The 2016 United States presidential election in California was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. California 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 Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. California had 55 electoral votes in the Electoral College, the most of any state.

Clinton won the state with 61.73 percent of the vote, a 30.11 percent margin, and a vote difference of 4,269,978. Despite being the largest state by population in the country, California only delivered Trump his third largest vote count, behind Florida and Texas. Even though Clinton lost the presidency, her victory margin in California was the largest of any Democrat since 1936. This was only the fourth time in U.S. history that a Republican was elected president without carrying California. She also was the first Democrat to win Orange County since that same year, making Trump the first ever Republican to win the presidency without winning the county. Trump's 31.62% vote share remains the worst performance by a Republican presidential nominee since 1856. The state was one of 11 (along with the District of Columbia) that shifted towards Clinton and Kaine from the 2012 campaign of Obama and Biden.

The 2016 election marked the first time since 1940 in California that a presidential candidate appeared as a candidate for more than one party as Donald Trump was nominated not only by the Republican Party but the American Independent Party as well.

Primary elections On June 7, 2016, in the presidential primaries, California voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, and American Independent parties' respective nominees for president.

While California has had a top-two candidates open primary system since 2011, presidential primaries are still partisan races. Registered members of each party may only vote in their party's presidential primary. Unaffiliated voters may choose any one primary in which to vote, if the party allows such voters to participate. For 2016, the American Independent, Democratic, and Libertarian parties have chosen to allow voters registered with no party preference to request their respective party's presidential ballots.

Democratic primary

Seven candidates appeared on the Democratic presidential primary ballot: Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Rocky De La Fuente Henry Hewes Keith Judd Michael Steinberg Willie L. Wilson

Opinion polling

Results

Republican primary

Five candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot, four of whom had suspended their campaigns prior to the primary: Donald Trump Ben Carson (withdrawn) Ted Cruz (withdrawn) John Kasich (withdrawn) Jim Gilmore (withdrawn)

Donald Trump, the only candidate with an active campaign, won each Congressional district by substantial margins, as well as all the statewide delegates, to capture all 172 votes.

Libertarian primary

Twelve candidates appeared on the Libertarian presidential primary ballot: Marc Feldman John Hale Cecil Ince Gary Johnson Steve Kerbel John McAfee Darryl Perry Austin Petersen Derrick M. Reid Jack Robinson Jr. Rhett Smith Joy Waymire

The primary took place after Gary Johnson won the Libertarian nomination at the Party's 2016 convention.

+ California Libertarian presidential primary, June 7, 2016 Candidate Votes Percentage Gary Johnson 19,294 62% John McAfee 3,139 10% Austin Petersen 1,853 6% Rhett Smith 1,531 5% Joy Waymire 923 3% John David Hale 873 3% Marc Allan Feldman 867 3% Jack Robinson Jr. 739 2% Steve Kerbel 556 2% Darryl Perry 521 2% Derrick Michael Reid 462 1% Cecil Ince 417 1% Total 31,175 100%

Green primary

+ Green Party of California presidential primary, June 7, 2016 Candidate Votes Percentage National delegates Jill Stein11,207 76.2% 40Darryl Cherney 1,475 10% 5Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry 839 5.7% 3William Kreml 595 4.2% 2Kent Mesplay 584 4.0% 2Total14,700100%50

Other parties

American Independent

+ California American Independent presidential primary, June 7, 2016 Candidate Votes PercentageAlan Spears7,34819% Arthur Harris 6,510 17% Robert Ornelas 6,411 17% J. R. Myers 4,898 13% Wiley Drake 4,828 13% James Hedges 3,989 11% Thomas Hoefling 3,917 10% Total 37,901 100%

The American Independent Party, a far-right and paleoconservative political party that formed when endorsing the candidacy of George Wallace in 1968 held a small presidential primary on June 7. It was won by attorney Alan Spears.

The American Independent Party nullified the results of this primary when they endorsed Donald Trump in August. The party indicated that Trump was a popular write-in choice during the primary, but was not allowed on the ballot because there was no evidence that Trump wanted the American Independent endorsement.

