2016 United States presidential election (A World Without Bridgegate)

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. It was held on November 8, 2016. Incumbent President Barack Obama was inelligible to run for a third term.

Republican nominee, Governor Chris Christie of Florida and his running mate, Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico, defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Hillary Clinton announced her run in April 2015, and immediately became the frontrunner to the nomination, as most prominent Democratic politicians declined to run. She was opposed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who ran on a highly progressive platform of universal healthcare, free college, and taxing the wealthy. Clinton ran on a platform of inclusive capitalism. Clinton was able to fend off a surprisingly strong and passionate challenge from the Vermont Senator and clinch the nomination, becoming the first woman to head a major American party's primary ticket. She selected Tim Kaine, Senator from Virginia, as her running mate, which was seen by many as a mistake.

In contrast to the Democratic field, Chris Christie was one of 17 Republican candidates, the largest field for a major American political party. His five main rivals were Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, and businessman Donald Trump. While Trump managed to win the Iowa caucus, a tape exposing past comments bragging about grabbing women inappropriately derailed his campaign, causing many Republican politicians to denounce him altogether. After a poor showing in New Hampshire where Christie wins, Trump drops out. Christie manages to paint Senators Cruz and Rubio as unable to win and robotic politicians who only said what others wanted to hear, culminating in a viral debate moment where Christie went after Rubio for this, causing the young Senator to stumble his words. As a result, Rubio began to drastically fade in the contests, until he dropped out after losing his home state to Christie. After the Indiana primary, where Christie beat Cruz despite Governor Mike Pence's endorsement, Christie became the presumptive nominee. He subsequently chose Governor Susana Martinez as his running mate.

Christie and Martinez secured the Presidency after Pennsylvania was called for Christie at nearly three in the morning following a long night of recounts in the state. At the end of it all, Christie had won 376 electoral votes to Clinton's 162, winning the largest electoral victory since Bill Clinton's 379 electoral college landslide in 1996, as well as the first Republican nominee to earn over 300 electoral votes since George H.W. Bush's landslide in 1988.

In terms of states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Jersey (Christie's home state) all voted Republican for the first time since 1988, New Jersey being won in a landslide with 57% of the vote. In addition, New Hampshire, Colorado, and New Mexico all flipped Republican for the first time since 2004. Virginia also went Republican, despite Tim Kaine being on the Democratic ticket. Finally, two noticeably blue states, Minnesota and Oregon, both voted Republican for the first time in over 30 years, Minnesota for the first time since 1972, and Oregon for the first time since 1984. However, both states were won by margins of less than 0.5%. As a result, both states entered recounts that ended on November 24, both states declaring Christie the winner by less than 20,000 votes.

With their victory, Christie became the first Italian-American President, while Martinez became both the first Hispanic-American Vice President and the highest ranking woman in the history of the United States government, surpassing former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.