The 2016 Alabama Republican presidential primary took place on March 1, 2016. This was the fifth primary held in the 2016 Republican primary. Donald Trump won the primary handily. The election was also held on Super Tuesday. Trump eventually won the Republican primary. He was elected President of the United States on November 8, 2016, against Hillary Clinton.
Ahead of the primary, Alabama was considered one of Donald Trump's strongest states. Trump enjoyed the endorsement of Senator Jeff Sessions, who would later join his Department of Justice as Attorney General. Sessions was Trump's first endorsement in the U.S. Senate.
Candidates Donald Trump Ted Cruz Marco Rubio John Kasich Ben Carson
Endorsements
Polling Aggregate polls +Source of poll aggregationDates administeredDates updatedMarco RubioDonald TrumpTed CruzMarginRealClearPoliticsRealClearPoliticsuntil March 1, 2016March 1, 201620.3%38.0%14.7%Trump +17.7FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEightuntil March 1, 2016March 1, 201620.4%43.4%17.2%Trump +23.0 Poll sourceDate1st2nd3rdOtherPrimary resultsPrimary resultsMarch 1, 2016Donald Trump43.42%Ted Cruz21.09%Marco Rubio18.66%Ben Carson 10.24%, John Kasich 4.43%, Jeb Bush 0.46%, Mike Huckabee 0.30%, Rand Paul 0.22%, Chris Christie 0.10%, Rick Santorum 0.07%, Carly Fiorina 0.06%, Lindsey Graham 0.03%SurveyMonkey Margin of error: ± ?% Sample size: 741February 22–29, 2016Donald Trump47%Ted Cruz 18%Marco Rubio 14%Ben Carson 9%, John Kasich 3%, Undecided 9%Monmouth University Margin of error: ± 4.6%
Sample size: 450February 25–28, 2016Donald Trump42%Marco Rubio 19%Ted Cruz 16%Ben Carson 11%, John Kasich 5%, Undecided 7%Opinion Savvy Margin of error: ± 4.6% Sample size: 460February 25–26, 2016Donald Trump35.8%Marco Rubio 23.0%Ted Cruz 16.2%Ben Carson 10.5%, John Kasich 7.5%, Undecided 7.0%AL.com Margin of error: ± 4.5% Sample size: 500December 10–13, 2015Donald Trump35%Ted Cruz 15%Marco Rubio 12%Ben Carson 12%, Jeb Bush 4%, Mike Huckabee 4%, Chris Christie 3%, John Kasich 2%, Carly Fiorina 1%, Rand Paul <1%, Rick Santorum <1%, Lindsey Graham <1%Gravis MarketingGravis Marketing Margin of error: ± 2%
Sample size: 1616September 3, 2015Donald Trump38%Ben Carson 16.7%Jeb Bush 4.9%Ted Cruz 4.1%, Mike Huckabee 2.7%, Marco Rubio 2.3%, Carly Fiorina 2.3%, Rand Paul 1.5%, John Kasich 1.3%, Scott Walker 1.1%, Chris Christie 0.9%, Rick Santorum 0.4%, Rick Perry 0.3%, Bobby Jindal 0.3%, Lindsey Graham 0.1%, unsure 23.2%News-5/Strategy ResearchNews-5/Strategy Research Margin of error: ± 2%
Sample size: 3500August 11, 2015Donald Trump30%Jeb Bush 15%Ben Carson 11%Marco Rubio 11%, Mike Huckabee 8%, Carly Fiorina 8%, Ted Cruz 7.5%, Scott Walker 3%, Other 5%Opinion Savvy/Insider AdvantageOpinion Savvy/Insider Advantage Margin of error: ± 4.4%
