Picking A President: The 2016 Republican Party Primaries and Caucuses
The 2016 Republican Primary season will be remembered as a time when the party establishment wanted to stop Donald Trump from winning their party's presidential nomination, while the primary voters and caucus goers had other ideas. It was the year of Brexit, a year when populist ideas appear to have been at high tide. It was a year when the Trump campaign for president transitioned from fodder for comedians into reality.
When former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, lost the 2012 election to incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama, the Republican National Committee, believed that it was because the long, drawn-out 2012 primary season had politically damaged Romney. In 2016 they were determined to condense the 2016 primary season. The 2016 Republican National Convention was scheduled for the relatively early date of July 18-21, 2016, the earliest date it had been since 1948.
With no incumbent in the White House, Republicans believed it was their year to take back the White House. By July 21, 2015, there were 16 candidates in the race, making it the largest presidential field in the history of the Republican Party. Jeb Bush, son of former President George H. W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush, was considered as the early frontrunner for the nomination due to his relatively moderate position on many issues, his prominence former governor of a crucial swing state, his name recognition and his access to funding for his campaign. He was the first candidate to form a political action committee (PAC) and an exploratory committee. The first candidate to declare his candidacy was Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was popular among grassroots conservatives because of his association with the Tea Party movement. He and Dr. Ben Carson were the prominent grassroots conservatives in the race. The Christian right wing of the party supported former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. More moderate candidates included Ohio Governor John Kasich, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Then there were the candidates with no political experience: Carson, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina. It was a diverse field, at least when it came to political roots and experience.
By the time the primary season started in early 2016, three candidates had clearly emerged ahead of the rest of the field: Rubio, Cruz, and Trump. The surprise was the support that Trump received and maintained in the polls throughout 2015 and into 2016. His brash and unapologetic style of speaking and campaigning appealed to many voters. Trump had no concern about political correctness. He espoused populist and nativist policies and appealed to working-class voters and those without a college education.
Trump generated controversy and many of the other candidates tried to position themselves as the "anti-Trump" candidate by condemning his rhetoric and policies. Despite Trump's lead in most national polls, the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses were won by Cruz. Trump rebounded with victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. On Super Tuesday, Trump expanded his lead by winning seven of the eleven states. Cruz was victorious in Alaska, Oklahoma, and his home state of Texas. Rubio had finished in third place in Iowa, and second place in South Carolina and Nevada, before finally claiming victory in Minnesota on Super Tuesday.
On March 15, Trump expanded his lead, winning five of the six contests. After a significant loss to Trump in his home state of Florida, Marco Rubio suspended his campaign. Kasich won his home state of Ohio. Trump swept primaries in the southern states while Cruz performed strongly in the West and scored a surprise victory in Maine. After Cruz's upset win in Wisconsin, speculation began to arise that the convention would be a brokered one.
At the end of April, Trump won a resounding victory in his home state of New York. By this time, both Cruz and Kasich were mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination without a brokered convention. Both formed an alliance to block Trump from winning the nomination. But primaries were looming in five Northeastern states on April 26. Subsequently, Trump swept all five states and greatly increased his delegate lead. In a final push to block Trump's path to the nomination, Cruz announced that one of the former candidates for the nomination, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, would be his running mate if he was the nominee. The move did not gain Cruz any momentum. Trump won the Indiana primary on May 3, and Cruz suspended his campaign. As the result of the victory, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus announcing that Trump was the party's presumptive nominee. Kasich announced the suspension of his campaign the next day, leaving Trump as the only candidate left in the race.
Trump went on to win all of the remaining primaries, sweeping the remainder of the West, Midwest and the entirety of the West Coast. He won the primary in New Jersey and in the remaining final states on June 7. Trump broke the 2000 record of 12,034,676 popular votes received by the winner of the Republican presidential primaries, with over 14 million votes.
After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump said: "You've been hearing me say it's a rigged system, but now I don't say it anymore because I won. It's true. Now I don't care."
