List of Democratic Party presidential primaries

This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries.

1912

This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Champ Clark. Wilson defeated Clark and was nominated during the convention. He then won the general election with a landslide victory.

1916

Democratic incumbent President Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election, and faced no major opposition in the primaries.

1920

Former

Warren Harding

.

1924

Former

dark horse candidate John W. Davis, (who wasn't even a formal candidate when he arrived at the convention) was chosen on the 103rd ballot. Davis went on to lose the election to the Republican candidate, President Calvin Coolidge

.

1928

New York Governor Al Smith faced no major opposition in the primaries but lost in the general election against Herbert Hoover.

1932

New York Governor and 1920 vice president candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of 1928 candidate Al Smith. Roosevelt easily defeated Smith and was nominated on the fourth ballot, during the convention. He then defeated President Hoover in the general election with a landslide victory.

1936

Democratic incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for re-election, and faced no major opposition in the primaries.

1940

Democratic incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran again for re-election, and faced the opposition of Vice President

Henry Wallace

.

1944

Democratic incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran again for re-election, and faced no major opposition in the primaries. Senator

Harry S Truman of Missouri

won the vice presidential nomination on the second ballot, defeating Vice President Wallace.

1948

Democratic incumbent President

Harry Truman

ran for election to a full term, and faced no major opposition in the primaries.

1952

Senator

Dwight Eisenhower

in the general election.

1956

Adlai Stevenson, who had won the 1952 nomination on third ballot, defeated Estes Kefauver in the early primaries, thus becoming the last losing Democratic presidential nominee to win a second nomination. He would lose the election to President Eisenhower.

1960

Senator

Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota

in the two contested primaries.

1964

Governor George Wallace of Alabama made a feeble challenge to President Lyndon B. Johnson and his surrogates, who were running because he pretended not to be running.

1968

In the last successful challenge to an incumbent president, Senator

Eugene J. McCarthy of Minnesota came extremely close to defeating President Johnson in New Hampshire, and with polls showing him winning Wisconsin and the entry of Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York

, the President withdrew from the race.

Thus followed an exciting race between Kennedy and McCarthy, but Vice President

Hubert H. Humphrey

swept the caucuses and two favorite sons who already endorsed him had won primaries in Ohio and Florida, giving him a substantial lead by the time Senator Kennedy was murdered by Sirhan Sirhan on the day of the California primary.

See also:

1972

The 1972 primaries set the record for the highest number of candidates in a major party's presidential primaries in American history, with 16. After the

Thomas F. Eagleton had undergone electroshock therapy for depression. After claiming to back Eagleton "1000%", McGovern asked him to resign three days later. After a week of being publicly rebuffed by prominent Democrats, McGovern finally managed to get Sargent Shriver

to be his new running mate. This trouble compounded the already weak support he had among party leaders.

See also:

1976

The 1976 primaries matched the record previously set in 1972 for the highest number of candidates in any presidential primaries in American history, with 16. During the primaries, Jimmy Carter capitalized on his status as an outsider. The 1976 campaign was the first in which primaries and caucuses carried more weight than the old boss-dominated system. Carter exploited this, competing in every contest and won so many delegates that he held an overwhelming majority of the delegates at the convention.

See also:

1980

The incumbent President Jimmy Carter faced high unemployment, high inflation and gas shortages in California. Against this backdrop, Ted Kennedy decided to run after sitting out 1972 and 1976. Kennedy stumbled badly in an interview, then the Iran hostage crisis in November 1979 seriously undermined Carter as his calm approach caused his poll numbers to rise. Carter won decisively everywhere except Massachusetts until the public began to grow weary of the hostage situation. Kennedy then began to win and even swept the last states. It was too little, too late. Carter had a slight advantage and enough delegates to win the nomination.

See also:

1984

Former Vice President

Jews "Hymies" and New York City "Hymietown" in an interview with a black reporter.^[1] Hart waged a strong campaign in New Hampshire, Ohio, California and the West, looking as if he could win. Hart's downfall came when, in a televised debate, Mondale said he was reminded of the Wendy's slogan "Where's the beef?

" whenever he heard Hart talk about his "New Ideas" program. The audience laughed and applauded. Hart was never able to shake the impression created that his policy lacked weight. Mondale gradually pulled ahead, winning a near majority & therefore required (and gained) the super delegates support for the nomination.

See also:

1988

Democrats entered the race with hopes to build on mid-term wins that gave them control of the Senate, and that the ongoing

Iran Contra scandal would plague the eventual Republican nominee. Three candidates won multiple primaries: Michael Dukakis (30), Jesse Jackson (13), and Al Gore

(7), and for a while the hope of a multi-ballot convention remained alive.

Donna Rice thwarted his campaign. Joe Biden was caught up in a plagiarism scandal.^[2]^[3] Neither were able to put up victories. Paul Simon only won his home state of Illinois

.

