2020 United States elections

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2020 United States elections
2018          2019          2020          2021          2022
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 3
Incumbent presidentDonald Trump (Republican)
Next Congress117th
Presidential election
Partisan controlDemocratic gain
Popular vote marginDemocratic +4.5%
Electoral vote
Joe Biden (D)306
Donald Trump (R)232
2020 United States presidential election in California2020 United States presidential election in Oregon2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state)2020 United States presidential election in Idaho2020 United States presidential election in Nevada2020 United States presidential election in Utah2020 United States presidential election in Arizona2020 United States presidential election in Montana2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming2020 United States presidential election in Colorado2020 United States presidential election in New Mexico2020 United States presidential election in North Dakota2020 United States presidential election in South Dakota2020 United States presidential election in Nebraska2020 United States presidential election in Kansas2020 United States presidential election in Oklahoma2020 United States presidential election in Texas2020 United States presidential election in Minnesota2020 United States presidential election in Iowa2020 United States presidential election in Missouri2020 United States presidential election in Arkansas2020 United States presidential election in Louisiana2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin2020 United States presidential election in Illinois2020 United States presidential election in Michigan2020 United States presidential election in Indiana2020 United States presidential election in Ohio2020 United States presidential election in Kentucky2020 United States presidential election in Tennessee2020 United States presidential election in Mississippi2020 United States presidential election in Alabama2020 United States presidential election in Georgia2020 United States presidential election in Florida2020 United States presidential election in South Carolina2020 United States presidential election in North Carolina2020 United States presidential election in Virginia2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2020 United States presidential election in Maryland2020 United States presidential election in Delaware2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania2020 United States presidential election in New Jersey2020 United States presidential election in New York2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut2020 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2020 United States presidential election in Vermont2020 United States presidential election in New Hampshire2020 United States presidential election in Maine2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2020 United States presidential election in Hawaii2020 United States presidential election in Alaska2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2020 United States presidential election in Maryland2020 United States presidential election in Delaware2020 United States presidential election in New Jersey2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut2020 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2020 United States presidential election in Vermont2020 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Biden/Harris, and red denotes states won by Trump/Pence. Numbers indicate
electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state or district.
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic gain[a]
Seats contested35 of 100 seats
(33 seats of Class II + 2 special elections)
Net seat changeDemocratic +3
2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia2020 United States Senate special election in Arizona2020 United States Senate election in Alabama2020 United States Senate election in Alaska2020 United States Senate election in Arkansas2020 United States Senate election in Colorado2020 United States Senate election in Delaware2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia2020 United States Senate election in Idaho2020 United States Senate election in Illinois2020 United States Senate election in Iowa2020 United States Senate election in Kansas2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky2020 United States Senate election in Louisiana2020 United States Senate election in Maine2020 United States Senate election in Massachusetts2020 United States Senate election in Michigan2020 United States Senate election in Minnesota2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi2020 United States Senate election in Montana2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska2020 United States Senate election in New Hampshire2020 United States Senate election in New Jersey2020 United States Senate election in New Mexico2020 United States Senate election in North Carolina2020 United States Senate election in Oklahoma2020 United States Senate election in Oregon2020 United States Senate election in Rhode Island2020 United States Senate election in South Carolina2020 United States Senate election in South Dakota2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee2020 United States Senate election in Texas2020 United States Senate election in Virginia2020 United States Senate election in West Virginia2020 United States Senate election in Wyoming
Map of the 2020 Senate races
(Georgia held two Senate elections)
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
     No election
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 435 voting-members
All six non-voting delegates
Popular vote marginDemocratic +3.1%
Net seat changeRepublican +13
Color coded map of 2020 House of Representatives race results
Map of the 2020 House of Representatives elections
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested13 (11 states, two territories)
Net seat changeRepublican +1
2020 Delaware gubernatorial election2020 Indiana gubernatorial election2020 Missouri gubernatorial election2020 Montana gubernatorial election2020 New Hampshire gubernatorial election2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election2020 North Dakota gubernatorial election2020 Utah gubernatorial election2020 Vermont gubernatorial election2020 Washington gubernatorial election2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election2020 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election2020 American Samoa gubernatorial election
Map of the 2020 gubernatorial races
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     Republican gain
     New Progressive hold      Nonpartisan
     No election

The 2020 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party's nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, defeated incumbent Republican president Donald Trump in the presidential election. Despite losing seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats retained control of the House and gained control of the Senate. As a result, the Democrats obtained a government trifecta, the first time since the elections in 2008 that the party gained unified control of Congress and the presidency.[1] With Trump losing his bid for re-election, he became the first defeated incumbent president to have overseen his party lose the presidency and control of both the House and the Senate since Herbert Hoover in 1932.[2][3] This was the first time since 1980 that either chamber of Congress flipped partisan control in a presidential year, and the first time Democrats did so since 1948.

Biden became his party's nominee after defeating numerous challengers in the

District of Columbia and the permanently inhabited U.S. territories
were also held during the 2020 elections.

Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 86 of the 99 state legislative chambers, and 11 states held their gubernatorial elections. Only one state governorship and two legislative chambers changed partisan control, as Republicans won the gubernatorial race in Montana and gained control of both legislative chambers in New Hampshire. Various other state executive and judicial elections, as well as numerous referendums, tribal elections, mayoral elections, and other local elections, also took place in 2020. The 2020 elections were the last major set of elections to impact the redistricting cycle that will take place following the 2020 census. Significant issues for voters included the ongoing

racial unrest and climate change. Social distancing guidelines resulted in unprecedented levels of postal voting and early voting. Voter turnout greatly exceeded recent elections; one projection has turnout by voting eligible population being higher than any election since 1900
.

After Biden won the election, Trump and other Republicans refused to concede, making baseless and disproven claims of widespread voter fraud,[4][5][6] despite U.S. election security officials saying that the election was "the most secure in American history".[7] These attempts to overturn the election resulted in a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, which led to Trump being impeached for the second time and deplatformed across several major social media platforms.[8][9][10]

Issues

During the campaign, the most prominent issues were the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, health care, economy, race, and abortion.[11] Democrats emphasized coronavirus economic relief and public health measures such as contact tracing, face mask usage, and social distancing, whereas Republican downplayed the coronavirus,[12] scuttled coronavirus economic relief negotiations in the lead-up to the election,[13][14] and advocated for laxer public health measures to deal with the spread of the coronavirus.[15] Trump himself held events across the country, including in coronavirus hotspots, where attendees did not wear masks and were not socially distancing; at the same time, he mocked those who wore face masks.[16][17][18]

The Republican Party opted not to provide a comprehensive platform of its policy positions for the election; the 2020 platform was a one-page resolution which stated that the party "has and will continue to enthusiastically support the president's America-first agenda."[19] Democrats ran on protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act, while criticizing Republicans for jeopardizing protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.[20][21] Republicans generally did not emphasize health care issues, as their opposition to the Affordable Care Act had become a political liability by 2020, as the legislation had grown in popularity.[21][22]

On the environment, Democrats proposed plans to combat climate change, including through investments in renewable energy and rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, whereas Republicans emphasized increased production of oil and natural gas.[23]

During the election campaign, Democrats made calls for criminal justice reform and spoke of a need to reduce systemic racism in the criminal justice system.[24][25] Republicans ran on a "law and order" and pro-police messaging.[26][27] While Democrats in many races were moderate, Republicans depicted them as extremists or secret "socialists" who held radical views on criminal justice or climate legislation.[26]

The rhetoric of incumbent president Donald Trump and his allies during the election campaign was marked by frequent use of falsehoods and promotion of unfounded conspiracy theories.[28][29][30] In the lead-up to the elections, Republicans attacked voting rights and spread falsehoods about voter fraud.[31][32][33][34] Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power in case he lost the election.[35] While senior Republicans disapproved of Trump's rhetoric in private, they refused to rebuke him publicly.[36]

Federal elections

Presidential election

The U.S. presidential election of 2020 was the 59th quadrennial

2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Trump acknowledged that "a new administration will be inaugurated."[39]

Biden won the election with 306 electoral votes and 51.3% of the national popular vote, compared to Trump's 232 electoral votes and 46.9% of the popular vote. Biden won every state that 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election, as well as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nebraska's second congressional district. Biden won the tipping-point state, Wisconsin, by a margin of 0.6%.[40] While Biden won the popular vote by 7 million votes, across Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin, the three states whose electoral votes contributed to Biden's win, Biden won by fewer than 45,000 votes.[41] In California and New York, Biden received 7 million more votes than Trump, accounting for Biden's popular vote win.[41] Among third party and independent candidates, Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen won 1.2% of the popular vote, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins finished with 0.3% of the vote, and various other candidates won about 0.4% of the vote.

Incumbent Trump won re-nomination by his party after facing token opposition in the 2020 Republican primaries.[42][43] The Republican Party also re-nominated Vice President Mike Pence as Trump's running mate for the 2020 election. Biden became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee in early April 2020 after Bernie Sanders withdrew from the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries; Biden later chose Kamala Harris as his running mate shortly before the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[44] Along with Biden and Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Tulsi Gabbard all won at least one delegate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.[45] Beyond the two major parties, about 1,200 individuals listed their names with the federal government as third party and independent candidates.[46][c]

Biden is the oldest individual to win a US presidential election,[48] and Kamala Harris is the first woman to be elected vice president of the US.[49] Trump's defeat made him the first incumbent president to lose re-election since George H. W. Bush in the 1992 presidential election,[50] and the tenth elected president to lose his re-election bid.[51] He also became the first elected president to lose the popular vote twice since Benjamin Harrison in the late 19th century; and the first president ever to be elected while losing the popular vote, to then be impeached, and to then lose reelection as an incumbent.[2][52] Accounting for the Democratic gain of the House in 2018, 2020 represented the first time since the 1930 and 1932 elections, as well as the sixth time overall, that an opposition party flipped control of the White House and both houses of Congress from the prior governing party following a single presidential term.[53] Biden became the first U.S. presidential candidate to win over 80 million total votes, won the highest share of the popular vote of any challenger to an incumbent president since the 1932 presidential election, and won the popular vote by the largest margin since Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election.[54] The Democratic victory in the national popular vote marked the seventh time in eight elections that Democrats won the national popular vote, although Republicans won the majority of the electoral vote (and thus the election) in three of those eight elections.[55]

Congressional elections

Senate elections

33 12 2 23 30
15 Democrats
not up
12 Democrats
up
[d] 23 Republicans
up
30 Republicans
not up
Control of Senate seats by class after the 2020 elections
Class
Democratic Independent Republican Next elections
1 21 2 10 2024
2 13 0 20 2026
3 14 0 20 2022
Total 48 2 50

Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the

Senate Class II, and seats in Arizona and Georgia that were up for special elections. Republicans defended 23 seats, while Democrats defended 12 seats. Prior to the 2020 election, and including seats not up for election, Republicans held 53 Senate seats, while Democrats held 45 seats, and Democratic-aligned independents held the remaining two seats. Because the vice president has the casting vote in the Senate
, Democrats needed to achieve a net gain of at least three seats to achieve control if they won the vice presidency; otherwise, they needed to achieve a net gain of at least four seats to take the majority.

Five seats changed partisan control in the 2020 elections, as Democrats defeated both Republican incumbents in Georgia, as well as the Republican incumbents in the seats up in Arizona and Colorado. Republicans picked up one seat by defeating the Democratic incumbent in Alabama. The results of the 2020 cycle left both partisan caucuses with 50 senators.[56] Democrats gained majority control of the Senate on January 20, 2021, when Vice President-elect Harris and senators Alex Padilla, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock were sworn into office.[57] Democrats gained control of the Senate for the first time since they lost control in the 2014 United States Senate elections.

House of Representatives elections

Cartogram of U.S. House of Representative results:
  Democratic gain   Republican gain
  Democratic hold   Republican hold
  Independent hold
  New Progressive (Puerto Rico) & Republican hold

All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election; 218 seats are necessary for a majority. The winners of each race serve a two-year term. Democrats had gained control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 elections, winning 235 seats compared to 199 seats for Republicans.[e] Due to vacancies and party-switching that arose during the 116th Congress, immediately before the November 2020 elections Democrats held 232 seats, compared to 197 seats held by Republicans and one seat, that of Justin Amash, held by the Libertarian Party.[58] Thus, Republicans needed to gain 21 seats to gain a majority.

Republicans picked up 14 seats in the House elections, defeating thirteen incumbent House Democrats.[59] Nationally, Democratic House candidates won by a margin of about 3%, as many Democrats ran behind Biden.[60] The election results left Democrats with a narrow majority of 222 seats at the start of the 117th Congress.

Special elections

Five special elections were held in 2020 to replace a member who resigned or died in office during the 116th U.S. Congress:

State elections

Gubernatorial

23 5 1 7 20
Democrats Not Up Democrats Up PNP/R Up Republicans Up Republicans Not Up
States holding regularly-scheduled legislative and gubernatorial elections in 2020:
  Governor and all legislative chambers
  All legislative chambers
  A portion of legislative chambers
  None[f]

Elections were held for the

U.S. territories. Most elections were for four-year terms, but the governors of New Hampshire and Vermont each serve two-year terms. Republicans defended a total of seven seats, while Democrats defended six seats. Only one state governorship changed parties, as Republican Greg Gianforte won the 2020 Montana gubernatorial election, succeeding outgoing Democratic governor Steve Bullock.[75] In Puerto Rico, the governorship was retained by the New Progressive Party, although the winning candidate, Pedro Pierluisi, is affiliated with the Democratic Party, replacing an incumbent who was affiliated with the Republican Party.[76]

Legislative