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United States Presidential Election, 2016

The United States Presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican nominee, junior Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, defeated former New York Senator and Secretary of State of the United States Hillary Clinton.

The incumbent President Barack Obama was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. As the campaigns progressed, the candidates ran on how they would continue to cut the falling federal budget deficit, addressing income inequality, climate change and the U.S.'s long term energy policy, as well as enforcing the Comprehensive agreement on Iranian nuclear program and the Supreme Court's historic gay marriage case, DeBoer v. United States.



Background
President Barack Obama won reelection in 2012, defeating Republican nominee Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney; with Democratic pickups in the House and Senate.

Obama’s approval rating dropped and stayed low after his second inauguration, with the revelation of the NSA's electronic surveillance program PRISM, which was later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (Klayman v. National Security Agency). Though his approval rating stayed in the low 40’s through most of 2013 with initial technological problems with Healthcare.gov and a slow roll out of the Affordable Care Act. With increased job growth throughout 2014, his approval rose to 50-55%. But stayed in the 46%-53% range for the rest of Obama’s presidency.

In the 2014 midterm election, the Democrats lost 3 seats in senate, but gained 11 seats in the House. With growing unpopularity of House Speaker John Boehner, the republican caucus nominated Cathy McMorris Rodgers as the leader of the house republicans and Speaker of the House for the 114th Congress. With the surprise retirements of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the democrats nominated Chief Deputy Minority Whip and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to replace Pelosi as Minority Leader; making it the first time in American History where two women were elected to the top leadership positions in the House.

Republican Party Candidates

 * Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
 * Paul Ryan, U.S. Representative, from Wisconsin
 * Jon Huntsman Jr., former Governor of Utah, Ambassador to China
 * John Thune, U.S. Senator, from South Dakota
 * Bobby Jindal, former Governor of Louisiana
 * Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana
 * Michele Bachmann, U.S. Representative, Florida
 * Connie Mack IV, former U.S. Representative, from Florida
 * Bob McDonnell, former Governor of Virginia
 * Jim Nussle, former U.S. Representative, from Iowa
 * Meg Whitman, Chief Operating Officer of Hewlett-Packard
 * Robert M. Kimmitt, former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

Before the primaries
Immediately after the 2012 presidential election, the media began the initial process of whoring itself around to look for candidates for President and diverting away from real life journalism. Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan was seen as an immediate front runner for the for the 2016 election. It was also suspected that because Florida Senator Marco Rubio, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush didn’t run in the 2012 presidential election, that they would seek the presidency in 2016. Also, after making some comments about the Government sponsored libido and shit, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's dying political career saw a resurgence after placing first as the 'lead of the GOP' in a February 2014 poll. He declared his candidacy for the presidency in February 2015, after Wall Street fave Jeb Bush declined to run when he was paid a very friendly amount of money to become President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In May 2015, Rubio also announced on Fox News’ Hannity that he wouldn't seek the nomination in 2016. Two days after Rubio’s announcement, despite his intentions to not seek the presidency, he placed in third in the Ames Iowa Straw Poll; with Senator John Thune winning the poll, Governor Mike Pence placed in second and former Iowa Representative Jim Nussle placed fourth.

In August 2015, the first debate was held, Bachmann, Christie, Huckabee, Huntsman, Jindal, Ryan and Whitman attended the debate held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt dropped out of the race 15 days after he officially announced his candidacy, with Iowa favorite son Nussle dropping out of the race to become the CFO of Devon Energy. Businesswoman Meg Whitman also conceded from the race in December 2015, after her early lead in New Hampshire was lost with 12 consecutive polls placing Whitman in 4th through 6th place.

Early primaries
On January 12, 2016, Senator John Thune won a slim victory over Representative Paul Ryan in the Iowa caucus; with Representative’s Michele Bachmann and Connie Mack placing with less than 2% of the vote, both suspended their campaigns the day after the Caucus. Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who had as series of gaffe’s on abortion and his vaginal probe law that he supported during his term as Governor, also conceded from the race before the New Hampshire primary.

Influential New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte campaigned with Christie the week before New Hampshire primary; helping Christie win a decisive victory with 39% of the vote over his closest opponent Jon Huntsman Jr., who came in second with 22% of the vote.

