2016 Democratic Party presidential candidates
This article contains lists of candidates associated with the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2016 United States presidential election.
Major candidates
Individuals included in this section have taken one or more of the following actions: formally announced their candidacy, or filed as a candidate with Federal Election Commission , and were included in at least 5 independent national polls.Five of the major candidates were invited to participate in at least one Democratic Party-sanctioned debate: Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders, and Jim Webb.
Nominee
Candidates who won one or more contests
The following candidate won primaries and received delegates in most or all state primaries and caucuses.Major candidates who withdrew during the primaries
The following individual announced a major candidacy for president but withdrew at some point after the Iowa Caucuses.| Candidate | Most recent position | State | Announced | Withdrew | Candidacy | Popular vote | Delegates | Ref |
| Martin O'Malley | 61st Governor of Maryland | Maryland | 110,423 | Pledged delegates 0 / 4051 | ||||
| Martin O'Malley | 61st Governor of Maryland | Maryland | 110,423 | Superdelegate endorsements 1 / 712 | ||||
| Martin O'Malley | 61st Governor of Maryland | Maryland | 110,423 | Total convention votes 0 / 4763 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Major candidates who withdrew before the primaries
The following individuals announced what were recognized by the media as major candidacies for president but withdrew from the race after the first debate. Some received write-in votes. They are listed alphabetically.| Candidate | Most recent position | State | Announced | Withdrew | Candidacy | Write-in votes | Ref |
Lincoln Chafee | 74th Governor of Rhode Island | Rhode Island | 0 | ||||
| Lawrence Lessig | Professor of Law at Harvard Law School | Massachusetts | 3 | ||||
| Jim Webb | United States Senator from Virginia | Virginia | 4 |
Other candidates
On the ballot in multiple states
The following notable individuals were on the ballot in at least six states.| Candidate | Most recent position | State | Announced | Candidacy | Ballot status | Vote total | Ref |
Rocky De La Fuente | Businessman | California | AL, AK, AS, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DA, DE, GU, HI, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NV, NH, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, TX, UT, VT, WV, WI, WY | 67,366 | |||
Willie Wilson | Businessman 2015 Chicago mayoral candidate | Illinois | CA, IL, LA, MO, SC, TX | 25,796 | |||
Keith Russell Judd | Candidate | Texas | CA, LA, MO, NH, OK, TX, WV | 20,305 | |||
Michael Alan Steinberg | Lawyer | Florida | November 19, 2013 | AZ, CA, GA, LA, NH, OK | 20,126 | ||
John Wolfe, Jr. | Attorney Democratic Party nominee for U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, 2002, 2004, 2010 | Tennessee | November 9, 2015 | AR, CA, NH, LA, MO | 7,352 |
In addition, the following other candidates were on the ballot in more than one state:
- Star Locke of Texas, on the ballot in New Hampshire, Texas, and Oklahoma. received a total of 5,201 votes
- Steve Burke of New York, on the ballot in New Hampshire and Louisiana, received 4,892 votes.
- Henry Hewes of New York, on the ballot in Louisiana, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Missouri, received 3,319 votes
- Jon Adams of New York is on the ballot in Missouri and New Hampshire, received 486 votes.
- James Valentine of Miami Beach, Florida, on the ballot in both Arkansas and New Hampshire. received 1,710 votes.
- Mark Stewart Greenstein of Connecticut was on the ballot in New Hampshire and Utah. He received 41 votes.
On ballot in a single state
- Lawrence "Larry Joe" Cohen of Illinois
- David Formhals of Illinois
- Brian James O'Neill of Illinois
; New Hampshire
- Vermin Supreme of Maryland; performance artist and perennial candidate
- David John Thistle of New Hampshire
- Graham Schwass of Massachusetts
- Lloyd Kelso of North Carolina
- Eric Elbot of Massachusetts
- William D. French of Pennsylvania
- Raymond Michael Moroz of New York
- Edward T. O’Donnell, Jr. of Pennsylvania
- Robert Lovitt of Kentucky
- William H. McGaughey, Jr. of Minnesota
- Edward Sonnino of New York
- Sam Sloan of New York; former chess administrator and 2012 Libertarian Party candidate
- Brock C. Hutton of Maryland
- Steven Roy Lipscomb of New Mexico
- Richard Lyons Weil of Colorado
; Rhode Island
- Mark Stewart of New Hampshire
; Texas
- Calvis L. Hawes of Texas
; West Virginia
- Paul T. Farrell Jr. of West Virginia; an attorney
Candidates not on any primary ballot
Over a thousand people sent the requisite paperwork to the Federal Election Commission declaring themselves candidates for President.Among them were the following notable people:
| Name | Born | Current/previous positions | State | Announced | Candidacy | Ref |
Jeff Boss | New York City, New York | Perennial candidate 9/11 Truther | New Jersey | |||
Harry Braun | Compton, California | Energy consultant | Georgia | |||
| David Mills | Author | West Virginia | ||||
| Robby Wells | Bartow, Georgia | Fmr. head football coach, Savannah State University | North Carolina |
Alternate ballot options
Several primaries provided ballot options to voters to cast votes for "no preference" and/or "uncommitted". "No preference" received 45,331 votes, and 'uncommitted' received 40,548 votes, respectively placing them 4th and 5th in the popular vote.Potential candidates who did not run
Previous
The following people were the focus of presidential speculation in multiple media reports during the 2016 election cycle.- Mike Beebe, Governor of Arkansas 2007–2015; Attorney General of Arkansas 2003–2007
