2016 General Election Editorial Endorsements by Major Newspapers

Citations

Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, "2016 General Election Editorial Endorsements by Major Newspapers."
The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2020.

Data compiled by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley after reviewing original editorials of the listed newspapers.

(1) See footnotes on our 2012 endorsements page (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/2012_newspaper_endorsements.php)
(2) On August 9, 2016, The Tulsa World announced that after having endorsed the Republican nominee in every election since 1940, it could not endorse any candidate in 2016 stating, "two major party candidates who leave voters with more questions about their character, integrity and policies than anyone can answer". See: http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/editorials/tulsa-world-editorial-endorsement-for-president-none-of-the-above/article_acd669eb-a7c8-51ec-9675-246a990faa9a.html 
(3) The last time The Dallas Morning News endorsed a Democrat for president was for Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.
(4) The last time The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed a Democrat for president was for Woodrow Wilson in 1916. 
(5) The New York Times also noted that it would publish a separate editorial explaining in more detail why Donald Trump should not be president. That additional editorial is available here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/opinion/why-donald-trump-should-not-be-president.html.
(6) USA Today broke from its tradition of not endorsing presidential candidates by publishing an editorial urging voters not to vote for Donald Trump, and instead choose from among the other candidates.
(7) This was the first time in the 126 year history of The Arizona Republic that it endorsed a Democrat for president. 
(8) This was the first time in the 143 year history of The Detroit News that it did not endorse a Republican for president. (It did not endorse in three elections in its history.)
(9) The last time The Chicago Tribune endorsed a third-party candidate was in 1912 for Theodore Roosevelt. It has a history of endorsing Republican candidates although it endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 & 2012.
(10) This was the first time in the 148 year history of The San Diego Union-Tribune that it endorsed a Democrat for president.
(11) The last time The Omaha World-Herald endorsed a Democrat for president was for Franklin Roosevelt in 1932.
(12) The Oklahoman did not endorse either candidate and instead told voters to focus on protecting the Republican majority in Congress. "Our conclusion: Vote to preserve Republican control of Congress, regardless of which presidential candidate wins." & "Our advice: By all means vote on Nov. 8, then pray for this country."
(13) On October 15, the Democrat and Chronicle also published a "dissenting" opinion from a "citizen member" of the editorial board who did not agree with the paper's endorsement of Clinton. That dissent can be found here: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/opinion/columnist/2016/10/14/democrat-chronicle-citizen-editorial-board-member-dissent-endorsement/92047130/
(14) For the first time since 1836 The Tennessean chose not to endorse a candidate. On October 23 it published an editorial titled, "We Endorse the Legitimacy of the U.S. Electoral System" in which it criticized Donald Trump's assertions that the U.S. electorial system is illegitimate. In addition, its decision not to endorse is related to the fact that neither Clinton nor Trump chose to be interviewed by the editorial board. The editorial includes the arguments of six citizens making their cases for Clinton, Trump, and Johnson.
(15) Times Media Company editor Bob Heisse wrote that The Northwest Indiana Times would not endorse in the presidential election in 2016. "We're endorsing only in races where we can meet and question the candidates. We will not endorse in the presidential race."
(16) On October 30 the Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board declined to endorse any candidate and stated, "The Journal has not withheld a presidential endorsement in recent memory. But given their records, it isn't possible to recommend any of the candidates. Still, it's important to vote, making your best judgment."
(17) The New Haven Register declined to endorse a candidate in 2016. Instead, it published two separate editorials on November 2 outlining the positive and negative qualities of each candidiate. Each editorial included an explanation and stated, "But given that a vast swathe of the American public very much sees one or the other of these candidates as the lesser of two evils, the decision was made to offer fair information here about the positive and negative attributes of both candidates." The APP includes the link to each editorial in the table above.
(18) The Palm Beach Post did not endorse a candidate in 2016. Instead, it published two separate editorials on November 4 outlining the case for each candidate. The APP includes the link to each editorial in the table above.
(19) The Wall Street Journal continued its practice of not having endorsed a presidential candidate since 1928. On November 4 it published two editorials focusing on each candidate's strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the editorial covering Trump, it stated, "The Wall Street Journal hasn't endorsed a presidential candidate since 1928, and if we didn't endorse Ronald Reagan we aren't about to revive the practice for Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump."
(20) The Knoxville News Sentinel continued its practice of not endorsing presidential candidates. In a November 7 editorial encouraging people to vote, it stated, "The News Sentinel does not endorse a candidate for president, primarily because the editorial board does not have the opportunity to interview the candidates." 
(21) In an editorial on October 14, The Oregonian stated, "Our editorial board decided in 2012 to abandon presidential endorsements after supporting a long line of mostly Republican presidential candidates. There were, however, departures for Bill Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama, who received our last presidential endorsement in 2008."
(22) As of 06:00 GMT November 8, 2016 (election day), this paper did not publish an endorsement of any candidate.

• Top 100 Newspapers determined by circulation data available from BurrellesLuce's March 2014 edition (the most current as of publication date for this page). Available at: http://www.burrellesluce.com/resources/top_media_outlets