2016 United States presidential election (CK)
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All 538 electoral votes of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Democratic ticket of senators Caroline Kennedy and Cory Booker defeated the Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Despite a 59.5% turnout, Kennedy received roughly 77 million votes, the highest of any winning presidential candidate, and which surpassed that of Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008. With that, Kennedy also received the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a US presidential election.
As per the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, incumbent president Barack Obama was ineglible to seek a third term. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton was the initial frontrunner in the Democratic primary, having been initially ahead of self-described democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, but was ultimately defeated by Senator Caroline Kennedy from New York, thereby becoming the first female presidential nominee of a major American party. Meanwhile, businessman Donald Trump emerged as the Republican front-runner, defeating senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and others. Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, while the Green Party nominated Jill Stein. Trump's right-wing populist nationalist campaign, which promised to "Make America Great Again" and opposed political correctness, illegal immigration, and many United States free-trade agreements garnered extensive free media coverage due to Trump's inflammatory comments, while Kennedy, through her rival campaign, "Camelot Is Back", otherwise emphasised her notable background as a prominent member of the Kennedy family, her political experience in contrast to Trump's, denounced the American businessmen's inflammatory and aggressive rhetoric, while advocating for a continuation and expansion of President Obama's policies, racial equality, LGBT and women's rights, and notably, welfare capitalism.
The tone of the election was generally described as divisive and negative, with Trump facing controversy over his views on race and immigration, incidents of violence against protesters at his rallies, and numerous sexual misconduct allegations including the infamous Access Hollywood tape. On the other hand, Kennedy, whom despite arousing some controversy as a result of her separation from her husband, Edwin Schlossberg just a year prior, was otherwise praised by commentators and received generally positive media coverage, with media outlets most frequently emphasising her familial ties to the late John F. Kennedy and her uncles, Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, both of whom are highly regarded by the American public.
Despite mostly leading in almost every nationwide and swing-state poll, there was some initial concern that the relatively short amount of political experience held by Kennedy would ultimately prove to be her downfall. However, on Election Day, Kennedy ultimately achieved a relatively comfortable victory over her Republican opponent, whom she defeated in most key states. In the end, Kennedy received 335 electoral votes while Trump only received 196 electoral votes. As a result, Kennedy became the first president with no prior military experience and the second to come from the Kennedy family, after her father, John F. Kennedy, whom served as the 35th President of the United States from 1961 to 1963. Meanwhile, Kennedy collectively became the first Democrat to win the state of Arizona since 1996 and Georgia since 1992.
In the immediate aftermath of the election, the nation was engulfed with a series of nationwide protests held by supporters of Trump, while supporters of Kennedy otherwise celebrated her victory in the form of rallies throughout the nation. On the night of Election Day, in celebrating her victory, Kennedy herself gave a memorable and heartfelt speech from the Arlington National Cemetery, the burial place of her late parents and relatives.