2016 United States presidential election

<a href="/facts/United_States_presidential_election/kHjebjsW">Presidential elections</a> were held in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> on November 8, 2016. Considered to be the biggest political <a href="/facts/Upset_(competition)/cxPGwpKe">upset</a> in American history, the <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican</a> ticket of <a href="/facts/Businessman/Eys9TX5M">businessman</a> <a href="/facts/Donald_Trump/pqqKY21P">Donald Trump</a> and <a href="/facts/Indiana_Governor/t7l4tkd2">Indiana governor</a> <a href="/facts/Mike_Pence/yF3PHK7L">Mike Pence</a> defeated the <a href="/facts/Democratic_Party_(United_States)/MNe3nDrL">Democratic</a> ticket of former <a href="/facts/United_States_Secretary_of_State/AgUe4Dkq">secretary of state</a> <a href="/facts/Hillary_Clinton/dPzm9ru4">Hillary Clinton</a> and Virginia junior senator <a href="/facts/Tim_Kaine/vhe2NB51">Tim Kaine</a>. It was the fifth and most recent presidential election in which the <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_in_which_the_winner_lost_the_popular_vote/3YuefBmN">winning candidate lost the popular vote</a>.
Incumbent Democratic president <a href="/facts/Barack_Obama/76wUMgL1">Barack Obama</a> was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the term limits established by the <a href="/facts/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_U.S._Constitution/K1HWBTDT">Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution</a>. Clinton secured the nomination over U.S. senator <a href="/facts/Bernie_Sanders/MjDFDSVY">Bernie Sanders</a> in <a href="/facts/2016_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries/JlnIBKBX">the Democratic primary</a> and became the first female presidential nominee of a major American political party. Initially considered a <a href="/facts/Novelty_candidate/zJG68zCr">novelty candidate</a>, Trump emerged as the <a href="/facts/2016_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries/sq46cQlc">Republican front-runner</a>, defeating several notable opponents, including U.S. senators <a href="/facts/Ted_Cruz_2016_presidential_campaign/hfCxBN1J">Ted Cruz</a> and <a href="/facts/Marco_Rubio_2016_presidential_campaign/rhlvPbzh">Marco Rubio</a>, as well as governors <a href="/facts/John_Kasich_2016_presidential_campaign/B25CWmvQ">John Kasich</a> and <a href="/facts/Jeb_Bush_2016_presidential_campaign/RAXDg7l1">Jeb Bush</a>. Trump's <a href="/facts/Right-wing_populist/Wr5gfR88">right-wing populist</a>, <a href="/facts/American_nationalism_and_Trumpism/09bbYR1L">nationalist</a> campaign, which promised to "<a href="/facts/Make_America_Great_Again/eNqvbadU">Make America Great Again</a>" and opposed <a href="/facts/Political_correctness/HGNd0J4b">political correctness</a>, <a href="/facts/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States/BtcLkouj">illegal immigration</a>, and many <a href="/facts/United_States_free-trade_agreements/JqFvT0Bf">United States free-trade agreements</a>, garnered extensive <a href="/facts/Earned_media/hUbBy1Pa">free media</a> coverage due to Trump's inflammatory comments. Clinton emphasized her extensive political experience, denounced Trump and half of his supporters as a "<a href="/facts/Basket_of_deplorables/0IAKg8wx">basket of deplorables</a>", bigots, and extremists, and advocated the expansion of <a href="/facts/Presidency_of_Barack_Obama/Fx03UXVV">Obama's policies</a>; <a href="/facts/Racial_equality/5nqgMucQ">racial</a>, <a href="/facts/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States/CANcd6oJ">LGBT</a>, and <a href="/facts/Feminism_in_the_United_States/pt7yfd15">women's rights</a>; and <a href="/facts/Inclusive_capitalism/QA4uV1hU">inclusive capitalism</a>.
The tone of the election campaign was widely characterized as divisive, negative, and troubling. Trump faced controversy over <a href="/facts/Racial_views_of_Donald_Trump/z8ssClc5">his views on race and immigration</a>, incidents of <a href="/facts/Protests_against_Donald_Trump/Au6jGuwM">violence against protesters</a> at his rallies, and numerous <a href="/facts/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations/MArgTNPM">sexual misconduct allegations</a> including the <a href="/facts/Donald_Trump_Access_Hollywood_tape/ojAC0QjR">Access Hollywood tape</a>. Clinton's popularity and public image were tarnished by concerns about her ethics and trustworthiness, and a controversy and subsequent <a href="/facts/FBI/UY93jwX6">FBI</a> investigation regarding <a href="/facts/Hillary_Clinton_email_controversy/PpEFDadJ">her improper use of a private email server</a> while serving as secretary of state, which received more media coverage than any other topic during the campaign. Clinton led in almost every nationwide and swing-state poll, with some predictive models giving her over a 90 percent chance of victory.
