2016 United States presidential election

The **2016 United States presidential election** was the 58th presidential election that was held on November 8, 2016. Businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated former U.S. secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. senator Tim Kaine on the Republican Party ticket.

Then-incumbent President Barack Obama was term limited by the Twenty-second amendment, which made him unable to serve a third presidential term. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton won 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 Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate, and Clinton chose U.S. 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 Trump lost 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### Withdrawn candidates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### Withdrawn candidates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#### Withdrawn candidates 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.

File:Steele headshot never used before (afghanistan).jpg|
File:Marc Allan Feldman (20277052616) (cropped).jpg|
File:John McAfee by Gage Skidmore.jpg|
File:Austin Petersen by Gage Skidmore.jpg|
File:Vermin Supreme (St. Anselm College).jpg|

### 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

File:Midge Potts at State of the Union protest (cropped).jpg|

### 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.
* 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
* Gloria La Riva, newspaper printer and activist, from New Mexico

### Socialist Party USA 
Ballot Access to 0 electoral votes  vice-presidential nominee: Angela Walker of Wisconsin
* 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

;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.

## Notes
## References
## Other websites
* 2016 Presidential Form 2 Filers  at the Federal Election Commission (FEC)