2016 United States Presidential Election (Santorum in the House)

The 2016 United States Presidential Election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of former U.S Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator from Virginia Elizabeth Warren, with the independent candidacy of Michael Bloomberg and Chuck Hagel coming in a distant third place.

Per the Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, incumbent president Barack Obama was ineligible to seek a third term. Clinton defeated self-described democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, and became the first female presidential nominee of a major American political party. Santorum emerged as his party's front-runner amidst a wide field of candidates in the Republican primary, defeating former Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator Marco Rubio, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, former Governor Michael Huckabee and Governor Scott Walker among other candidates. The Libertarian Party nominated former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, and the Green Party nominated political activist Jill Stein. Also of some significance in the campaign were two independent candidates, former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg and political activist Evan McMullin.

Santorum's right-wing populist and explicitly traditionalist campaign, which called on the people of the United States to "Fight for a Christian America" and advocated for "defending the Second Amendment", staunchly pro-life policies and banning same-sex marriage, garnered extensive free media coverage due to many of Santorum's statements, considered by some to be inflamatory. Clinton emphasized her long record of holding public office "in the service of the people", especially in relation to her tenure as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, denounced Santorum and many of his supporters as a "basket of deplorables", bigots and extremists, and repeatedly underlined her commitment to fight for progressive policies, such as universal health-care, 15$-an-hour minimum wage (among other "inclusive capitalism" measures) or the consolidation of racial, LGBT, and women's rights.

The tone of the general election campaign was widely characterized as divisive. Santorum faced substantial controversy over his views on abortion and same-sex marriage. Clinton's popularity and public image were tarnished by concerns about her ethics and trustworthiness and a controversy and subsequent FBI investigation regarding her improper use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State. The polling was especially erratic for this election, with Clinton expected to win Missouri and Santorum expected to win New Jersey at some points during the campaign. On Election Day, even though Clinton slightly overpeformed her last polling numbers, Santorum was the one to come on top, winning several key swing states and winning the popular vote by over 600,000 votes. Ultimately, Santorum received 323 electoral votes and Clinton received 215 electoral votes.