Honestly, it feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it? The year 2016 wasn't just another election cycle; it was a total cultural earthquake. People usually remember the big showdown—the red hats versus the glass ceiling—but the actual list of who were the candidates for president in 2016 is a lot longer and weirder than most of us recall.
Think back. Before the general election became a two-person brawl, there was a literal stage-full of hopefuls. Seventeen Republicans. Five main Democrats. A handful of third-party disruptors. It was crowded. It was loud. And frankly, it changed how we talk about politics forever.
The Republican Gauntlet: 17 Names and a Reality Star
The GOP primary was basically a "who’s who" of conservative heavyweights. You had governors, senators, and business moguls all thinking they had the magic formula to take back the White House after eight years of Obama.
Most people remember Donald Trump. He was the "insurgent" candidate who basically threw the traditional playbook out the window. But he had to go through a massive field to get there. There was Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas who actually won Iowa and held on the longest as the "never Trump" alternative. Then you had Marco Rubio (Florida) and John Kasich (Ohio), who were the more traditional "establishment" choices.
The list of those who dropped out early is a trip down memory lane:
- Jeb Bush: The early favorite with the massive war chest who became the target of the "low energy" label.
- Ben Carson: The soft-spoken neurosurgeon who briefly led in some early polls.
- Chris Christie: The New Jersey governor who famously took down Rubio in a debate before endorsing Trump.
- Carly Fiorina: The former HP CEO and the only woman in the Republican field.
- Rand Paul: The libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky.
- Mike Huckabee & Rick Santorum: Both former caucus winners who couldn't catch lightning in a bottle twice.
And let's not forget the ones who barely made it to the first snow in Iowa—names like Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, Jim Gilmore, and Rick Perry. It was a meat grinder. Trump didn't just win; he outlasted sixteen people who had spent their entire lives preparing for that moment.
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The Democratic Duel: A Coronation Interrupted
On the other side, the Democrats started with a much smaller group. Everyone assumed it was Hillary Clinton's year. She had the name, the experience, and the party backing. It was supposed to be a glide path to the nomination.
Then came the guy from Vermont.
Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, turned a "sure thing" into a months-long dogfight. He spoke to a specific kind of anger about Wall Street and healthcare that really resonated with younger voters. He didn't just run; he built a movement.
While Clinton and Sanders sucked up all the oxygen, there were others:
- Martin O’Malley: The former Governor of Maryland who struggled to get above 1% in the polls.
- Jim Webb: A former Senator and Vietnam vet who felt like he was from a different era of the party.
- Lincoln Chafee: A former Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat who campaigned on the metric system (really).
- Lawrence Lessig: A Harvard professor who ran on a single-issue platform of campaign finance reform.
Ultimately, Clinton won the delegates, but the party was fundamentally changed by the time she accepted the nomination in Philadelphia.
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The Third-Party Spoilers (or Saviors?)
When we talk about who were the candidates for president in 2016, we can't ignore the people who made a massive dent in the popular vote. Disenchantment with the two main choices was at an all-time high.
Gary Johnson ran as the Libertarian. He was the former Governor of New Mexico and, along with his running mate Bill Weld (former Gov of Massachusetts), he pulled in over 4.4 million votes. That’s about 3.3% of the total—the best the Libertarians had ever done. He had some gaffes (the "What is Aleppo?" moment was brutal), but he was a real factor in several states.
Then you had Jill Stein and the Green Party. She focused on the "Green New Deal" and student debt. While she only got about 1% of the vote, her presence in swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin became a massive talking point after the election.
Finally, there was Evan McMullin. He was a former CIA officer who ran as an independent, specifically targeting conservative voters who couldn't stomach Trump. He didn't have a national impact, but he nearly won Utah, which was wild to watch in real-time.
What Really Happened on Election Night?
The candidates narrowed down to Trump and Clinton. Most pollsters—and I mean almost all of them—thought Clinton had it in the bag. Even the Trump campaign seemed surprised by the late surge in the "Rust Belt."
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The final tally was a historic split.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes.
Donald Trump won the Electoral College with 304 votes to Clinton's 227.
It was one of those rare "glitch in the matrix" moments in American history where the person most people voted for didn't actually get the job.
Actionable Insights: Lessons from the 2016 Field
If you're looking back at this to understand how politics works today, here are three things to keep in mind:
- Polls are just snapshots. 2016 proved that "likely voter" models can be wrong if a candidate brings out people who don't usually vote. Never take a 5-point lead as a guarantee.
- The "Spoiler" effect is real. Whether you like third parties or not, the data shows that in close elections, a few thousand votes for a Green or Libertarian candidate can flip a whole state.
- Primary momentum matters. Trump and Sanders both showed that a "base" that is loud and energetic is often more powerful than a "base" that is just large and quiet.
To get a better handle on how this influenced the current political climate, you might want to look at the 2016 electoral map by county. It shows a much deeper divide than the simple "red state/blue state" narrative suggests. You can also check the FEC’s public records if you’re curious about who actually funded these massive campaigns—the numbers are staggering.