On November 08, 2016 Americans took to the polls to decide who would become the 45th president of our United States. As election day neared for these long and eventful campaigns, many voted between those who remained in the election; Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party, Donald Trump of the Republican Party, and Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. The final result was Donald Trump winning and so becoming our Presidential Elect.
Donald Trump won the electoral vote on Tuesday with 290 votes while Hillary Clinton came in second, receiving 228 electoral votes (via Google). Trump won many swing states including Pennsylvania and Florida, both of which were predicted to be wins for Clinton. These results shocked many as almost all predictions had concluded that Hillary Clinton would win the Presidency and gain well over 300 electoral votes. Despite Clinton winning the popular vote with 48% and Trump following with 47% (via Google), Trump’s success in the Electoral College has been tallied as the official decider of our nation, making him the 45th President of the United States.
Looking deeper into this election, many are able to see how predictions in regards to the outcome were misread, as states that typically vote in one direction switched on a drastic level all throughout this election. Michigan is a very good example of this notion of the predictions being incorrect. Michigan hasn’t voted for a Republican president since 1988, yet in this election they broke their streak of voting Democrat and returned to voting as a Republican state (via 270towin.com).
Other statistics in regards to this election are proving to be just as, if not more interesting than the incorrect predictions. This election would have allowed over 231 million people to vote for these position changes in office, but the results show that out of this vast amount of people, only 56.8% of them voted, while the rest did not make it to the polls at all (via Heavy). As for looking at those who did vote, some interesting data does exist. The 2016 election brought out men and women of all ages and races and overall we were able to see that 54% of women voted Democrat and 53% of men voted Republican. Also young people from 18-29, the average college age, voted 55% Democrat and 37% Republican. (via The Washington Post) Data such as this gives us additional insight into the results of this election and how they differed from the predictions.
With all the data available and the election said and done, America must now look to the future and wait to see what President Elect Trump plans to do and how he will change our country over his next four years in office. Mr. Trump will be inaugurated into office on January 20, 2017 and regardless of who you voted for and reasons why, the country will be coming together on this day, looking to our new president to provide us with change and help to determine the fate of our great nation.