2016 United States presidential election in California
The 2016 United States presidential election in California was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. California voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. California had 55 electoral votes in the Electoral College, the most of any state.[2]
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| Turnout | 75.27% (of registered voters)  2.91 pp 58.74% (of eligible voters) 3.27 pp[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in California |
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Clinton won the state with 61.73 percent of the vote and a 30.11 percent margin. Despite being the largest state by population in the country, California only delivered Trump his third largest vote count, behind Florida and Texas. Even though Clinton lost the presidency, her victory margin in California was the largest of any Democrat since 1936. She also was the first Democrat to win Orange County since that same year, making Trump the first ever Republican to win the presidency without winning the county. Trump's 31.62% vote share remains the worst performance by a Republican presidential nominee since 1856. The state was one of 11 (along with the District of Columbia) that shifted towards the Democrats.
Primary elections
On June 7, 2016, in the presidential primaries, California voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, and American Independent parties' respective nominees for president.
While California has had a top-two candidates open primary system since 2011,[3] presidential primaries are still partisan races. Registered members of each party may only vote in their party's presidential primary. Unaffiliated voters may choose any one primary in which to vote, if the party allows such voters to participate.[3] For 2016, the American Independent, Democratic, and Libertarian parties have chosen to allow voters registered with no party preference to request their respective party's presidential ballots.[4]
Democratic primary
Seven candidates appeared on the Democratic presidential primary ballot:[5]
Opinion polling
Results
| Candidate | Popular vote | Estimated delegates | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 2,745,302 | 53.07% | 254 | 66 | 320 |
| Bernie Sanders | 2,381,722 | 46.04% | 221 | 0 | 221 |
| Willie Wilson | 12,014 | 0.23% | |||
| Michael Steinberg | 10,880 | 0.21% | |||
| Rocky De La Fuente | 8,453 | 0.16% | |||
| Henry Hewes | 7,743 | 0.15% | |||
| Keith Judd | 7,201 | 0.14% | |||
| Write-in | 23 | 0.00% | |||
| Uncommitted | — | 10 | 10 | ||
| Total | 5,173,338 | 100% | 475 | 76 | 551 |
| Source: California Secretary of State - Presidential Primary Election Statement of Votes The Green Papers | |||||
Republican primary
Five candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot, four of whom had suspended their campaigns prior to the primary:[5]
- Donald Trump
- Ben Carson (withdrawn)
- Ted Cruz (withdrawn)
- John Kasich (withdrawn)
- Jim Gilmore (withdrawn)
Donald Trump, the only candidate with an active campaign, won each Congressional district by substantial margins, as well as all the statewide delegates, to capture all 172 votes.
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Actual delegate count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |||
| Donald Trump | 1,665,135 | 74.76% | 172 | 0 | 172 |
| John Kasich (withdrawn) | 252,544 | 11.34% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Cruz (withdrawn) | 211,576 | 9.50% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Carson (withdrawn) | 82,259 | 3.69% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) | 15,691 | 0.70% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Write-ins | 101 | 0.00% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unprojected delegates: | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total: | 2,227,306 | 100.00% | 172 | 0 | 172 |
| Source: The Green Papers | |||||
Libertarian primary
Twelve candidates appeared on the Libertarian presidential primary ballot:
- Marc Feldman
- John Hale
- Cecil Ince
- Gary Johnson
- Steve Kerbel
- John McAfee
- Darryl Perry
- Austin Petersen
- Derrick M. Reid
- Jack Robinson Jr.
- Rhett Smith
- Joy Waymire
The primary took place after Gary Johnson won the Libertarian nomination at the Party's 2016 convention.
