United States presidential election in Minnesota, 2016 (New Johannson Scenario)



The 2016 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 8, 2016, in Minnesota, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election. Voters chose fourteen electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Minnesota was the homestate of incumbent Republican President Edward H. Johannson, who had served as the state's Governor for two terms, from 2003-2011, prior to being elected to the Presidency in 2012. Johannson had been praised for his competence as an administrator and for his ability to work across party lines while he was Governor, and consequently enjoyed high approval ratings within his home state. These approvals translated over into his Administration, as he pursued his Contract with America agenda and was credited by Americans with helping to keep the country prosperous and at peace. By 2016, Johannson was on his way to an easy reelection. His Democratic opponent, Governor John C. Dickenson of Georgia, had little appeal outside of the South, was unable to effectively counter Johannson's policies, and committed a series of strategic and verbal blunders that undermined his campaign and damaged his credibility. Johannson enjoyed insurmountable leads in the public opinion polls, both within Minnesota and nationwide, throughout the campaign, in spite of Dickenson's efforts on the campaign trail.

Johannson overwhelmingly carried his home state by a margin of 1,419,400 votes, or 48.20 percent, and nationally won the election, with 702 electoral votes and a 22.55 percent lead over Dickenson in the popular vote, earning the highest percentage of the popular vote garnered by a presidential candidate since the popular vote first became widespread in 1824. Dickenson did not win a single state outside of the Deep South that year, and carried only seventeen counties outside of the antebellum slave states and Oklahoma-the most lopsided county-level result in the history of American presidential election. Johannson won all 87 counties in Minnesota, making it one of thirty states where he did so.

With 73.98% of the popular vote, Minnesota would prove to be Johannson's third-strongest state by vote percentage in the 2016 election, following Vermont and North Dakota.