The 2016 United States presidential election happened on November 8, 2016. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate who was a businessman, won the election. He defeated Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, who was the former United States Secretary of State. 

Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama was not allowed to serve a third term. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was able to win the Democratic nomination. Trump became his party's front-runner against many candidates in the Republican primary, defeating Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, and Ohio Governor John Kasich among other candidates. Many third-party candidates ran, such as Gary Johnson. Trump chose Governor of Indiana Mike Pence as his running mate, and Clinton chose Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. 

Trump received 304 electoral votes, 34 more votes than what was needed to win, while Clinton received 227. Even though Clinton won the popular vote, the electoral votes decide the actual winner of the election. Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

Background 
Article Two of the United States Constitution says that for a person to be elected and serve as President of the United States, they must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for a period of no less than 14 years.

Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various political parties of the United States, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf.

President Barack Obama was unable to seek re-election for a third term because of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that a president may only serve up to two terms. His term as president ended at noon eastern standard time on January 20, 2017.

Democratic Party

Nominees

Withdrawn candidates

Republican Party

Withdrawn candidates

Major third parties

Libertarian Party 

Ballot access to all 538 electoral votes

Nominees

Withdrawn candidates 
 Robert David Steele, activist and author from Virginia; candidate for the Reform Party's nomination in 2012. Suspended campaign on January 6, 2016
 Marc Allan Feldman, Anesthesiologist at The Cleveland Clinic (since 1998). Suspended after convention
 John McAfee, businessman and computer scientist, founder of McAfee. Suspended after convention
 Austin Petersen, businessman and founder and CEO of Stonegait, LLC. Suspended after convention. Endorsed Gary Johnson
 Vermin Supreme, performance artist and activist; candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination in 2012 and 2016. Suspended after convention.

Constitution Party 

Ballot access to 207 electoral votes (451 with write-in): – 
 As write-in: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia
 No ballot access: California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma

Nominees

Green Party 

Ballot access to 493(451) electoral votes: Ballot access currently in process: North Dakota, Rhode Island, Wyoming

States currently under litigation for ballot access: Nevada, Oklahoma

States with no ballot access: South Dakota As write-in:  Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina.

Nominees

Other active candidates 
 Darryl Cherney, Earth First! organizer and musician from California
 Sedinam Curry, 29th People's National Convention organizer from California
 William Kreml, Professor Emeritus of University of South Carolina from South Carolina. Endorsed Jill Stein
 Kent Mesplay, Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District of San Diego County (2001-2015) from California. Endorsed Jill Stein

Withdrawn candidates 
 Midge Potts, transgender peace activist from Missouri. Suspended campaign during primaries

American Delta Party and Reform Party 

Ballot access to 147 electoral votes (305 with write-in)
 On the ballot: Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming
 As write-in: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
 No ballot access: California, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming

Independents 

Ballot access to 84 electoral votes (451 with write-in):
 As write-in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
 No ballot access: District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming

Other parties

American Freedom Party 
Ballot Access to 6 electoral votes: Mississippi
 Bob Whitaker, white nationalist and paleoconservative political activist from South Carolina. Vice-presidential nominee: Tom Bowie, from Maryland

Independent American Party 
Ballot Access to 18 Electoral Votes: New Mexico, Oregon, Utah
 Farley Anderson, activist from Utah. Vice Presidential nominee: Vacant

Party for Socialism and Liberation 
Ballot Access to 29 electoral votes: Florida
 Gloria La Riva, newspaper printer and activist from New Mexico; 2008 presidential nominee; vice-presidential nominee: Eugene Puryear

Prohibition Party 

Ballot Access to 21 electoral votes: Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi
 James Hedges, Tax Assessor for Thompson Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania 2002–2007; vice-presidential nominee: Bill Bayes of Mississippi

Peace and Freedom Party & Party of Socialism and Liberation 
Ballot Access to 84 electoral votes: California, Florida
 Gloria La Riva, newspaper printer and activist, from New Mexico

Socialist Party USA 
Ballot Access to 0 electoral votes
 Mimi Soltysik, former National Co-chair of the Socialist Party USA from California;  vice-presidential nominee: Angela Walker of Wisconsin

Nutrition Party 
Ballot Access to 9 electoral votes: Colorado
 Rod Silva, restaurateur from New Jersey; Vice-presidential nominee: Vacant

Veterans Party of America 
Ballot Access to 6 electoral votes: Mississippi
 Chris Keniston, reliability engineer from Texas; vice-presidential nominee: Deacon Taylor of Nevada

Workers World Party 
Ballot Access to 0 electoral votes
 Monica Moorehead, perennial candidate and activist from New Jersey; vice-Presidential nominee: Lamont Lilly

Battleground states
Battleground states during the election were: Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio and North Carolina. Trump won Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and a congressional district in Maine. Clinton won Nevada, New Hampshire and Maine. Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were seen as likely 'Blue' states, but Trump won all three states in what was seen as a political upset.

Party conventions
 
 Democratic Party

 July 25–28, 2016: Democratic National Convention to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Republican Party

 July 18–21, 2016: Republican National Convention to be held in Cleveland, Ohio.

 Green Party

 August 4–7, 2016: Green National Convention was held in Houston, Texas.

Libertarian Party

 May 26–30, 2016: Libertarian National Convention to be held in Orlando, Florida.

 Constitution Party

 April 13–16, 2016: Constitution Party National Convention was held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 Reform Party

 July 29–31, 2016: Reform Party National Convention was held in Bohemia, New York.

Debates
On April 1, 2015, the Commission on Presidential Debates a (CPD) announced that each of the following 16 locations are under consideration to host one of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate:
 Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee
 Birmingham, Alabama
 Dominican University of California in San Rafael, California
 Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky
 Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia
 Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York
 Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida
 Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia
 State University of New York Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York
 University of Nevada, Las Vegas
 Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
 West Virginia University and West Virginia State University in Charleston, West Virginia
 Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio
 Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
 Houston Community College in Houston, Texas
 McAllen, Texas

The three locations which will host the presidential debates and the one location selected to host the vice presidential debate are to be announced by the CPD in the fall of 2015.

Results

Margin of victory 
 Blue shows Clinton's margin of victory over Trump, while red shows Trump's margin of victory over Clinton.

The following table shows the swing in each state compared to the 2012 election.

References

Other websites
 2016 Presidential Form 2 Filers  at the Federal Election Commission (FEC)

 
United States presidential election