2020 United States Presidential Election (LOTF RP)

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2020 United States presidential election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
  Jillian Dayton Official Portrait.jpg Nate richardson congress.jpg
Nominee Jillian Dayton
(Presumptive)
Nathaniel Richardson
(Presumptive)
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Virginia North Carolina
Running mate TBA TBA

1920px-ElectoralCollege2020.svg.png

Incumbent President

Richard Tawney
Republican



The 2020 United States presidential election is the 59th quadrennial presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Incumbent President, Rick Tawney is not seeking election to a full-term after taking office in December of 2019 in the wake of the resignation of President Arnold Wolf. Subsequently, the Republican and Democratic Primaries in both parties have been incredibly competitive. This marks the third election since the 1952 Presidential Election, where an incumbent President or incumbent Vice-President did not seek the Presidency, after 2008 and 2016.

Background

Procedure

Article Two of the United States Constitution states that for a person to serve as president, the individual must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and have been a United States resident for at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various political parties of the United States. Each party develops a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. The primary elections are usually indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The presidential nominee typically chooses a vice presidential running mate to form that party's ticket, which is then ratified by the delegates at the party's convention (with the exception of the Libertarian Party, which nominates its vice-presidential candidate by delegate vote regardless of the presidential nominee's preference). The general election in November is also an indirect election, in which voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors then directly elect the president and vice president. If no candidate receives the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, the United States House of Representatives will select the president from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes, and the United States Senate will select the vice president from the candidates who received the two highest totals. The election will occur simultaneously alongside elections for the House of Representatives, Senate, and various state and local-level elections.

The Maine Legislature passed a bill in August 2019 adopting ranked-choice voting (RCV) both for presidential primaries and for the general election. The Governor of Maine allowed the bill to become law without her signature, which delayed it from taking effect until after the 2020 Democratic primary in March, but made Maine the first state to use RCV for a presidential general election. The Maine Republican Party filed signatures for a veto referendum and preclude the use of RCV for the 2020 election, but the Maine Secretary of State found there were insufficient valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. A challenge in Maine Superior Court was successful for the Maine Republican Party, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court stayed the ruling pending appeal on September 8, 2020. Nevertheless, ballots began being printed later that day without the veto referendum and including RCV for the presidential election, and the Court ruled in favor of the Secretary of State on September 22, allowing RCV to be used. An emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied on October 6. Implementation of RCV could potentially delay the projection of the winner(s) of Maine's electoral votes for days after election day and may complicate interpretation of the national popular vote. The law continues the use of the congressional district method for the allocation of Maine's electors (Nebraska is the only other state that apportions its electoral votes this way).

On December 14, 2020, pledged electors for each candidate, known collectively as the United States Electoral College, will gather in their state's capital to cast their official ballot. The ballots are sent to Congress to be opened and officially counted pursuant to the processes laid out by the Electoral Count Act of 1887. The newly elected Congress will meet in joint session to open, count, and certify the ballots on January 6, 2021, with the sitting vice president (in his role as president of the Senate) presiding over the session.

Simultaneous elections

Further Information: 2020 United States Senate Elections, 2020 United States House of Representatives Elections and 2020 United States Gubernatorial Elections

The presidential election will occur simultaneously with elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives. Gubernatorial and legislative elections are also to be held in several states. For the subsequent election, the United States House will redistribute the seats among the 50 states based on the results of the 2020 United States Census, and the states will conduct a redistricting of Congressional and state legislative districts. In most states, the governor and the state legislature conduct the redistricting, although some states have redistricting commissions. Often, a party that wins a presidential election experiences a coattail effect that also helps other candidates of that party win elections. Therefore, the party that wins the 2020 presidential election could also win a significant advantage in drawing new Congressional and state legislative districts which would stay in effect until 2032.

