2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 United States presidential election. The elections took place in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and through Democrats Abroad, and occurred between February 3 and August 11.

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

February 3 to August 11, 2020
3,979 delegates to the Democratic National Convention 1,990 delegates needed to win
Candidate Joe Biden Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Home state Delaware Vermont Massachusetts Delegate count 2,695 1,117 79 Contests won 46 9 0 Popular vote 19,080,074 9,680,121 2,831,566 Percentage 51.7% 26.2% 7.7%   Candidate Michael Bloomberg Pete Buttigieg Home state New York Indiana Delegate count 51 26 Contests won 1 1 Popular vote 2,552,320 924,279 Percentage 6.9% 2.5%
Joe Biden   Bernie Sanders   Pete Buttigieg   Michael Bloomberg
Previous Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton Democratic nominee Joe Biden

A total of 29 major candidates declared their candidacies for the primaries. Former Vice President Joe Biden led polls throughout 2019, with the exception of a brief period in October when Senator Elizabeth Warren experienced a surge in support. 18 of the 29 declared candidates withdrew before the formal beginning of the primary due to low polling, fundraising, and media coverage. 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 caucus, as well as subsequent recounts. The certified results of the caucus eventually showed Mayor Pete Buttigieg winning the most delegates, while Senator Bernie Sanders won the popular vote in the state. Sanders then won the New Hampshire primary in a narrow victory over Buttigieg before comfortably winning the Nevada caucus, solidifying his status as the front-runner for the nomination.

Biden, whose campaign fortunes had suffered from losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, made a comeback by overwhelmingly winning the South Carolina primary, motivated by strong support from African American voters, an endorsement from South Carolina U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, as well as Democratic establishment concerns about nominating Sanders. After Biden won South Carolina, and one day before the Super Tuesday primaries, several candidates dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden in what was viewed as a consolidation of the party's moderate wing. Prior to the announcement, polling saw Sanders leading with a plurality in most Super Tuesday states. Biden then won 10 out of 15 contests on Super Tuesday, beating back challenges from Sanders, Warren, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, solidifying his lead. Increasingly, as the primaries proceeded, they were overshadowed in public attention by the COVID-19 pandemic, which the World Health Organization declared to be a global pandemic on March 11, eight days after Super Tuesday. 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, Biden became the presumptive 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 and U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard. On August 11, Biden announced that former presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris would be his running mate. Biden and Harris were officially nominated for president and vice president by delegates at the Democratic National Convention on August 18 and 19. Biden and Harris won the presidency and vice presidency in the general election on November 3, defeating the incumbents President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Biden became the first Democratic candidate since Bill Clinton, and the third ever Democratic candidate, to win the nomination without carrying either Iowa or New Hampshire, the first two states on the primary/caucus calendar.

The primaries were initially scheduled to go through June 6. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States caused a number of states to shift their primaries to later in the year.

Background

After Hillary Clinton'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. Between the 2016 election and the 2018 midterm elections, Senate Democrats generally shifted to the political left 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

See also: Superdelegate § DNC Unity Reform Commission and superdelegate reform, 2016–2018

On August 25, 2018, the Democratic National Committee (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 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 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, 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 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

Main article: Results of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

February   March 3 (Super Tuesday)   March 10   March 14–17   March 24–29   April 4–7   April 28   May   June   February   March 3 (Super Tuesday)   March 10   March 14–17   April 7–17   April 28   May   June   July–August

