Election results

Did James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton The Election? We Asked The Late-Deciding Voters.

In interviews with a number of late deciding voters ― found through various social media networks ― a less elegant explanation emerges. Comey was a factor for some but not others, and even then, it’s not clear how decisive his letters were. For many voters, random, often arbitrary moments from the campaign proved motivating in often unexpected ways. That Clinton left herself vulnerable to their whims is the story of the election as much as the eleventh-hour pronouncement from the FBI director.

“That was not the nail in the coffin,” Rainey said of Comey. “It was the throwing of gas on a fire. ... Ultimately, there was too much baggage with her.”