# 2016 United States presidential election in Georgia
The 2016 [United States presidential election](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-presidential-election) in Georgia was won by Republican nominee Donald Trump, who received 2,089,104 votes (51.05%) to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 1,877,963 (45.89%), a margin of 5.1 percentage points. Georgia awarded its 16 electoral votes to Trump on November 8, 2016, the state's sixth consecutive Republican presidential win; no Democrat had carried it since [Bill Clinton](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-clinton) in 1992.[1](https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/november_2016_generalelection_totals.pdf) • [2](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/11122022_GA_Investigation_Report_SecondEdition.pdf) • [3](https://www.archives.gov/files/electoral-college/2016/ascertainment-georgia.pdf) • [13](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/states/ga.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Result | Trump (R) 51.05%, 2,089,104 votes; Clinton (D) 45.89%, 1,877,963 votes; Gary Johnson (L) 3.06%, 125,306 votes[1](https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/november_2016_generalelection_totals.pdf) |
| Margin | Republican +5.1 percentage points, down from Romney's +7.8 over Obama in 2012[2](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/11122022_GA_Investigation_Report_SecondEdition.pdf) |
| Electoral votes | 16, all for Trump; the appointed electors each received 2,089,104 votes[3](https://www.archives.gov/files/electoral-college/2016/ascertainment-georgia.pdf) |
| Turnout | 4,165,405 ballots cast out of 5,443,046 registered voters, 76.53%[1](https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/november_2016_generalelection_totals.pdf) |
| Electorate composition | Black voters 28% of the electorate; Asian and Hispanic share doubled from 2% in 2012 to 4%[4](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/27373/files/Kanso_uga_0077E_16642.pdf) |
| Notable county results | Clinton won a plurality in Cobb County and a majority in Gwinnett County, both Atlanta suburbs[4](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/27373/files/Kanso_uga_0077E_16642.pdf) |
## Result and margin
Trump's victory carried 128 of Georgia's 159 counties reporting, with the official canvass listing 4,092,373 votes counted in the presidential race, including 125,306 (3.06%) for Libertarian Gary Johnson.[1](https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/november_2016_generalelection_totals.pdf) • [14](https://ballotory.com/elections/2016/georgia/) The 5.1-point margin over Clinton was nearly three points narrower than [Mitt Romney](https://www.edgepedia.org/mitt-romney)'s 7.8-point win over [Barack Obama](https://www.edgepedia.org/barack-obama) in 2012, a shift analysts traced mainly to the diversifying and increasingly educated electorate in the suburbs of Atlanta.[2](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/11122022_GA_Investigation_Report_SecondEdition.pdf) Clinton nonetheless won more raw votes in Georgia than any Democratic nominee in history, and she carried the fast-growing counties just outside of Atlanta that had been a longtime Republican stronghold.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/georgia-political-geography/)
A comparison with other states underlines how unusual Georgia's shift was. A Yale-led study matching voter lists to precinct-level returns found that Trump improved on Romney's 2012 performance in every state examined except Georgia, where the margin narrowed.[6](https://news.yale.edu/2021/04/21/swing-vote-trumped-turnout-2016-election) The Center for American Progress similarly noted that Clinton ran better than Obama had in Georgia, cutting the Democratic deficit from 8 points in 2012 to 5 points in 2016.[7](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/voter-trends-in-2016/)
## Turnout and who voted
Statewide turnout was 76.53% of registered voters, with 4,165,405 ballots cast out of 5,443,046 registered.[1](https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/november_2016_generalelection_totals.pdf) In the suburban sixth congressional district, site of a closely watched 2017 special election, turnout reached 81.2%, and a precinct-level analysis found Trump had taken only 50.44% of the two-party vote there to Clinton's 49.56%, which is why Republican Karen Handel's 51.87% special-election win exceeded Trump's own performance in the same precincts.[8](https://time.com/4826293/georgia-election-results-karen-handel-map/)
Turnout changed unevenly across demographic groups between 2012 and 2016, according to the [Center for American Progress](https://www.edgepedia.org/center-for-american-progress) analysis based on Census and [Federal Election Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/federal-election-commission) data:
- White non-college-educated turnout rose from 49.2% to 53.1%.