Date (daily totals)	Total pledged delegates	Contest and total popular vote	Delegates won and popular vote
			Joe Biden	Bernie Sanders	Elizabeth Warren	Michael Bloomberg	Pete Buttigieg	Amy Klobuchar	Tulsi Gabbard	Other
February 3	41	Iowa 172,300	[e]14 23,605 (13.7%)	9 45,652 (26.5%)	5 34,909 (20.3%)	16 (0.0%)	[f]12 43,209 (25.1%)	1 21,100 (12.2%)	16 (0.0%)	3,793 (2.2%)
February 11	24	New Hampshire 298,377	24,944 (8.4%)	9 76,384 (25.6%)	27,429 (9.2%)	4,675 (1.6%)	9 72,454 (24.3%)	6 58,714 (19.7%)	9,755 (3.3%)	24,022 (8.1%)
February 22	36	Nevada 101,543	9 19,179 (18.9%)	24 41,075 (40.5%)	11,703 (11.5%)		3 17,598 (17.3%)	7,376 (7.3%)	32 (0.0%)	4,580 (4.5%)
February 29	54	South Carolina 539,263	39 262,336 (48.7%)	15 106,605 (19.8%)	38,120 (7.1%)		44,217 (8.2%)	16,900 (3.1%)	6,813 (1.3%)	64,272 (11.9%)
March 3 (Super Tuesday) (1,344)	52	Alabama 452,093	44 286,065 (63.3%)	8 74,755 (16.5%)	25,847 (5.7%)	52,750 (11.7%)	1,416 (0.3%)	907 (0.2%)	1,038 (0.2%)	9,315 (2.1%)
	6	American Samoa 351	31 (8.8%)	37 (10.5%)	5 (1.4%)	4 175 (49.9%)			2 103 (29.3%)
	31	Arkansas 229,122	[h]19 93,012 (40.6%)	9 51,413 (22.4%)	22,971 (10.0%)	3 38,312 (16.7%)	7,649 (3.3%)	7,009 (3.1%)	1,593 (0.7%)	7,163 (3.1%)
	415	California 5,784,364	172 1,613,854 (27.9%)	225 2,080,846 (36.0%)	11 762,555 (13.2%)	7 701,803 (12.1%)	249,256 (4.3%)	126,961 (2.2%)	33,769 (0.6%)	215,320 (3.7%)
	67	Colorado 960,128	21 236,565 (24.6%)	29 355,293 (37.0%)	[i]8 168,695 (17.6%)	[j]9 177,727 (18.5%)			10,037 (1.0%)	11,811 (1.2%)
	24	Maine 205,937	[k]13 68,729 (33.4%)	9 66,826 (32.4%)	2 32,055 (15.6%)	24,294 (11.8%)	4,364 (2.1%)	2,826 (1.4%)	1,815 (0.9%)	5,028 (2.4%)
	91	Massachusetts 1,418,180	[l]45 473,861 (33.4%)	30 376,990 (26.6%)	16 303,864 (21.4%)	166,200 (11.7%)	38,400 (2.7%)	17,297 (1.2%)	10,548 (0.7%)	31,020 (2.2%)
	75	Minnesota 744,198	[m]43 287,553 (38.6%)	27 222,431 (29.9%)	5 114,674 (15.4%)	61,882 (8.3%)	7,616 (1.0%)	41,530 (5.6%)	2,504 (0.3%)	6,008 (0.8%)
	110	North Carolina 1,332,382	68 572,271 (43.0%)	37 322,645 (24.2%)	2 139,912 (10.5%)	3 172,558 (13.0%)	43,632 (3.3%)	30,742 (2.3%)	6,622 (0.5%)	44,000 (3.3%)
	37	Oklahoma 304,281	21 117,633 (38.7%)	13 77,425 (25.4%)	1 40,732 (13.4%)	2 42,270 (13.9%)	5,115 (1.7%)	6,733 (2.2%)	5,109 (1.7%)	9,264 (3.0%)
	64	Tennessee 516,250	36 215,390 (41.7%)	22 129,168 (25.0%)	1 53,732 (10.4%)	[n]5 79,789 (15.5%)	17,102 (3.3%)	10,671 (2.1%)	2,278 (0.4%)	8,120 (1.6%)
	228	Texas 2,094,428	113 725,562 (34.6%)	99 626,339 (29.9%)	5 239,237 (11.4%)	11 300,608 (14.4%)	82,671 (3.9%)	43,291 (2.1%)	8,688 (0.4%)	68,032 (3.2%)
