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 a vote margin of 25.9%, a substantial decline from Barack Obama's 35.6% margin in 2012. 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. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, received 3.1%, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein received 2.1%. Trump's 29.76% vote share is the worst for a Republican presidential nominee in Vermont history.

Primary elections 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.

Democratic 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.

Republican primary

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

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 have indicated 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%.

Results

! Other Write-ins ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage

By county County Hillary ClintonDemocratic Donald TrumpRepublican Various candidatesOther 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% 29,928Totals178,57356.68%95,36930.27%41,12513.05%83,20426.41%315,067

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Essex (largest town: Lunenburg)

By congressional district 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. District Trump Clinton RepresentativeAt-large 29.76% 55.72%Peter Welch

See also United States presidential elections in Vermont 2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2016 Republican Party presidential debates and forums 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries

References

External links RNC 2016 Republican Nominating Process Green papers for 2016 primaries, caucuses, and conventions Decision Desk Headquarter Results for Vermont