- White college-educated turnout rose from 74.6% to 76.5%.
- African American turnout fell from 59.3% to 56.1%, and Black voters' share of the electorate dropped from 32.2% to 30.5% by that estimate.
- Latino turnout rose from 41.8% to 46.4%, though Latinos remained a small share (3.6%) of Georgia voters.[9](https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2017/10/31132107/VoterTrends2016-report.pdf)
By exit-poll measures, Black voters made up 28% of the 2016 electorate, the group Clinton carried strongly, while Asian and Hispanic voters doubled their share of the vote from 2% in 2012 to 4% in 2016, according to Georgia Secretary of State figures cited in a [University of Georgia](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-georgia) dissertation.[4](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/27373/files/Kanso_uga_0077E_16642.pdf) Among self-identified independents, Georgia exit polls showed Trump winning 52% to Clinton's 41%.[10](https://spia.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Partisan-Schism.pdf)
## Geographic pattern
The decisive movement ran through metropolitan Atlanta. Clinton won a plurality of votes in Cobb County and a majority in Gwinnett County, both historically Republican suburban counties.[4](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/27373/files/Kanso_uga_0077E_16642.pdf) Cobb had gone for Romney by more than 12 percentage points in 2012.[11](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/three-tips-to-watch-elections/680542/) Outside the metro area, much of the state remained solidly Republican; the Washington Post described the rest of Georgia as overwhelmingly white and solidly Republican, with the party gaining strength there in every election since 2010.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/georgia-political-geography/)
## Significance
Georgia had not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992, and Republicans held the governor's mansion, the state legislature, and both U.S. Senate seats in 2016. The 2016 narrowing to 5.1 points, followed by [Stacey Abrams](https://www.edgepedia.org/stacey-abrams)' 1.4-point loss in the 2018 governor's race, marked the state's emergence as a competitive battleground; analysts identified the Atlanta suburbs as the primary driver of the trend.[2](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/11122022_GA_Investigation_Report_SecondEdition.pdf) In 2020, [Joe Biden](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-biden) became the first Democrat since 1992 to win the state.[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/08/georgia-swing-state-democrats/)
## References
1. [Official Georgia General Election Results, November 8, 2016, Georgia Secretary of State](https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/november_2016_generalelection_totals.pdf)
2. [Fulton County, Georgia's Trump Investigation: Second Edition, Brookings Institution](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/11122022_GA_Investigation_Report_SecondEdition.pdf)
3. [Georgia Certificate of Ascertainment 2016, U.S. National Archives](https://www.archives.gov/files/electoral-college/2016/ascertainment-georgia.pdf)
4. [Kanso, University of Georgia dissertation citing Georgia Secretary of State data](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/27373/files/Kanso_uga_0077E_16642.pdf)
5. [Georgia's political geography: A growing and diverse state gets more competitive, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/georgia-political-geography/)
6. [Swing vote 'trumped' turnout in 2016 election, Yale News](https://news.yale.edu/2021/04/21/swing-vote-trumped-turnout-2016-election)
7. [Voter Trends in 2016, Center for American Progress](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/voter-trends-in-2016/)
8. [Karen Handel's Victory in Georgia Was Bigger Than Trump's, TIME](https://time.com/4826293/georgia-election-results-karen-handel-map/)
9. [Voter Trends in 2016 (full report PDF), Center for American Progress](https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2017/10/31132107/VoterTrends2016-report.pdf)
10. [Partisan schism in America's newest swing state, University of Georgia SPIA](https://spia.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Partisan-Schism.pdf)
11. [Three Tips for Following Election Results Without Losing Your Mind, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/three-tips-to-watch-elections/680542/)
12. [How Georgia became a swing state for the first time in decades, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/08/georgia-swing-state-democrats/)
13. [Democracy in Action P2020 - Georgia](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/states/ga.htm)
14. [Georgia presidential election results 2016](https://ballotory.com/elections/2016/georgia/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Elections and representation › Elections and referendums › United States election events › United States federal election events › US presidential election events › US presidential election results by state › State results in contemporary presidential elections, 1996–present*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license