2016 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses

The 2016 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses took place on March 22 in the U.S. state of Idaho as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Voters convened in each of Idaho's 44 counties at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time/6 p.m Pacific Standard Time to proportionally allocate the state's 27 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.

Campaigning

Both major candidates made efforts to either send surrogates or campaign themselves in Idaho before the caucuses took place. On March 17, Olympian Michelle Kwan campaigned for Hillary Clinton at Boise State University, where she spoke to about 150 supporters. On March 18, Bernie Sanders spoke at a local high school in Idaho Falls, Idaho, drawing approximately 3,200 supporters. On March 21, the day before the Democratic caucuses, Sanders spoke to approximately 7,000 supporters at the Taco Bell Arena on the campus of Boise State University.

Aftermath

The caucus was later regarded as having prepared the ground for the Paulette Jordan gubernatorial campaign two years later, inasmuch as it demonstrated the popularity of progressive policy proposals amongst the Idahoan left.

Opinion polling

Results

Gallery

Analysis

Sanders won Idaho by a four-to-one margin over Hillary Clinton, a similarly large landslide win to that of Barack Obama over Clinton in the Idaho caucuses eight years prior. In a majority white, rural, and ideologically libertarian electorate, Sanders had the upper hand.