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Johnson | 19,294 | 62% |
| John McAfee | 3,139 | 10% |
| Austin Petersen | 1,853 | 6% |
| Rhett Smith | 1,531 | 5% |
| Joy Waymire | 923 | 3% |
| John David Hale | 873 | 3% |
| Marc Allan Feldman | 867 | 3% |
| Jack Robinson Jr. | 739 | 2% |
| Steve Kerbel | 556 | 2% |
| Darryl Perry | 521 | 2% |
| Derrick Michael Reid | 462 | 1% |
| Cecil Ince | 417 | 1% |
| Total | 31,175 | 100% |
Green primary
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Stein | 10,134 | 76.4% | 40 |
| Darryl Cherney | 1,288 | 9.7% | 5 |
| Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry | 762 | 5.7% | 3 |
| William Kreml | 555 | 4.2% | 2 |
| Kent Mesplay | 528 | 4.0% | 2 |
| Total | 13,267 | 100% | 50 |
American Independent
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Spears | 7,348 | 19% |
| Arthur Harris | 6,510 | 17% |
| Robert Ornelas | 6,411 | 17% |
| J. R. Myers | 4,898 | 13% |
| Wiley Drake | 4,828 | 13% |
| James Hedges | 3,989 | 11% |
| Thomas Hoefling | 3,917 | 10% |
| Total | 37,901 | 100% |
The American Independent Party, a far-right and paleoconservative political party that formed when endorsing the candidacy of George Wallace in 1968 held a small presidential primary on June 7. It was won by attorney Alan Spears.
The American Independent Party nullified the results of this primary when they endorsed Donald Trump in August.[9] The party indicated that Trump was a popular write-in choice during the primary, but was not allowed on the ballot because there was no evidence that Trump wanted the American Independent endorsement.[10]
Peace and Freedom
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Gloria Estela La Riva | 2,232 | 49% |
| Monica Moorehead | 1,369 | 30% |
| Lynn Sandra Kahn | 963 | 21% |
| Total | 4,564 | 100% |
General election
Polling
Democrat Hillary Clinton won every pre-election poll by double digits. The average of the last three pre-election polls showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump 54.3% to 32%.[12]
Statewide results
| 2016 U.S. presidential election in California[13] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Presidential candidate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | Percentage | ||||||
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton | 8,753,788 | 61.73% | 55 | |||
| Republican/American Independent | Donald Trump | 4,483,810 | 31.62% | 0 | |||
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | 478,500 | 3.37% | 0 | |||
| Green | Jill Stein | 278,657 | 1.97% | 0 | |||
| Independent | Bernie Sanders (write-in) | 79,341 | 0.56% | 0 | |||
| Peace and Freedom | Gloria La Riva | 66,101 | 0.47% | 0 | |||
| Independent | Evan McMullin (write-in) | 39,596 | 0.28% | 0 | |||
| Solidarity | Mike Maturen (write-in) | 1,316 | 0.01% | 0 | |||
| Independent | Laurence Kotlikoff (write-in) | 402 | 0.00% | 0 | |||
| Independent | Jerry White (write-in) | 84 | 0.00% | 0 | |||
| Date | November 8, 2016 | Total voters | Registered: 19,411,771 Eligible: 24,875,293 | ||||
| Turnout % | Registered: 75.27% VAP: 58.74% |
Turnout votes | Valid votes: 14,181,585 Invalid votes: 428,924 | ||||
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- >50%
- 40-50%
- 30-40%
- 20-30%
- 15-20%
- 10-15%
- 5-10%
- 1-5%
- 1-5%
- 5-10%
- 10-15%
- 15-20%
- 20-30%
- 30-40%
- 40-50%
- >50%
Below is an official list of California's Recognized Write-in Candidates.
