2016 Alabama Republican presidential primary
The 2016 Alabama Republican presidential primary took place on March 1, 2016. This was the fifth primary held in the 2016 Republican primary. Donald Trump won the primary handily. The election was also held on Super Tuesday. Trump eventually won the Republican primary. He was elected President of the United States on November 8, 2016, against Hillary Clinton.
Ahead of the primary, Alabama was considered one of Donald Trump's strongest states. Trump enjoyed the endorsement of Senator Jeff Sessions, who would later join his Department of Justice as Attorney General. Sessions was Trump's first endorsement in the U.S. Senate.
Candidates
Polling
Aggregate polls
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other |
| Primary results | March 1, 2016 | Donald Trump43.42% | Ted Cruz21.09% | Marco Rubio18.66% | Ben Carson 10.24%, John Kasich 4.43%, Jeb Bush 0.46%, Mike Huckabee 0.30%, Rand Paul 0.22%, Chris Christie 0.10%, Rick Santorum 0.07%, Carly Fiorina 0.06%, Lindsey Graham 0.03% |
| SurveyMonkey Margin of error: ± ?% Sample size: 741 | February 22–29, 2016 | Donald Trump 47% | Ted Cruz 18% | Marco Rubio 14% | Ben Carson 9%, John Kasich 3%, Undecided 9% |
| Monmouth University Margin of error: ± 4.6% Sample size: 450 | February 25–28, 2016 | Donald Trump 42% | Marco Rubio 19% | Ted Cruz 16% | Ben Carson 11%, John Kasich 5%, Undecided 7% |
| Opinion Savvy Margin of error: ± 4.6% Sample size: 460 | February 25–26, 2016 | Donald Trump 35.8% | Marco Rubio 23.0% | Ted Cruz 16.2% | Ben Carson 10.5%, John Kasich 7.5%, Undecided 7.0% |
| AL.com Margin of error: ± 4.5% Sample size: 500 | December 10–13, 2015 | Donald Trump 35% | Ted Cruz 15% | Marco Rubio 12% | Ben Carson 12%, Jeb Bush 4%, Mike Huckabee 4%, Chris Christie 3%, John Kasich 2%, Carly Fiorina 1%, Rand Paul <1%, Rick Santorum <1%, Lindsey Graham <1% |
| Gravis Marketing Margin of error: ± 2% Sample size: 1616 | September 3, 2015 | Donald Trump 38% | Ben Carson 16.7% | Jeb Bush 4.9% | Ted Cruz 4.1%, Mike Huckabee 2.7%, Marco Rubio 2.3%, Carly Fiorina 2.3%, Rand Paul 1.5%, John Kasich 1.3%, Scott Walker 1.1%, Chris Christie 0.9%, Rick Santorum 0.4%, Rick Perry 0.3%, Bobby Jindal 0.3%, Lindsey Graham 0.1%, unsure 23.2% |
| News-5/Strategy Research Margin of error: ± 2% Sample size: 3500 | August 11, 2015 | Donald Trump 30% | Jeb Bush 15% | Ben Carson 11% | Marco Rubio 11%, Mike Huckabee 8%, Carly Fiorina 8%, Ted Cruz 7.5%, Scott Walker 3%, Other 5% |
| Opinion Savvy/Insider Advantage Margin of error: ± 4.4% Sample size: 481 | August 2–3, 2015 | Donald Trump 37.6% | Ben Carson 14.6% | Jeb Bush 11.8% | Mike Huckabee 7.9%, Ted Cruz 4.5%, Scott Walker 3.8%, Chris Christie 3.2%, Marco Rubio 2.6%, Rand Paul 2.2%, Bobby Jindal 2.0%, John Kasich 1.4%, Rick Santorum 1.2%, Rick Perry 1.0%, Lindsey Graham 0.7%, Carly Fiorina 0.5%, George Pataki 0.0%, Someone else 1.9%, Undecided 3.1% |
| Cygnal Margin of error: ± 3.42% Sample size: 821 | July 7–8, 2014 | Jeb Bush 19.8% | Ben Carson 12.6% | Rand Paul 10.5% | Chris Christie 8.8%, Rick Perry 7.2%, Ted Cruz 5.6%, Rick Santorum 5.3%, Bobby Jindal 3.9%, Scott Walker 3.6%, Undecided 22.6% |
Results
By congressional district
Trump won all 7 congressional districts.| District | Trump | Cruz | Rubio |
| 46% | 19% | 19% | |
| 46% | 21% | 15% | |
| 44% | 21% | 16% | |
| 49% | 19% | 16% | |
| 40% | 20% | 22% | |
| 37% | 25% | 22% | |
| 43% | 23% | 18% |
Analysis
According to Pew Research, Alabama's Republican electorate has the second-highest proportion of white Evangelicals of any Super Tuesday state, at 63% of Republican voters.Donald Trump won the Alabama primary in a landslide due to support from Evangelical primary voters. Trump carried 43% of Evangelicals compared to 22% for Ted Cruz, according to exit polls by Edison Research. Many pundits were perplexed by Trump's dominance among culturally conservative Southern whites who were expected to view him as immoral, but he benefitted from voters' racial, cultural, and economic angst that mattered more than shared values.