After Christie’s New Hampshire victory, he tied with Ryan, Thune, and former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in multiple national polls before the South Carolina primary. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Senator Tim Scott endorsed Jindal for President, giving him a slight edge of the other candidates, with South Carolina's Senior Senator Lindsay Graham and former candidate Meg Whitman endorsed Chris Christie the same day. Jindal saw criticism from the left for saying in a debate that Teacher-lead Christian prayer should be brought back in public schools, the move saw the new support for Jindal on the right from the organizations Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council and received new financial support from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s HuckPAC. Jindal eventually won the South Carolina primary, with Governor Mike Pence dropping out to focus on his 2016 gubernatorial election.

With the Florida primary just two weeks away, Senator Marco Rubio endorsed Florida front runner Paul Ryan’s campaign. This was followed with former President George W. Bush and Governor Jeb Bush endorsing and leading fundraising for Chris Christie’s candidacy. Ryan eventually won Florida, gaining support from the senior vote, with Christie coming behind him in second with support from the Latino community. Ryan’s traction earned him victories in Minnesota, Missouri and Nevada, with Thune winning the Colorado caucus. Christie later won clear victories in Arizona and Michigan, which was followed with a one week break in campaigning and Christie skipping a crucial debate due to health problems. Concerns about Christie’s weight and health problems was seen costly for his campaign, after revelations in the Bloomberg Businessweek found that Christie's obesity alone accounted for 4.7% of the total rise of Health care inflation 2015. Christie's 12% lead over Huntsman in Maine turned into a 4 point loss for Christie in that state. Thune won with two thirds of the vote in the Wyoming primary, and Christie bounced back with a victory in Washington.

Super Tuesday
With Thune and Jindal struggling to raise money, it was originally indicated that they would drop out of the election before Super Tuesday. But in the beginning of March, Thune receive a series of payments totaling $8 Million from Oklahoma Billionaire Harold Hamm, with Jindal receiving $2 Million in disbursements from pro-life and former tea party groups. Concerns that the republican candidates lacked Foreign Policy experience (besides Jon Huntsman who was seen as being in last place), played a toll with voters, with a new round of NATO bombings on suspected nuclear sites in Iran. One week before Super Tuesday, Senator and former Presidential Candidate John McCain, former Secretary of State James Baker and former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates all endorsed Christie at an event in Leesburg, Virginia. Former later Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice endorsed Ryan at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio. On March 15, 2016, Ryan won Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio and Tennessee. Thune won in Idaho, North Dakota and Alaska. Christie saw victories in Massachusetts and Virginia, and Huntsman won in Vermont. Jindal, who didn't see any victories, dropped out of the race the next day.

Later primaries
With controversy surrounding John Thune’s campaign after an event in Olathe, Kansas, saying that Democratic candidates Martin O’Malley and Andrew Cuomo (who signed bills to legalize gay marriage in their state) were “traditional marriage apologists” who “promote their divisive homosexual agenda.” Thune’s comments were condemned by GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign. After the video of the incident was posted by BuzzFeed, it was also heard that a small group within the crowd at event were chanting “defeat the f-s,” those comments were later condemned by Thune. He later won the Kansas primary. Throughout the rest of March, Ryan won in Alabama and Mississippi, with Christie winning in Illinois, and Huntsman winning in Hawaii. Thune suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Ryan after his campaign saw further controversy from previous comments he made about the LGBT community and, after the announcement that Hamm and Billion coal executive Chris Cline would no longer fund pro-Thune Super PACs. In the beginning of April, Christie won Maryland and the District of Columbia, and Ryan won his home state of Wisconsin. Huntsman and Christie began an intense campaign battle for the east coast states’ primaries, with Ryan only visiting Pennsylvania; focusing on Indiana, Louisiana and West Virginia, states that he later won. Huntsman took an all-out approach with his campaign funds with attack ads against Christie, he later only won Rhode Island, forcing him to suspend his campaign, (later leaving the Republican Party to run on the Americans Elect national ticket). Christie won Connecticut, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania. Christie also went on to earn victories in North Carolina and Oregon. He also gained notable endorsements from House Speaker Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, along with other members of the House and Senate.

With the republican establishment aligned with Christie, he saw a 58-30 lead over Ryan in California and a 51-42 lead in Texas. With the shift of Ryan's campaign to Christie's from House Majority Whip Eric Cantor, along with fellow congressional colleagues Darrell Issa, Lamar S. Smith, Jeb Hensarling, Mick Mulvaney, Luke Messer, Tom Cotton, Lynn Jenkins, Jeff Miller and Indiana Governor Mike Pence. In mid-May it was reported by Reuters that Ryan would suspend his campaign if Christie chose him as his running mate in the general election, Christie's campaign denied the report, but Ryan suspended his campaign the next day. The RNC then announced Chris Christie as the presumptive nominee.

