2016
The 2016 U.S. presidential election was won by Donald Trump (Republican) with 304 of 538 electoral votes, defeating Hillary Clinton (Democratic). Electoral vote margin: 77 EV, popular-vote margin -2.1%; turnout 60.1%. The cycle falls in the Modern Polarization era of American electoral history.
A popular vote split with decisive state flips
Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in one of the most shocking upsets in American political history, winning the Electoral College while losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Trump flipped the 'Blue Wall' of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania — states Democrats had won for decades — by narrow margins on a wave of white working-class resentment. FBI Director Comey's late October letter about Clinton's emails, and Russian social media interference, were widely seen as influential. Seven faithless electors defected, the most since 1872.
Immigration; trade deals; 'Make America Great Again'; Clinton email controversy; globalization backlash
Trump lost popular vote by 2.9 million yet won EC; 7 faithless electors — most since 1872
States · 51 reporting
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Curated picksWhy We're Polarized
Ezra Klein
How modern American politics got this way.
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John Sides et al.
How Trump and the 2020 election reshaped the parties.
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Maggie Haberman
Trump in his own habitat.
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