2016 Virginia Republican presidential primary

The 2016 Virginia Republican presidential primary was held on March 1, 2016, as part of the 2016 Republican Party primaries for the 2016 presidential election. 49 delegates from Virginia to the Republican National Convention were allocated proportionally based on the popular vote.^[1] Donald Trump edged out a narrow plurality of pledged delegates, with Marco Rubio coming in second place and Ted Cruz placing in a distant third.

2016 Virginia Republican presidential primary

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Candidate Donald Trump Marco Rubio Ted Cruz Home state New York Florida Texas Delegate count 17 16 8 Popular vote 356,840 327,918 171,150 Percentage 34.80% 31.98% 16.69%   Candidate John Kasich Ben Carson Home state Ohio Virginia Delegate count 5 3 Popular vote 97,784 60,228 Percentage 9.54% 5.87%

Election results by county and independent city Election results by congressional district   Donald Trump   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   Marco Rubio   30-40%   40-50%

The Virginia Democratic primary occurred on the same day.

Polling

Main article: 2016 United States presidential election in Virginia

Winner: Donald Trump
Primary date: March 1, 2016

Poll source	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	Other
[1]	March 1, 2016	Donald Trump 34.80%	Marco Rubio 31.98%	Ted Cruz 16.69%	John Kasich 9.54%, Ben Carson 5.87%, Jeb Bush 0.36%, Rand Paul 0.28%, Mike Huckabee 0.14%, Chris Christie 0.11%, Carly Fiorina 0.09%, Jim Gilmore 0.06%, Lindsey Graham 0.04%, Rick Santorum 0.04%
CBS/YouGov[2] Margin of error: ± 8.6% Sample size: 481	February 22–26, 2016	Donald Trump 40%	Marco Rubio 27%	Ted Cruz 22%	John Kasich 6%, Ben Carson 4%, Undecided 1%
Monmouth University[3] Margin of error: ± 4.8% Sample size: 421	February 22–24, 2016	Donald Trump 41%	Marco Rubio 27%	Ted Cruz 14%	John Kasich 7%, Ben Carson 7%, Undecided 4%
Roanoke College[4] Margin of error: ± 4.5% Sample size: 466	February 16–24, 2016	Donald Trump 38%	Ted Cruz 15%	Marco Rubio 13%	John Kasich 8%, Ben Carson 8%, Undecided 19%
Christopher Newport University[5] Margin of error: ± 5.6% Sample size: 368	February 3–14, 2016	Donald Trump 28%	Marco Rubio 22%	Ted Cruz 19%	Ben Carson 7%, John Kasich 7%, Jeb Bush 4%, Chris Christie 4%, Carly Fiorina 2%, Jim Gilmore <1%, Someone else 1%, Undecided 6%
University of Mary Washington[6] Margin of error: ± ?% Sample size: 333	November 4–9, 2015	Ben Carson 29%	Donald Trump 24%	Marco Rubio 11%	Ted Cruz 10%, Jeb Bush 5%, Carly Fiorina 5%, Rand Paul 4%, Chris Christie 4%, Mike Huckabee 4%, John Kasich 1%, Jim Gilmore 0%, Don't know 2%
Christopher Newport University[7] Margin of error: ± 5.1% Sample size: 412	September 29 – October 8, 2015	Donald Trump 23%	Ben Carson 17%	Marco Rubio 14%	Carly Fiorina 13%, Jeb Bush 9%, Ted Cruz 5%, Chris Christie 4%, Mike Huckabee 3%, John Kasich 2%, Rand Paul 2%, Lindsey Graham 1%, Bobby Jindal <1%, George Pataki <1%, Rick Santorum <1%, Jim Gilmore <1%, Someone else 1%, Undecided 5%
Opinion Savvy/Insider Advantage[8] Margin of error: ± 4.1% Sample size: 546	August 2–3, 2015	Donald Trump 27.9%	Jeb Bush 14.8%	Scott Walker 10.1%	Ben Carson 8%, Carly Fiorina 6.8%, Ted Cruz 6.4%, Rand Paul 5.1%, Marco Rubio 3.5%, John Kasich 3.2%, Chris Christie 3.1%, Rick Perry 2.3%, Mike Huckabee 1.5%, Bobby Jindal 1%, Lindsey Graham 0.7%, George Pataki 0.7%, Rick Santorum 0%, Someone else 1.8%, Undecided 3.2%
Public Policy Polling[9] Margin of error: ± 4.4% Sample size: 502	July 13–15, 2015	Jeb Bush 18%	Donald Trump 14%	Scott Walker 14%	Ben Carson 10%, Mike Huckabee 8%, Marco Rubio 7%, Chris Christie 5%, Ted Cruz 5%, Carly Fiorina 5%, Rand Paul 5%, Bobby Jindal 3%, Rick Perry 2%, Jim Gilmore 1%, Lindsey Graham 1%, John Kasich 1%, Rick Santorum 1%, George Pataki 0%, Someone else/Not sure 3%
Christopher Newport University[10] Margin of error: ± ? Sample size: ?	April 13–24, 2015	Jeb Bush 17%	Marco Rubio 16%	Chris Christie 10%	Rand Paul 10%, Scott Walker 10%, Ben Carson 7%, Ted Cruz 7%, Mike Huckabee 6%, Donald Trump 5%, Bobby Jindal 2%, Carly Fiorina 1%, John Kasich <1%, Rick Perry <1%, Rick Santorum <1%, Someone else <1%, Undecided 7%
Christopher Newport University[11] Margin of error: ± 3.6% Sample size: 794	January 30 – February 10, 2015	Jeb Bush 21%	Scott Walker 16%	Chris Christie 10%	Mike Huckabee 10%, Ben Carson 9%, Rand Paul 6%, Marco Rubio 6%, Paul Ryan 5%, Ted Cruz 3%, John Kasich 3%, Bobby Jindal 2%, Mike Pence 1%, Rick Perry 1%, Rob Portman 1%, Rick Santorum 1%, Someone else 1%, Undecided 4%
Christopher Newport University[12] Margin of error: ± 5.3% Sample size: 338	February 23–28, 2014	Chris Christie 19%	Jeb Bush 18%	Mike Huckabee 13%	Paul Ryan 13%, Ted Cruz 9%, Rand Paul 7%, Marco Rubio 4%, Scott Walker 3%, Undecided 13%
University of Mary Washington[13] Margin of error: ±? Sample size: ?	September 25–29, 2013	Chris Christie 20%	Jeb Bush 10%	Rand Paul 10%	Paul Ryan 8%, Marco Rubio 7%, Ted Cruz 5%, None 14%, Don't know 19%
Public Policy Polling[14] Margin of error: ±4.8% Sample size: 415	July 11–14, 2013	Jeb Bush 16%	Chris Christie 16%	Rand Paul 15%	Marco Rubio 12%, Paul Ryan 11%, Ted Cruz 9%, Bob McDonnell 8%, Bobby Jindal 4%, Rick Santorum 2%, Someone Else/Undecided 7%
Public Policy Polling[15] Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 500	May 24–26, 2013	Marco Rubio 17%	Chris Christie 15%	Jeb Bush 14%	Bob McDonnell 12%, Rand Paul 10%, Ted Cruz 8%, Paul Ryan 8%, Bobby Jindal 3%, Rick Santorum 2%, Someone Else/Undecided 11%
		Chris Christie 20%	Marco Rubio 20%	Jeb Bush 17%	Paul Ryan 10%, Rand Paul 9%, Ted Cruz 8%, Bobby Jindal 3%, Rick Santorum 2%, Someone Else/Undecided 10%
University of Mary Washington[16] Margin of error: ±3.5 Sample size: 1004	March 20–24, 2013	Chris Christie 18%	Bob McDonnell 12%	Rand Paul 11%	Paul Ryan 11%, Marco Rubio 9%, Jeb Bush 8%, Other 1%, None 10%, Don't know 16%

