On September 24th 2016, The New York Times Editorial Board endorsed Hillary Clinton — no surprise there at all. Snoresville, right?
How Many Conservative Newspapers Have Endorsed Hillary Clinton?
What has come at a surprise are the list of historically conservative newspaper Boards that have come out of the woodwork to support Clinton or Gary Johnson over Donald Trump. Does it matter what a newspaper says? Not if it’s the New York Times going blue, the only time it has an impact on a voters’ decision making is when that endorsement is an unexpected one says NPR. Here are seven really unexpected endorsements that normally would have gone Republican, but went elsewhere in 2016.
| Newspaper | State | 2016 Endorsement | Consecutive Elections | (in years) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | n/a | Hillary Clinton | n/a | n/a | source |
| Arizona Republic | AZ | Hillary Clinton | 30 | 126 yrs | source |
| Cincinnati Enquirer | OH | Hillary Clinton | 24 | 96 yrs | source |
| Dallas Morning News | TX | Hillary Clinton | n/a | 75 yrs | source |
| Detroit News | MI | Gary Johnson | 35 | 143 yrs | source |
| Foreign Policy | n/a | Hillary Clinton | n/a | 50 yrs | source |
| Houston Chronicle | TX | Hillary Clinton | * | 75 yrs* | source |
| New York Daily News | NY | Hillary Clinton | * | * | source |
| Richmond Times-Dispatch | VA | Gary Johnson | 9 | 36 yrs | source |
| Union-Leader | NH | Gary Johnson | 25 | 100 yrs | source |
| USA Today | US | Not Trump | n/a | 34 yrs | source |
| Winston-Salem Journal | NC | Gary Johnson | n/a | 52 yrs+ | source |
The Arizona Republic has NEVER endorsed a Democrat over a Republican since the paper started publication in 1890 — that’s 126 years of Republican endorsements until Donald Trump.
The Dallas Morning News has endorsed every Republican nominee since 1968. The Cincinnati Enquirer almost went an entire century voting for Republicans, until Donald Trump.
The Atlantic prides itself on not being of any party of clique and in it’s long history has only endorsed two candidates — Abraham Lincoln for his stance on slavery and Lyndon Johnson because of Barry Goldwater. Their endorsement of Hillary Clinton is more of the latter; more a denouncement of Donald Trump than a glowing review of HRC, but the point stands — Trump is a threat to his own country.
USA Today hasn’t been around for a long time, just 34 years, but in its history, the colorful newspaper have never endorsed… until this year in the form of a Trump un-endoresement. Same goes with Foreign Policy in its 50 years in existence.
From The Detroit News:
Since its founding in 1873, The Detroit News has backed a Republican every time it has made a presidential endorsement (three times we have sat on the sidelines — twice during the Franklin Roosevelt elections and in the 2004 Bush/Kerry)
*The Houston Chronicle has only endorsed one Democrat in the last 75 years — Barack Obama in 2008, outside of that, The Chron has been Red.
+ In 2004, the Winston-Salem Journal refused to endorse a candidate. The paper endorsed Democratic President Barack Obama for 2012 presidential election. Its editorial-page had not endorsed a Democratic Party presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
The first presidential debate is coming up on September 26th and unless Trump somehow surprises everyone with a presidential persona, look for more conservative Editorial Boards to vote their conscience by not endorsing the Republican party nominee in 2016. Stay tuned.