- Laurence Kotlikoff for president and Edward Leamer for vice president
- Mike Maturen for president and Juan Muñoz for vice president
- Evan McMullin for president and Nathan Johnson for vice president
- Bernie Sanders for president and Tulsi Gabbard for vice president
- Jerry White for president and Niles Niemuth for vice president
California law only requires that 55 electors sign on to declare a person a write-in candidate, not that the persons consent, according to a statement from the Secretary of State's Office.[14]
Results by county
| County | Hillary Clinton Democratic |
Donald Trump Republican |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 514,842 | 78.06% | 95,922 | 14.54% | 48,779 | 7.40% | 418,920 | 63.52% | 659,543 |
| Alpine | 334 | 55.48% | 217 | 36.05% | 51 | 8.47% | 117 | 19.43% | 602 |
| Amador | 6,004 | 33.42% | 10,485 | 58.37% | 1,474 | 8.21% | -4,481 | -24.95% | 17,963 |
| Butte | 41,567 | 42.85% | 45,144 | 46.54% | 10,291 | 10.61% | -3,577 | -3.69% | 97,002 |
| Calaveras | 7,944 | 33.76% | 13,511 | 57.42% | 2,076 | 8.82% | -5,567 | -23.66% | 23,531 |
| Colusa | 2,661 | 39.73% | 3,551 | 53.02% | 485 | 7.25% | -890 | -13.29% | 6,697 |
| Contra Costa | 319,287 | 67.50% | 115,956 | 24.51% | 37,771 | 7.99% | 203,331 | 42.99% | 473,014 |
| Del Norte | 3,485 | 36.46% | 5,134 | 53.71% | 939 | 9.83% | -1,649 | -17.25% | 9,558 |
| El Dorado | 36,404 | 38.26% | 49,247 | 51.76% | 9,498 | 9.98% | -12,843 | -13.50% | 95,149 |
| Fresno | 141,341 | 49.24% | 124,049 | 43.21% | 21,672 | 7.55% | 17,292 | 6.03% | 287,062 |
| Glenn | 3,065 | 32.37% | 5,788 | 61.12% | 617 | 6.51% | -2,723 | -28.75% | 9,470 |
| Humboldt | 33,200 | 55.32% | 18,373 | 30.61% | 8,441 | 14.07% | 14,827 | 24.71% | 60,014 |
| Imperial | 32,667 | 67.93% | 12,704 | 26.42% | 2,720 | 5.65% | 19,963 | 41.51% | 48,091 |
| Inyo | 3,155 | 38.57% | 4,248 | 51.94% | 776 | 9.49% | -1,093 | -13.37% | 8,179 |
| Kern | 98,689 | 40.42% | 129,584 | 53.07% | 48,779 | 7.40% | -15,890 | -12.65% | 244,163 |
| Kings | 13,617 | 39.69% | 18,093 | 52.73% | 2,600 | 7.58% | -4,476 | -13.04% | 34,310 |
| Lake | 11,500 | 46.59% | 10,603 | 42.95% | 2,581 | 10.46% | 897 | 3.64% | 24,684 |
| Lassen | 2,224 | 20.79% | 7,574 | 70.79% | 901 | 8.42% | -5,350 | -50.00% | 10,699 |
| Los Angeles | 2,464,364 | 71.76% | 769,743 | 22.41% | 200,201 | 5.83% | 1,694,621 | 49.35% | 3,434,308 |
| Madera | 17,029 | 39.14% | 23,357 | 53.69% | 3,121 | 7.17% | -6,328 | -14.55% | 43,507 |
| Marin | 108,707 | 77.27% | 21,771 | 15.48% | 10,205 | 7.25% | 86,936 | 61.79% | 140,683 |
| Mariposa | 3,122 | 35.17% | 5,185 | 58.41% | 570 | 6.42% | -2,063 | -23.24% | 8,877 |
| Mendocino | 22,079 | 58.23% | 10,888 | 28.72% | 4,948 | 13.05% | 11,191 | 29.51% | 37,915 |
| Merced | 37,317 | 52.47% | 28,725 | 40.39% | 5,085 | 7.14% | 8,592 | 12.08% | 71,127 |
| Modoc | 877 | 22.82% | 2,696 | 70.15% | 270 | 7.03% | -1,819 | -47.33% | 3,843 |
| Mono | 2,773 | 52.51% | 2,111 | 39.97% | 397 | 7.52% | 662 | 12.54% | 5,281 |
| Monterey | 89,088 | 66.78% | 34,895 | 26.16% | 9,425 | 7.06% | 54,193 | 40.62% | 133,408 |
| Napa | 39,199 | 63.87% | 17,411 | 28.37% | 4,762 | 7.76% | 21,788 | 35.50% | 61,372 |
| Nevada | 26,053 | 47.43% | 23,365 | 42.53% | 5,517 | 10.04% | 2,688 | 4.90% | 54,935 |
| Orange | 609,961 | 50.94% | 507,148 | 42.35% | 80,412 | 6.71% | 102,813 | 8.59% | 1,197,521 |
| Placer | 73,509 | 39.52% | 95,138 | 51.14% | 17,377 | 9.34% | -21,629 | -11.62% | 186,024 |
| Plumas | 3,459 | 35.12% | 5,420 | 55.03% | 971 | 9.85% | -1,961 | -19.91% | 9,850 |
| Riverside | 373,695 | 49.73% | 333,243 | 44.35% | 44,453 | 5.92% | 40,452 | 5.38% | 751,391 |
| Sacramento | 326,023 | 57.98% | 189,789 | 33.75% | 46,473 | 8.27% | 136,234 | 24.23% | 562,285 |
| San Benito | 12,521 | 56.60% | 7,841 | 35.44% | 1,760 | 7.96% | 4,680 | 21.16% | 22,122 |
| San Bernardino | 340,833 | 52.12% | 271,240 | 41.48% | 41,910 | 6.40% | 69,593 | 10.64% | 653,983 |
| San Diego | 735,476 | 56.07% | 477,766 | 36.43% | 98,376 | 7.50% | 257,710 | 19.64% | 1,311,618 |