Democratic Candidates

 * Martin O'Malley, former Governor of Maryland
 * Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York
 * Kay Hagan, U.S. Senator, from North Carolina
 * Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia, former Governor of Virginia
 * Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts
 * Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator from Virginia, former Governor of Virginia
 * Mike Beebe, Governor of Arkansas
 * Brian Schweitzer, former Governor of Montana
 * Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago
 * Jay Nixon, Governor of Missouri
 * Evan Bayh, former U.S. Senator from Indiana, Governor of Indiana
 * Gary Locke, former Ambassador to China, Secretary of Commerce, Governor of Washington

Before the primaries
Early media speculation for the 2016 election suggested that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would run for President after her failed 2008 campaign. Further speculation suggested that she wouldn't see a primary challenge due to her overwhelming favorable rating over the other speculated candidates. Though in January, 2015, Clinton officially announced that she wouldn't run for the Presidency in 2016, but that she would still remain active in Democratic politics.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Delaware Governor Jack Markell, Vice President Joe Biden, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren were all seen as early favorites for the Democratic nomination. Cuomo and Kaine launched their candidacy in March 2015, and Biden, Markell and Warren all declined. This began the Draft Warren 2016 movement by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and over 350,000 signatures to draft Warren in a petition by the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org. After the Democratic field was set, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley was seen as a strong performer during the primary debates; trading spots as front runner with Cuomo and Virginia Senator Mark Warner; with the campaigns of Senator Tim Kaine, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Deval Patrick loosing early momentum. Throughout November and December of 2015, Governor Jay Nixon, Senator Evan Bayh and Ambassador Gary Locke all suspended their campaigns before the Iowa Caucus.

Early primaries
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 Governor Martin O’Malley won the Iowa Caucus with 23% of the vote; Governor Andrew Cuomo came in a close second with 21%, Hagan in third with 16% of the vote, with the rest of the candidates finishing with less than 10% of the vote. With controversy of the mismanagement of funds and a weak performance in Iowa, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel dropped out of the race, described by the Washington Post as one of the most embarrassing and poisonous Presidential Campaigns in modern American History.

One week later on January 19th, Cuomo upset O’Malley with a win in the New Hampshire primary. O’Malley who had a 10 point lead over his closest challenger Governor Deval Patrick, Cuomo won a surprise victory with a 3% margin of victory over O’Malley.

Senator Kay Hagan became the first woman to win the South Carolina Primary in January 2016. After her victory in South Carolina, Governor Mike Beebe, Brian Schweitzer (who left the Democratic Party to seek nomination on the Americans Elect ticket), and Senator Tim Kaine all exited the race for the presidency.

Her victory in South Carolina and strong outlook for Florida came with the endorsements from the Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel, House Speaker and Florida native Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Caroline Kennedy and many congressional democrats in the moderate wing of the party. Cuomo received endorsements from Delaware Governor Jack Markel, California Governor Jerry Brown, former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. O’Malley gained the endorsement from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In explaining her endorsement for O’Malley in an op-ed in the New York Times, she supported his views against the Obama administration's Iran policy. Before Super Tuesday, Hagan failed to gain traction with her endorsements and struggled to raise money from the Wall Street blood funnel that primarily funded the failed Emanuel campaign. Warner won his first victory in the Missouri caucus with a less than 2% victory over Cuomo, though Cuomo went on to win decisive victories in Florida, Arizona and Michigan.

O’Malley won close victories in Maine and Minnesota, and won with over 50% of the vote in the Colorado and Nevada caucuses. On March 8, 2016, Hagan won a close victory in the Washington caucus, with a near three way tie between Hagan, O’Malley and Cuomo. Patrick and Warner’s campaigns saw significant financial troubles and were forced to drop out of the race before Super Tuesday. Vice President Joe Biden and Deval Patrick later endorsed Cuomo for his position on the assault weapons ban, education and becoming a lowering corporate taxes.

Super Tuesday
The week before Super Tuesday, Cuomo was seen as the front runner for the Democratic nomination, gaining support from most establishment Democrats. On March 10, President Obama ordered a new round of NATO-lead strikes on suspected Iranian nuclear facilities after the first bombing campaign was over and had ended 8 months earlier. The move was seen as massively unpopular with members of the President’s party after the 2015 bombings lead to fierce opposition from the Arab world. Cuomo, who supported the original drone campaign, saw a drop in the polls after he indicated he supported the new Iranian military involvement. O’Malley saw a surge in the polls in Eastern states, largely seen for his opposition to the bombings in the Middle East. As Super Tuesday arrived Senator Kay Hagan saw victories in North Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma, where she did heavy campaigning in those states’ rural communities. Cuomo was able to keep his slim leads in Tennessee and Ohio, but lost to O’Malley Georgia and Massachusetts, where he previously had a 10 point lead over him. O’Malley also won Virginia, Vermont, Idaho and Alaska.

Later primaries
With a split of support between the three candidates, it was seen that O’Malley had a slight advantage for momentum, but along with Hagan, struggled to raise election funds. Cuomo raised 40% more than O’Malley, but faced criticism from Democrats after it was reported that Cuomo received $71,000 in campaign donations from Raytheon, the manufacturer of the Drones used in the Iran Bombing campaign. While campaigning in Chicago, O’Malley drew a crowd of 19,000 people in the President’s hometown, to protest the unpopular Iran involvement. At the event, O’Malley received endorsements from former Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, Senator's Tammy Baldwin and Ron Wyden, and actor Ben Affleck. Though O’Malley amassed an 11 point gain in Illinois, he was ultimately defeated with a 3% margin of victory for Cuomo.

Cuomo’s policies as Governor of New York on Agricultural and Environmental issues during one of the worst droughts in global history, helped him to key victories in Kansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, but lost Alabama to Hagan. O’Malley won victories for his anti-war efforts in Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and his home state of Maryland. On April 6, Hagan announced that she was suspending her campaign, due to a drop in the polls in Indiana and her home state of North Carolina, where her strong lead started to decline since her upsetting performance on Super Tuesday.

The hard fought April 26 East Coast primaries were seen as a potential motivation changer for whoever came out the clear winner. Pennsylvania Governor Luke Ravenstahl and Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy went on a 4 day 18 city tour for the O’Malley campaign, speaking to first time voters and Latino voters who influenced the election in O’Malley’s favor on Super Tuesday. They received opposition from Vice President Joe Biden and Senator’s Bob Casey Jr. and Chris Murphy, who held rallies for Cuomo at the University of Pittsburgh and UConn. Cuomo’s received help from campaign add buyouts from the George Soros funded Super PAC American Bridge, but became targeted by the Super PAC MoveOn.Org, who earlier endorsed O’Malley. Cuomo saw a 16% point lead in New York, a 6% lead in Pennsylvania, and was tied with O’Malley in Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut. Cuomo’s campaign faced a minor debacle after a long time chief of staff and the communications director for his campaign, was indicted on perjury charges for falsely testifying about information on the 2015 New York Senate Insider Trading Scandal. Questions were also raised about Cuomo’s involvement in the scandal, but were later dropped after a grand jury cleared Cuomo of any charges. On April 26, Cuomo won his home state of New York and Connecticut, loosing Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island to O’Malley.

After the O’Malley victories, he picked up the highest noted endorsement of the campaign, from President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They campaigned for O’Malley in Arkansas, Indiana and Texas, where O’Malley later won, along with Kentucky, Oregon and West Virginia. O’Malley only lost North Carolina and Nebraska to Cuomo in the month of May. With a commanding lead over Cuomo in California it was seen that O’Malley had enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

Cuomo conceded from the race and endorsed O’Malley on June 1, 2016. On June 7, 2016, President Barack Obama, who didn’t endorse in the primaries, at a press conference endorsed O’Malley for President.

Americans Elect
Jon Huntsman Jr., former Governor of Utah; Vice Presidential nominee: Brian Schweitzer, former Governor of Montana.

After Americans Elect failed to put a candidate on the ballot in 2012, they formed a new Board of Directors and focused on Senate, Congressional and State House races in the 2014 midterm election (winning 1 senate, 6 congressional and 17 state house races). They put forth a National Platform, including overturning the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and publicly financing elections, amending the constitution to include a balanced budget amendment, balancing the federal budget by making cuts to entitlement programs, raising the capital gains tax to 35%, lower the corporate tax to 25% while eliminating tax loopholes, a 2.5% across the cut in discretionary spending. On social issues they take libertarian positions on civil liberties, Immigrant and LGBT rights. Though position vary within the party on Abortion, Gun control laws, Energy and Environmental policy.

