The 2016 United States presidential election in Alaska was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the nationwide presidential election in which all 50 states plus the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

participated.

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, and her running mate Virginia

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Tim Kaine. Alaska has three electoral votes in the Electoral College. Trump carried the state with 51.28% of the vote, while Clinton received 36.55% of the vote. This marked a return to Alaska's streak of giving Democrats under 40% of the vote share, after

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

won just over 40% in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Alaska has voted Republican in every election since 1968, and since its admission to the Union in 1959, it has only voted for the Democratic candidate on one occasion: Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Caucuses

The two major parties held caucuses on different days: Republicans on March 1, and Democrats on March 26.

Democratic caucuses

Republican caucus

Controversy

At the Republican National Convention, Alaska's floor votes were all recorded for

by the convention secretary, even though the Alaska delegation read their votes according to the results of the caucuses: 12 for Cruz, 11 for Trump and 5 for Rubio. An Alaska delegate challenged the results as recorded. However, RNC chair Reince Priebus defended the actions of the convention secretary, saying that the delegates were bound to Trump.

General election

Political landscape in Alaska

The state of Alaska has given its electoral votes to the Republican ticket in every election year since 1968 and only once to a Democratic ticket since statehood. However, in

, it had the largest swing in favor of the Democratic Party with President Obama only losing by 14 points compared to his 2008 loss by 22 points. This has been explained by the presence of Alaska governor Sarah Palin running on the 2008 Republican ticket (as

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

's running mate) and not in 2012. Alaska also has a history of supporting third-party candidates at the presidential level. Alaska was the second-best state for Ross Perot in the 1992 election, awarding him 28% of the vote. Alaska was Nader's strongest state in the 2000 presidential election, giving him 10% in his presidential bid. Alaska was also the third-best state for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson in the 2012 election, giving him 2.46% of the vote, behind Johnson's home state of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. For this reason, Alaska has been considered to be one of Libertarian party nominee Gary Johnson's strongest states in the 2016 election.

Turnout

According to the Alaska Division of Election, voter turnout was about 60.77%, 321,271 ballots were cast out of 528,671 voters.

Predictions

The following are the final 2016 predictions from various organizations for Alaska as of Election Day.

Results

Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area (largest city: Craig)

Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Haines Borough (largest census-designated place: Haines)

By congressional district

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district, an at-large district because it covers the entire state, is thus equivalent to the statewide election results.

Analysis

The state is known for strongly supporting third parties, including Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2012; Alaska was his third-strongest state. He ran again as the Libertarian Party's 2016 nominee and appeared on the ballot in Alaska. On the day of the election, he garnered 5.88% of the vote, making Alaska his third-strongest state again after

and

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. Johnson's performance was the best for a Libertarian since

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, and the best third party performance since Ralph Nader in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Clinton was able to flip Haines Borough Democratic for the first time since 1992. Trump became the first Republican since

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in 1984 to win without Kusilvak Census Area, the first since Reagan in 1980 to won without Nome Census Area, Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area,

Northwest Arctic Borough Northwest Arctic Borough is a List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska, borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,793, up from 7,523 in 2010. The borough seat is Kotze ...

, and Dillingham Census Area, the first since

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

in 1972 to win without North Slope Borough, and the first ever to win without Aleutians West Census Area, Haines Borough, and Lake and Peninsula Borough.

Electors

Alaska had 3 electors in 2016; all of them voted for

for president and Mike Pence for vice president. The electors were: * Sean R. Parnell * Jacqueline F. Tupou * Carolyn B. Leman

References

External links

RNC 2016 Republican Nominating Process

Green papers for 2016 primaries, caucuses, and conventions

Decision Desk Headquarter Results for Alaska
{{State results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election Presidential AK 2016 controversies in the United States 2016