This article contains the results of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, the processes by which the Republican Party selected delegates to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention from July 18âÂÂ21. The series of primaries, caucuses, and state conventions culminated in the national convention, where the delegates cast their votes to formally select a candidate. A simple majority (1,237) of the total delegate votes (2,472) was required to become the party's nominee and was achieved by the nominee, businessman Donald Trump of New York.
The process began on March 23, 2015, when Texas Senator Ted Cruz became the first presidential candidate to announce his intentions to seek the office of United States President. That summer, 17 major candidates were recognized by national and state polls, making it the largest presidential candidate field for any single political party in American history. The large field made possible the fact that the 2016 primaries were the first since 1968 (and the first in which every state held a contest) in which more than three candidates won at least one state.
When voting began in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, twelve major candidates were actively campaigning; these were (ordered by date of withdrawal from the race) former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, businesswoman and former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina, former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, former neurosurgeon and Johns Hopkins University Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery Ben Carson, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, and the eventual nominee, businessman and Trump Organization CEO Donald Trump.
Following poor results from the first-in-the-nation caucus, Huckabee was the first candidate to drop out. Santorum also ended his campaign after a poor performance in Iowa. Paul withdrew from the race after placing fifth in Iowa, and subsequently polling poorly leading into the New Hampshire primary. Christie, who put nearly all of his campaign's resources into the critical state of New Hampshire, withdrew on February 10, 2016, after finishing sixth in the state. Following Christie's announcement, Fiorina suspended her campaign, which was unable to gain traction. Gilmore, who severely lacked funding, campaign infrastructure, and support, surprised many political pundits by staying in the race as far as he did; he dropped out shortly after the New Hampshire primary. Bush withdrew from actively campaigning after finishing fourth in the South Carolina primary. After Super Tuesday, Carson announced that there would be "no path forward" for his bid for the Presidency, effectively suspending his campaign. On March 15, 2016, Rubio dropped out after losing his home state, leaving three active candidates (Cruz, Kasich, and Trump). Trump's resounding victory in the Indiana primary on May 3, 2016, prompted Cruz's exit from the race. The following day, Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee after Kasich dropped out. Trump was formally nominated by the delegates of the 2016 Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016, and proceeded to defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the general election on November 8, 2016, to become the 45th President of the United States.
Prior to the Iowa caucuses, five major candidates, who had been invited to the debates, had withdrawn from the race after states began to certify candidates for ballot spots: Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, and George Pataki. Other candidates, nearly 15 in New Hampshire alone, were able to make it on the ballot in individual states. Some votes for minor candidates are unavailable, because in many states (territories) they can be listed as Others or Write-ins. Since the beginning of the primary season, none of these other candidates have been awarded any delegates.
Primary and caucuses can be binding or nonbinding in allocating delegates to the respective state delegations to the National convention. But the actual election of the delegates can be at a later date. Delegates are (1) elected at conventions, (2) from slates submitted by the candidates, (3) selected by the state chairman or (4) at committee meetings or (5) elected directly at the caucuses and primaries.<br />Until the delegates are actually elected the delegate numbers are by nature projections, but it is only in the nonbinding caucus states where they are not allocated at the primary or caucus date.
Nonbinding caucus: February 1, 2016<br /> State convention: June 2016<br /> National delegates: 30
Primary date: February 9, 2016<br /> National delegates: 23
Primary date: February 20, 2016<br /> District conventions: April 2016<br /> State convention: May 7, 2016<br /> National delegates: 50
Primary date: February 23, 2016<br /> County conventions: March 12 â April 2, 2016 (presumably)<br /> State convention: May 7 â 8, 2016 (presumably)<br /> National delegates: 30
Super Tuesday is the name for March 1, 2016, the day on which the largest simultaneous number of state presidential primary elections will be held in the United States. It will include Republican primaries in nine states and caucuses in two states, totaling 595 delegates (24.1% of the total). North Dakota holds the last caucus on Super Tuesday, but there is no presidential straw poll, and all the delegates elected later at its convention will be unbound. Colorado and Wyoming take a straw poll, but it is non-binding, and no delegates are allocated on Super Tuesday. The 2016 schedule has been dubbed the "SEC Primary", since many of the participating states are represented in the U.S. collegiate Southeastern Conference.