The first ever online primary was held on May 10, 2016, former Governor and Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. won the primary; defeating former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, Kansas Congresswoman and former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sly James and former Minnesota Congressman Tim Penny. They voted for Schweitzer for Vice President.

Libertarian Party
Peter Schiff, Chief Executive Officer of Euro Pacific Capital Inc from Connecticut; Vice Presidential nominee: Richard Tisei, former State Senator from Massachusetts.

With speculation that 2012 Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson would run again in 2016, he officially announced in February of 2016 on CNN that he wouldn't seek the party's nomination. The announcement that Johnson wouldn't run led to a draft movement to nominate Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a member of the Republican party, who's father Ron Paul was the Libertarian Party's candidate in the 1988 Presidential election. Paul announced that he didn't have an interest in leaving the Republican Party and later ran for reelection to the Senate. Investment broker and Author Peter Schiff, who supported the "draft Paul" movement and was a candidate in the Republican primary in the 2010 Connecticut Senate election, became the only candidate to run for the Libertarian Party's nomination in 2016. On May 12, 2016 at the Libertarian National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, Schiff won enough delegates, clinching the party's nomination. At his request, the party nominated former Massachusetts State Senator Richard Tisei.

Green Party


Dr. Cornel West, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University; Vice Presidential nominee: Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, California.

The Green Party field quickly grew after 2008 Green Party nominee announced that she would run for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Former 2012 Green Party Vice Presidential nominee Cheri Honkala, Indiana University Deputy Dean of Law Andrew Straw, President of the Wisconsin River Network and 2014 congressional candidate Todd Ambs, Richmond, California Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Princeton University Professor Dr. Cornel West all ran for the Green Party nomination. The day before the Green Party convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, candidates Cheri Honkala and Gayle McLaughlin were arrested at a protest in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Dr. West received 176 of the 289 ballots needed, with Honkala receiving 65, McLaughlin receiving 40.5 and Straw and Ambs receiving 7.5 ballots.



Constitution Party
Russell Pearce, former State Senator from Arizona; Vice Presidential nominee: Dan Stein, Executive Director of (FAIR) from California.

The constitution party elected Xenophobe and former Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce at their national convention Boise, Idaho. He chose Ethnic nationalist, LGBT Fear Mogorer, and director of the anti-Latino hate group, Federation for American Immigration Reform. They saw no positive media coverage in the 2016 election, and very little in general.

The Pearce/Stein campaign saw overwhelming opposition, and frankly, they just looked like a team of invertebrate fucknozzles. Their ticket was designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

General Election
One week after it was announced that Christie was the presumptive nominee, he saw an aggressive campaign buyout against him in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire and Ohio, from the anti-Christie Super PAC United for a Fair Economy, and the former anti-Scott Brown turn anti-Christie Super PAC, Rethink PAC. They criticized Christie for his time as a lobbyist for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and cited a close relationship between Christie and ponzi scheming, prison bitch Bernie Madoff.

Christie backed Super PAC Partnership for America's Future, primarily funded by billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, ran repeated attack ads against O'Malley for a private comment he made after he clinched the democratic nomination saying that if elected President, he would expand the bombings in Iran.

Party conventions



 * May 10-12, 2016: 2016 Libertarian Party National Covention, held in Boston, Massachusetts; Peter Schiff won the nomination.


 * June 10-12, 2016: 2016 Constitution Party National Convention, held in Boise, Idaho; Russell Pearce won the nomination.


 * June 22-24, 2016: 2016 Green Party National Convention, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dr. Cornel West won the nomination.


 * August 22, 2016: 2016 American Elect Convention, held in Denver, Colorado; Jon Huntsman Jr. won the nomination.


 * August 29-31, 2016: 2016 Republican National Convention, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chris Christie won the nomination.


 * September 7-9, 2016: 2016 Democratic National Convention, held in Houston, Texas; Martin O'Malley won the nomination.

Americans Election National Convention
The Americans Elect National Convention was held on August 22, 2016 at the Pepsi Center, in Denver, Colorado. It was the only national third party convention to be televised on any major news network, and was streamed by over 1.2 Million people online. Former Reform Party Presidential Candidate Ross Perot, officially nominated former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., for President; and former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, for Vice President.