Dukakis ended up with two-thirds of the delegates, winning the nomination.

See also:

1992

Following the 1991

Persian Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush was riding a wave of popularity. The party leaders who otherwise might have run declined to, leaving the race open to lesser known candidates. By the beginning of the first primary, an economic recession had hurt Bush and energized the Democrats. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton rose from the pack, but allegations of an extra-marital affair soon followed. However, his campaigns attempts at damage control, including an appearance by Clinton on 60 Minutes alongside his wife, Hillary Clinton, worked. Clinton placed second in the primary in New Hampshire and then almost swept every Super Tuesday contest. Jerry Brown

won several primaries and more delegates than any other candidate except Clinton but Clinton had five times the vote and was easily the winner.

See also:

1996

With popular Democratic incumbent President Bill Clinton running for re-election, the nomination process was uneventful. The only opposition was from fringe candidates, one of whom, Lyndon LaRouche, won delegates but they were forbidden entrance to the convention.

See also:

2000

Vice President Al Gore had the support of the party establishment and a strong base within the party after eight years under President Bill Clinton. His only significant challenger was Bill Bradley who never managed to win a primary. With Bradley's delegates forbidden to vote for him, Gore was chosen unanimously at the convention.

See also:

2004

After his loss in the last election, former Vice President Al Gore decided not to run in 2004, leaving the field wide open. Former Governor Howard Dean of Vermont broke out early with an internet campaign and led in fundraising.^[4] Wesley Clark began his campaign too late and never gained footing. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina made an unexpectedly strong showing in the first caucus. Dean finished second in the next contest but dropped out thereafter. Kerry dominated the race with only Edwards offering real competition. However, Edwards managed to finish first only in South Carolina and withdrew after Kerry won decisive victories on Super Tuesday. Kerry easily won the nomination, with Edwards as his running mate. Kerry subsequently lost the presidential election to George W. Bush.

See also:

2008

In the closest primary contest for the Democrats since 1980, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois ended up upsetting early favorite Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. Clinton won many big-state primaries, and competed strongly in the Midwest, but Obama was able to rack up a large number of delegates through big wins in caucus states and the Southern primaries, where black voters cast a majority of the ballots. Neither candidate received enough delegates from the state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority without superdelegate votes.

See also:

2012

Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama ran for re-election, and faced no major opposition in the primaries. Minor opposition candidates won 40+% of the vote in four state primaries, however; the delegates won by the opposition were forbidden from attending the Democratic convention in Charlotte.

See also:

2016

In her second bid for the presidency, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of New York ran against Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont and several other minor candidates. Though Sanders won in New Hampshire, several important Midwestern states, and all but two caucus contests, Clinton won Iowa, larger, more diverse states like New York, Florida, and California, and the majority of the primaries. Clinton won 13 of the open primaries, 17 of the closed primaries, and 4 of the mixed contests. Sanders won 10 of the open primaries, 9 of the closed primaries, and 3 of the mixed contests.^[5] In the end, Clinton won a total of 34 contests to Sanders' 23 and won the popular vote by 3.7 million votes.^[6]

See also:

2020

A record-breaking 29 major candidates vied for the democratic nomination. Former Vice President

Super Tuesday giving him major victories. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

and continuing losses, Sanders conceded the race to Biden leaving him to be the presumptive nominee.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many primaries being postponed until later in the year or replaced by mail in ballots.

See also:

2024

Incumbent President Joe Biden is running for re-election with Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate. Author Marianne Williamson and congressman Dean Phillips also have launched primary campaigns. Lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initially entered the race as a Democrat, but dropped out to run as an independent. Despite the competitive field, President Biden currently maintains a substantial lead in polling. See also:

References

^ Sabato, Larry J. (July 21, 1998). "Jesse Jackson's 'Hymietown' Remark – 1984". Feeding Frenzy (column). The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
^ Dowd, Maureen (September 12, 1987). "Biden's Debate Finale: An Echo From Abroad". The New York Times. p. 34. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017.
^ "Professional Board Clears Biden in two Allegations of Plagiarism". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 29, 1989. p. 29. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017.
ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
from the original on 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2016-02-03.

^ "Open primary - Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18.

^ Andrews, Wilson (14 April 2015). "2016 Delegate Count and Primary Results" – via NYTimes.com.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries&oldid=1215434638"

[1] Sabato, Larry J. (July 21, 1998). "Jesse Jackson's 'Hymietown' Remark – 1984". Feeding Frenzy (column). The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2010.

[2] Dowd, Maureen (September 12, 1987). "Biden's Debate Finale: An Echo From Abroad". The New York Times. p. 34. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017.

[3] "Professional Board Clears Biden in two Allegations of Plagiarism". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 29, 1989. p. 29. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017.

[4] ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
from the original on 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2016-02-03.

[5] "Open primary - Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18.

[6] Andrews, Wilson (14 April 2015). "2016 Delegate Count and Primary Results" – via NYTimes.com.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]