In the simultaneous U.S. Senate elections, there are three special elections to be held in Maryland, Ohio and Illinois. Another vacancy was created for a seat from Missouri however, due to it's timing, the special election for that seat shall be held in 2022 instead.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

Primaries

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

← 2016 February 3 to June 3, 2020 2024 →

3,979 delegates to the Democratic National Convention

1,991 delegates needed to win

2,376 of 4,750 delegates needed to win any subsequent ballots at a contested convention
  Jillian Dayton Official Portrait.jpg Bill Shorten-crop.jpg
Candidate Jillian Dayton Levi Murphy
Home state Virginia Minnesota
Estimated delegate count 2072 1519
Contests won 32 16
Popular vote 17,683,418 13,976,416
Percentage 49.78% 39.44%

  Cavaco Silva (2014-06-05), cropped.png Brian Sandoval 2010 (cropped).jpg
Candidate John Donaldson Mike Velez
Home state New York Florida
Estimated delegate count 150 10
Contests won 0 0
Popular vote 3,629,508 69,169
Percentage 10.58% 0.20%

DEM PRIMARY MAPV8.png

Previous Past Democratic Nominee

Diane Clifford



In August 2018, the Democratic National Committee voted to disallow superdelegates from voting on the first ballot of the nominating process, beginning with the 2020 election. This required a candidate to win a majority of pledged delegates from the assorted primary elections in order to win the party's nomination. The last time this did not occur was the nomination of Adlai Stevenson II at the 1952 Democratic National Convention. Meanwhile, six states used ranked-choice voting in the primaries: Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, and Wyoming for all voters; and Iowa and Nevada for absentee voters.

After Diane Clifford's loss in the previous election, the Democratic Party was seen largely as leaderless, and was also seen as fractured between the centrist Clifford wing and the more progressive Baginski wing of the party, echoing the rift brought up in the 2016 primary election. In 2018, several U.S. House districts that Democrats hoped to gain from the Republican majority had contentious primary elections. Politico described these clashes as a "Democratic civil war". During this period, there was a general shift to the left in regards to college tuition, healthcare, and immigration among Democrats in the Senate.

The field began with 14 candidates before whittling down to 4 by Iowa.

