• Campus
    • Campus
    • Student Life
    • Administration
    • Faculty
    • Higher Education
  • City & County
    • City & County
    • Chapel Hill
    • Carrboro
    • Education
    • Public Safety
  • Politics
    • Politics
    • North Carolina
    • National
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • Football
    • Men's Basketball
    • Women's Basketball
    • Cross Country
    • Golf
    • Men's Soccer
    • Women's Soccer
    • Swimming and Diving
    • Men's Tennis
    • Women's Tennis
    • Field Hockey
    • Rowing
    • Volleyball
  • Culture
    • Culture
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Food
  • Opinion
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Cartoons
    • Columns
    • Letters
    • Kvetching Board
  • Multimedia
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Galleries
    • Audio
  • About
    • About
    • Hiring
    • Board of Directors
    • Alumni
    • Corrections
    • Contact
    • Meet the editors
    • Policies & Bylaws
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Events Calendar
    • Celebrations
    • Obituaries
  • Donate
  • Story Collections

  • HeelsHousing
  • Offline Chapel Hill
  • Shop
  • Buy Photos
  • 1893 Brand Studio
  • Alumni
  • Events Calendar
  • Celebrations/Obits
    • Celebrations
    • Obituaries
  • Southern Neighbor
  • Newsletter
  • Classifieds
  • Campus
  • City & County
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Donate
  • HeelsHousing
  • Search
The Daily Tar Heel

Serving the students and the University community since 1893.

The Daily Tar Heel
    • Campus
      • Campus
      • Student Life
      • Administration
      • Faculty
      • Higher Education
    • City & County
      • City & County
      • Chapel Hill
      • Carrboro
      • Education
      • Public Safety
    • Politics
      • Politics
      • North Carolina
      • National
    • Sports
      • Sports
      • Football
      • Men's Basketball
      • Women's Basketball
      • Cross Country
      • Golf
      • Men's Soccer
      • Women's Soccer
      • Swimming and Diving
      • Men's Tennis
      • Women's Tennis
      • Field Hockey
      • Rowing
      • Volleyball
    • Culture
      • Culture
      • Arts & Entertainment
      • Food
    • Opinion
      • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Cartoons
      • Columns
      • Letters
      • Kvetching Board
    • Multimedia
      • Multimedia
      • Video
      • Galleries
      • Audio
    • About
      • About
      • Hiring
      • Board of Directors
      • Alumni
      • Corrections
      • Contact
      • Meet the editors
      • Policies & Bylaws
    • Advertise
      • Advertise
      • Policies
      • Events Calendar
      • Celebrations
      • Obituaries
    • Donate
    • Story Collections

    • HeelsHousing
    • Offline Chapel Hill
    • Shop
    • Buy Photos
    • 1893 Brand Studio
    • Alumni
    • Events Calendar
    • Celebrations/Obits
      • Celebrations
      • Obituaries
    • Southern Neighbor
    • Newsletter
    • Classifieds
  • In the News
  • Men's basketball
  • The OC Report
  • Business
  • Franklin Street
  • Board of Governors

12/7/2016, 1:36pm

Year in Review: 2016 Elections

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Mail
  • Print
BY Benji Schwartz

The 2016 election will likely go down in history due to its unconventionality, unpopularity and unexpected ending.

On the Republican side, the beginning of the year was marked by then-presidential hopeful and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-F.L., visiting North Carolina.

“In November of next year, we are going to beat Hillary Clinton in the state of North Carolina,” Rubio said in January. He was right, just not exactly in the way he intended to be. 

This was before the Iowa caucus, when the Republican playing field had yet to be weaned to a manageable size. 

The Democratic side was, by comparison, much more tame. Sec. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-V.T., faced off in the debates before the senator pulled off a surprisingly close loss in Iowa and a large victory in New Hampshire.


Editors Picks

‘We have made progress’: How UNC has advanced women on campus this past decade


Here's how studying has evolved throughout the decade


The Campaign for Carolina initiative allowed for fundraising growth over the decade



By the time North Carolina's primary on March 15 came around, President-elect Donald Trump had pulled ahead slightly in the Republican primary and Clinton had a substantial lead over Sanders, which would prove to be insurmountable.