Peace and Freedom + California Peace and Freedom presidential primary, June 7, 2016 Candidate Votes PercentageGloria Estela La Riva2,23249% Monica Moorehead 1,369 30% Lynn Sandra Kahn 963 21% Total 4,564 100%

General election

Polling

Democrat Hillary Clinton won every pre-election poll by double digits. The average of the last three pre-election polls showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump 54.3% to 32%.

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

Results

Below is an official list of California's Recognized Write-in Candidates.

Laurence Kotlikoff for president and Edward Leamer for vice president Mike Maturen for president and Juan Muñoz for vice president Evan McMullin for president and Nathan Johnson for vice president Bernie Sanders for president and Tulsi Gabbard for vice president Jerry White for president and Niles Niemuth for vice president

California law only requires that 55 electors sign on to declare a person a write-in candidate, not that the persons consent, according to a statement from the Secretary of State's Office.

By county County Hillary ClintonDemocratic Donald TrumpRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Alameda 514,842 78.69% 95,922 14.66% 43,502 6.65% 418,920 64.03% 654,266 Alpine 334 55.48% 217 36.05% 51 8.47% 117 19.44% 602 Amador 6,004 33.86% 10,485 59.12% 1,245 7.02% -4,481 -25.27% 17,734 Butte 41,567 43.50% 45,144 47.24% 8,853 9.26% -3,577 -3.74% 95,564 Calaveras 7,944 34.34% 13,511 58.40% 1,681 7.27% -5,567 -24.06% 23,136 Colusa 2,661 40.12% 3,551 53.54% 420 6.33% -890 -13.42% 6,632 Contra Costa 319,287 68.49% 115,956 24.87% 30,932 6.64% 203,331 43.62% 466,175 Del Norte 3,485 36.46% 5,134 53.71% 939 9.82% -1,649 -17.25% 9,558 El Dorado 36,404 38.90% 49,247 52.62% 7,940 8.48% -12,843 -13.72% 93,591 Fresno 141,341 50.06% 124,049 43.94% 16,929 6.00% 17,292 6.12% 282,319 Glenn 3,065 32.37% 5,788 61.12% 617 6.52% -2,723 -28.75% 9,470 Humboldt 33,200 56.04% 18,373 31.01% 7,673 12.95% 14,827 25.03% 59,246 Imperial 32,667 67.93% 12,704 26.42% 2,720 5.66% 19,963 41.51% 48,091 Inyo 3,155 39.02% 4,248 52.54% 683 8.45% -1,093 -13.52% 8,086 Kern 98,689 40.42% 129,584 53.07% 15,890 6.51% -30,895 -12.65% 244,163 Kings 13,617 40.15% 18,093 53.35% 2,205 6.50% -4,476 -13.20% 33,915 Lake 11,496 46.93% 10,599 43.27% 2,401 9.80% 897 3.66% 24,496 Lassen 2,224 21.13% 7,574 71.97% 726 6.90% -5,350 -50.84% 10,524 Los Angeles 2,464,364 71.76% 769,743 22.41% 200,201 5.83% 1,694,621 49.34% 3,434,308 Madera 17,029 39.50% 23,357 54.18% 2,726 6.32% -6,328 -14.68% 43,112 Marin 108,707 78.05% 21,771 15.63% 8,795 6.31% 86,936 62.42% 139,273 Mariposa 3,122 35.17% 5,185 58.41% 570 6.42% -2,063 -23.24% 8,877 Mendocino 22,079 58.91% 10,888 29.05% 4,510 12.03% 11,191 29.86% 37,477 