See main article: 2016 United States presidential election.
| Election Name: | 2016 United States presidential election in Vermont |
| Country: | Vermont |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2012 United States presidential election in Vermont |
| Previous Year: | 2012 |
| Election Date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Next Election: | 2020 United States presidential election in Vermont |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
| Turnout: | 67.95% |
| Image1: | Hillary Clinton by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Hillary Clinton |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Home State1: | New York |
| Running Mate1: | Tim Kaine |
| Electoral Vote1: | 3 |
| Popular Vote1: | 178,573 |
| Percentage1: | 55.72% |
| Nominee2: | Donald Trump |
| Running Mate2: | Mike Pence |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Home State2: | New York |
| Electoral Vote2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 95,369 |
| Percentage2: | 29.76% |
| Image3: | Bernie Sanders September 2015 cropped.jpg |
| Nominee3: | Bernie Sanders (write-in) |
| Party3: | Independent (United States) |
| Home State3: | Vermont |
| Running Mate3: | None |
| Electoral Vote3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 18,218 |
| Percentage3: | 5.68% |
| 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 Vermont was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Vermont voters chose three electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and his running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence, against the Democratic Party's nominee, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders received a number of unsolicited write-in votes.
Clinton won Vermont with 55.7% of the vote and[1] a vote margin of 25.9%, a substantial decline from Barack Obama's 35.6% margin in 2012.[2] Trump received 29.8% of the vote statewide and carried Essex County—the most rural and sparsely populated county in the state, thus making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win a county in Vermont since George W. Bush in 2004.
After voting Republican in all but one election from 1856 to 1988, Vermont has since become one of the most reliably Democratic strongholds in the nation. In 2016, Trump became only the second Republican, after George W. Bush, to win the White House without carrying Vermont.
Vermont Senator and Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, who had endorsed Clinton after she won the primary, received 5.7% of the vote through write-ins, the highest write-in draft campaign percentage for a statewide presidential candidate in history.[3] Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, received 3.1%, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein received 2.1%.[4] Trump's 29.76% vote share is the worst for a Republican presidential nominee in Vermont history.
On March 1, 2016, in the presidential primaries, Vermont voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian parties. Voters who were unaffiliated chose any 1 primary in which to vote.
See main article: 2016 Vermont Democratic presidential primary. The 2016 Vermont Democratic primary took place on March 1 as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
On the same day, dubbed "Super Tuesday," Democratic primaries were held in 10 other states plus American Samoa, while the Republican Party held primaries in 11 states including their own Vermont primary.
As Sanders was an extremely popular favorite son, there was no campaign to speak of and all pledged delegates were given to Sanders, due to Clinton getting less than 15% of the popular vote. Sanders won every municipality in the state.
See main article: 2016 Vermont Republican presidential primary.
| Source | Ranking | As of | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times[5] | November 6, 2016 | ||
| CNN[6] | November 4, 2016 | ||
| Cook Political Report[7] | November 7, 2016 | ||
| Electoral-vote.com[8] | November 8, 2016 | ||
| align=left | Rothenberg Political Report[9] | November 7, 2016 | |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[10] | November 7, 2016 | ||
| RealClearPolitics[11] | November 8, 2016 | ||
| Fox News[12] | November 7, 2016 |
Hillary Clinton won every poll pre-election by double digits. Interestingly, she only reached 50% in the last poll, leading 50% to 22%, which may indicate support for writing in Bernie Sanders or other third party candidates. The average of the final three polls showed Hillary Clinton leading Trump 48% to 22%.[13]
! Other Write-ins! Candidate! Votes! Percentage
| County | Hillary Clinton Democratic | Donald Trump Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Addison | 11,219 | 58.95% | 5,297 | 27.83% | 2,515 | 13.22% | 5,922 | 31.12% | 19,031 | ||||||||||
| Bennington | 9,539 | 54.88% | 5,925 | 34.09% | 1,917 | 11.03% | 3,614 | 20.79% | 17,381 | ||||||||||
| Caledonia | 6,445 | 45.79% | 5,534 | 39.32% | 2,095 | 14.89% | 911 | 6.47% | 14,074 | ||||||||||
| Chittenden | 54,814 | 65.71% | 18,601 | 22.30% | 10,001 | 11.99% | 36,213 | 43.41% | 83,416 | ||||||||||
| Essex | 1,019 | 34.84% | 1,506 | 51.49% | 400 | 13.67% | -487 | -16.65% | 2,925 | ||||||||||
| Franklin | 9,351 | 43.67% | 8,752 | 40.88% | 3,308 | 15.45% | 599 | 2.79% | 21,411 | ||||||||||
| Grand Isle | 2,094 | 50.96% | 1,487 | 36.19% | 528 | 12.85% | 607 | 14.77% | 4,109 | ||||||||||
| Lamoille | 7,241 | 56.74% | 3,570 | 27.97% | 1,951 | 15.29% | 3,671 | 28.77% | 12,762 | ||||||||||
| Orange | 7,541 | 51.48% | 5,007 | 34.18% | 2,101 | 14.34% | 2,534 | 17.30% | 14,649 | ||||||||||
| Orleans | 5,185 | 43.04% | 5,159 | 42.83% | 1,702 | 14.13% | 26 | 0.21% | 12,046 | ||||||||||
| Rutland | 13,635 | 46.04% | 12,479 | 42.14% | 3,501 | 11.82% | 1,156 | 3.90% | 29,615 | ||||||||||
| Washington | 18,594 | 59.81% | 7,993 | 25.71% | 4,499 | 14.48% | 10,601 | 34.10% | 31,086 | ||||||||||
| Windham | 14,340 | 63.36% | 5,454 | 24.10% | 2,840 | 12.54% | 8,886 | 39.26% | 22,634 | ||||||||||
| Windsor | 17,556 | 58.66% | 8,605 | 28.75% | 3,767 | 12.59% | 8,951 | 29.91% | 29,928 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 178,573 | 56.68% | 95,369 | 30.27% | 41,125 | 13.05% | 83,204 | 26.41% | 315,067 | ||||||||||
Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district, called the At-Large district because it covers the entire state, is thus equivalent to the statewide election results.