The 2020 Utah Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 15 contests scheduled 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 nominating c ...

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: **Cro ...

, following 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 nominee ...

the weekend before. The

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

primary was an

open primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

, with any registered voter able to participate. The primary awarded 34 delegates towards 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 which 29 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. One of his four wins on Super Tuesday, senator Bernie Sanders placed first by a large margin with around 36% of the vote and won 16 delegates, while former vice president Joe Biden came in second with around 18% and 7 delegates. Utah was the only state on Super Tuesday where Biden did not improve his result compared to pre-election polls through the endorsements of

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of trans ...

, Amy Klobuchar and others. 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 p ...

and former mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...

both surpassed the 15% threshold and would have won 5 delegates each, but the

Utah Democratic Party The Utah Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Utah. Its platform focuses on economic security, equal opportunity, the common good, and American leadership. The party also describes itself as a big tent par ...

decided not to calculate statewide delegates for them because of their withdrawals in the following two days.

Procedure

Utah was one of 14 states and one territory which held primaries on March 3, 2020, also known as "

", after the creation of a state-funded presidential primary option in a bill signed on March 22, 2017; a shift to a Super Tuesday contest by a few weeks after the signing of a bill shifting the primary date on March 27, 2019; and the confirmation that the

would opt to use the state-funded presidential primary rather than a party-run caucus as in 2016 on April 1, 2019. Voting took place throughout the state from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. In the primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 29 pledged delegates to the

were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between 4 and 6 were allocated to each of the state's 4 congressional districts and another 4 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 6 at-large delegates. The Super Tuesday primary as part of Stage I on the primary timetable received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on the first shared date or on a March date in general. After neighborhood caucuses selected delegates to county conventions in some counties on March 24, 2020 and county conventions elected delegates to the state convention between March 20, 2020 and April 4, 2020, the state convention was subsequently held from April 24 until April 25, 2020. The convention voted on national convention district delegates via delegates from a specific district, those national convention district delegates than voted on the 4 pledged PLEO delegates, and the state convention finally voted on the 6 at-large delegates for the national convention. The delegation also included 5 unpledged PLEO delegates: 4 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 ...

and a representative from Congress,

Ben McAdams Benjamin Michael McAdams (born December 5, 1974) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. He was the only Democratic member of Utah's congressional del ...

Candidates

The following candidates were on the ballot in Utah: Running * Joe Biden *

*Nathan Bloxham * Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente III *

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 fi ...

* Bernie Sanders *

Withdrawn *

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. sen ...

Julian Castro Julián Castro ( , ; born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician from San Antonio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the youngest member of President Obama's cabinet, serving as the 16th United States Secretary of Hou ...

* Amy Klobuchar *

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

Tom Steyer Thomas Fahr Steyer (born June 27, 1957) is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist. Steyer is the co-founder and co-chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, founder an ...

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, spiritual leader, and political activist. She has written 14 books, including four ''New York Times'' number one bestsellers in the "Advice, How To, and Miscellaneous" cate ...

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed t ...

and

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

had been accepted as candidates but withdrew early enough so that they were not put on the ballot.

Campaign

As one of the Super Tuesday states, the state had received relatively little attention by the national media. Campaign advertising was dominated by

, whose self-funded organization flooded the airwaves with ads, and Bernie Sanders, whose organization had roots in the state and who led in the only poll that was taken in January. Bloomberg held a major rally in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

on February 20, 2020 and

held one on February 17. Others may have had smaller events.

Polling

Results

Results by county

Notes

References

External links

The Green Papers delegate allocation summaryUtah Democratic Party delegate selection plan
{{2020 Democratic primaries Utah Democratic

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 ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...