Presidential primaries
Each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five territories of the United States holds either primary elections or caucuses to help nominate individual candidates for president of the United States. This process is designed t ...
and caucuses were organized by the
Democratic Party to select delegates to the
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...
to determine the party's nominee for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
in the
2020 election. The primaries and caucuses took place in all 50 U.S. states, in the
District of Columbia
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, in five U.S. territories, and through
Democrats Abroad
Democrats Abroad is the official organization of the Democratic Party for United States citizens living temporarily or permanently abroad. The organization is given state-level recognition by the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats Abroa ...
. They occurred between February 3 and August 11, 2020.
Former
vice president
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
led in the polls throughout most of 2019. The
2020 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were marred by technical problems; certified results of the caucus eventually showed Mayor
Pete Buttigieg
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...
winning the most delegates, while Senator
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
won the popular vote in the state. Sanders then won New Hampshire and Nevada. Biden, whose campaign fortunes had suffered from losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, made a comeback by overwhelmingly winning the
South Carolina primary
The South Carolina presidential primary is an open primary election which has become one of several key early-state presidential primaries in the process of the Democratic and Republican Parties choosing their respective general election nomi ...
. After Biden won South Carolina, and one day before the
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
primaries, several candidates dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. Biden then won 10 out of 15 contests on
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
.
On April 8, after Sanders withdrew from the race, Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Biden and his running mate, U.S. senator
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
of California, were nominated for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
and
vice president
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
by delegates at the
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...
. Biden and Harris won the presidency and vice presidency in the general election on November 3, defeating incumbent President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and incumbent Vice President
Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
.
Overview
A total of 29 major candidates declared their 2020 Democratic presidential candidacies. With the exception of a brief period in October 2019 when Senator
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
experienced a surge in support, former
vice president
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
led in the polls throughout 2019. Eighteen of the 29 declared candidates withdrew before the first primary contest. The first primary was marred by controversy, as technical issues with vote reporting resulted in a three-day delay in vote counting in the
Iowa caucuses
The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are ...
. The certified results of the caucuses showed Mayor
Pete Buttigieg
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...
winning the most delegates, while Senator
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
won the popular vote in the state. Sanders then won the
New Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest, the first being the Iowa caucuses, held in the United States every four years as part of the process of cho ...
in a narrow victory over Buttigieg before comfortably winning the
Nevada caucus, solidifying his status as the front-runner for the nomination. Sanders received significant support from
Asian,
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
, and young voters.
Biden, whose campaign fortunes had suffered from losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, made a comeback by overwhelmingly winning the
South Carolina primary
The South Carolina presidential primary is an open primary election which has become one of several key early-state presidential primaries in the process of the Democratic and Republican Parties choosing their respective general election nomi ...
. Biden was helped by strong support from
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
voters, an endorsement from South Carolina U.S. Representative
Jim Clyburn
James Enos Clyburn (born July 21, 1940) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . First elected in 1992, Clyburn is in his 17th term, representing a congressional district that includes most of the majority-black precinc ...
, and Democratic establishment concerns about nominating Sanders. After Biden won South Carolina, and one day before the
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
primaries, several candidates dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden; before than time, polling saw Sanders leading with a plurality in most
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
states.
Biden then won 10 out of 15 contests on
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
, beating back challenges from Sanders, Warren, and former
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
and solidifying his lead.
As the primaries proceeded, they were overshadowed by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, which was declared to be a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.
Between March 19 and April 7, most states in the country issued
stay-at-home orders, and the overwhelming majority of campaign activity
was suspended.
On April 8, 2020, Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee after Sanders (the only other candidate remaining) withdrew from the race. In early June, Biden passed the threshold of 1,991 delegates to win the nomination.
Seven candidates received pledged delegates: Biden, Sanders, Warren, Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Senator
Amy Klobuchar
Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...
and U.S. Representative
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...
. On August 11, Biden announced that former
presidential candidate Senator
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
would be his running mate.
Biden and Harris were nominated for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
and
vice president
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
by delegates at the
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...
on August 18 and 19. Biden and Harris won the presidency and vice presidency in the general election on November 3, defeating the Republican ticket of President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and Vice President
Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
.
Background
After
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
's loss in the
previous election, many felt the Democratic Party lacked a clear leading figure.
Divisions remained in the party following the
2016 primaries, which pitted Clinton against
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
.
Between the 2016 election and the
2018 midterm elections, Senate Democrats generally shifted to the
political left
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
in relation to college tuition, healthcare, and immigration.
The
2018 elections saw the Democratic Party regain the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years, picking up seats in both urban and suburban districts.
Reforms since 2016
On August 25, 2018, the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
(DNC) members passed reforms to the Democratic Party's primary process in order to increase participation
and ensure transparency.
State parties are encouraged to use a government-run primary whenever available and increase the accessibility of their primary through
same-day or
automatic
Automatic may refer to:
Music Bands
* Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band
* Automatic (American band), American rock band
* The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band
Albums
* ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...
registration and same-day party switching. Caucuses are required to have absentee voting, or to otherwise allow those who cannot participate in person to be included.
