The 2020 Oregon Democratic presidential primary took place on May 19, 2020 in the
Democratic Party primaries for the
2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
and was the only contest on that date. The
Kentucky primary, previously also scheduled for May 19, was delayed due to the
coronavirus pandemic, while
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
already had a total vote-by-mail primary. The Oregon primary was a
closed primary and awarded 74 delegates to the
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
, of whom 61 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.
Former vice president
Joe Biden won the primary with 66% of the vote and 46 delegates, while senator
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
, who had suspended his campaign a month earlier, received nearly 21% and 15 delegates and senator
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
, also withdrawn, reached almost 10% of the vote.
Procedure
Following Kentucky's postponement of its primary to June 23, Oregon was the only state to vote on May 19, 2020 in the Democratic primaries and did not need to move the primary, as Oregon had been holding elections solely through
voting by mail
Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...
for decades. Two bills had been introduced in the state house in January 2019 that would have shifted the whole primary date to the second Tuesday in March in even-numbered years (which would be tantamount to a primary a week after
Super Tuesday), with the first empowering the Oregon secretary of state to shift the date and the second permitting a primary move for the purpose of regional clustering, but neither bill moved beyond committee. Another bill introduced by Republicans in the state senate in March 2019 had also proposed shifting the Oregon primary to join Super Tuesday states on the first Tuesday in March with a separate presidential primary rather than a consolidated primary, but no further action was taken on the bill after an initial public hearing.
Oregon was expected to accept mail-in ballots until 8:00 p.m. local time. Candidates had to meet a threshold of 15% at the congressional district or statewide level to be considered viable. The 61 pledged delegates to the
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
were allocated proportionally on the basis of the primary results. Of these, between 6 and 12 were allocated to each of the
state's five congressional districts and another 7 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 13 at-large delegates.
Originally planned with 52 delegates, the final number included a 20% bonus of 9 additional delegates on the 34 district and 11 at-large delegates awarded by the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
due to the May date, which belonged to Stage III on the primary timetable.
Congressional district conventions and the state convention instead of meeting voted by mail between May 27 and June 12 on district-level and statewide delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The delegation also included 13 unpledged PLEO delegates: 6 members of the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
, 6 members of Congress (both senators and four representatives), and the governor
Kate Brown.
Candidates
The following candidates were on the ballot in Oregon:
*
Joe Biden
*
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the firs ...
(withdrawn)
*
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
(withdrawn)
*
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
(withdrawn)
Polling
Results
See also
*
2020 Oregon Republican presidential primary
Notes
;Additional candidates
References
External links
The Green Papers delegate allocation summaryDemocratic Party of Oregon Delegate selection PlanFiveThirtyEight Oregon primary poll tracker
{{2020 Democratic primaries
Democratic primary
This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries.
1912
This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...
Oregon Democratic
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...