With the 2016 presidential election just hours away, here is a timeline of major events over the last few years this election season.
This list does not contain every aspect of the 2016 presidential race, and should only serve as a brief recap of the 2016 presidential race.
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March 23, 2015
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas formally announces his candidacy for the Republican Party and it the first to formally announce his candidacy.
April 12, 2015
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces her candidacy for presidency for the Democratic Party
April 30, 2015
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, announced his presidential candidacy for the Democratic Party.
June 16, 2015
Business giant Donald Trump declares his candidacy for presidency of the Republican Party.
October 13, 2015
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First Democratic debate is held in Las Vegas, Nevada February 18, 2016. Pope Francis criticizes Donald Trump, suggesting that wanting to build a wall is “not a Christian,” and received backlash from Trump.
February 25, 2016
A Black Lives Matter protester called out “I’m not a super predator Hillary!” at a South Carolina fundraiser in response to remarks she made in 1996. The candidate was forced to respond and told the Washington Post “Looking back, I shouldn’t have used those words, and I wouldn’t use them today.”
April 1, 2016
First ever nationally televised Libertarian presidential debate is hosted by John Strossel and airs on Fox Business Network June 2, 2016. Donald Trump said judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was the judge ruling over the case of Trump University, would not be able to rule fairl because he was of Mexican Heritage. The judge was born in Indiana.
June 6, 2016
Hillary Clinton passes 2,383 delegates, the minimum number needed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination.
June 15, 2016
Jill Stein reaches the necessary number of delegates for the Green nomination, becomes presumptive nominee.
July 5, 2016
After an investigation of at least 33,000 of Hillary Clinton’s emails, FBI director said that the candidate had shown “extreme recklessness” regarding the misuse of her personal email server, nonetheless, Comey said that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring charges against her.
July 12, 2016
After having lost the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton for Presidency.
July 15, 2016
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump announces Indiana governor Mike Pence as vice presidential running mate July 18, 2016 Melania Trump plagiarizes First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech during a keynote presentation.
July 21, 2016
Donald Trump formally accepts Republican nomination
July 22, 2016
Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton announces former Virginia governor Tim Kaine as vice presidential running mate.
July 23, 2016
Wikileaks leaks 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee, revealing a bias against Bernie Sanders from the Democratic Party leadership, leading to the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
July 28, 2016
Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic Party nomination, becoming the first female presidential nominee of a major party in U.S. history. August 1, 2016 Green Party presumptive nominee Jill Stein announces Ajamu Baraka as her vice presidential running mate. Stein/Baraka are chosen as the Green Party nominee officially in the following days.
August 6, 2016
First official presidential debate, featuring 10 Republican candidates, is held in Cleveland, Ohio. Fox News includes the other seven Republican candidates in a separate debate held earlier on the same day.
August 9, 2016
Donald Trump suggests gun supporters could kill Hillary Clinton to prevent her from picking the supreme court justices. “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Trump said. “Although, the Second Amendment people – maybe there is. I don’t know.”
September 7, 2016
Arrest warrants are issued for Green Party candidate Jill Stein and running mate Ajamu Baraka for trespassing and vandalism during a North Dakota protest.
September 9, 2016
Hillary Clinton Calls Trump supports a “basket of deplorables” during a fundraiser in New York City.
September 11, 2016
Hillary Clinton is seen to buckle at her knees and carried into a car at the 9/11 memorial service in New York.
September 26, 2016
First presidential general election debate was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Hillary Clinton takes majority support after the debate. Trump admits he had managed not to pay federal income tax for almost two decades. Trump, unlike Clinton and his running mate Mike Pence failed to release his tax returns and claimed his lawyer had instructed him not to release them.
October 4, 2016
The vice presidential debate was held in Farmville, Virginia.
October 7, 2016
Tapes are leaked from Access Hollywood showing Donald Trump and Billy Bush bragging about sexual assault in 2005, negatively effecting Trump in the polls 7 percent behind Clinton. The video prompted sexual assault allegations from more than a dozen women, all of which Trump denied.
He threatened to sue the women and media outlets that published the claims after the election was over.
October 9, 2016
Second presidential general election debate was held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
October 19, 2016
The third and final presidential general election debate was held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.
October 28, 2016
James Comey announces that the FBI will be restarting the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
November 2, 2016
Women accusing Trump of child rape comes closer to speaking publicly. A woman in her mid-30s said Trump raped her at a billionaire party. Her lawyer claimed that she feared for her life.
November 6, 2016
James Comey tells Congress there is no evidence in the emails that Clinton should face charges over handling of classified information.
November 8: Election Day.
Collegian Reporter Tony Villalobos May can be reached online at news@collegian.com or on Twitter at @TonyTheGnarly