All the remaining candidates spent large amounts of their time in the Tar Heel state due to its large delegate value in both primaries — North Carolina had its first taste of the election spotlight.

On the Democratic side, March 15 held few surprises. Clinton swept many states due to their high minority populations, which Sanders failed to appeal to throughout the primary season.

“In states where African-American voters are a large portion of the electorate, she does really well,” Steven Greene, a political science professor at N.C. State University, said in March. “This is very similar to other states she won by large margins, and I don’t see any reason that shouldn’t happen here.”

Governor-elect Roy Cooper and Deborah Ross won the gubernatorial and senatorial primaries with over 60% of the vote.

The Republican side was less predictable. While Sen. Burr, R-N.C., and Gov. Pat McCrory easily won their primaries, Trump narrowly beat Cruz in North Carolina and won in Missouri and Florida, which caused Rubio to drop out of the race. Kasich won in Ohio. 

Clinton and Trump went on to win their primaries by the end of the summer, but not before a lesser well-known primary for House of Representative members took place, delayed due to a court ruling that demanded new districts be drawn up. Primary turnout was abysmal.

As students came back to campus, so did the campaigns. Clinton had surrogates like Lena Dunham, EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock and Michelle and Barack Obama patrol the Triangle and universities across the state. Trump held mega-rallies in more traditionally red parts of the state, like Fayetteville.

Cooper kept a small lead of his own over McCrory while the two gubernatorial candidates fought over House Bill 2 and education during the campaign.

Ross spent the months before election day aggressively campaigning to increase her name recognition — a poll from Aug. 10 from Public Policy Polling showed 61 percent of respondents had no opinion about her.

In the final days of the race, it appeared Clinton would have a runaway victory in North Carolina and nationally. She had more field offices in the state than her opponent and Latino voter registration, a group that was assumed would oppose Trump, had surged.

At the end of the election cycle, two stories dominated North Carolina news. Burr had been caught making comments alluding to violence against Hillary Clinton and if she won, promising to uphold the Supreme Court blockade until there was a new president, and the firebombing of a GOP office in Orange County. McCrory and the N.C. Democratic Party condemned the attack.

On election night, Trump won North Carolina and the election by turning out surprising victories in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Burr also handily defeated Ross, and Republicans won a veto-proof majority in the General Assembly.

The results of the gubernatorial race remained too close to call, and voting irregularities in Durham led to a month of confusion over who won. Over the course of the month, Cooper's lead on McCrory grew from 5,000 votes to over 10,000, and McCrory conceded on Dec. 5.

On Dec. 6 it was announced McCrory will be meeting with the president-elect in New York City, hinting at a possible position in the Trump administration for the soon-to-be-unemployed governor. 

state@dailytarheel.com


Next up in 2016 Elections

  • What's happening with the Russia investigation?

  • Voter fraud report calls for McCrory investigation

  • Burr to lead Senate investigations into Russian election interference


Next up in A Year in Review: 2016

  • Year in Review: Margaret Spellings' first year in office

  • Year in Review: Business school fee proposal

  • Year in Review: House Bill 2 brings national attention to North Carolina


The Daily Tar Heel welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic.

Latest Print Edition

Print Edition Print Archive

Decade in Review

Special Print Edition

Start the Presses!

Thank you for reading! You are someone who appreciates independent student journalism, support that work with your tax-deductible donation today!

Donate Now!
    • Front Page
    • Campus
    • City & County
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • Donate
    • HeelsHousing
Daily Tar Heel To Homepage
109 E. Franklin St. Suite 210, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Shop
  • Buy Photos
  • 1893 Brand Studio
  • Alumni
  • Events Calendar
  • Celebrations/Obituaries
  • Southern Neighbor
  • Offline Chapel Hill
  • Newsletter
  • RSS
  • Classifieds

All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2019 The Daily Tar Heel

Powered by Solutions by The State News.

A Century of Champions

The perfect gift for the UNC fan in your life. Celebrate UNC basketball's years of success with "A Century of Champions," a keepsake poster from The Daily Tar Heel and 1893 Brand Studio.

Buy Now