2016 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
The 2016 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 8, 2016 as part of the 2016 United States presidential election. Washington was won by Hillary Clinton, who won the state with 52.54% of the vote over Donald Trump's 36.83%, a margin of 15.71%. All of the state's 12 electoral votes were assigned to Clinton, though four defected. Trump prevailed in the presidential election nationally.
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| Turnout | 78.76% (of registered voters)  2.49%[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Washington |
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In the presidential primaries, Washington voters chose Republican Party's nominee; the Democratic Party used the caucus system, and Green Party nominee was chosen in a convention. Hillary Clinton won the election in Washington with 52.5 percent of the vote, a reduced percentage from President Obama in 2012, though due to Trump receiving an even greater drop in percentage compared with Mitt Romney, Washington was among 11 states where Clinton improved on Obama's margin of victory.[2] This was the first presidential election in which the Republican Party won Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties since 1928 and 1952 respectively.[3][4]
It was also the first time the GOP had won Cowlitz County since Ronald Reagan in 1980, and the first Republican win in Mason County since Reagan in 1984.[5] On the other hand, Trump became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Whitman County since William McKinley in 1900. Despite Clinton's victory, four Democratic electors defected. Three voted for Colin Powell, making him the first African-American Republican to receive electoral votes, while a Native American activist cast his vote for Faith Spotted Eagle, making her the first Native American to receive an electoral vote for president. Powell became the first Republican to receive electoral votes from Washington state since Ronald Reagan in 1984.[5] The state was one of 11 (along with the District of Columbia) that shifted towards the Democrats.
Primaries and Caucuses
Washington has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1988. While the state's Senate was majority Republican in 2016, both of Washington's United States Senators are Democrats, as well as a majority of the state's U.S. House delegation. Barack Obama defeated John McCain by 17.08% in 2008 and Mitt Romney by 14.87% in 2012.
Democratic caucus
Bernie Sanders bested Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential caucus on March 26, 2016:
The state also held a non-binding presidential primary on May 24, the same date as the state's Republican primary. Hillary Clinton won the preference vote.
| Washington Democratic caucuses, March 26, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | District delegates | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Bernie Sanders | 19,159 | 72.72% | 74 | 0 | 74 |
| Hillary Clinton | 7,140 | 27.10% | 27 | 10 | 37 |
| Others | |||||
| Uncommitted | 46 | 0.18% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Total | 26,345 | 100% | 101 | 17 | 118 |
| Source: The Green Papers | |||||
| Candidate | Popular vote | Estimated delegates | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 420,461 | 52.38% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernie Sanders | 382,293 | 47.62% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Others | |||||
| Uncommitted | |||||
| Total | 802,754 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source: Washington Secretary of State - Official Results | |||||
Republican primary
Four candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot on May 24, 2016:
- Ben Carson (withdrawn)
- Ted Cruz (withdrawn)
- John Kasich (withdrawn)
- Donald Trump
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Actual delegate count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |||
| Donald Trump | 455,023 | 75.46% | 41 | 0 | 41 |
| Ted Cruz (withdrawn) | 65,172 | 10.81% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Kasich (withdrawn) | 58,954 | 9.78% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Carson (withdrawn) | 23,849 | 3.96% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Uncommitted | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Unprojected delegates: | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total: | 602,998 | 100.00% | 44 | 0 | 44 |
| Source: The Green Papers | |||||
Green convention
This state's Green Party state convention was on May 15. Ballots were emailed to members within a week after the convention.[6]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Stein | - | 91.7 | 5 |
| William Kreml | - | - | - |
| Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry | - | - | - |
| Kent Mesplay | - | - | - |
| Darryl Cherney | - | - | - |
| Total | - | - | 5 |
General election
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times[7] | Safe D | November 6, 2016 |
| CNN[8] | Safe D | November 4, 2016 |
| Cook Political Report[9] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| Electoral-vote.com[10] | Safe D | November 8, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[11] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| RealClearPolitics[13] | Likely D | November 8, 2016 |
| Fox News[14] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
Polling
Democrat Hillary Clinton won every pre-election poll and all but one by double digits. The average of the final three polls showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump 50.3% to 36%.[15]
State voting history
Washington joined the Union in November 1889 and has participated in all elections from 1892 onwards.