Results

Virginia Republican primary, March 1, 2016^[17]

Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Actual delegate count
			Bound	Unbound	Total
Donald Trump	356,840	34.80%	17	0	17
Marco Rubio	327,918	31.98%	16	0	16
Ted Cruz	171,150	16.69%	8	0	8
John Kasich	97,784	9.54%	5	0	5
Ben Carson	60,228	5.87%	3	0	3
Jeb Bush (withdrawn)	3,645	0.36%	0	0	0
Rand Paul (withdrawn)	2,917	0.28%	0	0	0
Mike Huckabee (withdrawn)	1,458	0.14%	0	0	0
Chris Christie (withdrawn)	1,102	0.11%	0	0	0
Carly Fiorina (withdrawn)	914	0.09%	0	0	0
Jim Gilmore (withdrawn)	653	0.06%	0	0	0
Lindsey Graham (withdrawn)	444	0.04%	0	0	0
Rick Santorum (withdrawn)	399	0.04%	0	0	0
Unprojected delegates:			0	0	0
Total:	1,025,452	100.00%	49	0	49

See also

• 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries
• 2016 United States presidential election

References

1. "Virginia Republican Delegation 2016". The Green Papers. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
2. "Poll: Donald Trump leads in Virginia, Georgia; Ted Cruz hanging on in Texas". YouGov. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
3. "VIRGINIA: TRUMP, CLINTON LEAD PRIMARIES" (PDF). Monmouth University. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
4. "RC Poll: Clinton, Trump hold leads in Virginia primary elections; Cruz, Rubio in tight battle for second". Roanoke College Institute of Policy and Opinion Research. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
5. "Trump leads GOP field, with Rubio and Cruz next;Clinton leads Sanders among Virginia Democrats" (PDF). Christopher Newport University. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
6. "Virginia survey 2015: Princeton Data Source for University of Mary Washington" (PDF). umw.edu. November 16, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
7. Christopher Newport University
8. "GOP Presidential Primary Poll". Opinion Savvy/Insider Advantage. August 6, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
9. "Bush leads GOP Field in Virginia Poll" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. July 16, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
10. Christopher Newport University
11. Christopher Newport University
12. Christopher Newport University
13. University of Mary Washington
14. "Warner leads 2014 Senate Race" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. July 19, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
15. Public Policy Polling
16. Farnsworth, Dr Stephen J (March 2013). "University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies Virginia Survey - March 2013" (PDF). umw.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2013.
17. "2016 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions : Virginia Republican". The Green Papers. Retrieved May 13, 2021.