On election day, Trump over-performed his polls, winning several key swing states for a majority in the <a href="/facts/United_States_Electoral_College/Uyko6bfl">Electoral College</a> while losing the nationwide popular vote by 2.87 million votes. Trump flipped six states that had voted Democratic in <a href="/facts/2012_United_States_presidential_election/aNbvykA0">2012</a>: <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Florida/zzdtp49C">Florida</a>, <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Iowa/8bGPxEvp">Iowa</a>, <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Michigan/pdwtkQ5I">Michigan</a>, <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Ohio/F1NrLJBQ">Ohio</a>, <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Pennsylvania/94NgGCrv">Pennsylvania</a>, and <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Wisconsin/McRpSKJm">Wisconsin</a>, as well as <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Maine/qctxUDzw">Maine's 2nd congressional district</a>. He gained a combined 46 electoral votes from his pivotal upset victories in the Democratic leaning <a href="/facts/Rust_Belt/W91XSt7x">Rust Belt</a> states of <a href="/facts/Michigan/bCurmfT2">Michigan</a>, <a href="/facts/Pennsylvania/HGqC5bBm">Pennsylvania</a>, and <a href="/facts/Wisconsin/XvyqH6vN">Wisconsin</a>, which he carried by fewer than 80,000 votes in the three states combined. Trump's surprise victories were perceived to have been assisted by Clinton's lack of campaigning in Wisconsin, the rightward shift of the white <a href="/facts/Working_class_in_the_United_States/jfjm1yUV">working class</a>, and the influence of <a href="/facts/Sanders%25E2%2580%2593Trump_voters/IqF0jF2X">Sanders–Trump voters</a> who chose to back Donald Trump after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the primaries. Ultimately, Trump received 304 electoral votes and Clinton 227, as two <a href="/facts/Faithless_electors_in_the_2016_United_States_presidential_election/aEHYwbCJ">faithless electors defected</a> from Trump and five from Clinton. Trump was the first president with neither <a href="/facts/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_previous_experience/HJbE0wuX">prior public service nor military experience</a>.
With ballot access to the entire national electorate, <a href="/facts/Libertarian_Party_(United_States)/Wf4brzDk">Libertarian</a> nominee <a href="/facts/Gary_Johnson/nXzbfcdA">Gary Johnson</a> received nearly 4.5 million votes (3.27%), the highest nationwide vote share for a third-party candidate since <a href="/facts/Ross_Perot/L1BBTyFk">Ross Perot</a> in <a href="/facts/1996_United_States_presidential_election/pAE3e0Dc">1996</a>, while <a href="/facts/Green_Party_(United_States)/qG9jzWQR">Green Party</a> nominee <a href="/facts/Jill_Stein/xINEfwCS">Jill Stein</a> received almost 1.45 million votes (1.06%). Independent candidate <a href="/facts/Evan_McMullin/6rSu1MJr">Evan McMullin</a> received <a href="/facts/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Utah/jf1kLdFl">21.4%</a> 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.
On January 6, 2017, the <a href="/facts/United_States_Intelligence_Community/JLLIfECW">United States Intelligence Community</a> concluded that the <a href="/facts/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_United_States_elections/joyqKPf7">Russian government had interfered in the 2016 elections</a>, and that it did so in order to "undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency". A <a href="/facts/Mueller_special_counsel_investigation/n6vCqET7">Special Counsel investigation</a> of alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign began in May 2017, and ended in March 2019, concluded that Russian interference in favor of Trump's candidacy occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion" but did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.

2016 United States presidential election open-in-new

2016 United States presidential election