2016 United States presidential election in Alaska explained

See main article: 2016 United States presidential election.

Election Name:2016 United States presidential election in Alaska
Country:Alaska
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2012 United States presidential election in Alaska
Previous Year:2012
Election Date:November 8, 2016
Next Election:2020 United States presidential election in Alaska
Next Year:2020
Turnout:60.77%
Image1:Donald Trump official portrait (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Donald Trump
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:New York
Running Mate1:Mike Pence
Electoral Vote1:3
Popular Vote1:163,387
Percentage1:
Nominee2:Hillary Clinton
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:New York
Running Mate2:Tim Kaine
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:116,454
Image3:Gary Johnson June 2016.jpg
Nominee3:Gary Johnson
Party3:Libertarian Party (United States)
Home State3:New Mexico
Running Mate3:Bill Weld
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:18,725
President
Before Election:Barack Obama
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Donald Trump
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 2016 United States presidential election in Alaska was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the nationwide presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Alaska voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Alaska has three electoral votes in the Electoral College.[1]

Trump carried the state with 51.28% of the vote, while Clinton received 36.55% of the vote.[2] This marked a return to Alaska's streak of giving Democrats under 40% of the vote share, after Barack Obama won just over 40% in 2012. Alaska has voted Republican in every election since 1968, and since its admission to the Union in 1959, it has only voted for the Democratic candidate on one occasion: Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.[3]

The state is known for strongly supporting third parties, including Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2012; Alaska was his third-strongest state. He ran again as the Libertarian Party's 2016 nominee and appeared on the ballot in Alaska. On the day of the election, he garnered 5.88% of the vote, making Alaska his third-strongest state again after New Mexico and North Dakota.[4] Johnson's performance was the best for a Libertarian since 1980, and the best third party performance since Ralph Nader in 2000.

Caucuses

The two major parties held caucuses on different days: Republicans on March 1, and Democrats on March 26.[5]

Democratic caucuses

See main article: 2016 Alaska Democratic presidential caucuses.

Republican caucus

See main article: 2016 Alaska Republican presidential caucuses.

Controversy

At the Republican National Convention, Alaska's floor votes were all recorded for Donald Trump by the convention secretary, even though the Alaska delegation read their votes according to the results of the caucuses: 12 for Cruz, 11 for Trump and 5 for Rubio. An Alaska delegate challenged the results as recorded.[6] However, RNC chair Reince Priebus defended the actions of the convention secretary, saying that the delegates were bound to Trump.[7]

General election

Political landscape in Alaska

See main article: Political party strength in Alaska. The state of Alaska has given its electoral votes to the Republican ticket in every election year since 1968 and only once to a Democratic ticket since statehood. However, in 2012, it had the largest swing in favor of the Democratic Party with President Obama only losing by 14 points compared to his 2008 loss by 22 points.[8]

Alaska also has a history of supporting third-party candidates at the presidential level. Alaska was the second-best state for Ross Perot in the 1992 election, with Ross Perot garnering 28% of the vote. Alaska was Nader's strongest state in the 2000 presidential election, giving him 10% in his presidential bid.[9] Alaska was also the third-best state for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson in the 2012 election, giving him 2.46% of the vote, behind Johnson's home state of New Mexico, and Montana.[10] For this reason, Alaska has been considered to be one of Libertarian party nominee Gary Johnson's strongest states in the 2016 election.

Turnout

According to the Alaska Division of Election, voter turnout was about 60.77%, 321,271 ballots were cast out of 528,671 voters.[11]

Predictions

The following are the final 2016 predictions from various organizations for Alaska as of Election Day.

SourceRankingAs of
Los Angeles Times[12] November 6, 2016
CNN[13] November 8, 2016
align=left Rothenberg Political Report[14] November 7, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15] November 7, 2016
NBC[16] November 7, 2016
RealClearPolitics[17] November 8, 2016
Fox News[18] November 7, 2016
ABC[19] November 7, 2016

Results

Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Results by congressional district

Alaska has an at-large congressional equivalent to the statewide results.

Electors

Alaska had 3 electors in 2016; all of them voted for Donald Trump for president and Mike Pence for vice president.

The electors were:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Distribution of Electoral Votes. National Archives and Records Administration. November 23, 2020. January 9, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190109144218/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/allocation.html. live.
  2. News: Alaska Election Results 2016 – The New York Times. November 29, 2016.
  3. Web site: 2016-11-06. Alaska has a long history of voting strongly Republican for president. Will it continue?. 2020-12-14. Anchorage Daily News. en-US.
  4. Web site: 2016 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
  5. Web site: Kitchenman . Andrew . How and when do Alaskans get to weigh in on presidential candidates? . Ktoo.org . 2016-02-12 . 2016-11-13.
  6. Web site: Carlson. Emily. Chairman of Alaska's Rep party said he doesn't know why 28 delegates went @realDonaldTrump but "it's going to be corrected in record" @ktva. Twitter. July 23, 2016.
  7. News: Kopan. Tal. Payson-Denny. Wade. Why Alaska's delegates were counted for Donald Trump. CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.. July 23, 2016.
  8. Web site: Alaska: Future Swing State?. Silver, Nate. Nate Silver. December 5, 2012. The New York Times. July 31, 2016.
  9. Web site: Azari. Julia. Julia Azari. The States That Love (And Hate) Third-Party Candidates. FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight. July 15, 2016.
  10. Web site: 2012 Presidential General Election Results - Alaska. Dave Leip's Atlas of US Elections. October 24, 2016.
  11. Web site: Voters history by age report. elections.alaska.gov. February 4, 2023.
  12. News: Our final map has Clinton winning with 352 electoral votes. Compare your picks with ours.. 2016-11-06. Los Angeles Times. 2016-11-13.
  13. Web site: Road to 270: CNN's general election map - CNNPolitics.com. 2016-11-08. Cnn.com. 2016-11-13.
  14. Web site: Presidential Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . August 16, 2021.
  15. Web site: Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2016 President. 2016-11-07. Centerforpolitics.org. 2016-11-13.
  16. Web site: NBC's Final Battleground Map Shows Clinton With a Significant Lead. Todd. Chuck. NBC News. 2016-11-13.
  17. Web site: 2016 Election Maps - Battle for White House. RealClearPolitics. 2016-11-13.
  18. Web site: Electoral Scorecard: Map shifts again in Trump's favor, as Clinton holds edge. 2016-11-07. Fox News. 2016-11-13.
  19. Web site: The Final 15: The Latest Polls in the Swing States That Will Decide the Election. 2016-11-07. Abcnews.go.com. 2016-11-13.
  20. Web site: Alaska Presidential Results by County, 1960-2016Maps. 2020-08-31. thecinyc. en. January 25, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210125190836/https://www.thecinyc.com/alaska-pres-results-by-county-equiv. dead.