	29	Utah 220,582	7 40,674 (18.4%)	16 79,728 (36.1%)	[o]3 35,727 (16.2%)	[p]3 33,991 (15.4%)	18,734 (8.5%)	7,603 (3.4%)	1,704 (0.8%)	2,421 (1.1%)
	16	Vermont 158,032	5 34,669 (21.9%)	11 79,921 (50.6%)	19,785 (12.5%)	14,828 (9.4%)	3,709 (2.3%)	1,991 (1.3%)	1,303 (0.8%)	1,826 (1.2%)
	99	Virginia 1,323,693	67 705,501 (53.3%)	31 306,388 (23.1%)	1 142,546 (10.8%)	128,030 (9.7%)	11,199 (0.8%)	8,414 (0.6%)	11,288 (0.9%)	10,327 (0.8%)
March 3–10	13	Democrats Abroad 39,984	4 9,059 (22.7%)	9 23,139 (57.9%)	5,730 (14.3%)	892 (2.2%)	616 (1.5%)	224 (0.6%)	146 (0.4%)	178 (0.4%)
March 10 (352)	20	Idaho 108,649	12 53,151 (48.9%)	8 46,114 (42.4%)	2,878 (2.6%)	2,612 (2.4%)	1,426 (1.3%)	774 (0.7%)	876 (0.8%)	818 (0.8%)
	125	Michigan 1,587,679	73 840,360 (52.9%)	52 576,926 (36.3%)	26,148 (1.6%)	73,464 (4.6%)	22,462 (1.4%)	11,018 (0.7%)	9,461 (0.6%)	27,840 (1.8%)
	36	Mississippi 274,391	34 222,160 (81.0%)	2 40,657 (14.8%)	1,550 (0.6%)	6,933 (2.5%)	562 (0.2%)	440 (0.2%)	1,003 (0.4%)	1,086 (0.4%)
	68	Missouri 666,112	44 400,347 (60.1%)	24 230,374 (34.6%)	8,156 (1.2%)	9,866 (1.5%)	3,309 (0.5%)	2,682 (0.4%)	4,887 (0.7%)	6,491 (1.0%)
	14	North Dakota 14,546	6 5,742 (39.5%)	8 7,682 (52.8%)	366 (2.5%)	113 (0.8%)	164 (1.1%)	223 (1.5%)	89 (0.6%)	167 (1.1%)
	89	Washington 1,558,776	46 591,403 (37.9%)	43 570,039 (36.6%)	142,652 (9.2%)	122,530 (7.9%)	63,344 (4.1%)	33,383 (2.1%)	13,199 (0.9%)	22,226 (1.4%)
March 14	6	Northern Mariana Islands 134	2 48 (35.8%)	4 84 (62.7%)						2 (1.5%)
March 17 (441)	67	Arizona 613,355	38 268,029 (43.7%)	29 200,456 (32.7%)	35,537 (5.8%)	58,797 (9.6%)	24,868 (4.1%)	10,333 (1.7%)	3,014 (0.5%)	12,321 (2.0%)
	219	Florida 1,739,214	162 1,077,375 (61.9%)	57 397,311 (22.8%)	32,875 (1.9%)	146,544 (8.4%)	39,886 (2.3%)	17,276 (1.0%)	8,712 (0.5%)	19,235 (1.1%)
	155	Illinois 1,674,133	95 986,661 (58.9%)	60 605,701 (36.2%)	24,413 (1.5%)	25,500 (1.5%)	9,729 (0.6%)		9,642 (0.6%)	12,487 (0.7%)
April 7	84	Wisconsin 925,065	56 581,463 (62.9%)	28 293,441 (31.7%)	14,060 (1.5%)	8,846 (1.0%)	4,946 (0.5%)	6,079 (0.7%)	5,565 (0.6%)	10,665 (1.2%)
April 10	15	Alaska 19,759	8 10,834 (54.8%)	7 8,755 (44.3%)	0 Eliminated 7th	0 Eliminated 3rd	0 Eliminated 6th	0 Eliminated 5th	0 Eliminated 4th	170 (0.9%)
April 17	14	Wyoming 15,391	10 10,912 (70.9%)	4 4,206 (27.3%)	0 Eliminated 7th	0 Eliminated 5th	0 Eliminated 6th	0 Eliminated 4th	0 Eliminated 2nd	273 (1.8%)
April 28	136	Ohio 894,383	115 647,284 (72.4%)	21 149,683 (16.7%)	30,985 (3.5%)	28,704 (3.2%)	15,113 (1.7%)	11,899 (1.3%)	4,560 (0.5%)	6,155 (0.7%)
May 2	39	Kansas 146,873	29 110,041 (74.9%)	10 33,142 (22.6%)	0 Eliminated 3rd				0 Eliminated 1st	3,690 (2.5%)
May 12	29	Nebraska 164,582	29 126,444 (76.8%)	23,214 (14.1%)	10,401 (6.3%)				4,523 (2.7%)
May 19	61	Oregon 618,711	46 408,315 (66.0%)	15 127,345 (20.6%)	59,355 (9.6%)				10,717 (1.7%)	12,979 (2.1%)
May 22	24	Hawaii 35,044	16 21,215 (60.5%)	8 12,337 (35.2%)	0 Eliminated 9th	0 Eliminated 7th	0 Eliminated 5th	0 Eliminated 3rd	0 Eliminated 8th	1,492 (4.3%)
June 2 (479)	20	District of Columbia 110,688	19 84,093 (76.0%)	11,116 (10.0%)	1 14,228 (12.9%)				442 (0.4%)	809 (0.7%)
	82	Indiana 497,927	80 380,836 (76.5%)	2 67,688 (13.6%)	14,344 (2.9%)	4,783 (1.0%)	17,957 (3.6%)	3,860 (0.8%)	2,657 (0.5%)	5,802 (1.2%)
	96	Maryland 1,050,773	96 879,753 (83.7%)	81,939 (7.8%)	27,134 (2.6%)	6,773 (0.6%)	7,180 (0.7%)	5,685 (0.5%)	4,226 (0.4%)	38,083 (3.6%)
	19	Montana 149,973	18 111,706 (74.5%)	1 22,033 (14.7%)	11,984 (8.0%)					4,250 (2.8%)
	34	New Mexico 247,880	30 181,700 (73.3%)	4 37,435 (15.1%)	14,552 (5.9%)				2,735 (1.1%)	11,458 (4.6%)
	186	Pennsylvania 1,595,508	151 1,264,624 (79.3%)	35 287,834 (18.0%)					43,050 (2.7%)
	26	Rhode Island 103,982	25 79,728 (76.7%)	1 15,525 (14.9%)	4,479 (4.3%)				651 (0.6%)	3,599 (3.5%)
	16	South Dakota 52,661	13 40,800 (77.5%)	3 11,861 (22.5%)
June 6 (14)	7	Guam 388	5 270 (69.6%)	2 118 (30.4%)
	7	U.S. Virgin Islands 550	7 502 (91.3%)	28 (5.1%)						20 (3.6%)
June 9 (133)	105	Georgia 1,086,729	105 922,177 (84.9%)	101,668 (9.4%)	21,906 (2.0%)	7,657 (0.7%)	6,346 (0.6%)	4,317 (0.4%)	4,117 (0.4%)	18,541 (1.7%)
	28	West Virginia 187,482	28 122,518 (65.3%)	22,793 (12.2%)	5,741 (3.1%)	3,759 (2.0%)	3,455 (1.8%)	3,011 (1.6%)	4,163 (2.2%)	22,042 (11.8%)
June 23 (328)	54	Kentucky 537,905	52 365,284 (67.9%)	65,055 (12.1%)	15,300 (2.8%)		9,127 (1.7%)	5,296 (1.0%)	5,859 (1.1%)	[w]2 71,984 (13.4%)
	274	New York 1,759,039	230 1,136,679 (64.6%)	[x]44 285,908 (16.3%)	82,917 (4.7%)	39,433 (2.2%)	22,927 (1.3%)	11,028 (0.6%)	9,083 (0.5%)	171,064 (9.7%)
July 7 (147)	21	Delaware 91,682	21 81,954 (89.4%)	6,878 (7.5%)	2,850 (3.1%)
	126	New Jersey 958,762	121 814,188 (84.9%)	[y]5 140,412 (14.6%)						4,162 (0.4%)
July 11	54	Louisiana 267,286	54 212,555 (79.5%)	19,859 (7.4%)	6,426 (2.4%)	4,312 (1.6%)	2,363 (0.9%)	2,431 (0.9%)	1,962 (0.7%)	17,378 (6.5%)
July 12	51	Puerto Rico 7,022	44 3,930 (56.0%)	5 932 (13.3%)	101 (1.4%)	2 894 (12.7%)	158 (2.3%)	31 (0.4%)	194 (2.8%)	782 (11.1%)
August 11	60	Connecticut 264,416	60 224,500 (84.9%)	30,512 (11.5%)					3,429 (1.3%)	5,975 (2.3%)
Total 3,979 pledged delegates 36,922,938 votes			2,720 19,080,074 (51.68%)	[z]1,114 9,680,121 (26.22%)	[aa]61 2,831,566 (7.67%)	[ab]49 2,552,320 (6.91%)	[ac]24 924,279 (2.50%)	7 540,055 (1.46%)	2 273,977 (0.74%)	2 1,040,546 (2.82%)

Election day postponements and cancellations

Main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics § Impact on elections

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 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.

2020 Democratic primaries altered due to COVID-19.

Primary	Original schedule	Altered schedule	Vote in person?	Last changed	Ref.
Ohio	March 17	April 28	Canceled	March 25
Georgia	March 24	June 9	Held	April 9
Puerto Rico	March 29	July 12	Held	May 21
Alaska	April 4	April 10	Canceled	March 23
Wyoming	April 4	April 17	Canceled	March 22
Hawaii	April 4	May 22	Canceled	March 27
Louisiana	April 4	July 11	Held	April 14
Maryland	April 28	June 2	Held	March 17
Pennsylvania	April 28	June 2	Held	March 27
Rhode Island	April 28	June 2	Held	March 23
New York	April 28	June 23	Held	April 27
Delaware	April 28	July 7	Held	May 7
Connecticut	April 28	August 11	Held	April 17
Kansas	May 2	May 2	Canceled	March 30
Guam	May 2	June 6	Held	June 4
Indiana	May 5	June 2	Held	March 20
West Virginia	May 12	June 9	Held	April 1
Kentucky	May 19	June 23	Held	March 16
New Jersey	June 2	July 7	Held	April 8

In addition, the DNC elected to delay the 2020 Democratic National Convention from July 13–16 to August 17–20.

Candidates

Main article: 2020 Democratic Party presidential 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 to run for president in the primary.

Nominee

Candidate		Born	Most recent position	State	Campaign announced	Pledged delegates	Popular vote	Contests won	Article	Running mate	Ref.
Joe Biden		November 20, 1942 (age 77) Scranton, Pennsylvania	Vice President of the United States (2009–2017)	Delaware	April 25, 2019	2,695	19,080,074 (51.68%)	46 (AL, AK, AZ, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, GU, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VI, WA, WV, WI, WY)	__________ Campaign FEC filing Secured nomination: June 5, 2020	Kamala Harris

Withdrew during the primaries

Candidate		Born	Most recent position	State	Campaign announced	Campaign suspended	Delegates won	Popular vote	Contests won	Article	Ref.
Bernie Sanders		September 8, 1941 (age 78) Brooklyn, New York	U.S. senator from Vermont (2007–present)	Vermont	February 19, 2019	April 8, 2020 (endorsed Biden as presumptive nominee)	1,073	9,679,213 (26.63%)	9 (CA, CO, DA, NV, NH, ND, MP, UT, VT)	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Tulsi Gabbard		April 12, 1981 (age 39) Leloaloa, American Samoa	U.S. representative from HI-02 (2013–2021)	Hawaii	January 11, 2019	March 19, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	2	273,940 (0.76%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Elizabeth Warren		June 22, 1949 (age 71) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	U.S. senator from Massachusetts (2013–present)	Massachusetts	February 9, 2019 Exploratory committee: December 31, 2018	March 5, 2020 (endorsed Biden as presumptive nominee)	63	2,780,873 (7.77%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Michael Bloomberg		February 14, 1942 (age 78) Boston, Massachusetts	Mayor of New York City, New York (2002–2013) CEO of Bloomberg L.P.	New York	November 24, 2019 Exploratory committee: November 21, 2019	March 4, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	59	2,475,130 (6.92%)	1 (AS)	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Amy Klobuchar		May 25, 1960 (age 60) Plymouth, Minnesota	U.S. senator from Minnesota (2007–present)	Minnesota	February 10, 2019	March 2, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	7	524,400 (1.47%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Pete Buttigieg		January 19, 1982 (age 38) South Bend, Indiana	Mayor of South Bend, Indiana (2012–2020)	Indiana	April 14, 2019 Exploratory committee: January 23, 2019	March 1, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	21	912,214 (2.55%)	1 (IA)	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Tom Steyer		June 27, 1957 (age 63) Manhattan, New York	Hedge fund manager Founder of Farallon Capital and Beneficial State Bank	California	July 9, 2019	February 29, 2020 (endorsed Biden as presumptive nominee)	0	258,848 (0.72%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Deval Patrick		July 31, 1956 (age 64) Chicago, Illinois	Governor of Massachusetts (2007–2015)	Massachusetts	November 14, 2019	February 12, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	0	27,116 (0.08%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Michael Bennet		November 28, 1964 (age 55) New Delhi, India	U.S. senator from Colorado (2009–present)	Colorado	May 2, 2019	February 11, 2020 (endorsed Biden as presumptive nominee)	0	62,260 (0.17%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Andrew Yang		January 13, 1975 (age 45) Schenectady, New York	Entrepreneur Founder of Venture for America	New York	November 6, 2017	February 11, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	0	160,231 (0.45%)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing

Other notable individuals who were not major candidates terminated their campaigns during the primaries:

• Henry Hewes, real estate developer; Right to Life nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1989 and U.S. Senate from New York in 1994
• Sam Sloan, chess player and publisher (Ran for Congress in NY-14)
• Robby Wells, former college football coach; Independent candidate for president in 2016

Withdrew before the primaries

Candidate	Born	Experience	State	Campaign announced	Campaign suspended	Popular vote	Article	Ref.
John Delaney	April 16, 1963 (age 57) Wood-Ridge, New Jersey	U.S. representative from MD-06 (2013–2019)	Maryland	July 28, 2017	January 31, 2020 (endorsed Biden)	19,342	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Cory Booker	April 27, 1969 (age 51) Washington, D.C.	U.S. senator from New Jersey (2013–present) Mayor of Newark, New Jersey (2006–2013)	New Jersey	February 1, 2019	January 13, 2020 (ran successfully for reelection) (endorsed Biden)	31,575	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Marianne Williamson	July 8, 1952 (age 68) Houston, Texas	Author Founder of Project Angel Food Independent candidate for U.S. House from CA-33 in 2014	California	January 28, 2019 Exploratory committee: November 15, 2018	January 10, 2020 (endorsed Sanders, then Biden as nominee)	22,334	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Julián Castro	September 16, 1974 (age 45) San Antonio, Texas	Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2014–2017) Mayor of San Antonio, Texas (2009–2014)	Texas	January 12, 2019 Exploratory committee: December 12, 2018	January 2, 2020 (endorsed Warren, then Biden as presumptive nominee)	37,037	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Kamala Harris	October 20, 1964 (age 55) Oakland, California	U.S. senator from California (2017–2021) Attorney General of California (2011–2017)	California	January 21, 2019	December 3, 2019 (endorsed Biden who later chose Harris as his vice presidential running-mate)	844	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Steve Bullock	April 11, 1966 (age 54) Missoula, Montana	Governor of Montana (2013–2021) Attorney General of Montana (2009–2013)	Montana	May 14, 2019	December 2, 2019 (ran for U.S. Senate; lost election, endorsed Biden as nominee)	549	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Joe Sestak	December 12, 1951 (age 68) Secane, Pennsylvania	U.S. representative from PA-07 (2007–2011) Former Vice Admiral of the United States Navy	Virginia	June 23, 2019	December 1, 2019 (endorsed Klobuchar, then Biden as nominee)	5,251	Campaign FEC filing
Wayne Messam	June 7, 1974 (age 46) South Bay, Florida	Mayor of Miramar, Florida (2015–present)	Florida	March 28, 2019 Exploratory committee: March 13, 2019	November 19, 2019	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Beto O'Rourke	September 26, 1972 (age 47) El Paso, Texas	U.S. representative from TX-16 (2013–2019)	Texas	March 14, 2019	November 1, 2019 (endorsed Biden)	1	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Tim Ryan	July 16, 1973 (age 47) Niles, Ohio	U.S. representative from OH-13 (2013–2023) U.S. representative from OH-17 (2003–2013)	Ohio	April 4, 2019	October 24, 2019 (ran successfully for reelection) (endorsed Biden)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Bill de Blasio	May 8, 1961 (age 59) Manhattan, New York	Mayor of New York City, New York (2014–2021)	New York	May 16, 2019	September 20, 2019 (endorsed Sanders, then Biden as presumptive nominee)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Kirsten Gillibrand	December 9, 1966 (age 53) Albany, New York	U.S. senator from New York (2009–present) U.S. representative from NY-20 (2007–2009)	New York	March 17, 2019 Exploratory committee: January 15, 2019	August 28, 2019 (endorsed Biden)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Seth Moulton	October 24, 1978 (age 41) Salem, Massachusetts	U.S. representative from MA-06 (2015–present)	Massachusetts	April 22, 2019	August 23, 2019 (ran successfully for reelection) (endorsed Biden)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Jay Inslee	February 9, 1951 (age 69) Seattle, Washington	Governor of Washington (2013–present) U.S. representative from WA-01 (1999–2012) U.S. representative from WA-04 (1993–1995)	Washington	March 1, 2019	August 21, 2019 (ran successfully for reelection) (endorsed Biden as presumptive nominee)	1	__________ Campaign FEC filing
John Hickenlooper	February 7, 1952 (age 68) Narberth, Pennsylvania	Governor of Colorado (2011–2019) Mayor of Denver, Colorado (2003–2011)	Colorado	March 4, 2019	August 15, 2019 (ran successfully for U.S. Senate) (endorsed Bennet, then Biden as presumptive nominee)	1	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Mike Gravel	May 13, 1930 (aged 90) Springfield, Massachusetts	U.S. senator from Alaska (1969–1981) Candidate for president in 2008 Candidate for Vice President in 1972	California	April 2, 2019 Exploratory committee: March 19, 2019	August 6, 2019 (co-endorsed Gabbard and Sanders)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Eric Swalwell	November 16, 1980 (age 39) Sac City, Iowa	U.S. representative from CA-15 (2013–2023)	California	April 8, 2019	July 8, 2019 (ran successfully for reelection) (endorsed Biden)	0	__________ Campaign FEC filing
Richard Ojeda	September 25, 1970 (age 49) Rochester, Minnesota	West Virginia state senator from WV-SD07 (2016–2019)	West Virginia	November 11, 2018	January 25, 2019 (ran for U.S. Senate; lost primary) (endorsed Biden)	0	Campaign FEC filing

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)
• Brian Moore, activist; Green nominee for U.S. Senate from Florida in 2006; Socialist and Liberty Union nominee for president in 2008
• Ken Nwadike Jr., documentary filmmaker, motivational speaker, and peace activist

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidates

Debates and forums

Main articles: 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates and 2020 Democratic Party presidential forums

In December 2018, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the schedule for 12 official DNC-sanctioned debates, set to begin in June 2019, with six debates in 2019 and the remaining six during the first four months of 2020. Candidates were allowed to participate in forums featuring multiple other candidates as long as only one candidate appeared on stage at a time. Any presidential candidates who participated in unsanctioned debates with each other would have lost their invitations to the next DNC-sanctioned debate. No unsanctioned debates took place during the 2019—2020 debate season.

The DNC also announced that it would not partner with Fox News as a media sponsor for any debates. Fox News last held a Democratic debate in 2003. All media sponsors selected to host a debate were as a new rule required to appoint at least one female moderator for each debate, to ensure there would not be a gender-skewed treatment of the candidates and debate topics.

Debate schedule

Debate	Date	Time (ET)	Viewers	Location	Sponsor(s)	Moderator(s)
1A	June 26, 2019	9–11 p.m.	~24.3 million (15.3m live TV; 9m streaming)	Arsht Center, Miami, Florida	NBC News MSNBC Telemundo	José Díaz-Balart Savannah Guthrie Lester Holt Rachel Maddow Chuck Todd
1B	June 27, 2019	9–11 p.m.	~27.1 million (18.1m live TV; 9m streaming)
2A	July 30, 2019	8–10:30 p.m.	~11.5 million (8.7m live TV; 2.8m streaming)	Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan	CNN	Dana Bash Don Lemon Jake Tapper
2B	July 31, 2019	8–10:30 p.m.	~13.8 million (10.7m live TV; 3.1m streaming)
3	September 12, 2019	8–11 p.m.	14.04 million live TV	Health and Physical Education Arena, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas	ABC News Univision	Linsey Davis David Muir Jorge Ramos George Stephanopoulos
4	October 15, 2019	8–11 p.m.	~8.8 million (8.34m live TV; 0.45m streaming)	Rike Physical Education Center, Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio	CNN The New York Times	Erin Burnett Anderson Cooper Marc Lacey
5	November 20, 2019	9–11 p.m.	~7.9 million (6.6m live TV; 1.3m streaming)	Oprah Winfrey sound stage, Tyler Perry Studios, Atlanta, Georgia	MSNBC The Washington Post	Rachel Maddow Andrea Mitchell Ashley Parker Kristen Welker
6	December 19, 2019	8–11 p.m.	~14.6 million (6.17m live TV; 8.4m streaming)	Gersten Pavilion, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California	PBS Politico	Tim Alberta Yamiche Alcindor Amna Nawaz Judy Woodruff
