United States Presidential Election, 2016

The United States presidential election of 2016 was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2016. It was the 58th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election. The election took place as President Mitt Romney entered his fourth year as president. Romney's Democratic opponent was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wife of former president Bill Clinton. The race was never really close, and Romney expanded on his 2012 victory over President Barack Obama to win by 102 Electoral votes, taking surprise victories in Oregon and Michigan, two states he lost by over five percent in 2012.

Medicare Reform and the economy were the main issues of the campaign, however, when the United States struck at Iran's nuclear facilities after a functional nuclear bomb was developed, foreign policy and national security became the #1 issue.

President Mitt Romney defeated his challenger Hillary Clinton. Two states changed allegiance from the 2012 election. Each had voted for President Barack Obama in 2012 and contributed to Romney's 2016 victory. The selected electors from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia voted for President and Vice President of the United States on December 15, 2016. Those votes were tallied before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 2017. Romney received 320 electoral votes, Clinton received 218.

Democratic Primaries
The Democratic Primaries of 2016 were Hillary Clinton's to lose. She was declared a strong frontrunner from the beginning, and the polls showed it, with a 15-point lead nationally over her nearest competitor, Dennis Kucinich right before the first primary. After a devastating loss by the Democrats in 2012, Clinton introduced the concept of bringing the 1992-2000 era of Democratic dominance, when her husband was president, back. Her big ideas cruised her through the primaries, and with no serious opponent, Clinton completed a clean sweep, forcing every other contender out by Super Tuesday. Later, at the Democratic National Convention in Illinois, Clinton announced former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada to be her running mate.

Background
In 2012, Mitt Romney won the election, defeating the sitting democratic president, Barack Obama. After Republican pickups of the House and Senate in the 2010 elections, Republicans gained control of both legislative branches of the federal government.

Romney held fairly low approval ratings in the first six months of his presidency, but after a radical plan to fix the economy reduced unemployment to 7.6%, effectively ending the recession, his popularity skyrocketed. By the end of September 2014, Romney's job ratings were 63% approval, and the Republican party looked to gain even more power in the Senate and House. In the mid-term elections, the Republicans won an overwhelming majority in both the House and Senate. In December 2015, Romney's job approval was up to 66%. By the start of April 2016, Romney looked like the overwhelming victor, leading Clinton by double digits in the polls. After an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and the eradication of Al-qaeda, Romney gained nearly unstoppable momentum and seemed well positioned to seize victory.