Wikipedia

2016 New York Democratic presidential primary

The 2016 New York Democratic presidential primary was held on April 19 in the U.S. state of New York as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton, who had previously represented New York in the United States Senate from 2001 to 2009, won a comfortable majority in both the popular vote and delegate count over Bernie Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn.

2016 New York Democratic presidential primary
← 2008 April 19, 2016 2020 →
 
Candidate Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders
Home state New York Vermont
Delegate count 139 108
Popular vote 1,133,980[1] 820,256
Percentage 57.54% 41.62%
Results by county
Clinton:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%
Sanders:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

The Republican Party also held their own New York primary on the same day. Apart from that, no other primaries were scheduled for that day by either party.

Campaign

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The week before the primary, Sanders drew large crowds to campaign events in New York City: 28,000 heard Sanders speak in Brooklyn the weekend before the primary and 27,000 heard him speak in Manhattan the week before.[2] Clinton drew "appreciative crowds of respectable size" but did not approach the attendance of Sanders events.[2]

In early April, ahead of the primary, former President Bill Clinton visited western New York twice for campaign events, speaking at an event in Depew (attended by almost a thousand people) and addressing a room of activists and volunteers at Clinton's Buffalo campaign office.[3]

In total, the Sanders campaign spent about $2 million more than the Clinton campaign on television ads in New York.[4] In terms of campaign-expenditures per vote, Sanders' campaign spent about $9.03 per vote, while Clinton's campaign spent about $3.62 per vote.[5]

April 2016 presidential debate

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A ninth debate was held on April 14, 2016, in Brooklyn, New York at the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn Navy Yard. The debate was aired on CNN and NY1.[6] Wolf Blitzer of CNN served as moderator.[7]

Election Day irregularities

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The New York Times reported the day after the primary:

The Democratic vote was marred by major irregularities at polling places across Brooklyn. The city comptroller's office announced that the Board of Elections had confirmed that more than 200,000 Democratic voters in Brooklyn were dropped between November and this month, while about 63,000 were added – a net loss that was not explained. Mayor Bill de Blasio described 'the purging of entire buildings and blocks of voters,' while the comptroller, Scott Stringer, said his office would audit the Board of Elections.[4]

The Brooklyn voter purge disproportionately affected Hispanic voters, and mostly voters between the ages of 30 and 80, and happened at similar rates in election districts where Clinton won and where Sanders won.[8] Although 121,056 people voted with provisional ballots in New York City, the board threw out nearly 91,000 "either because their names were taken off the rolls or because their party affiliation had been dropped or switched to a different party without their knowing."[9]

In November 2016, several groups sued the New York City Board of Elections over the voter roll purge. Initial parties to the lawsuit included "Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, Latino Justice/PRLDEF and Dechert LLP on behalf of Common Cause New York and several individual plaintiffs. In early 2017, both the Justice Department and New York State Attorney General's office made motions to join the lawsuit."[10] In October 2017 WNYC reported that, pending court approval to the consent decree, that the New York State Board of Elections agreed to a settlement with parties to the lawsuit against them, admitting to illegally purging over 200,000 eligible voters from New York City voter rolls.

As a part of the settlement, the Board agreed to a series of remedial measures that will be in place at least through the next presidential election, November 2020 – pending court approval. The deal restores the rights of improperly purged voters and establishes a comprehensive plan to prevent illegal voter purges in future elections.[10]

Opinion polling

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See also: Statewide opinion polling for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Results

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See also: Results of the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
New York Democratic primary, April 19, 2016
Candidate Popular vote Estimated delegates
Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total
Hillary Clinton 1,133,980 57.54% 139 41 180
Bernie Sanders 820,056 41.62% 108 0 108
Void 11,306 0.57%
Blank votes 5,358 0.27%
Uncommitted — 0 3 3
Total 1,970,900 100% 247 44 291
Source: [34][35]

