2016 United States elections
The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first and most recent time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004.
Election day
November 8, 2016
Barack Obama (Democratic)
Republican gain
Democratic +2.1%
304
227
7
Republican hold
34 of 100 seats
Democratic +2
Republican hold
All 435 voting-members and 6 non-voting delegates
Republican +1.1%
Democratic +6
14 (12 states, two territories)
Republican +2
Trump won his party's nomination after defeating Ted Cruz and several other candidates in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries. With Democratic president Barack Obama term-limited, Clinton secured the nomination over Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries. Trump won the general election with 304 of the 538 electoral votes, although Clinton won the popular vote by a margin of 2.1%.
Democrats won a net gain of two seats in the Senate and six seats in the House of Representatives, but Republicans retained control of both chambers. In the gubernatorial elections, Republicans won a net gain of two seats. Various other state, territorial, and local races and referendums were held throughout the year. This was the first presidential election since 2000, where the winning candidate failed to have coattails in either house of Congress. This is the most recent election where one party simultaneously gained seats in both houses of Congress.
Wall Street banks and other big financial institutions spent a record $2 billion trying to influence the 2016 United States elections.[1][2]