2016 Presidential Election (Sanders Vs. Cruz)

The 2016 United States Presidential Election was the 58th quadrennial Presidential Election held on Tuesday, November 8. The Democratic ticket of incumbent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Bernie Sanders defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent Texas Senator and Ohio Governor John Kasich. At 74 years old, Sanders became the oldest-elected President in U.S. history, as well as the first President from Vermont. Warren would also become the first female Vice President.

After President Barrack Obama became ineligible for a third term in the 2016 Election, the Democratic primaries saw two main candidates come out of the smoke, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the winner, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who won the primaries and nominated Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as his Vice President nominee. Meanwhile for the Republicans, despite major rumors that businessman Donald Trump would try to run for the Republican nomination, he declined and instead endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who would beat candidates like Ohio Governor John Kasich and Florida Senator Marco Rubio to win the nomination, and after winning the nomination, Cruz declared Kasich as his Vice President Nominee.

The main issues debated in this election were the environment, LGBTQ+ Rights, and the Affordable Care Act.

## Primaries:

### Democratic Primaries:

After President Obama, there were many ideal choices for the Democrats going into the 2016 Election, but the final two to make it to the primaries were former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Clinton had the lead throughout most of the contest, but a scandal about her private email server turned off most voters com March and Sanders won, made it to the DNC, and declared Elizabeth Warren as his Vice President nominee.

2016 **Democratic Presidential Candidate**
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### Republican Primaries:

After losing the Presidency two elections in a row, Republicans were determined to win the Presidency in 2016. Some of the list of candidates to go to the RNC were Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and the eventual winner, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who declared Kasich as his Vice Presidential nominee.

2016 Republican Presidential Primaries
 Role

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Democratic Campaign:

Sanders' campaign revolved of bringing power to the people, through Democratic Socialism. He wanted to fight for LGBTQ+ Groups, the environment, higher taxes on the rich, etc. His slogan was "Power to the People."

### Republican Campaign:

Cruz wanted his campaign to focus on bringing Conservative change into America, fighting for evangelical Christian beliefs, and giving them larger voices in government, his slogan was "Bringing back the American tradition."

### Issues Unique to the Election:

#### The Environment:

Sanders wanted to address climate change in his presidency, by eliminating some producers of greenhouse gases, Cruz attacked him of trying to split the country apart.

#### LGBTQ+ Rights:

Sanders wanted to introduce a new law in the government: the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination of LGBTQ+ people in means of employment, housing, etc. Cruz attacked Sanders, saying it would be criminal against religious groups who believed those acts as sinful.

#### Affordable Care Act:

Sanders wanted to expand on Obamacare by making it free, with Cruz attacking him calling it a complete spit in the face to private healthcare companies and those who work for and support them.

## Debates:

### 1st Debate:

The first debate was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

### 2nd Debate:

The second debate was held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

### V.P. Debate:

The Vice President Debate was held at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

### 3rd Debate:

The 3rd and final debate was held at Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV.

## Results and Aftermath:

The media projected Senator Sanders to win in a landslide, but Cruz managed to flip the states of Ohio, Iowa, and Florida. Sanders still won, but not as much as the media thought he would.

The first polls closed at 7:00 EST in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Vermont.

Indiana (11): Cruz (R), Held

Kentucky (8): Cruz (R), Held

South Carolina (9): Cruz (R), Held

Georgia (16): Cruz (R), Held

Virginia (13): Sanders (D), Held

Vermont (3): Sanders (D), Held

The second polls closed at 7:30 EST in the states of Ohio, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Ohio (18): Cruz (R), Flipped

West Virginia (5): Cruz (R), Held

North Carolina (15): Cruz (R), Held

The third polls closed at 8:00 EST in the states of Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and the District of Columbia.

Oklahoma (7): Cruz (R), Held

Florida (29): Cruz (R), Flipped

Alabama (9): Cruz (R), Held

Tennessee (11): Cruz (R), Held

Illinois (20): Sanders (D), Held

Maryland (10): Sanders (D), Held

Delaware (3): Sanders (D), Held

Pennsylvania (20): Sanders (D), Held

New Jersey (14): Sanders (D), Held

Connecticut (7): Sanders (D), Held

Rhode Island (4): Sanders (D), Held

Massachusetts (11): Sanders (D), Held

New Hampshire (4): Sanders (D), Held

Maine (4): Sanders (D), Held

District of Columbia (3): Sanders (D), Held

The fourth polls closed at 8:30 EST in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Missouri (10): Cruz (R), Held

Arkansas (6): Cruz (R), Held

Mississippi (6): Cruz (R), Held

The fifth polls closed at 9:00 EST in the states of Texas, New York, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Texas (38): Cruz (R), Held

New York (29): Sanders (D), Held

New Mexico (5): Sanders (D), Held

Arizona (11): Cruz (R), Held

Kansas (6): Cruz (R), Held

Nebraska (5): Cruz (R), Held

Louisiana (8): Cruz (R), Held

North Dakota (3): Cruz (R), Held

South Dakota (3): Cruz (R), Held

Colorado (9): Sanders (D), Held

Wyoming (3): Cruz (R), Held

Minnesota (10): Sanders (D), Held

Wisconsin (10): Sanders (D), Held

Michigan (16): Sanders (D), Held

The sixth polls closed at 10:00 EST in the states of Iowa, Montana, Nevada, and Utah.

Iowa (6): Cruz (R), Flipped

Montana (3): Cruz (R), Held

Nevada (6): Sanders (D), Held

Utah (6): Cruz (R), Held

The seventh polls closed at 11:00 EST in the states of California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

California (55): Sanders (D), Held

Washington (12): Sanders (D), Held

Oregon (7): Sanders (D), Held

Idaho (4): Cruz (R), Held

The eighth and final polls closed at 12:00 in the states of Hawaii and Alaska.

Hawaii (4): Sanders (D), Held

Alaska (3): Cruz (R), Held

After winning California, Washington and Oregon at 11:00 EST, Sanders had effectively won the election, Republicans throughout America rioted while LGBTQ+ Groups, minorities, and other people celebrated the Republican losing 3 straight elections. Cruz congratulated Sanders on his victory then focused on winning reelection in the Senate in 2018. Sanders was inaugurated as the 45th President the next year.