Notable speakers at the Americans Elect Convention include: Former third party Presidential candidates Ross Perot, Ralph Nader and Gary Johnson, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Republican National Convention
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Monday, August 29th

 * Kris Kobach, Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
 * Joyce C. Haas, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
 * Joel Kaplan, CEO of the Republican National Convention.
 * Tom Graves, U.S. Representative from Georgia.
 * Susan Brooks, U.S. Representative from Indiana.
 * Ted Yoho, U.S. Representative from Florida.
 * Beth Van Duyne, Candidate for Texas's 33rd congressional district and Mayor of Irving, Texas.
 * Robert G. Loughery, Candidate for Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district and Chairman of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners.
 * Matt Amis, U.S. Senate Candidate from Delaware, Businessman.
 * Cynthia Lummis, U.S. Representative from Wyoming.
 * Adrian Smith, U.S. Representative from Nebraska.
 * Patrick McHenry, U.S. Representative from North Carolina.
 * Mike Turner, U.S. Representative from Ohio.
 * Richard Burr, U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
 * Christopher Coutu, Candidate for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district and member of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
 * Brian Krolicki, U.S. Senate Candidate from Nevada and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.
 * Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Senator from West Virginia.
 * Ron Johnson, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.
 * Lily Fu Claffee, Executive Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
 * Deb Fischer, U.S. Senator from Nebraska.
 * Jim Bridenstine, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.
 * Todd Rokita, U.S. Representative from Indiana.
 * Carol Tobias, President of National Right to Life Committee; Leslie Hanks, Vice President of Colorado Right To Life; and Barbara Comstock, Member of the Virginia House of Delegates and Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Susan B. Anthony List.Sandra Day O'Connor.jpg
 * Jeb Hensarling, U.S. Representative from Texas.
 * Martha Roby, U.S. Representative from Alabama.
 * Sam Newby, Candidate for Florida's 4th congressional district and Vice Chairman of the Duval County, Florida GOP.
 * Eric Cantor, Majority Whip of the House of Representatives.
 * Jerry Lathan, Alabama Businessman.
 * Ryan Zinke, Candidate for Governor of Montana and member of the Montana Senate.
 * Mary A. Morrissey, Candidate for Governor of Vermont and member of the Vermont House of Representatives.
 * Steven Choi, Mayor of Irvine, California.
 * Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas
 * Small Oil Company Owners from Louisiana and North Dakota.
 * Todd Lamb, Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma; Sue Ellspermann, Lieutenant Governor of Indiana; and Miriam F. Miquelon, Candidate for Attorney General of Illinois and former U.S. Attorney.Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Official Portrait, 112th Congress.jpg
 * Reba McEntire, singer and actress.
 * Lynn Jenkins, U.S. Representative from Kansas.
 * Pat Toomey, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.
 * Liz Cheney, U.S. Senator from Wyoming.
 * Matt Mead, Governor of Wyoming.
 * Lindsay Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
 * John Thune, U.S. Senator from South Dakota.
 * Cindy K. Jorgenson, Candidate for the U.S. House for Arizona's 3rd congressional district and Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
 * Sandra Day O'Connor, former Supreme Court Justice.
 * Mary Pat Christie, wife of Chris Christie.
 * Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. Representative from Washington.
 * Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Speaker of the House of Representatives- keynote speaker.

Tuesday, August 30th

 * Rand Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky.
 * J.C. Watts, U.S. Senator from Oklahoma.
 * John Cornyn, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate from Texas.
 * Jeff Flake, U.S. Senator from Arizona.
 * Pat Moran, U.S. Senator from Kansas.
 * Elizabeth Dole, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania; and Elaine Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Labor.
 * Kevin McCarty, U.S. Representative from California.
 * Ashley Swearengin, Mayor of Fresno, California.
 * Jan Brewer, former Governor of Arizona.
 * Matt Kibbe, President of FreedomWorks.Kristi Noem by Gage Skidmore.jpg
 * Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas.
 * Dan Boren, former U.S. Representative from Oklahoma; and Steve Beshear former Governor of Kentucky.
 * Kristi Noem, U.S. Representative from North Dakota.
 * Bob Corker, U.S. Senator from Tennessee.
 * Roberta Combs, Chairman of the Christian Coalition of America.
 * Tom Cotton, U.S. Representative from Arkansas.
 * David Valadao, U.S. Representative from California.
 * Andy Barr, U.S. Representative from Kentucky.
 * Aaron Shock, U.S. Representative from Illinois.
 * Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas.Marco Rubio by Gage Skidmore.jpg
 * Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana.
 * Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican Nominee for Vice President and former Governor of Alaska.
 * Bob Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense.
 * Tim Scott, U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
 * Kelly Ayotte, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.
 * Marco Rubio, Nominee for Vice President of the United States and U.S. Senator from Florida.

