Analysis of the 2016 U.S Presidential Primaries
Overview
This analysis sets out to visualize and quantify the 2016 United States Presidential Primary. I specifically focus on how different states voted for each candidate within each party. I seek out to find if there exists correlations between certain demographic characteristics and the fraction of votes each candidate got in each state. This shiny app allows you to interactively and dynamically visualize how candidates performed in each state. Combined with the visualization aspect, I also run a couple of regression models to quantify how certain variables like education and income influenced the fraction of votes candidates got in each state. The data was compiled by Ben Hammer, and can be found here.
My app is structured as follows:
1. Spatial Visualization of Bernie Sanders Primary Results
2. Spatial Visualization of Hillary Clinton Primary Results
3. Spatial Visualization of Donald Trump Primary Results
4. Spatial Visualization of Ted Cruz Primary Results
5. Spatial Visualization of John Kasich Primary Results
6. Regression Analysis
7. 3D Visualization of How Education and Income Affected Voting Results for each Candidate
Introduction
Before we dive into the analysis, I first provide some background information about the process. Prior to a general election, there is a selection process to determine which candidate will appear on the ballot for a given political party in the nationwide general election. Political parties generally hold national conventions at which a group of delegates collectively decide upon which candidate they will run for the presidency. The process of choosing delegates to the national convention is undertaken at the state level, which means that there are significant differences from state to state and sometimes year to year. The two methods for choosing delegates to the national convention are the caucus and the primary.
Democrats
The Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses took place within all fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories and occurred between February 1 and June 14, 2016. A total of six major candidates entered the race starting April 12, 2015, when former Secretary of State and New York Senator Hillary Clinton formally announced her second bid for the presidency. She was followed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley, former Governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig. On June 6, 2016, the Associated Press and NBC News stated that Clinton had become the presumptive nominee after reaching the required number of delegates, including both pledged and unpledged delegates (superdelegates), to secure the nomination. In doing so, she had become the first woman to ever be the nominee of any major political party in the United States.
Republicans
The 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and caucuses also took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories, and occurred between February 1 and June 7. A total of 17 major candidates entered the race starting March 23, 2015, when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was the first to formally announce his candidacy: former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson of Maryland, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, businesswoman Carly Fiorina of California, former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, former Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, former Governor George Pataki of New York, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, businessman Donald Trump of New York and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. This was the largest presidential primary field for any political party in American history.
Bernie Sanders - Fraction of Votes by State
Hillary Clinton - Fraction of Votes by State
Ted Cruz - Fraction of Votes by State
Donald Trump - Fraction of Votes by State
John Kasich - Fraction of Votes by State
Regression Outputs
3D Visualization
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