Sample size: 481August 2–3, 2015Donald Trump37.6%Ben Carson 14.6%Jeb Bush 11.8%Mike Huckabee 7.9%, Ted Cruz 4.5%, Scott Walker 3.8%, Chris Christie 3.2%, Marco Rubio 2.6%, Rand Paul 2.2%, Bobby Jindal 2.0%, John Kasich 1.4%, Rick Santorum 1.2%, Rick Perry 1.0%, Lindsey Graham 0.7%, Carly Fiorina 0.5%, George Pataki 0.0%, Someone else 1.9%, Undecided 3.1%CygnalCygnal Margin of error: ± 3.42%
Sample size: 821July 7–8, 2014Jeb Bush19.8%Ben Carson 12.6%Rand Paul 10.5%Chris Christie 8.8%, Rick Perry 7.2%, Ted Cruz 5.6%, Rick Santorum 5.3%, Bobby Jindal 3.9%, Scott Walker 3.6%, Undecided 22.6%
Results
Results by county +CountyTrumpCruzRubioCarsonKasichUncommittedBushHuckabeeOtherAutauga44.57%20.48%14.75%14.57%3.48%1.01%0.47%0.26%0.40%Baldwin46.87%17.02%19.26%8.39%5.93%1.38%0.45%N/A0.70%Barbour50.16%17.77%14.62%12.26%3.6%0.61%0.3%0.26%0.41%Bibb49.46%25.45%11.18%9.89%2.11%0.76%0.43%0.38%0.35%Blount48.75%24.39%12.15%10.05%2.22%1.12%0.37%0.51%0.42%Bullock56.50%16.97%11.55%8.48%4.15%0.54%1.26%0.18%0.36%Butler53.78%16.68%13.37%11.77%2.69%0.53%0.66%N/A0.53%Calhoun45.06%19.43%16.32%11.83%4.78%1.04%0.64%0.36%0.53%Chambers47.52%20.11%13.04%13.07%3.68%0.96%0.79%0.26%0.57%Cherokee52.10%17.23%15.19%10.01%2.83%1.29%0.37%0.54%0.43%Chilton49.43%21.78%13.44%10.75%2.04%1.10%0.59%0.48%0.38%Choctaw49.93%21.05%14.70%7.89%3.17%1.26%0.93%0.51%0.56%Clarke50.22%19.28%17.48%8.92%2.71%0.41%0.33%0.39%0.26%Clay47.48%20.89%12.49%12.25%3.09%1.60%1.06%0.52%0.62%Cleburne48.30%21.13%13.62%9.95%2.41%1.64%1.55%0.57%0.82%Coffee41.40%23.37%15.52%13.16%3.4%1.32%0.66%0.38%0.64%Colbert47.45%19.62%17.68%10.89%3.05%0.54%N/AN/A0.77%Conecuh59.02%15.96%10.82%10.51%1.30%0.84%0.61%0.46%0.46%Coosa55.32%19.56%10.81%9.02%2.96%0.99%0.45%0.27%0.63%Covington48.14%18.51%13.33%13.33%3.37%1.56%0.81%0.43%0.51%Crenshaw54.50%21.93%9.11%10.42%2.55%0.51%0.44%N/A0.55%Cullman50.65%20.25%13.49%10.96%2.66%0.800.37%0.31%0.51%Dale45.28%21.90%13.02%12.54%3.63%1.76%0.61%0.61%0.66%Dallas59.70%20.66%8.68%5.25%2.63%1.48%0.91%0.57%0.11%DeKalb47.59%16.39%21.60%9.79%2.47%1.01%0.39%0.39%0.37%Elmore47.49%18.35%13.43%14.90%3.58%0.91%0.54%0.29%0.51%Escambia49.33%18.00%17.14%10.24%3.40%0.56%0.49%0.37%0.47%Etowah46.09%20.75%16.79%11.19%3.27%0.74%0.41%0.28%0.49%Fayette49.86%20.97%13.35%9.81%2.49%1.77%0.50%0.88%0.36%Franklin51.47%21.29%13.42%9.26%2.55%0.72%0.33%0.48%0.48%Geneva48.62%23.73%12.99%9.26%2.30%1.31%0.66%0.55%0.59%Greene53.85%21.61%12.09%6.96%3.66%N/A0.73%0.37%0.74%Hale52.07%24.98%11.74%7.77%2.12%0.53%N/A0.26%0.53%Henry46.79%22.28%14.36%11.47%2.81%1.05%0.55%0.29%0.39%Houston40.39%22.