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For the Washington, D.C. Democratic primary, see 2020 District of Columbia Democratic presidential primary.

2020 Washington Democratic presidential primary
← 2016 March 10, 2020 2024 →
← ND
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107 Democratic National Convention delegates (89 pledged, 18 unpledged)
The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
 
Candidate Joe Biden Bernie Sanders
Home state Delaware Vermont
Delegate count 46 43
Popular vote 591,403 570,039
Percentage 37.94% 36.57%
 
Candidate Elizabeth Warren
(withdrawn)[a] 		Michael Bloomberg
(withdrawn)[b]
Home state Massachusetts New York
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 142,652 122,530
Percentage 9.15% 7.86%
Election results by county
  Joe Biden
  Bernie Sanders

The 2020 Washington Democratic presidential primary took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The state-run semi-open primary, which was used instead of party-run caucuses for the very first time by Washington's Democrats, awarded 109 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 89 were pledged delegates allocated according to the results of the primary.[2]

On March 16, 2020, almost a week after the primary, major news outlets including CNN, NBC, The New York Times, and the Associated Press called the narrow race for former vice president Joe Biden, who won 37.9% of the vote and 46 delegates, around 20,000 votes ahead of senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders reached 36.6% of the vote and received 43 delegates, adding another crucial loss to his campaign, while a win, widely expected in polls, had been seen as vital for him to remain a realistic contender for the presidential nomination.[3] Senator Elizabeth Warren and former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had already withdrawn from the race, came close to 10% of the vote due to early votes, winning no delegates.

Procedure[edit]

Washington was one of six states (along with Democrats Abroad) which held primaries on March 10, 2020, one week after Super Tuesday.[4] As a primary totally done by mail-in voting, it took place from February 21 to March 10, 2020.[5] On March 14, 2019, Governor Jay Inslee had signed a bill moving the state's previously non-binding presidential primary up from May to the second Tuesday in March, roughly the typical time frame Democrats had already been using for their caucuses in the past.[6] A month later, on April 7, 2019, the Washington Democratic Party's central committee historically approved the usage of the hybrid vote-by-mail presidential primary in a 121–40 vote, marking the first time in the state's history that Democrats used a primary.[7]

In Washington, a vote-by-mail state, there was an 18-day voting period and all ballots had to be either dropped off by 8:00 p.m. at a designated ballot box or postmarked by the date of the primary. For people's votes to be counted, they had to select either a Democratic or Republican ballot. Both ballots were distributed to every registered voter, as Washington State did not track party registration; no independent ballots existed. In the primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level to be considered viable. The 89 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between 3 and 11 were allocated to each of the state's 10 congressional districts and another 12 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 19 at-large delegates. The March primary as part of Stage I on the primary timetable received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on a March date.[8]

Following legislative district caucuses on April 26, 2020, to choose delegates to congressional district caucuses and the state convention, or county conventions on May 3, 2020, also to choose delegates to congressional district caucuses and the state convention, the congressional district caucuses met on May 30, 2020 to select national convention district delegates. The state party committee subsequently met at the state convention between June 13 and June 14, 2020, to vote on the 19 at-large and 12 pledged PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention. The delegation also included 20 unpledged PLEO delegates: 10 members of the Democratic National Committee, 9 members of Congress (both Senators and 7 representatives), and the governor Jay Inslee.

Candidates[edit]

The following individuals qualified for the ballot in Washington:[9]

Running

Withdrawn

There was also an uncommitted option on the ballot.[9]

Polling[edit]

