2016 United States elections

The United States government's intelligence agencies concluded the Russian government interfered in the 2016 United States elections.[7][8] A joint US intelligence review stated with high confidence that, "Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. In May 2019, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Russians hacked voting databases in two Florida counties prior to the 2016 presidential election and no election results were compromised.[9][10][11]

The election saw an aggressive set of campaigns from both Trump and Clinton leading up to the election, Clinton's being of particular interest when considering the exit polls and voter demographics.[12] With her gender presenting as the biggest target for Trump's campaign as a point of criticism, the Clinton campaign made a conscious decision to capitalize on the negativity surrounding her gender to appeal to female voters (young women in particular) by co-opting feminist ideals alongside traditional democratic ones. The party's social media campaign was particularly aggressive, with the use of hashtags and celebrity endorsement being crucial to Clinton's appeal to the wider public.[13] This backfired however, when exit polls showed that, while Clinton was popular with the female vote, it was Trump who had won the favour of a majority white female demographic,[14] with some citing political 'wokeness' as a voter turn-off.[15]

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial presidential election. The electoral vote distribution was determined by the 2010 census from which presidential electors electing the president and vice president were chosen; a simple majority (270) of the 538 electoral votes were required to win. In one of the greatest election upsets in U.S. History, businessman and reality television personality Donald Trump of New York won the Republican Party's presidential nomination on July 19, 2016, after defeating Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and several other candidates in the Republican primary elections.^[1] Former Secretary of State, First Lady and New York Senator Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on July 26, 2016, after a tough battle with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary elections. This was the first election with a female presidential nominee from a major political party, as well as the first election since 1944 that had major party presidential nominees from the same home state.

Clinton won the popular vote, taking 48% of the vote compared to Trump's 46% of the vote, but Trump won the electoral vote and thus the presidency. The election is one of five presidential elections in American history in which the winner of the popular vote did not win the presidency. Libertarian Gary Johnson won 3.3% of the popular vote, the strongest performance by a third party presidential nominee since the 1996 election. Trump flipped the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, and Iowa, that were won by Obama in 2008 and 2012. The former two last voted Republican in 1988 and Wisconsin last did so in 1984.

All seats in Senate Class 3 were up for election. Democrats won a net gain of two seats, but Republicans retained a majority with 52 seats in the 100-member chamber.[16]

All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Additionally, elections were held to select the delegates for the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories, including the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.

Democrats won a net gain of six seats, but Republicans held a 241-to-194 majority following the elections. Nationwide, Republicans won the popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 1.1 percent.[17]

Regular elections were held for the governorships of 11 U.S. states and two U.S. territories. Additionally, a special election was held in Oregon after the resignation of John Kitzhaber as governor. Republicans won a net gain of two seats by winning open seats in Missouri, Vermont, and New Hampshire while Democrats defeated an incumbent in North Carolina. However, Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia switched his party affiliation to Republican shortly after his inauguration, thereby netting Republicans 3 seats and giving them 34 seats nationwide, tying their record set in the 1921 elections.

In 2016, 44 states held state legislative elections; 86 of the 99 chambers were up for election. Only six states did not hold state legislative elections: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Virginia, Alabama, and Maryland.[18]

Democrats won both chambers in the Nevada Legislature and the New Mexico House of Representatives, while Republicans won the Kentucky House of Representatives, the Iowa Senate, and the Minnesota Senate. The Alaska House of Representatives flipped from Republican control to a Democrat-led coalition majority, and the Connecticut State Senate went from Democratic control to tied control.[19] Meanwhile, the New York Senate went from Republican to a Republican-led coalition.

Many states also held elections for other elected offices, such as attorney general. Many states held ballot measures.[20]

Mayoral elections were held in many cities, including:

• Bakersfield, California: Incumbent Harvey Hall did not seek re-election.[21] Karen Goh was elected to succeed Hall. The office is not partisan.
• Baltimore, Maryland: Incumbent Democrat Stephanie Rawlings-Blake did not seek re-election.[22] Democrat Catherine E. Pugh was elected as Rawlings-Blake's replacement.
• Gilbert, Arizona: Incumbent John Lewis resigned prior to the election.[23] Interim mayor Jenn Daniels was elected to succeed Lewis. The office is not partisan.
• Honolulu, Hawaii: Incumbent Democrat Kirk Caldwell won re-election to a second term.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Incumbent Tom Barrett was re-elected to a fourth term. The office is not partisan.
• Portland, Oregon: Incumbent Charlie Hales did not seek re-election.[24] Ted Wheeler was elected to succeed Hales. The office is not partisan.
• Richmond, Virginia: Incumbent Dwight C. Jones was term-limited and cannot seek re-election. Levar Stoney was elected as the new Richmond, VA, mayor. The office is not partisan.
• Sacramento, California: Incumbent Democrat Kevin Johnson did not seek re-election.[25] Democrat Darrell Steinberg was elected as Johnson's replacement.[26]
• San Diego, California: Incumbent Kevin Faulconer won a second term as mayor. The office is not partisan.
• Tulsa, Oklahoma: Incumbent Republican Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. was defeated by city councilor and fellow Republican G. T. Bynum.[27]