Merced 37,317 52.72% 28,725 40.58% 4,747 6.71% 8,592 12.14% 70,789 Modoc 877 23.15% 2,696 71.17% 215 5.68% -1,819 -48.02% 3,788 Mono 2,773 52.56% 2,111 40.01% 392 7.43% 662 12.55% 5,276 Monterey 89,088 66.78% 34,895 26.16% 9,425 7.06% 54,193 40.62% 133,408 Napa 39,199 63.87% 17,411 28.37% 4,762 7.76% 21,788 35.50% 61,372 Nevada 26,053 47.43% 23,365 42.53% 5,517 10.04% 2,688 4.89% 54,935 Orange 609,961 50.94% 507,148 42.35% 80,412 6.71% 102,813 8.59% 1,197,521 Placer 73,509 40.20% 95,138 52.03% 14,192 7.76% -21,629 -11.83% 182,839 Plumas 3,459 35.75% 5,420 56.01% 797 8.24% -1,961 -20.27% 9,676 Riverside 373,695 49.73% 333,243 44.35% 44,453 5.92% 40,452 5.38% 751,391 Sacramento 326,023 58.29% 189,789 33.93% 43,518 7.78% 136,234 24.36% 559,330 San Benito 12,521 57.11% 7,841 35.76% 1,562 7.12% 4,680 21.35% 21,924 San Bernardino 340,833 52.12% 271,240 41.48% 41,910 6.41% 69,593 10.64% 653,983 San Diego 735,476 56.30% 477,766 36.57% 93,158 7.13% 257,710 19.73% 1,306,400 San Francisco 345,084 85.04% 37,688 9.29% 23,020 5.67% 307,396 75.75% 405,792 San Joaquin 121,124 54.03% 88,936 39.67% 14,106 6.29% 32,188 14.36% 224,166 San Luis Obispo 67,107 49.71% 56,164 41.60% 11,738 8.69% 10,943 8.11% 135,009 San Mateo 237,882 75.67% 57,929 18.43% 18,573 5.91% 179,953 57.24% 314,384 Santa Barbara 107,142 60.61% 56,365 31.88% 13,279 7.51% 50,777 28.72% 176,786 Santa Clara 511,684 72.71% 144,826 20.58% 47,199 6.71% 366,858 52.13% 703,709 Santa Cruz 95,249 73.94% 22,438 17.42% 11,134 8.64% 72,811 56.52% 128,821 Shasta 22,301 27.86% 51,778 64.68% 5,974 7.46% -29,477 -36.82% 80,053 Sierra 601 32.84% 1,048 57.27% 181 9.89% -447 -24.43% 1,830 Siskiyou 7,234 35.30% 11,341 55.34% 1,917 9.35% -4,107 -20.04% 20,492 Solano 102,360 61.62% 51,920 31.26% 11,833 7.12% 50,440 30.36% 166,113 Sonoma 160,435 69.38% 51,408 22.23% 19,410 8.39% 109,027 47.15% 231,253 Stanislaus 81,647 47.43% 78,494 45.60% 12,005 6.97% 3,153 1.83% 172,146 Sutter 13,076 39.01% 18,176 54.22% 2,271 6.77% -5,100 -15.21% 33,523 Tehama 6,809 28.48% 15,494 64.81% 1,605 6.71% -8,685 -36.33% 23,908 Trinity 2,214 38.94% 2,812 49.45% 660 11.61% -598 -10.52% 5,686 Tulare 47,585 42.36% 58,299 51.90% 6,450 5.74% -10,714 -9.54% 112,334 Tuolumne 9,123 35.74% 14,551 57.00% 1,855 7.27% -5,428 -21.26% 25,529 Ventura 194,402 55.27% 132,323 37.62% 25,001 7.11% 62,079 17.65% 351,726 Yolo 54,752 66.70% 20,739 25.26% 6,599 8.04% 34,013 41.43% 82,090 Yuba 7,910 34.39% 13,170 57.27% 1,918 8.34% -5,260 -22.87% 22,998Total8,753,78861.73%4,483,81031.62%943,9976.66%4,269,97830.11%14,181,595

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Nevada (largest town: Truckee) Orange (largest city: Anaheim)

By congressional district Clinton won 46 of the 53 congressional districts, including seven held by Republicans.