2016 United States presidential election in Washington (state) explained

See main article: 2016 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	2016 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Country:	Washington
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2012 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Previous Year:	2012
Election Date:	November 8, 2016
Next Election:	2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Next Year:	2020
Turnout:	78.76% (of registered voters) 2.49%^[1]
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:	8
Popular Vote1:	1,742,718
Percentage1:
Nominee2:	Donald Trump
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	New York
Running Mate2:	Mike Pence
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	1,221,747
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 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.

In the presidential primaries, Washington voters chose the Republican Party's nominee; the Democratic Party used the caucus system, and the Green Party's nominee was chosen in a convention. Although Clinton's 52.5% percent of the vote was a reduction from Barack Obama's 55.8% in 2012,^[2] Trump receiving an even greater drop in percentage compared to Mitt Romney's 41.0% made Washington one of 11 states where Clinton improved upon Obama's margin of victory.^[3] This was the first presidential election in which the Republican Party won Grays Harbor and Pacific counties since 1928 and 1952, respectively.^[4]

This election was also the first time that the Republican Party had won Cowlitz County since 1980, and the first time they had won Mason County since 1984.^[5] Additionally, Trump became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Island County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Whitman County since William McKinley in 1900. Despite Clinton's victory, four Democratic electors defected:^[6] Three voted for former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell, making him the first African-American Republican to receive electoral votes,^[7] while Native American activist Robert Satiacum Jr. cast his vote for fellow activist Faith Spotted Eagle, making her the first Native American to receive an electoral vote for president.^[8]

Primaries and Caucuses

See main article: Political party strength in Washington (state). 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.

Primary elections

Democratic caucus

See main article: 2016 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses. 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 primary, May 24, 2016

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

See main article: 2016 Washington Republican presidential 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

Green convention

This state's Green Party state convention was on May 15. Ballots were emailed to members within a week after the convention.^[9]

Washington Green Party Convention, May 15, 2016.

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^[10]		November 6, 2016
CNN^[11]		November 4, 2016
Cook Political Report^[12]		November 7, 2016
Electoral-vote.com^[13]		November 8, 2016
align=left	Rothenberg Political Report^[14]		November 7, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[15]		November 7, 2016
RealClearPolitics^[16]		November 8, 2016
Fox News^[17]		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%.^[18]

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.^[19]

Results

2016 United States presidential election in Washington (state)^[20]

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		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
		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		Winona LaDuke	0	0.00%	1
Total				3,317,019	100.00%	12

By county

County	Hillary Clinton Democratic		Donald Trump Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,299		27.16%		3,083		64.47%		400		8.37%		-1,784		-37.31%		4,782
	Asotin		3,134		31.42%		5,741		57.56%		1,099		11.02%		-2,607		-26.14%		9,974
	Benton		26,360		31.53%		47,194		56.46%		10,038		12.01%		-20,834		-24.93%		83,592
	Chelan		13,032		37.85%		18,114		52.61%		3,287		9.54%		-5,082		-14.76%		34,433
	Clallam		17,677		43.61%		18,794		46.37%		4,062		10.02%		-1,117		-2.76%		40,533
	Clark		92,757		44.49%		92,441		44.34%		23,287		11.17%		316		0.15%		208,485
	Columbia		526		23.60%		1,497		67.16%		206		9.24%		-971		-43.56%		2,229
	Cowlitz		17,908		37.99%		24,185		51.30%		5,049		10.71%		-6,277		-13.31%		47,142
	Douglas		4,918		30.93%		9,603		60.39%		1,380		8.68%		-4,685		-29.46%		15,901
	Ferry		1,098		30.13%		2,202		60.43%		344		9.44%		-1,104		-30.30%		3,644
	Franklin		8,886		36.10%		13,206		53.65%		2,522		10.25%		-4,320		-17.55%		24,614
	Garfield		279		22.04%		851		67.22%		136		10.74%		-572		-45.18%		1,266
	Grant		7,810		26.69%		18,518		63.29%		2,930		10.02%		-10,708		-36.60%		29,258
	Grays Harbor		12,020		41.02%		14,067		48.01%		3,214		10.97%		-2,047		-6.99%		29,301
	Island		20,960		47.34%		18,465		41.71%		4,848		10.95%		2,495		5.63%		44,273
	Jefferson		12,656		60.62%		6,037		28.91%		2,186		10.47%		6,619		31.71%		20,879
	King		718,322		69.85%		216,389		21.04%		93,789		9.11%		501,983		48.81%		1,028,450
	Kitsap		63,156		49.05%		49,018		38.07%		16,596		12.88%		14,138		10.98%		128,770
	Kittitas		7,489		38.18%		10,100		51.49%		2,026		10.33%		-2,611		-13.31%		19,615
	Klickitat		4,194		37.87%		5,789		52.28%		1,091		9.85%		-1,595		-14.41%		11,074
	Lewis		9,654		27.43%		21,992		62.48%		3,553		10.09%		-12,338		-35.05%		35,199
	Lincoln		1,244		21.23%		4,108		70.09%		509		8.68%		-2,864		-48.86%		5,861
	Mason		11,993		41.35%		13,677		47.16%		3,333		11.49%		-1,684		-5.81%		29,003
	Okanogan		6,298		35.87%		9,610		54.74%		1,648		9.39%		-3,312		-18.87%		17,556
	Pacific		4,620		42.11%		5,360		48.85%		992		9.04%		-740		-6.74%		10,972
	Pend Oreille		1,934		27.57%		4,373		62.33%		709		10.10%		-2,439		-34.76%		7,016
	Pierce		172,538		47.92%		146,824		40.78%		40,655		11.30%		25,714		7.14%		360,017
	San Juan		7,172		64.42%		2,688		24.14%		1,274		11.44%		4,484		40.28%		11,134
	Skagit		26,690		45.97%		24,736		42.60%		6,633		11.43%		1,954		3.37%		58,059
	Skamania		2,232		38.29%		2,928		50.23%		669		11.48%		-696		-11.94%		5,829
	Snohomish		185,227		52.22%		128,255		36.16%		41,252		11.62%		56,972		16.06%		354,734
	Spokane		93,767		39.72%		113,435		48.06%		28,848		12.22%		-19,668		-8.34%		236,050
	Stevens		5,767		24.65%		15,161		64.80%		2,467		10.55%		-9,394		-40.15%		23,395
	Thurston		68,798		51.27%		48,624		36.23%		16,769		12.50%		20,174		15.04%		134,191
	Wahkiakum		832		34.25%		1,344		55.33%		253		10.42%		-512		-21.08%		2,429
	Walla Walla		9,694		36.96%		13,651		52.05%		2,883		10.99%		-3,957		-15.09%		26,228
	Whatcom		60,340		53.24%		40,599		35.82%		12,400		10.94%		19,741		17.42%		113,339
	Whitman		8,146		45.19%		7,403		41.06%		2,479		13.75%		743		4.13%		18,028
	Yakima		31,291		39.24%		41,735		52.34%		6,715		8.42%		-10,444		-13.10%		79,741
Totals	1,742,718	52.54%	1,221,747	36.83%	352,531	10.63%	520,971	15.71%	3,316,996