| San Francisco | 345,084 | 84.47% | 37,688 | 9.23% | 25,769 | 6.30% | 307,396 | 75.24% | 408,541 |
| San Joaquin | 121,124 | 53.36% | 88,936 | 39.18% | 16,942 | 7.46% | 32,188 | 14.18% | 227,002 |
| San Luis Obispo | 67,107 | 48.91% | 56,164 | 40.94% | 13,931 | 10.15% | 10,943 | 7.97% | 137,202 |
| San Mateo | 237,882 | 75.67% | 57,929 | 18.43% | 18,573 | 5.90% | 179,953 | 57.24% | 314,384 |
| Santa Barbara | 107,142 | 59.90% | 56,365 | 31.51% | 15,371 | 8.59% | 50,777 | 28.39% | 178,878 |
| Santa Clara | 511,684 | 72.71% | 144,826 | 20.58% | 47,199 | 6.71% | 366,858 | 52.13% | 703,709 |
| Santa Cruz | 95,249 | 73.26% | 22,438 | 17.26% | 12,325 | 9.48% | 72,811 | 56.00% | 130,012 |
| Shasta | 22,301 | 27.52% | 51,778 | 63.90% | 6,945 | 8.58% | -29,477 | -36.38% | 81,024 |
| Sierra | 601 | 32.35% | 1,048 | 56.40% | 209 | 11.25% | -447 | -24.05% | 1,858 |
| Siskiyou | 7,234 | 35.30% | 11,341 | 55.34% | 1,918 | 9.36% | -4,107 | -20.04% | 20,493 |
| Solano | 102,360 | 60.87% | 51,920 | 30.88% | 13,870 | 8.25% | 50,440 | 29.99% | 168,150 |
| Sonoma | 160,435 | 68.77% | 51,408 | 22.03% | 21,460 | 9.20% | 109,027 | 46.74% | 233,303 |
| Stanislaus | 81,647 | 46.81% | 78,494 | 45.01% | 14,265 | 8.18% | 3,153 | 1.80% | 174,406 |
| Sutter | 13,076 | 38.66% | 18,176 | 53.74% | 2,572 | 7.60% | -5,100 | -15.08% | 33,824 |
| Tehama | 6,809 | 28.48% | 15,494 | 64.81% | 1,605 | 6.71% | -8,685 | -36.33% | 23,908 |
| Trinity | 2,214 | 38.28% | 2,812 | 48.62% | 758 | 13.10% | -598 | -10.34% | 5,784 |
| Tulare | 47,585 | 41.70% | 58,299 | 51.09% | 8,218 | 7.21% | -10,714 | -9.39% | 114,102 |
| Tuolumne | 9,123 | 35.23% | 14,551 | 56.20% | 2,219 | 8.57% | -5,428 | -20.97% | 25,893 |
| Ventura | 194,402 | 54.59% | 132,323 | 37.16% | 29,382 | 8.25% | 62,079 | 17.43% | 356,107 |
| Yolo | 54,752 | 66.70% | 20,739 | 25.26% | 6,599 | 8.04% | 34,013 | 41.44% | 82,090 |
| Yuba | 7,910 | 34.39% | 13,170 | 57.27% | 1,918 | 8.34% | -5,260 | -22.88% | 22,998 |
| Total | 8,753,792 | 61.46% | 4,483,814 | 31.48% | 1,005,843 | 7.06% | 4,269,978 | 29.98% | 14,243,449 |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
By congressional district
Clinton won 46 of the 53 congressional districts, including 7 held by Republicans.[15]
Outcome by city
Official outcomes by city.[16]
Analysis
California has voted Democratic in every presidential election since Republican George H. W. Bush won the state in 1988. Hillary Clinton easily continued the Democratic tradition in California, winning the state with 61.7% of the vote, Clinton's second highest vote percentage of any state, behind Hawaii. Donald Trump received 31.6% of the vote, making for a Democratic victory margin of 30.11 points.[17] California was one of eleven states where Hillary Clinton outperformed outgoing President Barack Obama in 2012, and contributed to Clinton's national popular vote victory.[18]
The California state result was historically one of the most successful for the Democratic Party nominee by several measures, as Hillary Clinton carried California by the largest margin of any Democratic candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt swept the state by 35.25% in his 1936 re-election landslide.[19] Trump's 31.62% vote share in the state was the lowest for a major-party candidate in the state since John W. Davis's 8.2% in 1924. Trump became only the second nominee of either party to win the presidency without receiving at least a million votes in Los Angeles County, by far the nation's largest, since the county had first given any nominee over a million votes in 1952 (George W. Bush in 2000 having been the first).[20][21]
