2016 Michigan General Election Story

A head to head comparison of the Michigan 2016 General Election gives an idea of the breakdown of the voters.

Donald Trump received 2,279,543 (47.3%) votes beating Hillary Clinton who gained 2,268,839 (47%) by    10,704 votes in Michigan.

Donald Trump won 75 counties whereas Hillary Clinton won 8 counties in the total of the 83 counties in the State of Michigan.

2016 Michigan (MI) Primary vs. General Elections Counties Won

In the Primary, Sanders won 24 counties in the 3-way match up. Clinton trailed behind Trump winning 4 counties. Trump  won 49 counties out of the State of Michigan. Ted Cruz won 6 counties.

2016 Michigan Primary vs. General Elections with regards to Percentage (%) votes and Total Votes Won

On a head to head count with the total votes between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the Primary and General Elections, percentage (%) vote shift difference is a 4% increment for Donald Trump in the Presidential Elections as opposed to a 4% decrease for Hillary Clinton. These margins are represented as 1,795,792 vote increment for Donald Trump and a 1,692,044 vote increment for Hillary Clinton at the General Elections.

2016 General Election Hillary Clinton Popular Vote Count Contributed by Michigan

During the 2016 General elections, over 146,434,269 total number of votes were cast.  Hillary Clinton got 65,853,625 (65.8 Million) over Donald Trump's 62,984,405 (62.9 Million). She won the popular vote by 2,869,220 (2.8 Million). Even though she lost to Trump in the State of Michigan, her 2,268,839 gain votes represents 3.3% of her popular vote victory. The remaining states contributed to her the remaining 96.7% popular votes victory.

Top 15 Counties in Primary vs. General Elections

These 15 counties play an important role in these General elections. If a candidate, can get a sizable majority (like Hillary Clinton) in the larger counties (Wayne and Oakland), it becomes very difficult to win majorities in the smaller counties without voter outreach. However, as seen in the case of Trump, steady wins in the less dense counties can contribute to a slender win.

Top 15 Vote Comparisons in Primary vs. General Elections

Wayne and Oakland, which are very large counties voted massively in favour of Hillary Clinton giving her a 344,318 vote advantage out of those counties. Aside these, her wins in other counties such as Washtenaw, Genesee, Ingham and Kalamazoo gave her additional vote advantage. On the other hand, Trump’s win margins in counties such as Macomb, Kent, Ottawa, Livingston, Saginaw, Monroe, Jackson and Berrien gave him over 203K vote advantage. Trump kept gaining marginal but steady wins in many other counties. This no doubt contributed to his Slender win in the State of Michigan.

Related References: 2016 Michigan Primary Election Story, 2020 Michigan Primary Election Story