November 8, 2016 2020 → 800,983 653,669 Date 8 November 2016 | Turnout 72.77% 51.1% 41.9% | |
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Trump
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90% Clinton
40-50%
50-60%
60-70% | ||
The 2016 United States presidential election in Iowa was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 General Election in which all 50 states plus The District of Columbia participated. Iowa 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.
Contents
Both parties' caucuses were held on February 1, 2016.
Donald Trump won the election in Iowa with 51.1% of the vote. Hillary Clinton received 41.9% of the vote. Trump carried Iowa by the largest margin of any Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Trump enjoyed the support of working-class whites in the agricultural industry, as well as the endorsements of Iowa's GOP establishment. A state that voted Democratic for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, the difference of 9.4% points was the largest winning margin for Trump in a state that had voted for Barack Obama.
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 President Obama would equate to a strong performance for the Democratic candidate, and vice versa.
Following his second term, President Obama is not eligible for another reelection. In October 2015, Obama's running-mate and two-term Vice President Biden decided not to enter the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination either. With their term 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.
Procedure
There is no ballot; instead, a unique form of debate and groupings chose delegates to county conventions supporting Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders. The Iowa Democratic Party does not release vote counts or the numbers of these delegates.
County Conventions
In early March, the delegates chosen in the Caucuses met chose delegates to the Congressional District Conventions.