Results by county

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County[36] Clinton % Sanders % BVS Totals Turnout Margin
Albany 19,914 47.74% 21,798 52.26%[37] 354 42,066 47.47% -4.48%
Allegany 847 40.62% 1,209 57.99% 29 2,085 35.53% -17.36%
Bronx 105,719 68.76% 46,189 30.04% 1,834 153,742 31.31% 38.72%
Broome 7,641 43.11% 9,951 56.15% 131 17,723 43.40% -13.03%
Cattaraugus 1,844 42.28% 2,481 56.89% 36 4,361 29.93% -14.61%
Cayuga 2,592 47.65% 2,805 51.56% 43 5,440 36.89% -3.92%
Chautauqua 3,865 46.09% 4,431 52.84% 90 8,386 32.68% -6.75%
Chemung 2,740 49.43% 2,752 49.65% 51 5,543 35.91% -0.22%
Chenango 1,062 39.23% 1,613 59.59% 32 2,707 37.60% -20.35%
Clinton 1,774 26.76% 4,797 72.35% 59 6,630 39.37% -45.60%
Columbia 3,039 45.14% 3,660 54.37% 33 6,732 51.64% -9.22%
Cortland 1,515 41.90% 2,037 56.33% 64 3,616 42.80% -14.44%
Delaware 1,172 38.96% 1,813 60.27% 23 3,008 41.70% -21.31%
Dutchess 11,701 48.37% 12,395 51.23% 97 24,193 41.70% -2.87%
Erie 54,279 50.40% 52,473 48.72% 955 107,707 38.91% 1.68%
Essex 838 27.90% 2,145 71.40% 21 3,004 47.40% -43.51%
Franklin 1,076 29.74% 2,512 69.43% 30 3,618 37.59% -39.69%
Fulton 1,010 40.16% 1,475 58.65% 30 2,515 32.80% -18.49%
Genesee 1,393 45.66% 1,622 53.16% 36 3,051 33.66% -7.51%
Greene 1,195 42.82% 1,566 56.11% 30 2,791 40.29% -13.29%
Hamilton 141 35.97% 245 62.50% 6 392 44.70% -26.53%
Herkimer 1,507 44.01% 1,873 54.70% 44 3,424 34.22% -10.69%
Jefferson 2,579 48.80% 2,656 50.26% 50 5,285 34.96% -1.46%
Kings (Brooklyn) 183,662 59.07% 123,872 39.84% 3,372 310,906 36.42% 19.23%
Lewis 492 40.53% 703 57.91% 19 1,214 28.88% -17.38%
Livingston 1,685 39.86% 2,516 59.52% 26 4,227 42.23% -19.66%
Madison 2,039 44.12% 2,528 54.71% 54 4,621 41.82% -10.58%
Monroe 39,310 51.60% 36,490 47.90% 380 76,180 43.85% 3.70%
Montgomery 1,298 42.31% 1,732 56.45% 38 3,068 33.64% -14.15%
Nassau 74,870 62.14% 44,731 37.13% 884 120,485 32.59% 25.01%
New York (Manhattan) 190,806 65.42% 98,194 33.67% 2,656 291,656 47.20% 31.75%
Niagara 8,202 46.48% 9,294 52.67% 149 17,645 34.09% -6.19%
Oneida 6,586 45.21% 7,739 53.12% 243 14,568 33.81% -7.91%
Onondaga 21,786 52.90% 19,186 46.59% 212 41,184 41.40% 6.31%
Ontario 4,040 47.31% 4,445 52.05% 55 8,540 43.88% -4.74%
Orange 12,855 51.14% 12,077 48.04% 206 25,138 33.12% 3.09%
Orleans 725 43.36% 923 55.20% 24 1,672 31.43% -11.84%
Oswego 2,631 43.98% 3,273 54.71% 78 5,982 35.11% -10.73%
Otsego 1,995 40.72% 2,868 58.54% 36 4,899 47.17% -17.82%
Putnam 3,718 49.00% 3,832 50.50% 38 7,588 42.73% -1.50%
Queens 133,210 61.32% 81,782 37.64% 2,272 217,244 32.15% 23.68%
Rensselaer 5,068 41.76% 7,003 57.70% 66 12,137 43.14% -15.94%
Richmond (Staten Island) 17,612 52.40% 15,471 46.03% 530 33,613 28.17% 6.37%
Rockland 17,868 59.78% 11,790 39.44% 233 29,891 35.11% 20.33%
St. Lawrence 3,142 44.04% 4,425 57.87% 53 7,646 35.72% −16.78%
Saratoga 7,672 44.04% 9,694 55.65% 104 17,419 45.81% −11.61%
Schenectady 6,526 47.05% 7,241 52.20% 15 13,871 40.12% −5.15%
Schoharie 706 36.45% 1,216 62.78% 8 1,937 40.93% −26.33%
Schuyler 548 38.27% 876 61.17% 12 1,432 44.27% −22.91%
Seneca 1,125 47.19% 1,247 52.31% 79 2,384 40.18% −5.12%
Steuben 2,149 41.86% 2,926 56.99% 59 5,134 36.61% −15.13%
Suffolk 53,420 54.80% 44,033 45.14% 25 97,478 32.07% 9.63%
Sullivan 2,369 44.12% 2,958 55.09% 42 5,369 31.84% −10.97%
Tioga 1,318 40.12% 1,936 58.93% 31 3,285 41.14% -18.81%
Tompkins 6,138 37.60% 10,130 62.06% 56 16,324 63.40% -24.45%
Ulster 7,642 37.90% 12,435 61.68% 84 20,161 50.70% -23.77%
Warren 1,868 39.21% 2,871 60.26% 25 4,764 46.75% -21.05%
Washington 1,292 36.08% 2,274 63.50% 15 3,581 41.49% -27.42%
Wayne 1,988 44.56% 2,436 54.61% 37 4,461 34.17% -10.04%
Westchester 74,900 66.87% 36,753 32.81% 354 112,007 42.45% 34.06%
Wyoming 639 39.89% 958 59.80% 5 1,602 30.12% -19.91%
Yates 637 46.46% 720 52.52% 14 1,371 42.98% -6.05%
Total 1,133,980 57.54% 820,256 41.62% 16,667 1,970,703 37.41% 15.93%

