Mike Berman’s Washington Watch

December 2, 2016 11:59 AM

2016 Election Score Card

President: Electoral Vote
2016 Trump 306 Clinton 232
2012 Obama 332 Romney 206
2008 Obama 365 McCain 173


After the 2012 election Chris Cillizza did an interesting piece on the Electoral College in The Washington Post. He noted that in the last six presidential elections, 1992 – 2012, the Democratic nominee has averaged 327 electoral votes, while the Republican nominee has averaged 210 electoral votes.

In the preceding six Presidential elections, 1968 – 1988, the Republican nominees averaged 427 electoral votes, while the Democratic nominee averaged 113 electoral votes.

Clinton’s popular vote total has now exceeded President Obama in 2012 but she will not beat Obama’s total from 2008. Trump has exceeded the 2012 popular vote earned by Mitt Romney and the 2008 vote achieved by John McCain.

The other thing that changed substantially in this election is the size of the vote for “others”. The number of votes cast for third party candidates and their percentage of the total vote was three times higher than in any previous election.

The Libertarian party led by Gary Johnson was on the ballot in all 50 states. The Green Party led by Jill Stein was on the ballot in just over 40 states. There were five candidates who were on fewer than 20 state ballots and there were 21 third party or Independent candidates who were on fewer than 5 state ballots. (The list of write-in candidates without ballot status is too long to count.)

For the fifth time in U.S. history, and the second time this century, a presidential candidate has won the White House while losing the popular vote. Al Gore being the other candidate in this century. (Pew Research)

President: The Votes
2016 Trump 62,409,389 Clinton 64,637,505 Others 7,190,133
2012 Obama 64,444,805 Romney 60,265,579 Others 2,154,904
2008 Obama 69,498,215 McCain 59,948,240 Others 1,947,535


Total Vote
2016 134,237,025
2012 129,237,642
2008 131,473,705
2004 122,303,590


The total votes cast in 2016 exceeded the vote total in every other presidential election in history.

% of the Total Vote
2016 Trump 46.5% Clinton 48.2% Others 5.4%
2012 Obama 50.8% Romney 47.5% Others 1.7%
2008 Obama 52.9% McCain 45.7% Others 1.4%


U.S. Senate
2016 Democrats 46 Republicans 52 Independents 2
2014 Democrats 44 Republicans 54 Independents 2
2012 Democrats 53 Republicans 45 Independents 2


  Dem Rep Ind
100th Congress 1987-88 55 45  
101st Congress 1989-90 55 45  
102nd Congress 1991-92 56 44  
103rd Congress 1993-94 57 43  
104th Congress 1995-96 48 52  
105th Congress 1997-98 45 55  
106th Congress 1999-2000 45 55*  
107th Congress 2001-02 50 50*  
108th Congress 2003-04 48 51 1
109th Congress 2005-06 44 55 1
110th Congress 2007-08 49 49 2
111th Congress 2009-10 56 42 2
112th Congress 2011-12 51 47 2
113th Congress 2013-14 53 45 2
114th Congress 2015-16 44 54 2
115th Congress 2017-18 45 52 2


U.S. House
2016 Democrats 193 Republicans 237
2014 Democrats 188 Republicans 247
2012 Democrats 201 Republicans 234


  Dem Rep Ind Vac
100th Congress 1987-88 258 177    
101st Congress 1989-90 260 175    
102nd Congress 1991-92 267 167 1  
103rd Congress 1993-94 258 176 1  
104th Congress 1995-96 204 230 1  
105th Congress 1997-98 206 228 1  
106th Congress 1999-2000 211 223 1  
107th Congress 2001-02 212 221 2  
108th Congress 2003-04 204 229 1 1
109th Congress 2005-06 202 232 1  
110th Congress 2007-08 233 202    
111th Congress 2009-10 259 176    
112th Congress 2011-12 193 242    
113th Congress 2013-14 201 234    
114th Congress 2015-16 188 247    
115th Congress 2017-18 193 237    


Governors
2016 Democrats 16 Republicans 33 Independents 1
2014 Democrats 21 Republicans 29 --
2012 Democrats 19 Republicans 30 Independents 1


Governors by Party
Year Democrats Republicans Independents
1990 29 21 0
1995 19 30 1
2000 18 30 2
2003 23 27 0
2004 22 28 0
2005 22 28 0
2006 22 28 0
2007 28 22 0
2008 28 22 0
2009 28 22 0
2010 26 24 0
2011 20 29 1
2012 20 29 1
2013 20 30 1
2014 21 29 0
2015 18 31 1
2016 16 33 1


State Legislatures: House Members
2016 Dem 2345 GOP 3037 Other 29
2014 Dem 2572 GOP 2802 Ind 20 Open 17
2012 Dem 2592 GOP 2791 Ind 4 Open 24


State Legislatures: Senate Members
2016 Dem 790 GOP 1125 Other 57
2014 Dem 818 GOP 1086 Other 55
2012 Dem 886 GOP 1021 Other 16


*Nebraska – Unicameral legislature, 49 Senators included in Senate member count

Same Party Control of Both Houses of a State Legislature
2016 Dem 13 GOP 32 Split 3
2014 Dem 11 GOP 30 Split 8
2012 Dem 19 GOP 26 Split 4


Same Party Control of State Government –Governor and Both Houses of Legislature
2016 Dem 6 GOP 25 Split 13
Dem Gov/GOP Leg 6
GOP Gov/Dem Leg 7
Other 5
2014 Dem 7 GOP 23 Divided 19 Other 1
2012 Dem 14 GOP 24 Split 11  




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