Date
(daily totals)
Total pledged
delegates
Contest
and total popular vote
Delegates won and popular vote
Jillian Dayton Levi Murphy John Donaldson Mike Velez
February 3 41 Iowa
176,364[a]
14
60,110 (34.1%)
16
70,475 (40.0%)
5
21,002 (12.4%)
6
24,770 (14.1%)
February 11 24 New Hampshire
298,377
9
113,712 (38.1%)
8
107,535 (36.0%)
3
32,731 (10.9%)
4
44,399 (14.9%)
February 22 36 Nevada
89,855
14
34,031 (38.0%)
16
39,504 (44.0%)
6
16,120 (18.1%)
February 29 54 South Carolina
345,207
23
149,127 (43.2%)
16
98,974 (28.7%)
15
97,106 (28.1%)
March 3
(Super Tuesday)
(1,344)
52 Alabama
405,191
28
218,309 (53.88%)
17
124,980 (30.84%)
7
61,902 (15.28%)
6 American Samoa
349
3
175 (50.14%)
2
118 (33.81%)
1
56 (16.05%)
31 Arkansas
219,071
17
114,201 (52.13%)
9
70,892 (32.36%)
5
33,978 (15.51%)
415 California
5,627,205
137
1,842,911 (32.75%)
216
2,939,003 (52.23%)
62
845,291 (15.02%)
67 Colorado
1,003,292
25
318,771 (31.77%)
42
540,398 (53.86%)
0
144,123 (14.37%)
24 Maine
214,628
11
89,901 (41.89%)
13
101,812 (47.44%)
0
22,915 (10.68%)
91 Massachusetts
1,337,510
46
589,556 (44.08%)
45
588,952 (44.03%)
0
159,002 (11.89%)
75 Minnesota
734,938
19
159,820 (21.75%)
56
485,562 (66.07%)
0
89,556 (12.19%)
110 North Carolina
1,340,293
58
704,875 (52.59%)
35
434,068 (32.39%)
17
201,350 (15.02%)
37 Oklahoma
297,209
16
110,357 (37.13%)
21
146,355 (49.24%)
0
40,497 (13.63%)
64 Tennessee
503,906
38
255,389 (50.68%)
26
175,949 (34.92%)
0
72,568 (14.40%)
228 Texas
2,041,519
139
1,075,420 (52.68%)
89
689,525 (33.77%)
0
276,576 (13.55%)
29 Utah
201,171
16
110,357 (37.13%)
21
146,355 (49.24%)
0
40,497 (13.63%)
16 Vermont
135,656
6
40,654 (29.97%)
10
77,546 (57.16%)
0
17,456 (12.87%)
99 Virginia
1,280,061
74
834,271 (65.17%)
25
290,540 (22.70%)
0
276,576 (12.13%)
March 3–10 13 Democrats Abroad
38,555
3
10,043 (26.05%)
7
21,156 (54.87%)
0
7,356 (19.08%)
March 10
(352)
20 Idaho
103,335
8
36,289 (35.12%)
12
53,490 (51.76%)
0
13,556 (13.12%)
125 Michigan
990,062
61
418,568 (42.28%)
64
436,897 (44.13%)
0
134,597 (13.59%)
36 Mississippi
276,184
21
144,235 (52.22%)
15
100,023 (36.22%)
0
31,926 (11.56%)
68 Missouri
661,584
31
306,002 (46.25%)
26
249,920 (37.78%)
11
105,662 (15.97%)
14 North Dakota
14,330
5
4,585 (31.99%)
9
7,685 (44.13%)
0
2,060 (14.37%)
89 Washington
1,505,329
32
544,669 (36.18%)
42
704,995 (46.83%)
0
255,665 (16.98%)
March 14 6 Northern Mariana Islands
March 17
(577)
67 Arizona
542,301
33
232,330 (42.84%)
34
244,521 (45.09%)
0
65,450 (12.07%)
219 Florida
1,811,701
127
929,021 (51.28%)
92
659,021 (36.38%)
0
223,659 (12.35%)
155 Illinois
2,089,711
82
963,698 (46.12%)
73
831,953 (39.81%)
0
294,060 (14.07%)
136 Ohio
1,499,309
65
628,970 (41.95%)
71
690,336 (46.04%)
0
180,003 (12.01%)
March 24 105 Georgia
1,001,725
61
514,021 (51.31%)
44
368,092 (36.75%)
0
119,612 (11.94%)
March 29 51 Puerto Rico
309,820
32
195,527 (63.11%)
19
114,293 (36.89%)
April 4
(107)
15 Alaska
16,008
9
9,978 (62.33%)
6
6,030 (37.67%)
24 Hawaii
33,908
16
22,549 (66.50%)
8
6,030 (33.50%)
54 Louisiana
256,909
38
178,655 (69.64%)
16
78,254 (30.46%)
14 Wyoming
14,927
8
8,490 (56.88%)
6
6,437 (43.12%)
April 7 84 Wisconsin
1,000,095
53
634,235 (63.48%)
31
365,235 (36.52%)
April 28
(663)
60 Connecticut
264,416
47
206,509 (78.10%)
13
57,907 (21.90%)
21 Delaware
91,682
15
64,361 (70.20%)
6
27,321 (29.80%)
96 Maryland
1,050,773
76
833,578 (79.33%)
20
217,195 (20.67%)
274 New York
1,759,039
203
1,301,337 (73.98%)
71
457,701 (26.02%)
186 Pennsylvania
1,595,508
128
1,092,763 (68.49%)
58
502,745 (31.51%)
26 Rhode Island
103,982
22
86,004 (82.71%)
4
17,978 (17.19%)
May 2
(46)
7 Guam
345
5
242 (70.00%)
2
104 (30.00%)
39 Kansas
143,183
29
107,072 (74.78%)
10
36,111 (25.22%)
May 5 82 Indiana
497,927
56
337,196 (67.72%)
26
160,731 (32.28%)
May 12
(57)
29 Nebraska
164,582
20
115,125 (69.95%)
9
49,457 (30.05%)
28 West Virginia
187,482
16
106,359 (56.73%)
12
81,123 (43.27%)
May 19
(115)
54 Kentucky
537,905
36
361,795 (67.26%)
18
176,110 (32.74%)
61 Oregon
618,711
46
465,209 (75.19%)
15
153,502 (24.81%)
June 2
(195)
126 New Jersey
34 New Mexico
19 Montana
16 South Dakota
June 6 7 U.S. Virgin Islands

Vice presidential selection

Nominee

Candidates

Republican Party nomination

Primaries

2020 Republican Party presidential primaries

← 2016 February 3 to June 3, 2020 2024 →

2,562 delegates to the Republican National Convention
1,282 delegates needed to win
  Noah Emmerich (25850681395) (cropped).jpg Kevin McCarthy, official photo, 116th Congress.jpg
Candidate Nathaniel Richardson Bernard Porter
Home state North Carolina Virginia
Estimated delegate count 614 308
Contests won 12 5
Popular vote 6,895,669 5,284,944
Percentage 56.61% 43.39%

REP PRIMARY MAP.png

Previous Past Republican Nominee

Arnold Wolf



The Republican Primary was until January 2019 expected to be a pro-forma re-nomination of President Arnold Wolf. However, with his announcement that he would not seek a second term following diagnosis with brain cancer, the primary field was blown wide open. The primary began with 11 major candidates and was whittled to two by Iowa.