The 2016 Republican National Convention was held from July 18-21 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. A simple majority of 1,237 delegates was needed to win the presidential nomination. On the first ballot, Trump won the nomination with 1,725 delegates, 488 more than required.
When former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, lost the 2012 election to incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama, the Republican National Committee, believed that it was because the long, drawn-out 2012 primary season had politically damaged Romney. In 2016 they were determined to condense the 2016 primary season. The 2016 Republican National Convention was scheduled for the relatively early date of July 18-21, 2016, the earliest date it had been since 1948.
With no incumbent in the White House, Republicans believed it was their year to take back the White House. By July 21, 2015, there were 16 candidates in the race, making it the largest presidential field in the history of the Republican Party. Jeb Bush, son of former President George H. W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush, was considered as the early frontrunner for the nomination due to his relatively moderate position on many issues, his prominence former governor of a crucial swing state, his name recognition and his access to funding for his campaign. He was the first candidate to form a political action committee (PAC) and an exploratory committee. The first candidate to declare his candidacy was Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was popular among grassroots conservatives because of his association with the Tea Party movement. He and Dr. Ben Carson were the prominent grassroots conservatives in the race. The Christian right wing of the party supported former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. More moderate candidates included Ohio Governor John Kasich, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Then there were the candidates with no political experience: Carson, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina. It was a diverse field, at least when it came to political roots and experience.
By the time the primary season started in early 2016, three candidates had clearly emerged ahead of the rest of the field: Rubio, Cruz, and Trump. The surprise was the support that Trump received and maintained in the polls throughout 2015 and into 2016. His brash and unapologetic style of speaking and campaigning appealed to many voters. Trump had no concern about political correctness. He espoused populist and nativist policies and appealed to working-class voters and those without a college education.
Trump generated controversy and many of the other candidates tried to position themselves as the "anti-Trump" candidate by condemning his rhetoric and policies. Despite Trump's lead in most national polls, the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses were won by Cruz. Trump rebounded with victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. On Super Tuesday, Trump expanded his lead by winning seven of the eleven states. Cruz was victorious in Alaska, Oklahoma, and his home state of Texas. Rubio had finished in third place in Iowa, and second place in South Carolina and Nevada, before finally claiming victory in Minnesota on Super Tuesday.
On March 15, Trump expanded his lead, winning five of the six contests. After a significant loss to Trump in his home state of Florida, Marco Rubio suspended his campaign. Kasich won his home state of Ohio. Trump swept primaries in the southern states while Cruz performed strongly in the West and scored a surprise victory in Maine. After Cruz's upset win in Wisconsin, speculation began to arise that the convention would be a brokered one.
At the end of April, Trump won a resounding victory in his home state of New York. By this time, both Cruz and Kasich were mathematically eliminated from winning the nomination without a brokered convention. Both formed an alliance to block Trump from winning the nomination. But primaries were looming in five Northeastern states on April 26. Subsequently, Trump swept all five states and greatly increased his delegate lead. In a final push to block Trump's path to the nomination, Cruz announced that one of the former candidates for the nomination, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, would be his running mate if he was the nominee. The move did not gain Cruz any momentum. Trump won the Indiana primary on May 3, and Cruz suspended his campaign. As the result of the victory, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus announcing that Trump was the party's presumptive nominee. Kasich announced the suspension of his campaign the next day, leaving Trump as the only candidate left in the race.
Trump went on to win all of the remaining primaries, sweeping the remainder of the West, Midwest and the entirety of the West Coast. He won the primary in New Jersey and in the remaining final states on June 7. Trump broke the 2000 record of 12,034,676 popular votes received by the winner of the Republican presidential primaries, with over 14 million votes.
After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump said: "You've been hearing me say it's a rigged system, but now I don't say it anymore because I won. It's true. Now I don't care."
The 2016 Republican National Convention was held from July 18-21 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. A simple majority of 1,237 delegates was needed to win the presidential nomination. On the first ballot, Trump won the nomination with 1,725 delegates, 488 more than required.