Independent of the results of the primaries and caucuses, the Democratic Party, from its group of party leaders and elected officials, also appointed 771 unpledged delegates (
superdelegates) to participate in its national convention.
In contrast to all previous election cycles since superdelegates were introduced in 1984, superdelegates will no longer have the right to cast decisive votes on the convention's first ballot for the presidential nomination. They will be allowed to cast non-decisive votes if a candidate has clinched the nomination before the first ballot, or decisive votes on subsequent ballots in a
contested convention.
In that case, the number of votes required shall increase to a majority of pledged and superdelegates combined. Superdelegates are not precluded from publicly endorsing a candidate before the convention.
There were a number of changes to the process of nomination at the state level. A decline in the number of caucuses occurred after 2016. Democrats in Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Washington all switched from various forms of caucuses to primaries. Hawaii, Kansas, and North Dakota switched to party-run "
firehouse primaries".
This resulted in the lowest number of caucuses in the Democratic Party's recent history. Only three states (Iowa, Nevada, and Wyoming) and four territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, and U.S. Virgin Islands) used them. Six states were approved in 2019 by the DNC to use
ranked-choice voting in the primaries: Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, and Wyoming for all voters; Iowa and Nevada for absentee voters. Rather than eliminating candidates until a single winner is chosen, voters' choices were reallocated until all remaining candidates have at least 15%, the threshold to receive delegates to the convention.
Several states which did not use paper ballots widely in 2016 and 2018,
adopted them for the 2020 primary and general elections,
to minimize potential interference in vote tallies, a concern raised by intelligence officials,
election officials
and the public.
The move to paper ballots enabled audits to start where they had not been possible before, and in 2020 about half the states
audit samples of primary ballots to measure accuracy of the reported results.
Audits of caucus results depend on party rules, and the
Iowa Democratic party
The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Iowa.
The party organizes the Democratic Iowa caucuses, Iowa presidential caucuses. In recent years, the party has l ...
investigated inaccuracies in precinct reports, resolved enough to be sure the delegate allocations were correct, and decided it did not have authority or time to correct all errors.
Rules for number of delegates
Number of pledged delegates per state
The number of pledged delegates from each state is proportional to the state's share of the
electoral college
An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...
, and to the state's past Democratic votes for president.
Thus less weight is given to swing states and Republican states, while more weight is given to strongly Democratic states, in choosing a nominee.
Six pledged delegates are assigned to each territory, 44 to Puerto Rico, and 12 to Democrats Abroad. Each jurisdiction can also earn bonus delegates by holding primaries after March or in clusters of 3 or more neighboring states.
Within states, a quarter of pledged delegates are allocated to candidates based on statewide vote totals, and the rest typically based on votes in each congressional district, although some states use divisions other than congressional districts. For example, Texas uses
state Senate
In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states.
A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...
districts.
Districts which have voted Democratic in the past get more delegates, and fewer delegates are allocated for swing districts and Republican districts.
For example, House Speaker Pelosi's strongly Democratic
district 12 has 7 delegates, or one per 109,000 people, and a swing district,
CA-10, which became Democratic in 2018, has 4 delegates, or one per 190,000 people.
Candidate threshold
Candidates who received under 15% of the votes in a state or district didn't get any delegates from that area. Candidates who got 15% or more of the votes divided delegates in proportion to their votes.
These rules apply at the state level to state delegates and within each district for those delegates. The 15% threshold was established in 1992
to limit "fringe" candidates.
The threshold now means that any sector of the party (moderate, progressive, etc.) which produces many candidates, thus dividing supporters' votes, may win few delegates, even if it wins a majority of votes.
Schedule and results
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}
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Election day postponements and cancellations
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...
, a number of presidential primaries were rescheduled. On April 27, New York canceled its primary altogether on the grounds that there was only one candidate left with an active campaign.
Andrew Yang responded with a lawsuit, arguing that the decision infringes on voting rights, and in early May, the judge ruled in favor of Yang.
In addition, the DNC elected to delay the
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...
from July 13–16 to August 17–20.
Candidates
Major candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries had held significant elective office or received substantial media coverage.
Nearly 300 candidates who did not receive significant media coverage also filed with the
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
to run for president in the primary.
Nominee
Withdrew during the primaries
Other notable individuals who were not major candidates terminated their campaigns during the primaries:
*
Henry Hewes, real estate developer;
Right to Life
The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...
nominee for
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
and
U.S. Senate from
New York in
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
*
Sam Sloan
Samuel Howard Sloan (born September 7, 1944), also known as Mohammad Ismail Sloan, is an American perennial candidate and former broker-dealer. In 1978, he won a case ''pro se'' before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the last non-lawyer ...