Date
(daily totals)
Total pledged
delegates
Contest
and total popular vote
Type Delegates won and popular vote
Nathaniel Richardson Bernie Porter
February 3 40 Iowa
177,605
Pro. 24
105,485
16
72,099
February 11 22 New Hampshire
243,282
Pro. 14
125,534
8
68,606
February 19 50 South Carolina
597,141
WTM 38
306,632
12
289,614
February 22 25 Nevada
39,962
Pro. 11
17,024
14
22,938
March 3
(785)
50 Alabama
608,541
WTM 0
258,022
50
350,520
40 Arkansas
152,360
WTM 4
68,105
36
84,256
172 California
2,948,500
WTM 172
1,913,577
0
1,034,924
37 Colorado
698,580
WTM 37
384,918
0
313,663
22 Maine
18,627
WTM 22
9,351
0
9,277
41 Massachusetts
597,523
WTM 41
329,833
0
267,691
39 Minnesota
114,987
WTM 21
60,024
18
54,964
71 North Carolina
1,248,102
Pro. 45
728,892
26
519,211
43 Oklahoma
462,542
WTM 6
218,783
37
243,760
58 Tennessee
802,445
WTM 25
366,718
33
435,728
155 Texas
3,035,234
WTM 97
1,645,097
58
1,390,138
40 Utah
423,204
WTM 40
319,096
0
104,109
17 Vermont
62,024
WTM 17
38,579
0
23,446
March 10
(300)
19 Hawaii Pro.
32 Idaho WTM
39 Kansas Pro.
73 Michigan WTM
40 Mississippi Pro.
54 Missouri WTM
43 Washington Pro.
March 14 9 Guam WTA
March 15 9 Northern Marianas WTA
March 17
(271)
122 Florida WTA
67 Illinois WTA
82 Ohio WTA
March 18 9 American Samoa Pro.
March 24 76 Georgia WTA
March 27 29 North Dakota Pro.
April 2 29 Alaska Pro.
April 4
(55)
46 Louisiana WTA
9 U.S. Virgin Islands Pro.
April 7 52 Wisconsin WTA
April 17 48 Virginia WTA
April 28
(283)
28 Connecticut WTM
16 Delaware WTA
38 Maryland WTA
94 New York WTA
88 Pennsylvania WTM
19 Rhode Island WTM
May 5 58 Indiana WTA
May 9
(115)
57 Arizona Pro.
29 Wyoming WTM
May 12
(71)
36 Nebraska WTA
35 West Virgina WTA
May 19
(74)
46 Kentucky Pro.
28 Oregon Pro.
June 2
(146)
19 District of Columbia WTA
27 Montana WTA
49 New Jersey WTA
22 New Mexico Pro.
29 South Dakota WTA
June 7 23 Puerto Rico WTM

Vice presidential selection

Nominee

Candidates

General Election

Party Conventions

Debates

Polling

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Poll source Date Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Jillian
Dayton

Democratic
Nathaniel
Richardson

Republican
Other Undecided Lead
Swayable May 18-21 720 (RV) ± 4.2% 46% 42% 2% 10% 4%
CNN May 15 - May 16 997 (LV) ± 4.5% 45% 41% 2% 12% 4%
Tartalek/Wall Street Journal May 5 - May 11 1,714 (LV) ± 3.5% 46% 43% 2% 9% 3%
Ipsos/Reuters April 30 - May 2 714 (LV) ± 4.7% 45% 42% 3% 10% 3%
YouGov/Economist April 30 - May 1 963 (LV) 44% 41% 2% 13% 3%
Swayable April 25 - May 1 1,068 (RV) 45% 40% 2% 13% 5%
Ipsos April 24 - April 27 704 (LV) 43% 41% 2% 14% 2%
  1. Includes only the final caucus alignment, after voters supporting non-viable candidates in the first round were allowed to transfer their vote to a different candidate.
  2. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear