC[11] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| RealClearPolitics[12] | Tossup | November 6, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[13] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[14] | Lean D | November 7, 2016 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | 2,970,733 | 48.18 | |||
| Democratic | 2,926,441 | 47.46 | |||
| Libertarian | 146,715 | 2.38 | |||
| Green | 49,941 | 0.81 | |||
| Constitution |
| 21,572 | 0.35 | ||
| Independent | 6,472 | 0.10 | |||
| Independent | Bernie Sanders (write-in) | 6,060 | 0.10 | ||
| Republican | John Kasich (write-in) | 302 | 0.00 | ||
| Independent | 3 | 0.00 | |||
| Write-in | 37,239 | 0.60 | |||
| Total votes | 6,165,478 | 100% | |||
| Republicanwin | |||||
| County[17] | Donald Trump Republican | Hillary Clinton Democratic | Gary Johnson Libertarian | Jill Stein Green | Darrell Castle Constitution | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 31,423 | 65.48% | 14,219 | 29.63% | 1,251 | 2.61% | 405 | 0.84% | 191 | 0.40% | 501 | 1.04% | 17,204 | 35.85% | 47,990 |
| Allegheny | 259,480 | 39.48% | 367,617 | 55.94% | 16,102 | 2.45% | 5,097 | 0.78% | 1,818 | 0.28% | 7,075 | 1.08% | -108,137 | -16.46% | 657,189 |
| Armstrong | 23,484 | 73.70% | 7,178 | 22.53% | 685 | 2.15% | 141 | 0.44% | 130 | 0.41% | 246 | 0.77% | 16,306 | 51.17% | 31,864 |
| Beaver | 48,167 | 57.03% | 32,531 | 38.52% | 2,022 | 2.39% | 496 | 0.59% | 355 | 0.42% | 891 | 1.05% | 15,636 | 18.51% | 84,462 |
| Bedford | 19,552 | 82.59% | 3,645 | 15.40% | 260 | 1.10% | 102 | 0.43% | 78 | 0.33% | 38 | 0.16% | 15,907 | 67.19% | 23,675 |
| Berks | 96,626 | 52.49% | 78,437 | 42.61% | 5,247 | 2.85% | 1,974 | 1.07% | 781 | 0.42% | 1,020 | 0.55% | 18,189 | 9.88% | 184,085 |
| Blair | 39,135 | 70.72% | 13,958 | 25.22% | 1,256 | 2.27% | 338 | 0.61% | 222 | 0.40% | 432 | 0.79% | 25,177 | 45.50% | 55,341 |
| Bradford | 18,141 | 69.81% | 6,369 | 24.51% | 893 | 3.44% | 137 | 0.53% | 168 | 0.65% | 278 | 1.07% | 11,772 | 45.30% | 25,986 |
| Bucks | 164,361 | 47.64% | 167,060 | 48.42% | 8,556 | 2.48% | 3,121 | 0.90% | 1,199 | 0.35% | 745 | 0.22% | -2,699 | -0.78% | 345,042 |
| Butler | 64,431 | 65.71% | 28,586 | 29.15% | 3,064 | 3.12% | 615 | 0.63% | 382 | 0.39% | 973 | 0.99% | 35,845 | 36.56% | 98,051 |
| Cambria | 42,258 | 66.45% | 18,867 | 29.67% | 1,270 | 2.00% | 413 | 0.65% | 264 | 0.42% | 517 | 0.81% | 23,391 | 36.78% | 63,589 |
| Cameron | 1,589 | 71.90% | 531 | 24.03% | 53 | 2.40% | 6 | 0.27% | 7 | 0.32% | 24 | 1.09% | 1,058 | 47.87% | 2,210 |
| Carbon | 18,743 | 64.65% | 8,936 | 30.82% | 691 | 2.38% | 265 | 0.91% | 141 | 0.49% | 217 | 0.75% | 9,807 | 33.83% | 28,993 |
| Centre | 35,274 | 45.63% | 37,088 | 47.97% | 2,644 | 3.42% | 798 | 1.03% | 344 | 0.44% | 1,159 | 0.94% | -1,814 | -2.34% | 77,307 |
| Chester | 116,114 | 42.53% | 141,682 | 51.90% | 7,930 | 2.90% | 2,247 | 0.82% | 827 | 0.30% | 4,198 | 1.54% | -25,568 | -9.37% | 272,998 |
| Clarion | 12,576 | 71.21% | 4,273 | 24.20% | 469 | 2.66% | 115 | 0.65% | 102 | 0.58% | 125 | 0.71% | 8,303 | 47.01% | 17,660 |
| Clearfield | 24,932 | 72.16% | 8,200 | 23.73% | 776 | 2.25% | 220 | 0.64% | 143 | 0.41% | 279 | 0.81% | 16,732 | 48.43% | 34,550 |
| Clinton | 10,022 | 64.64% | 4,744 | 30.60% | 470 | 3.03% | 121 | 0.78% | 37 | 0.24% | 111 | 0.71% | 5,278 | 34.04% | 15,505 |
| Columbia | 18,004 | 63.16% | 8,934 | 31.34% | 883 | 3.10% | 265 | 0.93% | 142 | 0.50% | 278 | 0.97% | 9,070 | 31.82% | 28,506 |
| Crawford | 24,987 | 66.08% | 10,971 | 29.01% | 1,046 | 2.77% | 271 | 0.72% | 217 | 0.57% | 321 | 0.85% | 14,016 | 37.07% | 37,813 |
| Cumberland | 69,076 | 55.94% | 47,085 | 38.13% | 3,975 | 3.22% | 939 | 0.76% | 542 | 0.44% | 1,869 | 1.51% | 21,991 | 17.81% | 123,486 |
| Dauphin | 60,863 | 46.18% | 64,706 | 49.10% | 3,498 | 2.65% | 1,177 | 0.89% | 628 | 0.48% | 911 | 0.69% | -3,843 | -2.92% | 131,783 |
| Delaware | 110,667 | 36.97% | 177,402 | 59.27% | 5,992 | 2.00% | 2,588 | 0.86% | 985 | 0.33% | 1,702 | 0.57% | -66,735 | -22.30% | 299,336 |
| Elk | 10,025 | 68.91% | 3,853 | 26.49% | 401 | 2.76% | 79 | 0.54% | 68 | 0.47% | 121 | 0.83% | 6,172 | 42.42% | 14,547 |
| Erie | 60,069 | 48.01% | 58,112 | 46.44% | 3,871 | 3.09% | 1,139 | 0.91% | 488 | 0.39% | 1,450 | 1.16% | 1,957 | 1.57% | 125,129 |
| Fayette | 34,590 | 63.94% | 17,946 | 33.17% | 853 | 1.58% | 232 | 0.43% | 146 | 0.27% | 332 | 0.61% | 16,644 | 30.77% | 54,099 |
| Forest | 1,684 | 69.59% | 626 | 25.87% | 60 | 2.48% | 19 | 0.79% | 13 | 0.54% | 18 | 0.74% | 1,058 | 43.72% | 2,420 |
| Franklin | 49,768 | 70.59% | 17,465 | 24.77% | 1,712 | 2.43% | 450 | 0.64% | 336 | 0.48% | 775 | 1.10% | 32,303 | 45.82% | 70,506 |
| Fulton | 5,694 | 83.47% | 912 | 13.37% | 93 | 1.36% | 37 | 0.54% | 35 | 0.51% | 51 | 0.75% | 4,782 | 70.10% | 6,822 |
| Greene | 10,849 | 68.37% | 4,482 | 28.25% | 284 | 1.79% | 83 | 0.52% | 66 | 0.42% | 104 | 0.66% | 6,367 | 40.12% | 15,868 |
| Huntingdon | 14,494 | 72.96% | 4,539 | 22.85% | 425 | 2.14% | 96 | 0.48% | 152 | 0.77% | 160 | 0.81% | 9,955 | 50.11% | 19,866 |
| Indiana | 24,888 | 65.29% | 11,528 | 30.24% | 936 | 2.46% | 220 | 0.58% | 198 | 0.52% | 352 | 0.92% | 13,360 | 35.05% | 38,122 |
| Jefferson | 15,192 | 77.53% | 3,650 | 18.63% | 432 | 2.20% | 110 | 0.56% | 94 | 0.48% | 117 | 0.60% | 11,542 | 58.90% | 19,595 |
| Juniata | 8,273 | 78.45% | 1,821 | 17.27% | 201 | 1.91% | 71 | 0.67% | 88 | 0.83% | 91 | 0.86% | 6,452 | 61.18% | 10,545 |
| Lackawanna | 48,384 | 46.34% | 51,983 | 49.79% | 1,935 | 1.85% | 896 | 0.86% | 258 | 0.25% | 948 | 0.91% | -3,599 | -3.45% | 104,404 |
| Lancaster | 137,914 | 56.33% | 91,093 | 37.21% | 8,555 | 3.49% | 2,021 | 0.83% | 1,529 | 0.62% | 3,720 | 1.52% | 46,821 | 19.12% | 244,832 |
| Lawrence | 25,428 | 61.90% | 14,009 | 34.11% | 870 | 2.12% | 248 | 0.60% | 198 | 0.48% | 323 | 0.79% | 11,419 | 27.79% | 41,076 |
| Lebanon | 40,525 | 64.84% | 18,953 | 30.32% | 1,647 | 2.64% | 422 | 0.68% | 298 | 0.48% | 658 | 1.05% | 21,572 | 34.52% | 62,503 |
| Lehigh | 73,690 | 45.28% | 81,324 | 49.97% | 4,027 | 2.47% | 1,402 | 0.86% | 550 | 0.34% | 1,740 | 1.07% | -7,634 | -4.69% | 162,733 |
| Luzerne | 78,688 | 57.90% | 52,451 | 38.60% | 2,339 | 1.72% | 1,178 | 0.87% | 327 | 0.24% | 918 | 0.68% | 26,237 | 19.30% | 135,901 |
| Lycoming | 35,627 | 69.68% | 13,020 | 25.46% | 1,311 | 2.56% | 384 | 0.75% | 223 | 0.44% | 566 | 1.11% | 22,607 | 44.22% | 51,131 |
| McKean | 11,635 | 70.67% | 4,025 | 24.45% | 408 | 2.48% | 151 | 0.92% | 77 | 0.47% | 168 | 1.02% | 7,610 | 46.22% | 16,464 |
| Mercer | 31,544 | 59.70% | 18,733 | 35.45% | 1,370 | 2.59% | 415 | 0.79% | 247 | 0.47% | 530 | 1.00% | 12,811 | 24.25% | 52,839 |
| Mifflin | 14,094 | 75.28% | 3,877 | 20.71% | 476 | 2.54% | 80 | 0.43% | 74 | 0.40% | 120 | 0.64% | 10,217 | 54.57% | 18,721 |
| Monroe | 33,386 | 47.69% | 33,918 | 48.45% | 1,502 | 2.15% | 758 | 1.08% | 188 | 0.27% | 256 | 0.36% | -532 | -0.76% | 70,008 |
| Montgomery | 162,731 | 37.10% | 256,082 | 58.38% | 10,934 | 2.49% | 3,704 | 0.84% | 1,236 | 0.28% | 3,965 | 0.90% | -93,351 | -21.28% | 438,652 |
| Montour | 5,288 | 61.80% | 2,857 | 33.39% | 287 | 3.35% | 73 | 0.85% | 51 | 0.60% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,431 | 28.41% | 8,556 |
| Northampton | 71,736 | 49.62% | 66,275 | 45.84% | 3,690 | 2.55% | 1,371 | 0.95% | 450 | 0.31% | 1,047 | 0.72% | 5,461 | 3.78% | 144,569 |
| Northumberland | 25,427 | 68.89% | 9,788 | 26.52% | 931 | 2.52% | 296 | 0.80% | 180 | 0.49% | 285 | 0.77% | 15,639 | 42.37% | 36,907 |
| Perry | 15,616 | 73.07% | 4,632 | 21.67% | 619 | 2.90% | 163 | 0.76% | 128 | 0.60% | 213 | 1.00% | 10,984 | 51.40% | 21,371 |
| Philadelphia | 108,748 | 15.32% | 584,025 | 82.30% | 7,115 | 1.00% | 6,679 | 0.94% | 1,064 | 0.15% | 1,987 | 0.28% | -475,277 | -66.98% | 709,618 |
| Pike | 16,061 | 61.06% | 9,268 | 35.24% | 494 | 1.88% | 226 | 0.86% | 71 | 0.27% | 183 | 0.70% | 6,793 | 25.82% | 26,303 |
| Potter | 6,251 | 79.49% | 1,302 | 16.56% | 165 | 2.10% | 35 | 0.45% | 31 | 0.39% | 80 | 1.01% | 4,949 | 62.93% | 7,864 |
| Schuylkill | 44,001 | 69.42% | 16,770 | 26.46% | 1,414 | 2.23% | 449 | 0.71% | 235 | 0.37% | 516 | 0.81% | 27,231 | 42.96% | 63,385 |
| Snyder | 11,725 | 71.12% | 4,002 | 24.28% | 455 | 2.76% | 111 | 0.67% | 70 | 0.42% | 123 | 0.75% | 7,723 | 46.84% | 16,486 |
| Somerset | 27,379 | 75.90% | 7,376 | 20.45% | 678 | 1.88% | 166 | 0.46% | 174 | 0.48% | 300 | 0.83% | 20,003 | 55.45% | 36,073 |
| Sullivan | 2,291 | 72.68% | 750 | 23.79% | 65 | 2.06% | 14 | 0.44% | 16 | 0.51% | 16 | 0.51% | 1,541 | 48.89% | 3,152 |
| Susquehanna | 12,891 | 67.69% | 5,123 | 26.90% | 568 | 2.98% | 192 | 1.01% | 89 | 0.47% | 180 | 0.95% | 7,768 | 40.79% | 19,043 |
| Tioga | 13,614 | 73.56% | 3,901 | 21.08% | 548 | 2.96% | 139 | 0.75% | 123 | 0.66% | 182 | 0.98% | 9,713 | 52.48% | 18,507 |
| Union | 10,622 | 60.02% | 6,180 | 34.92% | 450 | 2.54% | 143 | 0.81% | 73 | 0.41% | 228 | 1.29% | 4,442 | 25.43% | 17,696 |
| Venango | 16,021 | 68.09% | 6,309 | 26.81% | 733 | 3.12% | 149 | 0.63% | 136 | 0.58% | 182 | 0.77% | 9,712 | 41.28% | 23,530 |
| Warren | 12,477 | 67.06% | 5,145 | 27.65% | 549 | 2.95% | 130 | 0.70% | 133 | 0.71% | 172 | 0.92% | 7,332 | 39.41% | 18,606 |
| Washington | 61,386 | 60.03% | 36,322 | 35.52% | 2,643 | 2.58% | 733 | 0.72% | 366 | 0.36% | 817 | 0.80% | 25,064 | 24.51% | 102,267 |
| Wayne | 16,244 | 67.63% | 7,008 | 29.18% | 466 | 1.94% | 206 | 0.86% | 94 | 0.39% | 0 | 0.00% | 9,236 | 38.45% | 24,018 |
| Westmoreland | 116,522 | 63.50% | 59,669 | 32.52% | 4,367 | 2.38% | 936 | 0.51% | 557 | 0.30% | 1,441 | 0.79% | 56,853 | 30.98% | 183,492 |
| Wyoming | 8,837 | 66.63% | 3,811 | 28.74% | 323 | 2.44% | 116 | 0.87% | 57 | 0.43% | 118 | 0.89% | 5,026 | 37.89% | 13,262 |
| York | 128,528 | 61.78% | 68,524 | 32.94% | 6,484 | 3.12% | 1,568 | 0.75% | 882 | 0.42% | 2,043 | 0.98% | 60,004 | 28.84% | 208,029 |
| Totals | 2,970,742 | 48.17% | 2,926,458 | 47.45% | 146,719 | 2.38% | 49,941 | 0.81% | 21,572 | 0.35% | 51,506 | 0.83% | 44,284 | 0.72% | 6,166,938 |
Swing by county
Trend relative to the state by county
County flipsDemocratic Hold Gain from Republican | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic
|
Trump won 12 of 18 congressional districts, including one which elected a Democrat, while Clinton won six, including two that elected a Republican.[18]
| District | Trump | Clinton | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18% | 80% | Bob Brady |
| 2 | 8% | 90% | Chaka Fattah |
| Dwight Evans | |||
| 3 | 61% | 35% | Mike Kelly |
| 4 | 59% | 37% | Scott Perry |
| 5 | 62% | 34% | Glenn Thompson |
| 6 | 48% | 48% | Ryan Costello |
| 7 | 47% | 49% | Patrick Meehan |
| 8 | 48% | 48% | Mike Fitzpatrick |
| Brian Fitzpatrick | |||
| 9 | 70% | 27% | Bill Shuster |
| 10 | 66% | 30% | Tom Marino |
| 11 | 60% | 36% | Lou Barletta |
| 12 | 59% | 38% | Keith Rothfus |