, chess player and publisher (Ran for Congress in
NY-14)
*
Robby Wells, former college football coach;
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate for president in
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
Withdrew before the primaries
Other notable individuals who were not major candidates terminated their campaigns before the primaries:
*
Ben Gleib, actor, comedian, satirist, and writer
*
Ami Horowitz, conservative activist and documentary filmmaker (endorsed
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
)
*
Brian Moore, activist;
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
nominee for
U.S. Senate from
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
in
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
;
Socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
and
Liberty Union nominee
A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...
for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
in
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
*
Ken Nwadike Jr., documentary filmmaker, motivational speaker, and peace activist
Declined to Run
A number of individuals considered a run, either publicly or privately, but ultimately decided against it.
File:Hillary Clinton (4x5).png, Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democrat nominee
File:John F. Kerry.jpg, John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
, former U.S. Secretary of State and 2004 Democrat nominee
File:Eric Holder official portrait.jpg, Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney General
File:Tim Kaine 116th official portrait.jpg, Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...
, U.S. Senator from Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
and 2016 Democrat VP nominee
File:Senator Mark Warner Portrait.png, Mark Warner
Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th gove ...
, U.S. Senator from Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
File:Jeff Merkley, 115th official photo.jpg, Jeff Merkley
Jeffrey Alan Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is an American politician who is the junior United States senator from Oregon. He was first elected to the Senate in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1999 to 2009 as the repres ...
, U.S. Senator from Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
File:Lincoln Chafee official portrait.jpg, Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a ...
, former Governor of Rhode Island
File:Jason Kander (cropped).jpg, Jason Kander
Jason David Kander (born May 4, 1981) is an American attorney, author, veteran, and politician. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he served as the 39th Missouri Secretary of State, secretary of state of Missouri, from 2013 to 2017. H ...
, former Missouri Secretary of State
File:Eric Garcetti official mayoral portrait.jpg, Eric Garcetti
Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to India, United States ambassador to India from 2023 to 2025. He was the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles f ...
, Mayor of Los Angeles
The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...
File:Stacey Abrams in May 2018a.jpg, Stacey Abrams, former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives
The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...
File:Mark Zuckerberg F8 2019 Keynote (32830578717) (cropped).jpg, Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...
, CEO of Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
File:Mark Cuban speaking at a business roundtable hosted by the Kamala Harris for President campaign at Ocotillo in Phoenix, Arizona on October 19, 2024 - 16 (cropped).png, Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...
, Businessman and TV Personality
File:Dwayne Johnson 2, 2013.jpg, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Actor
Political positions
Debates and forums
Primary election polling
Timeline
Ballot access
Filing for the primaries began in October 2019.

indicates that the candidate was on the ballot for the primary contest,

indicates that the candidate was a recognized
write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
, and

indicates that the candidate did not appear on the ballot in that state's contest.

indicates that a candidate withdrew before the election but was still listed on the ballot.
Candidates listed in ''italics'' have suspended their campaigns.
National convention
The
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...
was scheduled to take place in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
, on July 13–16, 2020,
but was postponed and rescheduled to take place on August 17–20 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The event became a virtual "Convention Across America" with voting held online before the opening gavel, and the non-televised events held remotely over
ZOOM.
Endorsements
Campaign finance
This is an overview of the money being raised and spent by each campaign for the entire period running from January 1, 2017, to March 31, 2020, as it was reported to the
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
(FEC). Total raised is the sum of all individual contributions (large and small), loans from the candidate, and transfers from other campaign committees. The last column, Cash On Hand (COH), has been calculated by subtracting the "spent" amount from the "raised" amount, thereby showing the remaining cash each campaign had available for its future spending As of February 29, 2020, the major candidates have raised $989,234,992.08.
Maps
File:Democratic Party presidential primaries results by county, 2020.svg, Results by county according to first determining step relevant for delegate allocation. In Iowa, this is State Delegate Equivalents (SDEs) elected at precinct caucuses; in Nevada, this is County Convention Delegates (CCDs). In other states, this is the popular vote for each candidate.
File:2020 Democratic presidential primaries by delegate districts.svg, Results by delegate district (usually congressional district) by first preference vote. Darker colors denote greater support for the leading candidate.
See also
*
2020 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...
;National Conventions:
*
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtual ...
*
2020 Republican National Convention
*
2020 Libertarian National Convention
The 2020 Libertarian National Convention delegates selected the Libertarian Party nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election. Primaries were held, but were preferential in nature and did not dete ...
*
2020 Green National Convention
*
2020 Constitution Party National Convention
;Presidential primaries:
*
2020 Republican Party presidential primaries
*
2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries
The 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries and caucuses were a series of electoral contests to indicate non-binding preferences for the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate in the 2020 United States presidential election. These d ...
*
2020 Green Party presidential primaries
*
2020 Constitution Party presidential primaries
Notes
Further reading
* Masket, Seth (2020).
''Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016–2020''. Cambridge University Press.
References
{{Joe Biden
2019 in American politics
2020 elections in the United States
Political timelines of the 2020s by year
Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2020