By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, Alabama voters went to the polls and chose Donald J. Trump (R) to be the next President of the United States. Voters in a majority of states agreed and Trump was elected to be the 45th President of the United States.
Trump carried all of the states that Governor Mitt Romney (R) won in 2012. Trump also won the crucial “swing” states of Florida and Ohio as well as the normally “blue” states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. As of press time, New Hampshire and Michigan were still too close to call.
Alabamians enthusiastically embraced Trump. The New York City billionaire and reality TV show star won 62.9 percent of the vote in the conservative southern state. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) only got 34.6 percent of the votes cast.
Trump carried every former Confederacy state, except for Virginia; where her running mate Tim Kaine is a sitting US Senator and former Governor. There, Trump carried most of the counties in the state, but lost in the northern counties bordering Washington, DC. In Florida, Trump won 58 of the 67 counties.
Over 220 people gathered at Alabama Republican headquarters on Lorna Road in Hoover to watch the returns come in. The crowd watched Fox News on a big screen set up in the ALGOP headquarters parking lot while eating barbecue, cake, and cookies. The crowd was cautiously optimistic as polls in the Eastern Time zone closed; but became more and more confident as returns came rolling in.
Chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump”, “U S A, U S A, U S A”, and “Lock her up, Lock her up,” periodically spontaneously broke out.
A jubilant President-elect Donald Trump said, “Our was not a campaign; but rather an incredible movement.”
President-elect Trump praised US Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), whom he called one of the smartest people in Washington.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) phoned Donald Trump to concede.
Republicans also held on to control of both Houses of Congress.
According to exit polls, 53 percent of American males voted for Donald Trump. Only 41 percent of men voted for Sec. Clinton. 54 percent of females voted for Clinton. 42 percent of females voted for Trump.
Trump carried 82 percent of White Evangelicals. Clinton only won 18 percent. Clinton won 65 percent of the Hispanic vote. Trump won 29 percent of Hispanics (much higher than Romney in 2012).
Of the 11 major pollsters, only IBD/TPP tracking polls correctly predicted a Trump victory.