Since 1900, Washington voted Democratic 51.72 percent of the time and Republican 44.83 percent of the time. Since 1988, Washington had voted for the Democratic Party in each presidential election, and the same was expected to happen in 2016.[16]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton | Tim Kaine | 1,742,718 | 52.54% | 8 | |
| Republican | Donald Trump | Mike Pence | 1,221,747 | 36.83% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | William Weld | 160,879 | 4.85% | 0 | |
| Write-ins | 107,805 | 3.25% | 0 | |||
| Green | Jill Stein | Ajamu Baraka | 58,417 | 1.76% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Darrell Castle | Scott Bradley | 17,623 | 0.53% | 0 | |
| Socialist Workers | Alyson Kennedy | Osborne Hart | 4,307 | 0.13% | 0 | |
| Socialism and Liberation | Gloria La Riva | Eugene Puryear | 3,523 | 0.11% | 0 | |
| Republican | Colin Powell | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | ||
| Independent | Faith Spotted Eagle | Winona LaDuke | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | |
| Total | 3,317,019 | 100.00% | 12 | |||
By county
| County | Clinton% | Clinton# | Trump% | Trump# | Others (excluding write-ins)% | Others (excluding write-ins)# | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 28.32% | 1,299 | 67.21% | 3,083 | 5.64% | 262 | 4,644 |
| Asotin | 32.59% | 3,134 | 59.70% | 5,741 | 8.84% | 861 | 9,736 |
| Benton | 33.26% | 26,360 | 59.55% | 47,194 | 8.09% | 6,473 | 80,027 |
| Chelan | 39.34% | 13,032 | 54.68% | 18,114 | 6.69% | 2,234 | 33,380 |
| Clallam | 45.19% | 17,677 | 48.04% | 18,794 | 7.57% | 2,986 | 39,457 |
| Clark | 46.70% | 92,757 | 46.54% | 92,441 | 7.48% | 14,962 | 200,160 |
| Columbia | 24.37% | 526 | 69.37% | 1,497 | 7.29% | 159 | 2,182 |
| Cowlitz | 39.60% | 17,908 | 53.48% | 24,185 | 7.88% | 3,599 | 45,692 |
| Douglas | 31.89% | 4,918 | 62.28% | 9,603 | 6.58% | 1,022 | 15,543 |
| Ferry | 30.94% | 1,098 | 62.05% | 2,202 | 8.36% | 301 | 3,601 |
| Franklin | 37.87% | 8,886 | 56.28% | 13,206 | 6.86% | 1,628 | 23,720 |
| Garfield | 22.65% | 279 | 69.07% | 851 | 9.31% | 116 | 1,246 |
| Grant | 27.89% | 7,810 | 66.12% | 18,518 | 7.12% | 2,018 | 28,346 |
| Grays Harbor | 42.78% | 12,020 | 50.06% | 14,067 | 8.04% | 2,280 | 28,367 |
| Island | 49.26% | 20,960 | 43.39% | 18,465 | 8.05% | 3,451 | 42,876 |
| Jefferson | 62.82% | 12,656 | 29.97% | 6,037 | 7.81% | 1,583 | 20,276 |
| King | 72.32% | 718,322 | 21.78% | 216,339 | 6.39% | 63,838 | 998,499 |
| Kitsap | 51.28% | 63,156 | 39.80% | 49,018 | 9.77% | 12,143 | 124,317 |
| Kittitas | 39.81% | 7,489 | 53.69% | 10,100 | 7.21% | 1,366 | 18,955 |
| Klickitat | 39.33% | 4,194 | 54.29% | 5,789 | 7.30% | 786 | 10,769 |
| Lewis | 28.54% | 9,654 | 65.02% | 21,992 | 7.33% | 2,503 | 34,149 |
| Lincoln | 22.00% | 1,244 | 72.66% | 4,108 | 6.32% | 361 | 5,713 |
| Mason | 43.16% | 11,993 | 49.22% | 13,677 | 8.56% | 2,403 | 28,073 |
| Okanogan | 37.24% | 6,298 | 56.82% | 9,610 | 6.92% | 1,183 | 17,091 |
| Pacific | 43.52% | 4,620 | 50.49% | 5,360 | 6.87% | 736 | 10,716 |
| Pend Oreille | 28.74% | 1,934 | 64.99% | 4,373 | 7.28% | 495 | 6,802 |
| Pierce | 49.95% | 172,538 | 42.51% | 146,824 | 8.36% | 29,123 | 348,485 |
| San Juan | 66.85% | 7,172 | 25.05% | 2,688 | 8.48% | 914 | 10,774 |
| Skagit | 48.07% | 26,690 | 44.55% | 24,736 | 8.12% | 4,542 | 55,968 |
| Skamania | 39.97% | 2,232 | 52.44% | 2,928 | 8.49% | 479 | 5,639 |
| Snohomish | 54.60% | 185,227 | 37.81% | 128,255 | 8.38% | 28,691 | 342,173 |
| Spokane | 41.75% | 93,767 | 50.50% | 113,435 | 8.82% | 20,044 | 227,246 |
| Stevens | 25.78% | 5,767 | 67.78% | 15,161 | 7.71% | 1,749 | 22,677 |
| Thurston | 53.62% | 68,798 | 37.90% | 48,624 | 9.26% | 11,988 | 129,410 |
| Wahkiakum | 35.60% | 832 | 57.51% | 1,344 | 7.72% | 182 | 2,358 |
| Walla Walla | 38.52% | 9,694 | 54.24% | 13,651 | 8.16% | 2,074 | 25,419 |