Tuesday, August 30th

 * Mike Lee, U.S. Senator from Utah.
 * Andrea LaFontaine, Candidate for Michigan's 9th congressional district and Member of the Michigan House of Representatives.
 * Lynn Westmoreland, U.S. Representative from Georgia.
 * Karl Rove, Chief Director of Satan Affairs, from Hell.
 * Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana Governor.
 * Alberto Gonzales, former United States Attorney General.
 * John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona.
 * Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan War
 * Marlin Stutzman, U.S. Senate Candidate from Indiana and U.S. Representative from Indiana.
 * Curt Schilling and Cal Ripken Jr., former Major League Baseball Players.
 * Michael Patrick Carroll, Minority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly.
 * Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
 * Walker Stapleton, U.S. Senate Candidate from Colorado and Colorado State Treasurer.
 * George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States.
 * Kelsey Grammer, actor and comedian.
 * Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina.
 * Paul Ryan, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.
 * Kim Guadagno, Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.
 * Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas.
 * Chris Christie, Nominee for President of the United States and Governor of New Jersey.


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Democratic National Convention
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Wednesday, September 7th

 * David Axelrod, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
 * Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston, Texas.
 * Beto O'Rourke, U.S. Representative from Texas.
 * Michelle Lujan Grisham, U.S. Representative from New Mexico.
 * Alan Grayson, U.S. Representative from Florida.
 * Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator from Virginia.
 * Gerald Newsome, Secretary-Treasurer of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.
 * Eric Swalwell, U.S. Representative from California.
 * Cheryl C. Nield, Candidate for Missouri's 3rd congressional district and Prosecuting Attorney for Cole County, Missouri.
 * Josh Stein, U.S. Senate Candidate from North Carolina and Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate.
 * Xavier Becerra, Assistant Democratic Party Leader of the U.S. House from California.
 * Allison Chin, former President of the Sierra Club; and Kerry Emanuel, Climate Scientist.
 * Emanuel Cleaver, U.S. Representative from Missouri; Joyce Beatty, U.S. Representative from Ohio; and Donna Edwards, U.S. Representative from Maryland.
 * Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago, Illinois.
 * Ron Kind, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.
 * Donald Payne Jr., U.S. Representative from New Jersey.
 * Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator from Ohio.
 * Barbara L. McQuade, Candidate Michigan's 10th congressional district and former U.S. Attorney for Eastern Michigan.
 * Dwayne L. Taylor, Candidate for Florida's 6th congressional district and member of the Florida House of Representatives.
 * Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
 * Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator from Colorado.
 * Clint Zweifel, Candidate for Governor of Missouri and State Treasurer of Missouri.
 * Alfie Alvarado, Washinton Director of Veterans Affairs.
 * Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta.Svante Myrick gimme coffee picture.jpg
 * Amy Dacey, Executive Director of EMILY's List.
 * Howard Dean, former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Governor of Vermont.
 * Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
 * Janet Napolitano. Former Secretary of Homeland Security and Governor of Arizona.
 * Colleen Hanabusa, U.S. Senator from Hawaii.
 * Steven Horsford, U.S. Representative from Nevada.
 * Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington.
 * Linda Sánchez, U.S. Representative from California.
 * John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado.
 * Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana.
 * Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.
 * Maggie Hassan, Governor of New Hampshire.
 * Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Representative from Hawaii.
 * Beau Biden, U.S. Candidate for Delaware and Attorney General of Delaware.
 * Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States.
 * Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey.
 * Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Senator from Maryland.
 * Katie O'Malley, Wife of Martin O'Malley.
 * Svante Myrick, Candidate from New York's 23rd congressional district and Mayor of Ithaca, New York.
 * Luke Ravenstahl, Governor of Pennsylvania.
 * Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady of the United States and wife of President Jimmy Carter.
 * Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Senator from Michigan- Keynote speaker.

