2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries

← 2016 February 3 to June 23, 2020 2024 →
1,990 of 3,979 pledged delegate votes needed to win the presidential nomination at the convention's first ballot. (2,376 of all 4,750 delegate votes needed to win any subsequent ballots at a contested convention.)
Candidate Joe Biden Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Home state Delaware Vermont Massachusetts Delegate count 2,671 1,073 63 Contests won 46 9 0 Popular vote 18,015,274 9,443,990 2,780,873 Percentage 51.05% 26.76% 7.88%   Candidate Michael Bloomberg Pete Buttigieg Amy Klobuchar Home state New York Indiana Minnesota Delegate count 59 21 7 Contests won 1 1 0 Popular vote 2,475,130 912,214 524,400 Percentage 7.01% 2.58% 1.49%   Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Home state Hawaii Delegate count 2 Contests won 0 Popular vote 263,952 Percentage 0.75%
First place by popular vote First place by national pledged delegates      Bernie Sanders      Joe Biden      Pete Buttigieg      Michael Bloomberg
Previous Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton Democratic nominee Joe Biden

The 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses were a series of elections by the Democratic Party to select the about 3,979 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Those delegates picked the Democratic nominee for president of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election.

The elections took place from February to August 2020 in all fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and Democrats Abroad.

On June 5, 2020, Biden passed the threshold of 1,991 delegates, securing the nomination.

Background

The 2020 field of Democratic presidential candidates peaked at more than two dozen candidates. According to Politifact, this field is believed to be the largest field of presidential candidates for any American political party since 1972; it exceeds the field of 17 major candidates who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

In May 2019, CBS News referred to the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates as "the largest and most diverse Democratic primary field in modern history", including at least six female presidential candidates.

Delegate votes

The new superdelegate reforms also regulate how the 2020 Democratic National Convention shall handle the outcome of primaries and caucuses for three potential scenarios:

1. If a single candidate wins at least 2,268 pledged delegates: Superdelegates will be allowed to vote at first ballot, as their influence can not overturn the majority of pledged delegates.
2. If a single candidate wins 1,886–2,267 pledged delegates: Superdelegates will be barred from voting at first ballot, which solely will be decided by the will of pledged delegates.
3. If no candidate wins more than 1,885 pledged delegates: This will result in a contested convention, where superdelegates are barred from voting at the first formal ballot, but regain their right to vote for their preferred presidential nominee for all subsequent ballots needed until the delegates reach a majority.

Candidates

Nominees

2020 Democratic Party ticket
Joe Biden	Kamala Harris
for President	for Vice President
Vice President of the United States (2009–2017) U.S. senator from Delaware (1973–2009)
Campaign

Withdrawn

Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the primaries
Bernie Sanders	Tulsi Gabbard	Elizabeth Warren	Michael Bloomberg	Amy Klobuchar	Pete Buttigieg	Tom Steyer
U.S. senator from Vermont (2007–present) U.S. representative from VT-AL (1991–2007)	U.S. representative from HI-02 (2013–present)	U.S. senator from Massachusetts (2013–present)	Mayor of New York City, New York (2002–2013) CEO of Bloomberg L.P.	U.S. senator from Minnesota (2007–present)	Mayor of South Bend, Indiana (2012–2020)	Hedge fund manager Founder of Farallon Capital and Beneficial State Bank
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: April 8, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 8,466,161 votes 1,007 delegates	W: March 19, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 191,459 votes 2 delegates	W: March 5, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 2,607,928 votes 58 delegates	W: March 4, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 2,422,368 votes 43 delegates	W: March 2, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 494,695 votes 7 delegates	W: March 1, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 855,014 votes 21 delegates	W: February 29, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 248,875 votes
Deval Patrick	Michael Bennet	Andrew Yang	John Delaney	Cory Booker	Marianne Williamson	Julián Castro
Governor of Massachusetts (2007–2015)	U.S. senator from Colorado (2009–present)	Entrepreneur Founder of Venture for America	U.S. representative from MD-06 (2013–2019)	U.S. senator from New Jersey (2013–present) Mayor of Newark, New Jersey (2006–2013)	Author Founder of Project Angel Food	Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2014–2017) Mayor of San Antonio, Texas (2009–2014)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: February 12, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 19,630 votes	W: February 11, 2020 42,322 votes	W: February 11, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 108,313 votes	W: January 31, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 15,985 votes	W: January 13, 2020 (endorsed Biden) 28,913 votes	W: January 10, 2020 (endorsed Sanders) 21,437 votes	W: January 2, 2020 (endorsed Warren, then Biden) 36,277 votes
Kamala Harris	Steve Bullock	Joe Sestak	Wayne Messam	Beto O'Rourke	Tim Ryan	Bill de Blasio
U.S. senator from California (2017–present) Attorney General of California (2011–2017)	Governor of Montana (2013–present) Attorney General of Montana (2009–2013)	U.S. representative from PA-07 (2007–2011) Former Vice Admiral of the United States Navy	Mayor of Miramar, Florida (2015–present)	U.S. representative from TX-16 (2013–2019)	U.S. representative from OH-13 (2013–present) U.S. representative from OH-17 (2003–2013)	Mayor of New York City, New York (2014–present)
		N/A
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: December 2, 2019 844 votes	W: December 3, 2019 (endorsed Biden) 549 votes	W: December 1, 2019 (endorsed Klobuchar) 5,251 votes	W: November 19, 2019 0 votes	W: November 1, 2019 (endorsed Biden) 1 vote	W: October 24, 2019 (endorsed Biden) 0 votes	W: September 20, 2019 (endorsed Sanders) 0 votes
Kirsten Gillibrand	Seth Moulton	Jay Inslee	John Hickenlooper	Mike Gravel	Eric Swalwell	Richard Ojeda
U.S. senator from New York (2009–present) U.S. representative from NY-20 (2007–2009)	U.S. representative from MA-06 (2015–present)	Governor of Washington (2013–present) U.S. representative from WA-01 (1999–2012) U.S. representative from WA-04 (1993–1995)	Governor of Colorado (2011–2019) Mayor of Denver, Colorado (2003–2011)	U.S. senator from Alaska (1969–1981)	U.S. representative from CA-15 (2013–present)	West Virginia state senator from WV-SD07 (2016–2019)
						N/A
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: August 28, 2019 (endorsed Biden) 0 votes	W: August 23, 2019 (endorsed Biden) 0 votes	W: August 21, 2019 1 vote	W: August 15, 2019 (endorsed Bennet) 1 vote	W: August 6, 2019 (endorsed Gabbard and Sanders) 0 votes	W: July 8, 2019 0 votes	W: January 25, 2019 0 votes

Primary and caucus calendar

Democratic primary and caucus calendar by currently scheduled date
      February
      March 3 (Super Tuesday)
      March 10
      March 14–17
      March 24–29
      April 4–7
      April 28
      May
      June
      No scheduled 2020 date

Timeline

Convention

The convention was scheduled to be held from July 13–16, 2020, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held from August 17–20. Most speakers did not go to the central location. Instead, they joined the convention from other places, using the internet.

Maps

• 

  Results in pledged delegates, by county

• 

  Results in pledged delegates, by state

Polling

See also

In Spanish: Primarias presidenciales del Partido Demócrata de 2020 para niños