2016 United States Presidential Election (ITEOAH)

The **2016 United States presidential election** was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Democratic ticket of Incumbent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren defeated the Republican ticket of Incumbent Vice President Mike Huckabee and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, in what was considered one of the greatest upsets in American history.

Per the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, then-incumbent president Barack Obama was ineligible to seek a third term. Huckabee went past moderate competition in Ohio Governor John Kasich, this would be the third straight election period where the Vice President was the nominee. Sanders emerged as his party's front-runner amidst a wide field of candidates in the Democratic primary, defeating New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Libertarian Party nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, and the Green Party nominated Jill Stein. Sanders's left-wing populist campaign, which promised to "Make America Great Again" and opposed border control, pro-life, and travel bans made under the Obama administration, was seen as fine by most liberals but was lambasted by conservatives and plenty of national media groups. Huckabee emphasized his support of economic policies under the Obama administration, and denounced Sanders and many of his supporters as a "Caravan of Idiots," along with political correctness and cancel culture, and also advocated for increase of security of pro-life and pro-religion bills.

The tone of the general election campaign was widely characterized as divisive and negative. Both Huckabee and Sanders came under fire over inflammatory comments on abortion, LGBTQ+ Rights, religion, and immigration and incidents of violence against protestors at their rallies. Huckabee led in almost every nationwide and swing-state poll, with some predictive models giving Huckabee over a 90 percent chance of winning. On Election Day, Sanders over-performed his polls, winning several key swing-states, while losing the popular vote by 1.21 million votes. Sanders received the majority in the Electoral College and made several upset victories in the Rust Belt. Ultimately, Sanders won 286 votes and Huckabee 252. Warren also became the first female on a winning ticket.

On January 6, 2017, the United States Intelligence Community concluded that the Chinese government had interfered in the 2016 elections in order to "undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Vice President Huckabee, and harm his electability and potential presidency." A Special Counsel investigation of alleged collusion between China and the Sanders campaign began in May 2017 and ended in August 2018. The investigation concluded that Chinese interference to favor Sanders' candidacy occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion", but "didn't established that members of the Sanders campaign both conspired and coordinated with the Chinese government." The main issues of this election were border control, religion in the government, the environment, and Sanders' plan for government control in education, healthcare, and work.

## Primaries:

### Republican Primaries:

From when he announced his run in 2015, Vice President Mike Huckabee was named the clear frontrunner for the nomination. However, Ohio Governor John Kasich believed Huckabee was too far-right to win, and thus ran against him. In the end, Huckabee won in what was not exactly a landslide, but a very comfortable win. He named Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval as his running mate.

 Mike Huckabee

### Democratic Primaries:

A wide field had emerged on the Democratic side. Many frontrunners such as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and Incumbent Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren got far. In the end, it was Incumbent Vermont Senator and leader of the progressive revolution Bernie Sanders, won the nomination, and named Warren as his running mate.

 Bernie Sanders

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Republican Campaign:

Huckabee gave many pro-right wing religious stances during his campaign, and also denounced the Sanders campaign and its supporters as a "caravan of idiots." Huckabee also promoted to continue major economic gains made under the Obama administration.

### Democratic Campaign:

Sanders endorsed a policy of progressivism, which he went under the label "Make America Great Again." He opposed many right wing social laws that Huckabee planned to pass, and also campaigned himself as a populist to go against the establishment mood developed in both parties.

### Border Control:

During his term, Obama had promoted building a wall on the southern border between Mexico to stop illegal immigration. Huckabee endorsed the idea even further, even wanting Mexico to pay for the wall. Sanders heavily opposed this law, wanting to accept and slowly convert Latinos to the American way.

### Government Involvement in Religion:

Despite Obama nominating conservative judges to the Supreme Court, the liberals still had the majority, and with it, the decided the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal in America. Huckabee wanted to ban it, as he believed marriage was between a man and a woman, holding traditional Christian values. Sanders, on the other hand, wanted to make laws to protect same-sex marriage, along with LGBTQ+ Rights.

### The Environment:

Sanders wanted the US to join the Paris Climate Accords, which would help to prevent climate change. Huckabee called the US joining, unnecessary, instead wanting the nation to focus on other aspects rather than the environment.

### Government Involvement in Education, Healthcare, and Work:

Sanders was a self-described democratic socialist, and thus, he supported many policies of democratic socialism. These included universal free healthcare from the government, relieving student debt, and forcing CEO's and owners to pay workers more. Huckabee, a capitalist and supporter of Obama's economic policies, declared Sanders was trying to ruin the foundation that Obama had built for the economy.

## Results and Aftermath:

Many media outlets gave Huckabee an over 90% chance of victory, and while Huckabee did win the popular vote by just over a million votes, Sanders won in an upset, flipping the states of Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and Hawaii.

Huckabee, Obama, and many conservatives began protesting Sanders' election, with mainly peaceful protests in conservative towns, with other conservatives beginning riots in the cities. Sanders and Warren were sworn in January 20, 2017 to mixed fanfare from both sides. On January 6, 2017, the United States Intelligence Community concluded that the Chinese government had interfered in the 2016 elections in order to "undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Vice President Huckabee, and harm his electability and potential presidency." A Special Counsel investigation of alleged collusion between China and the Sanders campaign began in May 2017 and ended in August 2018. The investigation concluded that Chinese interference to favor Sanders' candidacy occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion", but "didn't established that members of the Sanders campaign both conspired and coordinated with the Chinese government."