Note: New York State is a closed primary state, meaning the turnout is based on active enrolled democrats by county on April 1, 2016. Blank, void, and scattering votes (BVS) are only for blank and void, since there was not other candidate on the ballot or the ability to write-in.

New York City results

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2016 Democratic primary in New York City Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Hillary Clinton 190,806 105,719 183,662 133,210 17,612 631,009
64.42% 68.76% 59.07% 61.32% 52.40% 62.65%
Bernie Sanders 98,194 46,189 123,872 81,762 15,471 365,488
33.67% 30.04% 39.84% 37.64% 46.03% 36.29%
Turnout 47.20% 31.31% 36.42% 32.15% 28.17%
Margin of Victory 30.75% 38.74% 19.23% 23.68% 6.37% 26.36%

Analysis

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Clinton won a 16-point victory in her home state. Exit polls showed that Sanders won among voters age 18–29 in the Empire State, capturing 65% of this demographic, while Clinton won every other age group, performing better with older groups (53% of voters ages 30–44, 63% of voters aged 45–54, and 73% of voters aged 65 and over).[38] Clinton tied men with Sanders 50-50, but won a 63–37 landslide among women (both married and unmarried). The candidates split the white vote 50–50, but Clinton won the African American vote 75–25 and the Hispanic/Latino vote 64–36. Clinton swept all income levels/socioeconomic statuses and educational attainment levels in her home state.

In terms of political ideology, Clinton won 62–38 among Democrats while Sanders won 72–28 among Independents, who were 14% of the electorate. Clinton won both liberals and moderate/conservative voters. She won among union households 58–42, and won both married and unmarried voters. In terms of religious affiliation, Clinton won Protestants 65–35, Catholics 62–38, and also won the Jewish vote by a 2 to 1 margin after Sanders caused controversy by criticizing Israel.[39] Sanders won agnostic/atheist voters 57–43. While Clinton won voters who said Wall Street does more to help the economy, Sanders won among those who said it hurts the economy.[40]

Clinton performed very well on Long Island and in the five boroughs of New York City, particularly in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx; she also won handily in Brooklyn and Staten Island.[4] Clinton ran up big margins in New York City neighborhoods like Harlem, where the percentage of African American voters was highest. Sanders did better in rural, whiter upstate New York counties, with Clinton winning Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester while Sanders won in Albany.[38][4] Sanders also performed well in the Hudson Valley, with a high concentration of liberals and college students.[4]

Aftermath

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After winning her home state convincingly, Clinton told supporters, "New Yorkers, you've always had my back and I've always tried to have yours [...] Today together we did it again and I am deeply, deeply grateful."[41]