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

^[21]

• Clallam (largest city: Port Angeles)
• Cowlitz (largest city: Longview)
• Grays Harbor (largest city: Aberdeen)
• Mason (largest city: Shelton)
• Pacific (largest city: Raymond)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Whitman (largest city: Pullman)

By congressional district

Clinton won 7 of 10 congressional districts including one represented by a Republican.^[22]

District	Trump	Clinton	Representative
		37.85%	54.13%		Suzan DelBene
		34.82%	56.92%		Rick Larsen
		49.93%	42.52%		Jaime Herrera Beutler
		57.92%	35.06%		Dan Newhouse
		52.17%	39.14%		Cathy McMorris Rodgers
		39.48%	51.83%		Derek Kilmer
	12.18%	82.13%		Jim McDermott
			Pramila Jayapal
		44.67%	47.72%		Dave Reichert
		23.34%	70.47%		Adam Smith
		39.9%	51.25%		Denny Heck

See also

• United States presidential elections in Washington (state)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
• 2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums
• 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2016 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
• 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries

External links

• RNC 2016 Republican Nominating Process
• Green papers for 2016 primaries, caucuses, and conventions

Notes and References

1. Web site: November 8, 2016 General Election Results . Secretary of State: Kim Wyman . www.sos.wa.gov . 2019-06-09.
2. News: 2017-08-01 . Washington Election Results 2016 . en-US . The New York Times . 2019-06-09 . 0362-4331.
3. Web site: 2016 Presidential General Election Results - Vote Swing - D-R Margin Change from Previous Election . 2023-12-01 . .
4. Web site: Wheel. Robert. The 2016 Streak Breakers. Center for Politics. Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball. 13 November 2016.
5. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
6. Web site: Houghton . Ashley . July 6, 2020 . Faithless Electors . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210209184600/https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_electors . 2021-02-09 . 2023-12-01 . FairVote.
7. Web site: Cheney . Kyle . 2016-12-19 . Trump wins Electoral College vote . 2023-12-01 . Politico.
8. Web site: Pearce . Matt . 2016-12-20 . How Faith Spotted Eagle became the first Native American to win an electoral vote for president . 2023-12-01 . Los Angeles Times.
9. Web site: Spring Gathering 2016 . Green Party of Washington State . Facebook.
10. News: Our final map has Clinton winning with 352 electoral votes. Compare your picks with ours. . . 2016-11-06 . 2016-11-13.
11. News: Chalian . David . David Chalian. Road to 270: CNN's new election map . March 3, 2019 . . November 4, 2016.
12. Web site: 2016 Electoral Scorecard . November 7, 2016 . . en . March 3, 2019 . March 1, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190301010353/https://cookpolitical.com/presidential/charts/scorecard . dead .
13. Web site: 2016 Electoral Map Prediction . November 8, 2016 . . March 3, 2019.
14. Web site: Presidential Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . August 16, 2021.
15. Web site: 2016 President . Sabato . Larry J. . Larry Sabato . November 7, 2016 . . March 3, 2019.
16. Web site: 2016 Election Maps - Battle for White House. RealClearPolitics. 2016-11-13.
17. Web site: Electoral Scorecard: Map shifts again in Trump's favor, as Clinton holds edge . . 2016-11-07 . 2016-11-13.
18. Web site: RealClearPolitics - Election 2016 - Washington: Trump vs. Clinton. 2021-07-26. www.realclearpolitics.com.
19. Web site: Washington Presidential Election 2016 Results LIVE Updates . 2016-10-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161013225209/http://usaelections-2016.com/washington-presidential-election-2016-results-live-updates/957/ . 2016-10-13 . dead .
20. Web site: Federal Election Commission . Federal Election Commission . Federal Elections 2016 . 8 December 2021 . 43 . December 2017.
21. News: Bump. Philip. The counties that flipped parties to swing the 2016 election. en-US. Washington Post. 2020-09-01. 0190-8286.
22. Results . wei.sos.wa.gov . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180630215300/https://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/press_and_research/PreviousElections/2016/General-Election/Data/Documents/Congressional%20and%20Legislative%20District%20Breakdowns/FINAL%202016Gen%20-%20Cong%20by%20District%20County%20Part.pdf . 2018-06-30.