Thursday, September 8

 * Pete Gallego, U.S. Representative from Texas.
 * Jim Himes, U.S. Representative from Connecticut.
 * Jan Schakowsky, U.S. Representative from Illinois.
 * Kathleen Kane, U.S. Senate Candidate from Pennsylvania and Attorney General from Pennsylvania.
 * Kathleen Clyde, Candidate for Ohio's 13th congressional candidate and member of the Ohio House of Representatives.
 * Mark Begich U.S. Senator from Alaska.
 * Dan Hills, Executive Director of the Austin, Texas division Postal Workers Union.
 * Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator from Oregon.
 * Jim Clyburn, U.S. Representative from South Carolina.
 * Ami Bera, U.S. Representative from California.
 * Sarah F. Hasib, Candidate for Texas's 30th congressional district and Deputy City Attorney of Dallas, Texas. Setti Warren - portrait (April 2011).jpg
 * Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Representative from New York.
 * Kathy Castor, U.S. Representative from Florida.
 * Elijah Cummings, U.S. Representative from Maryland.
 * Carol Browner, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
 * Chellie Pingree U.S. Representative from Maine.
 * Niki Tsongas, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.KirstenGillibrand.jpg
 * John Lewis, U.S. Representative from Georgia.
 * Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida.
 * Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senator from Missouri.
 * Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia.
 * Jean Quan, Mayor of Oakland California.
 * Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York.
 * Ira Lechner, Executive Director of Council for a Livable World.
 * Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator from Connecticut.
 * Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Minority Leader of the House of Representative from Florida.
 * Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Senator from North Dakota.Amy Klobuchar.jpg
 * Russ Feingold, Governor of Wisconsin.
 * Kay Hagan, U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
 * Jared Polis, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado.
 * Setti Warren, Governor of Massachusetts.
 * Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Senate candidate from Indiana and Mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
 * Bill Clinton, former President of the United States.
 * Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator from New York.
 * Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator from New York.
 * Amy Klobuchar, Nominee for Vice President of the United States and U.S. Senator from Minnesota.

Friday, September 9

 * Dick Durbin, Majority Leader of the United States Senate from Illinois.
 * Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.
 * Gavin Newsom, Governor of California.
 * Mazie Hirono, U.S. Senator from Hawaii.
 * Mike Bebee, Former Governor of Arkansas.
 * Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.
 * Ed Markey, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.
 * Al Franken, U.S. Senator from Minnesota.
 * Michael Tubbs, Candidate for California's 9th congressional district and member of the Stockton, California City Council.
 * Brian P. Stack, Majority Leader of the New Jersey Senate; Gordon M. Johnson, Jason O'Donnell and Gabriela Mosquera, members of the New Jersey General Assembly.
 * Patty Murray, U.S. Senator from Washington.
 * Ben Afleck, Actor.
 * Martin Heinrich, U.S. Senator from New Mexico.
 * Mark Pryor, U.S. Senator from Arkansas.
 * Anthony Foxx, Candidate for Governor of North Carolina, U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
 * Kyrsten Sinema, U.S. Representative from Arizona.
 * Stephen Colbert, Comedian.2009 0123 clinton bio 200 1.jpg
 * Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts.
 * Gabrielle Giffords, U.S. Senate Candidate from Arizona.
 * Kamala Harris, U.S. Senate Candidate from California and Attorney General of California.
 * Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State of the United States.
 * Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States.
 * Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.
 * Anthony Brown, Governor of Maryland.
 * Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas.
 * Martin O'Malley, Nominee for President of the United States and Governor of Maryland.


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Campaign finance
The 2016 presidential election was the most expensive and corrupt in American history. Governor Chris Christie raised over $1.031 billion dollars, the first time any presidential candidate raised over one billion dollars in an election cycle. An additional $411 million was spent in outside spending by Christie backed Super PAC's, he raised a total of $1.685 billion was spent for Christie campaign effort along with RNC contributions. Governor Martin O'Malley raised $797 million dollars, with $238 million from outside spending, totaling $1.258 billion in overall spending.

User:Bulba2036
My name is Paul Tupaunic. All of my Wikipedia edits have came in the subject area of Politics. I have wrote and edited many articles on United States Senate and Gubernatorial elections, and American politicians. I am a student who is interest in the study of Political science, the United States federal budget, Monetary economics, Finance, International relations, Labor history, the Civil Rights Movement, and Astrophysics.

I began as an editor on Wikipedia in July 2012 making small edits, and quickly moved to writing entire articles on politicians. I consider Wikipedia a primary source for my Education, and hope that my contributions will help educate others on political topics that they were interested in. (: