2020 Republican Party presidential primaries facts for kids

The 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries were special elections. They happened across the United States and its territories. These elections helped choose the Republican Party's candidate for president of the United States in the 2020 election.

To win, a candidate needed to get more than half of the 'delegates'. Delegates are people who vote for the candidate at a big meeting called the Republican National Convention. On March 17, 2020, Donald Trump won enough delegates to become the likely candidate. On August 24, the delegates officially chose him as the Republican nominee.

Quick facts for kids
2020 Republican Party presidential primaries

← 2016 February 3 to June 2, 2020 2024 →
2,552 delegate votes (2,442 pledged and 110 unpledged) to the Republican National Convention 1,276 delegates votes needed to win
Candidate Donald Trump Bill Weld (Withdrew) Joe Walsh (Withdrew) Home state Florida Massachusetts Illinois Delegate count 1,797 1 0 Contests won 33 0 0 Popular vote 13,682,123 286,564 169,713 Percentage 94.14% 1.97% 1.17%   Candidate Rocky De La Fuente Home state California Delegate count 0 Contests won 0 Popular vote 73,119 Percentage 0.50%
First place by first-instance vote
Previous Republican nominee Donald Trump Republican nominee Donald Trump

What is a Primary Election?

A primary election is how a political party chooses its best candidate. This person will then run for president in the main election. In 2020, the Republican Party held primaries to decide who would represent them.

Why Did Candidates Run Against Donald Trump?

President Donald Trump was already in office. He started his campaign to be re-elected very early, in February 2017. Even though he was the current president, other people from his party still decided to run against him.

Some of these challengers included:

• Bill Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts. He announced his campaign in April 2019.
• Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois. He joined the race in August 2019.
• Mark Sanford, a former governor of South Carolina. He ran for a short time in late 2019.

In February 2019, the Republican Party's main committee decided to fully support Donald Trump. Because of this, seven states chose not to hold their own primary elections.

Who Were the Candidates?

The Republican Nominee

The Republican Party officially chose a team to run for president and vice president.

2020 Republican Party ticket
Donald Trump	Mike Pence
for President	for Vice President
President of the United States (2017-present)	Vice President of the United States (2017-present)
Campaign

Other Candidates Who Ran

Several other people also ran for the Republican nomination. They hoped to get enough votes to challenge Donald Trump.

Candidates in this section are sorted by state ballot access
Bill Weld	Joe Walsh	Rocky De La Fuente	Zoltan Istvan	Mark Sanford
Former Governor of Massachusetts (1991–1997)	Former U.S. Representative from Illinois (2011–2013)	Businessman	Transhumanist	Former U.S. Representative from South Carolina (1995–2001, 2013–2019) Former Governor (1998–2002)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign		Campaign
Announced: April 15, 2019 Stopped Campaigning: March 18, 2020	Announced: August 25, 2019 Stopped Campaigning: February 7, 2020	Announced: May 16, 2019	Announced: November 18, 2019 Stopped Campaigning: March 12, 2020	Announced: September 8, 2019 Stopped Campaigning: November 12, 2019
1 delegate 286,564 votes (1.97%)	169,713 votes (1.17%)	73,119 votes (0.50%)	14,291 votes (0.10%)	4,258 votes (0.03%)

Where Was the Convention Held?

The Republican National Convention is a big meeting where the party officially picks its presidential candidate. On July 20, 2018, the Republican Party decided to hold their 2020 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The convention took place from August 24 to August 27, 2020.

Important Dates in the Campaign

This timeline shows when candidates started and stopped their campaigns. It also marks key election events.

See also

• 2020 United States presidential election