Following his primary, a Manhattan attorney filed suit, seeking a temporary restraining order to block certification of the presidential primary election by New York City Board of Elections and the state elections board based on his argument that New York's closed primary system violated the state Constitution. This argument was rejected by the New York Supreme Court (the state trial court).[42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New York State Board of Elections" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Peter Nicholas, Five Reasons the New York Democratic Primary Felt Competitive, Wall Street Journal (April 20, 2016).
  3. ^ Bill Clinton Rallies Hillary Backers in Final N.Y. Primary Push, Roll Call (April 18, 2016).
  4. ^ a b c d e Patrick Healy & Maggie Haberman, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Win Easily in New York Primary, New York Times (April 19, 2016).
  5. ^ Michael Beckel, Sanders spent $9 per vote in New York. Trump? About 13 cents., Center for Public Integrity (April 20, 2016).
  6. ^ Stelter, Brian (April 4, 2016). "Clinton, Sanders to meet for Brooklyn debate". CNN. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  7. ^ Brian Stelter, Host (April 4, 2016). "Clinton, Sanders to meet for Brooklyn debate". CNN.
  8. ^ John Keefe, Jenny Ye and Brigid Bergin (June 22, 2016). "The Brooklyn Voter Purge: By Age, Registration and Sanders Districts". WNYC News. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  9. ^ "Elections chief defends botched N.Y. primary election; Challenges loom | The Villager Newspaper". October 16, 2014. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  10. ^ a b City Board of Elections Admits It Broke the Law, Accepts Reforms, retrieved October 26, 2017
  11. ^ Primary results
  12. ^ "Clinton and Trump Poised to Regain Momentum in the Empire State; NY Looks Safe For Dems In General" (PDF). Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  13. ^ "Poll: Clinton keeps New York edge, leads Sanders in California". Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  14. ^ "Clinton Protects Big Lead Over Sanders in NY: NBC4/WSJ/Marist Poll". Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  15. ^ "Black Votes Matter for Clinton in New York, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Trump Sweeps All Groups Against Cruz or Kasich" (PDF). Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  16. ^ "New York Polling Results". April 17, 2016.
  17. ^ "Bernie Narrows Gap; Hillary Still Leads By 10 Points; Trump Maintains Huge Lead, Kasich 2nd, Cruz 3rd" (PDF). Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  18. ^ "New York: Clinton Leads by 12" (PDF). Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  19. ^ "New York Hates Ted Cruz; Trump, Clinton Lead Big" (PDF). Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  20. ^ "NBC News/WSJ/Marist Poll April 2016 New York Questionnaire" (PDF). Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  21. ^ "NY1/Baruch College Poll: Trump Leads Rivals by 43 Percentage Points". Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  22. ^ "Clinton and Trump Lose Ground in NY, but Still in Control; Voters Weigh in on Open-Conventions". Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  23. ^ "Fox News Poll: Trump, Clinton rule Empire State". Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  24. ^ "CBS News 2016 Battleground TrackerNew York". Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  25. ^ "Clinton, Trump Have Big Leads in New York Primaries, Quinnipiac Poll Finds; Adopted Daughter Thumps Native Son, Edges Kasich" (PDF). Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  26. ^ "Emerson Poll: Trump, Clinton Trouncing Their Rivals in New York; In General Election, Hillary and Bernie Lead The Donald" (PDF).
  27. ^ Siena College
  28. ^ Siena College
  29. ^ Siena College
  30. ^ "Quinnipiac NY poll" (PDF). quinnipiac.edu. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  31. ^ Siena College
  32. ^ Quinnipiac University
  33. ^ Marist College
  34. ^ Green Papers
  35. ^ New York State Board of Elections
  36. ^ "2016 Election Center – Presidential Primaries and Caucuses". CNN. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  37. ^ "Election results" (PDF). app.albanycounty.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  38. ^ a b New York Exit Polls (conducted by Edison Research of Somerville, New Jersey, for the National Election Pool which consists of ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News) (April 19, 2016).
  39. ^ "Hillary Clinton takes Jewish vote in New York primaries – U.S. Election 2016". Haaretz. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  40. ^ "2016 Election Center". CNN. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  41. ^ "US election 2016: Trump and Clinton win New York primaries". BBC News. April 20, 2016.
  42. ^ Barbara Ross, Judge rejects challenge to New York's 'closed primary' system, New York Daily News (May 2, 2016).
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