| 13 | 32% | 65% | Brendan Boyle |
| 14 | 31% | 66% | Mike Doyle |
| 15 | 52% | 44% | Charlie Dent |
| 16 | 51% | 44% | Joe Pitts |
| Lloyd Smucker | |||
| 17 | 53% | 43% | Matt Cartwright |
| 18 | 58% | 39% | Tim Murphy |
2016 is the only presidential race since1948 in which the Democratic nominee won the national popular vote without Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's vote for Donald Trump, along with that ofWisconsin andMichigan, marked the fall of the DemocraticBlue Wall, a bloc of over 240 electoral votes that voted solidly Democratic from 1992 to 2012. Pennsylvania was one of the eleven states to have voted twice forBill Clinton in1992 and1996 which Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. Although Wisconsin eventually delivered the Trump victory, when the Clinton campaign learned that they had lost Pennsylvania, they knew that they had lost the election.[19] While political analysts generally agree that Clinton met her turnout targets for Democratic voters, especially among the key counties of Bucks and Montgomery, Republican voter turnout was unexpectedly high in 2016, leading to a Trump win regardless of the Clinton campaign hitting their targets.[20]
Except for the most college-educated counties in the state (see the map), Trump made massive gains. Chester andMontgomery counties swung significantly leftward, while Centre County (home toPennsylvania State University) swung slightly leftward.Philadelphia County itself swung slightly rightward, though Clinton still won over 80% of the vote there. This prevented Clinton from winning the state, but it did keep Trump’s margin of victory below 1%.
Trump became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carryingChester orDauphin Counties, as well as the first to do so without carryingCentre County sinceBenjamin Harrison in1888, and the first to do so without carryingMonroe County sinceCalvin Coolidge in1924. He also became the first Republican to win Pennsylvania without carrying any of Philadelphia's suburban counties. Trump was the first Republican nominee for president to win Luzerne and Northampton counties since1988. He was the first Republican to win Erie County since 1984. As of the 2024 presidential race, 2016 was the first time since 1996 that neither major party won a majority of the vote in Pennsylvania.
The final nonpartisan live interview polls there show Mrs. Clinton ahead by a comfortable margin of four to six points. The state will probably be close, but it's quite clear that she has the edge.
State and district results of the2016 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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