2016 US Presidential Election

The 2016 US Presidential Election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2016. Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State and US Senator from New York, was elected in a landslide over her major opponents, Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisianna and Tea Partier Rand Paul of Kentucky. Clinton's election marked the first time a woman had been elected President of the United States and continued the era of Democratic government that had begun with Barack Obama's first victory in 2008.

The 2016 Election marked the first time since 1968 that a third party candidate recieved pledged electoral votes for president. The emergence of the Tea Party as an independent party, which led to a split of the Republican vote, contributed to Clinton's overwhelming victory and set the stage for the demise of the Republican Party on the national stage and a long era of Democratic Presidents.

Democratic Party
Candidates


 * Hillary Rodham Clinton, former US Secretary of State


 * Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland (dropped out 6/15/16, endorsed Clinton)


 * Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont (dropped out 3/1/16, endorsed Clinton)


 * Joeseph R. Biden, Vice President of the United States (dropped out 3/1/16, endorsed Clinton)


 * Elizabeth Warren, US Senator from Massachusetts (dropped out 2/17/16, endorsed Clinton)


 * Evan Bayh, former US Senator from Indiana (dropped out 1/31/16, endorsed Clinton)


 * Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York (dropped out 1/17/16, endorsed Clinton)


 * Bernie Sanders, US Senator from Vermont (dropped out 1/14/16, endorsed Warren)
 * Jerry Brown, former Governor of California (dropped out 12/3/15, endorsed Clinton)

From the moment she announced her candidacy in early 2015, Mrs. Clinton was immediately seen as the front runner. Though challenged by a multitude of prominent candidates, Clinton faced few real threats to her candidacy throughout the course of the primary. Her most serious opponents were Governor Martin O'Malley and Governor Jerry Brown, the former of which remained in the race until the close of the primary season. All but Bernie Sanders endorsed Clinton prior to the convention.

Clinton ran on her experience as Secretary of State and New York Senator and on promices of "change and competence" which were recieved as midly offensive by the Obama White House, which saw the comments as an implication of incompetence. Nevertheless, President Obama enthusiastically supported Clinton, his former opponent, and campaigned heavily for her in liberal states such as Massachusetts and in his home state of Illinois, where he was highly popular.

Clinton chose former Senator Evan Bayh to be her running mate at the National Convention in Baltimore.

Republican Party
Candidates
 * Bobby Jindal, former Governor of Louisianna
 * Rand Paul, US Senator from Kentucky
 * Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey (dropped out 4/16/16, endorsed Jindal)
 * Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida (dropped out 4/16/16, endorsed Jindal)
 * Paul Ryan, US Representative from Wisconsin (dropped out 4/2/16, endorsed Jindal)
 * Kelly Ayotte, US Senator from New Hampshire (dropped out 3/12/16, endorsed Jindal)
 * Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana (dropped out 2/13/16, endorsed Paul)
 * Ted Cruz, US Senator from Texas (dropped out 1/27/16, endorsed Paul)
 * Condoleeza Rice, former US Secretary of State (dropped out 1/13/16, endorsed Bush)
 * Scott Brown, former US Senator from Massachusetts (dropped out 11/13/15, endorsed Paul)

With the Democratic primaries largely in the bag for Clinton, the Republican nomination was the center of attention throughout the spring of 2016. While initially a wide field of candidates vied for the nomination, the race quickly became a five-way race between former Governor Bobby Jindal, former Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Rand Paul, Governor Chris Christie, and Congressman Paul Ryan. By late April, all but Jindal and Paul were gone, leaving the two to duke it out to the convention. The competition was widely seen as a proxy of a greater struggle between establishment Republicans and radical Tea Partiers, and as the convention neared and neither candidate had enough delegates to claim the nomination, the party seemed to be tearing itself in two. After days of deadlock, Paul's delegates staged a walk out and the nomination went to Jindal, who chose Senator Kelly Ayotte as his running mate. Meanwhile, Paul, determined to send a message to the establishment, took drastic measures.

Tea Party Convention
Candidates After their dramatic departure from the Republican National Convention, Paul's supporters founded the Tea Party as an independent third party and convened in a National Convention in Houston, Texas. Built on the foundation of the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party, the Tea Party established itself as a far-right alternative to the Republicans in defense of "conservative values". Paul was nominated for president by the convention on the first ballot over Scott Walker, who recieved six votes. Paul quickly selected Senator Ted Cruz as his running mate.
 * Rand Paul, US Senator from Kentucky
 * Scott Walker, former Governor of Wisconsin

Third Parties
Libertarian Party

The Libertarians had initially nominated Gary Johnson, their 2012 nominee. Whe Paul declared his candidacy with the Tea Party, however, the Libertarians held a new convention and replaced Johnson with Paul "for the sake of conservative unity". To maintain independence as a political party, Robert Sarvis of Virginia was nominated as Paul's Libertarian running mate. The Paul/Sarvis ticket was on the ballot in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Green Party

Jill Stein, the party's 2012 nominee, won the primaries to become the party nominee. Bernie Sanders also recieved votes in the primary, though he was not a candidate for the Greens' nomination. Stein was on the ballot in 38 states.

Liberal Populist Party

The Liberal Populists nominated Dumbo Jumbo for President and Theodore Bear for Vice President. Jumbo and Bear were on the ballot in 41 states.

General Election
Even before the Republican split, Hillary Clinton was seen as the favorite to win the election by a landslide. Running on a platform promising education reform, economic revitalization, and a strong military and diplomatic corps, Clinton's campaign was widely appealing and seen as a refreshing departure from the aging policies of President Obama. The split of the Republicans between the establishment and the Tea Party further increased her chances. Clinton won all three debates and consistently led in the polls by wide margins, despite heated competition between Jindal and Paul. Eventually, the Republicans and the Tea Party resigned themselves to the fact that they could not beat Clinton, and set their sights instead on defeating their conservative foe in hopes of soldifying their base for the 2020 election.

Results
Clinton won the election by a wide margin in the popular and electoral vote, becoming the first female president of the US.