| Whatcom | 55.47% | 60,340 | 37.32% | 40,599 | 7.96% | 8,734 | 109,673 |
| Whitman | 47.66% | 8,146 | 43.31% | 7,403 | 10.15% | 1,756 | 17,305 |
| Yakima | 40.61% | 31,291 | 54.16% | 41,735 | 6.08% | 4,724 | 77,750 |
|
Democratic
Hold
Gain from Republican |
Republican
Hold
Gain from Democratic
|
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)
- Cowlitz (largest city: Longview)
- Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen)
- Mason (largest city: Shelton)
- Pacific (largest city: Raymond)
By congressional district
Clinton won 7 of 10 congressional districts including one represented by a Republican.[19]
| District | Trump | Clinton | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 37.85% | 54.13% | Suzan DelBene |
| 2nd | 34.82% | 56.92% | Rick Larsen |
| 3rd | 49.93% | 42.52% | Jaime Herrera Beutler |
| 4th | 57.92% | 35.06% | Dan Newhouse |
| 5th | 52.17% | 39.14% | Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
| 6th | 39.48% | 51.83% | Derek Kilmer |
| 7th | 12.18% | 82.13% | Jim McDermott |
| Pramila Jayapal | |||
| 8th | 44.67% | 47.72% | Dave Reichert |
| 9th | 23.34% | 70.47% | Adam Smith |
| 10th | 39.9% | 51.25% | Denny Heck |
See also
Notes
- Clinton earned 12 pledged electoral votes, but lost four to faithless electors. Three electors voted for Colin Powell for president and Elizabeth Warren, Maria Cantwell, and Susan Collins for vice president, while Robert Satiacum Jr. voted for Faith Spotted Eagle for president and Winona LaDuke for vice president.
References
- Secretary of State: Kim Wyman. "November 8, 2016 General Election Results". www.sos.wa.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
- "Washington Election Results 2016". The New York Times. August 1, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
- "Pacific County November 8, 2016 General Election". results.vote.wa.gov. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
- Wheel, Robert. "The 2016 Streak Breakers". Center for Politics. Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
- Green Party of Washington State. "Spring Gathering 2016". Facebook.
- "Our final map has Clinton winning with 352 electoral votes. Compare your picks with ours". Los Angeles Times. November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- Chalian, David (November 4, 2016). "Road to 270: CNN's new election map". CNN. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- "2016 Electoral Scorecard". The Cook Political Report. November 7, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- "2016 Electoral Map Prediction". Electoral-vote.com. November 8, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- "Presidential Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- Sabato, Larry J. (November 7, 2016). "2016 President". University of Virginia Center for Politics. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- "2016 Election Maps - Battle for White House". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "Electoral Scorecard: Map shifts again in Trump's favor, as Clinton holds edge". Fox News. November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- "RealClearPolitics - Election 2016 - Washington: Trump vs. Clinton". www.realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
- "Washington Presidential Election 2016 Results LIVE Updates". Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- Federal Election Commission (December 2017). "Federal Elections 2016" (PDF). p. 43. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- Bump, Philip. "The counties that flipped parties to swing the 2016 election". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- Results (PDF). wei.sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2018.
External links
- RNC 2016 Republican Nominating Process Archived 2016-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Green papers for 2016 primaries, caucuses, and conventions