56%18.19%11.43%4.13%1.66%0.68%0.44%0.53%Jackson49.89%16.37%16.90%10.82%2.83%2.00%0.37%0.44%0.40%Jefferson35.02%23.82%24.67%8.92%6.09%0.55%0.36%N/A0.58%Lamar50.43%19.26%12.97%9.57%2.87%2.25%0.78%1.03%0.83%Lauderdale42.14%18.36%18.69%12.05%5.52%1.66%0.36%0.53%0.69%Lawrence52.89%17.53%13.53%10.74%2.87%0.93%0.55%0.41%0.55%Lee32.96%23.17%22.50%11.72%7.11%0.98%0.61%0.35%0.59%Limestone43.03%21.39%18.85%10.87%3.90%0.89%0.37%N/A0.70%Lowndes59.52%16.31%9.88%10.48%3.10%0.36%N/AN/A0.36%Macon47.91%19.78%12.38%12.79%5.25%0.67%0.54%0.54%0.13%Madison36.18%20.69%26.03%9.58%5.94%0.59%0.31%N/A0.69%Marengo53.95%21.17%11.79%7.89%2.41%1.21%0.93%0.28%0.37%Marion52.92%19.15%13.91%8.89%2.52%0.77%0.56%0.60%0.68%Marshall49.51%15.12%20.56%9.86%3.23%0.69%0.30%0.29%0.44%Mobile45.22%21.41%18.93%7.71%4.59%0.93%0.49%N/A0.73%Monroe52.06%17.42%15.78%9.87%2.86%0.50%0.53%0.53%0.45%Montgomery39.42%17.59%20.85%12.65%7.30%0.83%0.64%N/A0.73%Morgan44.59%19.73%18.31%11.40%4.53%0.50%0.25%0.27%0.42%Perry51.73%32.80%8.80%4.00%0.53%1.33%0.53%0.27%N/APickens44.05%25.74%13.81%11.31%2.54%0.63%0.70%0.98%0.23%Pike46.02%20.15%14.79%12.81%3.16%1.23%0.79%0.40%0.66%Randolph51.59%20.65%12.83%9.36%2.92%0.94%0.77%0.55%0.39%Russell47.45%27.03%12.31%7.92%2.82%1.04%0.53%N/A0.90%St. Clair44.60%26.88%13.42%10.86%2.69%0.53%0.41%N/A0.61%Shelby34.35%26.37%22.95%9.42%5.03%0.83%0.37%N/A0.67%Sumter59.36%15.90%13.78%7.42%1.41%0.35%1.41%0.35%N/ATalladega51.05%19.98%13.56%9.54%3.80%0.71%0.59%0.35%0.40%Tallapoosa52.78%15.01%14.60%11.40%4.20%0.53%0.62%0.27%0.58%Tuscaloosa37.46%25.05%20.37%10.64%4.44%0.88%0.41%0.29%0.44%Walker55.11%20.37%10.84%8.97%2.37%1.17%0.46%0.32%0.40%Washington53.78%21.82%15.31%6.43%1.14%0.85%N/AN/A0.68%Wilcox54.36%21.59%12.12%8.33%2.27%N/A0.57%0.38%0.38%Winston56.12%18.01%11.85%9.02%2.73%0.90%0.45%0.37%0.54%TOTAL43.42%21.09%18.66%10.24%4.43%0.92%0.46%0.30%0.48%Source
By congressional district Trump won all 7 congressional districts. District Trump Cruz Rubio 46% 19% 19% 46% 21% 15% 44% 21% 16% 49% 19% 16% 40% 20% 22% 37% 25% 22% 43% 23% 18%
Analysis According to Pew Research, Alabama's Republican electorate has the second-highest proportion of white Evangelicals of any Super Tuesday state, at 63% of Republican voters.
Donald Trump won the Alabama primary in a landslide due to support from Evangelical primary voters. Trump carried 43% of Evangelicals compared to 22% for Ted Cruz, according to exit polls by Edison Research. Many pundits were perplexed by Trump's dominance among culturally conservative Southern whites who were expected to view him as immoral, but he benefitted from voters' racial, cultural, and economic angst that mattered more than shared values.
References