Wikipedia

2020 American Samoa Democratic presidential caucuses

The 2020 American Samoa Democratic presidential caucuses took place on March 3, 2020, alongside 14 state primaries on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries and caucuses for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The American Samoa caucus was an open caucus, with the territory awarding 11 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 6 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the caucus. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg won the caucus and netted four delegates (his only primary win), with representative Tulsi Gabbard coming in second, and winning her only two delegates.[2][3]

2020 American Samoa Democratic presidential caucuses
← 2016 March 3, 2020 2024 →
← AL
AR →
11 Democratic National Convention delegates (6 pledged, 5 unpledged)
The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
Turnout2.2% (registered voters)[1] Increase 0.7 pp
 
Candidate Michael Bloomberg Tulsi Gabbard
Home state New York Hawaii
Delegate count 4 2
Popular vote 175 103
Percentage 49.9% 29.3%
 
Candidate Bernie Sanders Joe Biden
Home state Vermont Delaware
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 37 31
Percentage 10.5% 8.8%

Procedure edit

When the American Samoa Democratic Party had published its draft delegate selection plan on July 3, 2019, it specified a Super Tuesday, March 3 date for the 2020 caucus; this date was finally declared via Facebook on February 1, 2020.[4][5]

In the open caucus, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent across the territory to be considered viable. The 6 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the caucus, and were all at-large pledged delegates.[6] The Super Tuesday caucus as part of Stage I on the primary timetable received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries and caucuses between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on the first shared date or on a March date in general.[7]

The delegation also included 5 unpledged PLEO delegates: 4 members of the Democratic National Committee and the governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga.[6]

Candidates edit

The following people were on the ballot in American Samoa.[5]

Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang had withdrawn shortly before the caucus but remained on the ballot. Kamala Harris had withdrawn early so that she was not put on the ballot.[5] However, none of the withdrawn candidates or the existing uncommitted option received any votes.

Campaign edit

According to The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg's campaign made a relatively significant investment in the caucus: Bloomberg's campaign opened a campaign headquarters in the territory and hired seven staffers in America Samoa. His campaign put up campaign signs that read Mike Bloomberg mo Amerika Samoa 2020 (English translation: "Mike Bloomberg for American Samoa 2020") and invested heavily in digital advertising on Facebook.[8]

Samoan chief Fa’alagiga Nina Tua’au-Glaude, a 2008 Barack Obama delegate, endorsed Bloomberg a day before the contest, citing his policies on climate change in particular as a reason for his endorsement.[9] Bloomberg's victory over Gabbard, who was born in the territory, was regarded as an upset victory, and was credited to Gabbard's late start in campaigning on the island.[8]

Results edit

See also: Results of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
2020 American Samoa Democratic presidential caucus[10][11]
Candidate Votes % Delegates
Michael Bloomberg 175 49.86 4
Tulsi Gabbard 103 29.34 2
Bernie Sanders 37 10.54
Joe Biden 31 8.83
Elizabeth Warren 5 1.42
Uncommitted 0 0.00
Total 351 100% 6

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "2020 EAVS Data Brief: American Samoa" (PDF).
  2. ^ Axelrod, Tal (March 3, 2020). "Gabbard claims her first delegates of primary race". The Hill.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Kate (March 5, 2020). "Tulsi Gabbard is still running for president". CNN.
  4. ^ Putnam, Josh. "The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar". Frontloading HQ. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Democratic Party of American Samoa". Facebook. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  6. ^ a b "American Samoa Democratic Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  7. ^ "Democratic Timing Penalties and Bonuses". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Elinson, Zusha (2020-03-06). "Mike Bloomberg's $620 Million Campaign Did Really Well—in American Samoa". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  9. ^ Coleman, Justine (2020-03-02). "Samoan chief endorses Bloomberg for president". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  10. ^ "American Samoa Caucus Results | 2020 Presidential Primary Elections". www.nbcnews.com.
  11. ^ "View American Samoa's 2020 caucus results". www.cnn.com.
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