United States elections, 2016

Presidential election

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. Incumbent President Barack Obama, a member of the Democratic Party, was ineligible to be elected to a third term due to term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution. 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 and New York Senator Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on July 26, 2016 after defeating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and others 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. Libertarian Gary Johnson won 3.3% of the popular vote, the strongest performance by a third party presidential nominee since the 1996 election. Trump won the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, and Iowa, all of which were won by Obama in 2008 and 2012. The election is one of five presidential elections in American history in which the winner of the popular vote did not win the presidency.

Russian Interference

The United States government's intelligence agencies concluded the Russian government interfered in the 2016 United States elections. 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. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Hillary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency." Further, the US intelligence community stated "Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump."

Senate elections

All seats in Senate Class 3 were up for election. Additionally, special elections may be held to fill vacancies in the other two Senate Classes. Democrats won a net gain of two seats, but Republicans retained a majority with 52 seats in the 100-member chamber.

House of Representatives elections

All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Additionally, elections were held to select the Delegate for the District of Columbia as well as the delegates from U.S. territories. This includes the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term. Democrats won a net gain of six seats, but Republicans held a 241-to-194 majority following the elections.

Gubernatorial elections

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.

Legislative 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.

Other elections and ballot measures

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

Mayoral elections

Mayoral elections were held in many cities, including:

Table of state, territorial, and federal results

This table shows the partisan results of Congressional, gubernatorial, presidential, and state legislative races held in each state and territory in 2016. Note that not all states and territories hold gubernatorial, state legislative, and United States Senate elections in 2016; additionally, the territories do not have electoral votes in American presidential elections, and neither Washington, D.C. nor the territories elect members of the United States Senate. Washington, D.C. and the five inhabited territories each elect one non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives. Nebraska's unicameral legislature and the governorship and legislature of American Samoa are officially non-partisan. In the table, offices/legislatures that are not up for election in 2016 are already filled in for the "after 2016 elections" section, although vacancies or party switching could potentially lead to a flip in partisan control.