2016 United States presidential election in Michigan
The 2016 United States presidential election in Michigan 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. Voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting Republican Party nominee Donald Trump against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton. On March 8, 2016, in the presidential primaries, Michigan voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic and Republican Parties' respective nominees for president in an open primary; voters were allowed to vote in either party's primary regardless of their own party affiliation. U.S Sen. Bernie Sanders unexpectedly won Michigan's Democratic primary, while Trump won Michigan's Republican primary. In the general election, Republican nominee Donald Trump unexpectedly won Michigan by a narrow margin of 0.23%, with 47.50% of the total votes over the 47.27% of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. This is the narrowest margin of victory in Michigan's presidential election history. All of Michigan's 16 Electoral College votes were thus assigned to Trump, significantly contributing to his national electoral victory. Trump's victory in Michigan was attributed to overwhelming and underestimated support from working-class voters, a demographic group that had previously tended to vote for the Democratic candidate. On November 24, 2016, Trump was declared the winner by the Detroit Free Press. The votes were certified by each county and submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State. By winning Michigan, Trump became the first Republican candidate to win the state since George H. W. Bush in 1988. The Michigan Board of Canvassers certified Trump's lead of 10,704 votes over Clinton, a 0.23% margin, on November 28. The deadline to request a recount was then set for 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 30. That same day, Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign requested a hand recount, but the recount was halted December 1 after the state received an objection from Trump representatives. The objection was rejected by Michigan's Bureau of Elections December 2 and a federal judge ordered the recount to start again December 5. Finally, the recount was halted December 7 after a federal judge issued an order to Michigan's Board of Elections, making Trump's win official. Michigan had been one of eleven states to vote for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 which Hillary Clinton lost.
The eleventh debate was held on March 3, 2016, at the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was the third debate to air on Fox News Channel. Special Report anchor Bret Baier, The Kelly File anchor Megyn Kelly and Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace served as moderators. It led into the Maine, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Idaho, and Hawaii contests. Fox announced that in order for candidates to qualify, they must have at least 3 percent support in the five most recent national polls by March 1 at 5 pm. Ben Carson said on March 2 he would not be attending the debate. During the debate, Ted Cruz had a small speck of white material on his lip, leading to thousands of web searches per minute during the debate on "Ted Cruz nose". The debate also drew controversy for when opponents claimed that Trump made an allusion to his penis in response to Rubio's comment about the size of his hands.
Although won by Democratic candidates in every election since 1992, sometimes by decisive margins, in 2016 Michigan was considered a swing state and received much attention from Republican party candidate Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton's campaign was confident they would win the state, and projected a 5-point win up until election day. Trump was able to win the state for the first time since George H. W. Bush won it in 1988, albeit by a narrow 0.23% margin of victory. On Election Day, Detroit Free Press had prematurely called the state for Clinton at 9:15pm before retracting the call three hours later, an error which had been common in many sources at the 2000 election, in the states of Florida and New Mexico. Donald Trump's upset victory in the state has led to it gaining new status as a swing state, and many experts have cited Michigan as being a crucial state in the 2020 election.
