November 8, 2016 2020 → 2,089,104 1,877,963 Date 8 November 2016 | Turnout 76.53% 51.1% 45.9% | |
 | ||
Trump
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90% Clinton
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90% | ||
The 2016 United States presidential election in Georgia was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 General Election in which all 50 states plus The District of Columbia participated. Georgia voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote putting 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.
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On March 1, 2016, in the presidential primaries, voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees. Trump won by a wide margin the Republican primary, and Clinton captured an easy victory in the Democratic primary. The Green Party presidential primary happened on June 4.
Donald Trump won the election in Georgia by 5.16%, a lower margin compared to Mitt Romney's 7.82% in 2012, but also from John McCain's 5.20% in 2008. Hillary Clinton received 45.9% of the vote, which made Georgia one of the eleven states where Hillary Clinton improved on Barack Obama's performance in 2012. This improvement occurred largely because the Atlanta metropolitan area shifted strongly Democratic compared to the previous presidential election, with Hillary Clinton being the first Democrat to win Henry County since 1980, and the first Democrat to win Gwinnett County and Cobb County since 1976, when Georgia native Jimmy Carter won all of the state's counties. The state of Georgia has been won by the Republican nominee in every election since 1996.
Background
The incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, a Democrat and former U.S. Senator from Illinois, was first elected president in the 2008 election, running with former Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. Defeating the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, with 52.9% of the popular vote and 68% of the electoral vote, Obama succeeded two-term Republican President George W. Bush, the former Governor of Texas. Obama and Biden were reelected in the 2012 presidential election, defeating former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with 51.1% of the popular vote and 61.7% of electoral votes. Although Barack Obama's approval rating in the RealClearPolitics poll tracking average remained between 40 and 50 percent for most of his second term, it has experienced a surge in early 2016 and reached its highest point since 2012 during June of that year. Analyst Nate Cohn has noted that a strong approval rating for Barack Obama would equate to a strong performance for the Democratic candidate, and vice versa.
Following his second term, President Barack Obama is not eligible for another reelection. In October 2015, Obama's running-mate and two-term Vice President Joe Biden decided not to enter the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination either. With their terms expiring on January 20, 2017, the electorate is asked to elect a new president, the 45th President and 48th Vice President of the United States, respectively.
Democratic primary
Four candidates appeared on the ballot:
Republican primary
The 76 Republican delegates from Georgia were allocated in this way. There were 42 delegates allocated by congressional district; if a candidate received a majority of votes or they were the only candidate to receive at least 20% of the vote in a congressional district, they would receive the districts 3 delegates. If not, the candidate who won the plurality of the vote in a congressional district would receive 2 delegates and the second place finisher in the district would receive 1 delegate. There were also 34 at-large delegates; if a candidate got a majority of the vote or they were the only candidate to get the mandatory threshold to receive any delegates (begins at 20%, if no one gets at least 20%, then 15%, if no one gets 15%, then 10%), they would get all of the state's at-large delegates. If not, the delegates would be allocated proportionally among the candidates receiving at least the mandatory threshold.
Green convention
On June 4, the Georgia Green Party held its state convention and presidential preference vote.