The participating states include Alabama, Alaska caucuses, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota caucuses, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia.
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 50
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 28
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 40
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 76
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 42
Precinct Caucuses date: March 1, 2016<br /> State Convention: May 20âÂÂ21, 2016<br /> National delegates: 38
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 43
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 58
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 155
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 16
Primary date: March 1, 2016<br /> National delegates: 49
On March 5, 2016, one state held a primary while three others held caucuses. Because of the relative timeframe between Super Tuesday and because more than 100 delegates were awarded to each state's respective winner, the media has dubbed this date as "Super-Saturday." The following day, Puerto Rico voted in their own primary and between March 8 and April 1, 17 more states have voted or will vote.
Primary date: March 5, 2016<br /> National delegates: 23
Primary date: March 5, 2016<br /> National delegates: 40
Primary date: March 5, 2016<br /> National delegates: 46
Primary date: March 5, 2016<br /> National delegates: 46
Primary date: March 6, 2016<br /> National delegates: 23
Caucus date: March 8, 2016<br /> National delegates: 19
Primary date: March 8, 2016<br /> National delegates: 32
Primary date: March 8, 2016<br /> National delegates: 59
Primary date: March 8, 2016<br /> National delegates: 40
Caucus date: March 10, 2016<br /> National delegates: 9
Convention date: March 12, 2016<br /> National delegates: 19
Caucus date: March 12, 2016<br /> National delegates: 9
Gov. Eddie Calvo, one of the delegates from Guam, had announced his support for Cruz prior to the March 12 Guam caucus. But, the slate of delegates all committed to Trump after both Cruz and Kasich dropped out.
County conventions date: March 12, 2016<br /> National delegates: 12
Primary date: March 15, 2016<br /> National delegates: 99
Primary date: March 15, 2016<br /> National delegates: 69
Primary date: March 15, 2016<br /> National delegates: 52
Caucus date: March 15, 2016<br /> National delegates: 9
Primary date: March 15, 2016<br /> National delegates: 72
Primary date: March 15, 2016<br /> National delegates: 66
Primary date: March 22, 2016<br /> National delegates: 58
Caucus date: March 22, 2016<br /> National delegates: 40
Caucus date: March 22, 2016<br /> National delegates: 9
State Convention dates: April 1âÂÂ3, 2016<br /> National delegates: 28
Primary date: April 5, 2016<br /> National delegates: 42
District Conventions dates: April 2, 2016 (districts 1, 6), April 7 (district 7), and April 8 (districts 2, 3, 4, 5)<br /> State Convention date: April 9, 2016<br /> National delegates: 37
State Convention date: April 14âÂÂ16, 2016<br /> National delegates: 17
Primary date: April 19, 2016<br /> National delegates: 95
Primary date: April 26, 2016<br /> National delegates: 28
Primary date: April 26, 2016<br /> National delegates: 16
Primary date: April 26, 2016<br /> National delegates: 38
Primary date: April 26, 2016<br /> National delegates: 71
Primary date: April 26, 2016<br /> National delegates: 19
Primary date: May 3, 2016<br /> National delegates: 57
Primary date: May 10, 2016<br /> National delegates: 36
Primary date: May 10, 2016<br /> National delegates: 34
Primary date: May 17, 2016<br /> National delegates: 28
Primary date: May 24, 2016<br /> National delegates: 44
Primary date: June 7, 2016<br /> National delegates: 172
Primary date: June 7, 2016<br /> National delegates: 27
Primary date: June 7, 2016<br /> National delegates: 51
Primary date: June 7, 2016<br /> National delegates: 24
Primary date: June 7, 2016<br /> National delegates: 29
Candidates listed received at least 0.01% of the total vote: