The 2016 United States presidential election in Minnesota was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. Minnesota 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 DFL nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Minnesota has ten electoral votes in the Electoral College.

Despite Trump flipping numerous Midwestern states, some of which had not voted Republican since the 1980s, Minnesota was still won with a plurality by Clinton with a 1.51% margin, the eleventh consecutive Democratic presidential win in the state, which has not voted for a Republican since the landslide reelection of Richard Nixon in 1972. However, this was the closest presidential election in Minnesota since 1984, when Walter Mondale carried the state by a 0.18% margin and it was the only state not carried by Ronald Reagan that year; it is also the lowest winning percentage for any Democratic presidential candidate in any state since Bill Clinton in 1996 as well as the lowest winning percentage for any Democratic presidential candidate in Minnesota also since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Despite Trump falling short in Minnesota, Trump would become the first Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 to carry Swift County, a rural western Minnesota county. Trump would also flip Itasca County, making him the first Republican to carry the county nestled in the Iron range since Hoover in 1928. Trump, by far, has had the strongest performance of any Republican Presidential candidate in the Iron Range of North Eastern Minnesota, since Herbert Hoover won the region and the Counties of St. Louis, Lake, Itasca, and Carlton in 1928. Carlton County would break a 96-year streak of voting Democratic when Trump went on to flip the County in the 2024 Presidential election. Following the Presidential election of 1928, the Iron Range of Minnesota, particularly the east, would become one of the strongest Democratic strongholds in the U.S. for decades.

Minnesota had the highest voter turnout in the nation, with approximately 75% of the state's eligible voters participating in the general election. One elector, Muhammud Abdurrahan, tried to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont but was replaced with an elector that voted for Clinton.

As of the 2024 election, this is the most recent election where Clay County voted Republican. This was the last time which any candidate won a majority of congressional districts in the state.

Caucuses

Democratic caucuses

Bernie Sanders received the most votes and the most delegates in the precinct caucuses. The 2016 turnout was slightly lower than the 2008 tally of 214,066, when Obama won with 142,109 votes, to Clinton's 68,994. Bernie Sanders won every congressional district in Minnesota.

Republican caucuses

The 38 delegates from Minnesota were allocated in this way. If a candidate received more than 85% of the vote, they would get all of 38 delegates. Otherwise, 24 delegates would be allocated proportionally based on the votes per congressional district (3 votes per district). On top of that, there were 10 at-large delegates and 3 party leaders (the National Committee Man, the National Committee woman, and the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party). All of the at-large delegates were allocated proportionally based on the popular vote with a mandatory threshold of 10% to receive any delegates; if no one got at least 10%, all candidates would be eligible to get delegates.

Some media outlets recorded the votes by congressional district, rather than by county. Rubio won districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area as well as the southern part of the state. Cruz won districts 6, 7 and 8 in the St. Cloud area and rural north.

Green caucuses The Green Party of Minnesota held caucuses on March 1 in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Bemidji, White Bear Lake, Blaine, Grand Rapids, and Willmar. Jill Stein won the caucuses with 84.3% of the vote. The delegates apportioned to each candidate will be decided at the state convention in St. Cloud, Minnesota in June. The results of the caucuses are as follows:

+ Minnesota Green Party presidential caucus, March 1, 2016 Candidate Votes Percentage National delegatesJill Stein - 84.3% 7Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry - 5.9% -William Kreml - 4.8% -Darryl Cherney - 3.6% -Kent Mesplay - 1.2% - Total-100.00%7

Libertarian caucuses

The Minnesota caucus was run on March 1, 2016, using ranked choice voting. Gary Johnson took over 75% of the 226 first-preference votes cast, with John McAfee a distant second on 11.5% and Austin Petersen third on 7.5%. + Minnesota Libertarian Party presidential caucus, March 1, 2016 Candidate Votes PercentageGary Johnson 171 75.66%John McAfee 26 11.50%Austin Petersen 17 7.52%Darryl Perry 4 1.77%Cecil Ince 2 0.88%Steve Kerbel20.88%None of the above20.88%Marc Allan Feldman10.44%Shawna Joy Sterling10.44% Total226100.00%

Write-in Many candidates had write-in status. General election Predictions SourceRankingAs ofLos Angeles Times November 6, 2016CNNNovember 4, 2016Cook Political ReportNovember 7, 2016Electoral-vote.comNovember 8, 2016 Rothenberg Political Report November 7, 2016Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 7, 2016RealClearPoliticsNovember 8, 2016Fox NewsNovember 7, 2016

Polling

Clinton won almost every pre-election poll in Minnesota by margins ranging from 5 to 11 points. Trump won one poll in November 2015, 45% to 42%, and one poll in September 2016 showed a tie. The average of the last two polls had Clinton up 50% to 41%. The last poll had Clinton up 53% to 42%.

Results 2016 United States presidential election in MinnesotaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic (DFL)Hillary ClintonTim Kaine 1,367,716 46.44% 10 Republican Donald Trump Mike Pence 1,322,951 44.92% 0 Libertarian Gary Johnson William Weld 112,972 3.84% 0 Independence Evan McMullin Nathan Johnson 53,076 1.80% 0 Green Jill Stein Howie Hawkins 36,985 1.26% 0 Legal Marijuana Now Dan Vacek Mark Elworth, Jr. 11,291 0.38% 0 ConstitutionDarrell Castle Scott Bradley 9,456 0.32% 0 Socialist Workers Alyson Kennedy Osborne Hart 1,672 0.06% 0 American Delta Rocky De La Fuente Michael Steinberg 1,431 0.05% 0 Write-Ins 27,263 0.93% 0 Total 2,944,813 100% 10

By county