7	January 14, 2020	9–11:15 p.m.	~11.3 million (7.3m live TV; 4.0m streaming)	Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa	CNN The Des Moines Register	Wolf Blitzer Brianne Pfannenstiel Abby Phillip
8	February 7, 2020	8–10:30 p.m.	~11.0 million (7.8m live TV; 3.2m streaming)	Thomas F. Sullivan Arena, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire	ABC News WMUR-TV Apple News	Linsey Davis Monica Hernandez David Muir Adam Sexton George Stephanopoulos
9	February 19, 2020	9–11 p.m.	~33.16 million (19.66m live TV; 13.5m streaming)	Le Théâtre des Arts, Paris Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada	NBC News MSNBC Telemundo The Nevada Independent	Vanessa Hauc Lester Holt Hallie Jackson Jon Ralston Chuck Todd
10	February 25, 2020	8–10 p.m.	~30.4 million (15.3m live TV; 15.1m streaming)	Gaillard Center, Charleston, South Carolina	CBS News BET Twitter Congressional Black Caucus Institute	Margaret Brennan Major Garrett Gayle King Norah O'Donnell Bill Whitaker
11	March 15, 2020	8–10 p.m.	~11.4 million (10.8m live TV; 0.6m streaming)	CNN studio Washington, D.C.	CNN Univision Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD	Dana Bash Ilia Calderón Jake Tapper

Primary election polling

Main articles: Nationwide opinion polling for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and Statewide opinion polling for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

The following graph depicts the standing of each candidate in the poll aggregators from January 2019 to August 2020.

  Joe Biden

  Bernie Sanders

  Elizabeth Warren

  Kamala Harris

  Beto O'Rourke

  Cory Booker

  Amy Klobuchar

  Tulsi Gabbard

  Pete Buttigieg

  Andrew Yang

  Tom Steyer

  Michael Bloomberg

Timeline

Main article: Timeline of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Nominee Exploratory committee Suspended campaign Midterm elections Iowa caucuses New Hampshire primary South Carolina primary Super Tuesday National emergency declared due to COVID-19 Wisconsin primary Democratic convention Won election

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, 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.

Primaries and caucuses

State/ Territory	Date	Biden	Sanders	Gabbard	Warren	Bloomberg	Klobuchar	Buttigieg	Steyer	Patrick	Bennet	Yang	Other	Ref
IA	Feb 3	Ballot access not required
NH	Feb 11
NV	Feb 22
SC	Feb 29
AL	Mar 3
AR	Mar 3
AS	Mar 3
CA	Mar 3
CO	Mar 3
ME	Mar 3
MA	Mar 3
MN	Mar 3
NC	Mar 3
OK	Mar 3
TN	Mar 3
TX	Mar 3
UT	Mar 3
VT	Mar 3
VA	Mar 3
DA	Mar 3 – Mar 10
ID	Mar 10
MI	Mar 10
MS	Mar 10
MO	Mar 10
ND	Mar 10
WA	Mar 10
MP	Mar 14
AZ	Mar 17
FL	Mar 17
IL	Mar 17
WI	Apr 7
AK	Apr 10
WY	Apr 17
OH	Apr 28
KS	May 2
NE	May 12
OR	May 19
HI	May 22
DC	Jun 2
IN	Jun 2
MD	Jun 2
MT	Jun 2
NM	Jun 2
PA	Jun 2
RI	Jun 2
SD	Jun 2
GU	Jun 6	Ballot access not required
VI	Jun 6