Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party and Donald Trump of the Republican Party are the two main presidential nominees in the 2016 US presidential elections.
The Democratic race began with six candidates out of whom five have dropped out, leaving Hillary Clinton the sole nominee. Though Bernie Sanders has not yet officially suspended his campaign, but he has endorsed Hillary Clinton for the President’s post.
Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chaffee, Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig and former United States Senator Jim Webb withdrew from the Democratic race prior to the start of primaries and caucuses. The Iowa caucuses, which were held on February 1, 2016, witnessed a contest between Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. However, with O’Malley dropping out on February 1 due to poor performance at the Iowa caucus, the race became a contest between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. In the first week of June, Hillary Clinton became the first woman in the history of the United States to bag the presidential nomination of one of the major political parties of the country.
Unlike the Democratic contest, which saw fewer candidates, the Republican contest was much more crowded. The Republican contest began with 17 candidates. Of these, Donald Trump has survived the race emerging as the nominee of the Republican Party. Before the primaries and caucuses began on February 1, five candidates had already withdrawn from the race. These included – United States Senator Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former New York Governor George Pataki, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and former Texas Governor Rick Perry leaving 12 candidates in the fray.
By the first week of March, eight candidates had dropped out and on March 15, Marco Rubio, too, suspended his campaign following a defeat in the Florida primaries. The race now became a contest between Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Donald Trump. On May 3, 2016, Ted Cruz suspended his campaign and John Kasich did so the following day leaving Donald Trump the sole nominee.
The elections will now see a tough fight between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and the final outcome will be decided on Election Day, which is on November 8, 2016.