- Steve Beshear, Governor of Kentucky 2007–2015; Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 1983–1987; Attorney General of Kentucky 1980–1983
- Jerry Brown, Governor of California 2011–2019 and 1975–1983; presidential candidate in 1976, 1980, and 1992
- Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana since 2013; Attorney General of Montana 2009–2013
- Russ Feingold, Nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016; U.S. Special Representative for the African Great Lakes region 2013–2015; U.S. Senator from Wisconsin 1993–2011
- Al Gore, Vice President of the United States 1993–2001; Democratic Party presidential nominee in 2000; U.S. Senator from Tennessee 1985–1993
- Christine Gregoire, Governor of Washington 2005–2013; Attorney General of Washington 1993–2005
- Luis Gutiérrez, U.S. Representative from Illinois 1993–2019; Member of the Chicago City Council 1986–1992
- Kamala Harris, Nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016, Attorney General of California 2011–2017
- Maggie Hassan, Nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016, Governor of New Hampshire 2013–2017
- Gary Locke, United States Ambassador to China 2011–2014; United States Secretary of Commerce 2009–2011; Governor of Washington 1997–2005
- Jack Markell, Governor of Delaware 2009–2017; Treasurer of Delaware 1993–2009
- William H. McRaven, retired Admiral and former Commander of the United States Special Operations Command
- Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California since 2013; U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security 2009–2013; Governor of Arizona 2003–2009
- Jay Nixon, Governor of Missouri 2009–2017; Attorney General of Missouri 1993–2009
- George Noory. Radio talk show host
- Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania 2003–2011; Mayor of Philadelphia 1992–2000
- Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 2009–2014; Governor of Kansas 2003–2009
- Paul Strauss, Shadow Senator from the District of Columbia since 1997
- Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles 2005–2013
- Tom Wolf, Governor of Pennsylvania since 2015; Secretary of Revenue of Pennsylvania 2007–2008
Declined
- Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin since 2013; U.S. Representative from Wisconsin 1999–2013
- Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator from Indiana 1999–2011; Governor of Indiana 1989–1997
- Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator from Colorado since 2009; Superintendent of Denver Public Schools 2005–2009
- Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States 2009–2017, U.S. Senator from Delaware 1973–2009; Democratic presidential candidate in 1988 and 2008
- Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P.
- Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey since 2013, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey 2006–2013
- Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator from Ohio since 2007; U.S. Representative from Ohio 1993–2007; Secretary of State of Ohio 1983–1991
- Joaquín Castro, U.S. Representative from Texas since 2013
- Julian Castro, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 2014–2017; Mayor of San Antonio, Texas 2009–2014
- George Clooney, actor and filmmaker from California
- Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York since 2011; Attorney General of New York 2007–2010; U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1997–2001
- Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee 2005–2009; Governor of Vermont 1991–2003; presidential candidate in 2004
- Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City since 2014; New York City Public Advocate 2010–2013; New York City Councilman 2002–2009
- Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago 2011–2019; White House Chief of Staff 2009–2010; U.S. Representative from Illinois 2003–2009
- Al Franken, U.S. Senator from Minnesota 2009–2018
- Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator from New York since 2009; U.S. Representative from New York 2007–2009
- Martin Heinrich, U.S. Senator from New Mexico since 2013; U.S. Representative from New Mexico 2009–2013
- John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado 2011–2019; Mayor of Denver, Colorado 2003–2011
- Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator from Virginia since 2013; Governor of Virginia 2006–2010
- John Kerry, United States Secretary of State 2013–2017; U.S. Senator from Massachusetts 1985–2013; presidential nominee in 2004
- Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator from Minnesota since 2007
- Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative from Ohio 1997–2013; presidential candidate in 2004, and 2008; Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio 1977–1979
- Dannel Malloy, Governor of Connecticut 2011–2019; Mayor of Stamford 1995–2011
- Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 2010, Governor of West Virginia 2005–2010
- Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senator from Missouri 2007–2019; Auditor of Missouri 1999–2007
- Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator from Connecticut since 2013; U.S. Representative from Connecticut 2007–2013
- Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States 2009–2017
- Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts 2007–2015
- Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia 2010–2018
- Robert Reich, United States Secretary of Labor 1993–1997
- Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks 1988–2018
- Brian Schweitzer, Governor of Montana 2005–2013
- Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire since 2009; Governor of New Hampshire 1997–2003
- Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia since 2009; Governor of Virginia 2002–2006
- Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts since 2013; Special Advisor to the President 2010–2011