California was the only large state (one with at least 15 electoral votes[22]) in which Hillary Clinton lost no counties that had been carried by Barack Obama in 2012. Indeed, she herself flipped Orange County, the largest county to switch parties in either direction in 2016, into the Democratic column; no Democrat had carried Orange County since 1936, when Franklin Roosevelt carried every county in the state.[23] This made Donald Trump the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Orange County since the county's founding in 1889; he also became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Ventura County since its founding in 1872, without carrying Riverside County since its founding in 1893, without carrying San Bernardino County since Ulysses Grant in 1868, without carrying Nevada, San Diego, or San Joaquin Counties since William McKinley in 1896, without carrying San Luis Obispo County since William McKinley in 1900, and without carrying Fresno, Merced, or Stanislaus Counties since Richard Nixon in 1968.
See also
References
- "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State.
- "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. September 19, 2019. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- "Frequently Asked Questions | California Secretary of State". Sos.ca.gov. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "County Clerk/Registrar of Voters (CC/ROV) Memorandum #16036" (PDF). Elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election | California Secretary of State". Sos.ca.gov. June 7, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "Presidential Primary Election - Statement of Vote, June 7, 2016". Office of the Secretary of State of California. Government of California. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
- "President Green - Statewide Results | Primary Election | California Secretary of State". vote.sos.ca.gov. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- "President American Independent - Statewide Results". Office of the Secretary of State of California. Government of California. June 8, 2016. Archived from the original on June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
- Myers, John (August 16, 2016). "Donald Trump will be the nominee of two parties on California's November ballot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
- Winger, Richard (July 8, 2016). "Donald Trump Probably Won American Independent Party Presidential Primary". Ballot Access News. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
- "President Peace and Freedom - Statewide Results". Office of the Secretary of State of California. Government of California. June 8, 2016. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
- "RealClearPolitics - Election 2016 - California: Trump vs. Clinton". Archived from the original on May 27, 2016.
- "The Statement of Vote - President by County" (PDF). California Secretary of State.
- "California, your official presidential write-in options include Bernie Sanders and Evan McMullin". Los Angeles Times. October 28, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index".
- "Supplement to Statement of Vote" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- "California Election Results 2016 – The New York Times". Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- General Election - Statement of Vote, November 8, 2016. Final results certified by Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State. December 16, 2016.
- "West Coast Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "Presidential Election Results Los Angeles County". Los Angeles Almanac. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- "The 25 largest counties in the United States in 2016, by population (in millions)". Statista. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
- Cook, Rhodes. "OBAMA'S NEXT CHALLENGE: – Sabato's Crystal Ball". Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Krishnakumar, Priya; Schleuss, Jon; Fox, Joe (November 11, 2016), "For the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt, a majority in Orange County voted for a Democrat", Los Angeles Times
External links
- RNC 2016 Republican Nominating Process Archived November 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- Green papers for 2016 primaries, caucuses, and conventions
- California neighborhood election results — A Los Angeles Times map of election results down to the precinct level