Polling aggregation
Source of poll aggregation Date
updated 		Dates
polled 		Joe
Biden 		Bernie
Sanders 		Tulsi
Gabbard 		Un-
decided[e]
270 to Win Mar 10, 2020 Feb 15 – Mar 9, 2020 33.5% 34.0% 1.3% 34.7%
RealClear Politics Mar 9, 2020 No averages at this time
FiveThirtyEight Mar 10, 2020 until Mar 9, 2020[f] 39.8% 37.1% 1.4% 21.7%
Average 36.65% 36.55% 1.35% 28.2%
Tabulation of individual polls of the 2020 Washington Democratic primary
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[g] 		Margin
of error 		Joe
Biden 		Michael
Bloomberg 		Pete
Buttigieg 		Kamala
Harris 		Jay
Inslee 		Amy
Klobuchar 		Bernie
Sanders 		Elizabeth
Warren 		Andrew
Yang 		Other Undecided
Swayable Archived March 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Mar 9, 2020 1,840 (LV) ± 3.0% 39% – – – – – 37% – – 25%[h] –
Data for Progress Mar 7–9, 2020 497 (LV) ± 5.1% 49% – – – – – 43% 6% – 2%[i] –
Survey USA/KING-TV Mar 4–6, 2020 550 (LV) ± 5.4% 36% – – – – – 35% 10% – 13%[j] 5%
Mar 5, 2020 Warren withdraws from the race
Data for Progress Mar 4–5, 2020 737 (LV) ± 3.6% 47% – – – – – 44% 5%[k] – 3%[l] –
Mar 4, 2020 Bloomberg withdraws from the race
Mar 2, 2020 Klobuchar withdraws from the race
Mar 1, 2020 Buttigieg withdraws from the race
Elway Research/Cascade Public Media Feb 15–18, 2020 404 (LV) ± 5.0% 10% 15% 9% – – 11% 21% 11% 0% 2%[m] 22%
Feb 11, 2020 Yang withdraws from the race
Survey USA/KING-TV Jan 26–28, 2020 536 (LV) ± 6.2% 21% 12% 8% – – 3% 26% 16% 4% 2%[n] 7%
Dec 3, 2019 Harris withdraws from the race
Aug 21, 2019 Inslee withdraws from the race
Zogby Analytics Jul 22 – Aug 1, 2019 1,265 (LV) ± 2.8% 19% – 5% 9% 6% 1% 18% 14% 2% 11%[o] 16%

Results[edit]

Popular vote share by county
  Biden—30–40%
  Biden—40–50%
  Sanders—30–40%
  Sanders—40–50%
2020 Washington Democratic presidential primary[10]
Candidate Votes % Delegates[11]
Joe Biden 591,403 37.94 46
Bernie Sanders 570,039 36.57 43
Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn)[c] 142,652 9.15
Michael Bloomberg (withdrawn)[c] 122,530 7.86
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn)[d] 63,344 4.06
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn)[d] 33,383 2.14
Tulsi Gabbard 13,199 0.85
Andrew Yang (withdrawn) 6,403 0.41
Tom Steyer (withdrawn)[d] 3,455 0.22
Michael Bennet (withdrawn) 2,044 0.13
Cory Booker (withdrawn) 1,314 0.08
John Delaney (withdrawn) 573 0.04
Deval Patrick (withdrawn) 508 0.03
Write-in votes 1,479 0.09
Uncommitted 6,450 0.41
Total 1,558,776 100% 89


Results by county[edit]

2020 Washington Democratic primary

(results per county)[12]

County Joe Biden Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Michael Bloomberg Pete Buttigieg Amy Klobuchar Tulsi Gabbard Andrew Yang Tom Steyer Michael Bennet Cory Booker John Delaney Deval Patrick Uncommitted Total write-ins Total votes cast
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Adams 315 34.31 322 35.08 60 6.54 131 14.27 26 2.83 24 2.61 11 1.20 7 0.76 6 0.65 3 0.33 0 0 5 0.54 1 0.11 7 0.76 0 0 918
Asotin 1,148 39.70 730 25.24 203 7.02 414 14.32 177 6.12 91 3.15 41 1.42 20 0.69 19 0.66 4 0.14 4 0.14 3 0.10 2 0.07 28 0.97 8 0.28 2,892
Benton 9,003 38.95 7,458 32.27 1,654 7.16 2,329 10.08 1,165 5.04 619 2.68 343 1.48 121 0.52 85 0.37 41 0.18 31 0.13 20 0.09 10 0.04 167 0.72 67 0.29 23,113
Chelan 4,813 38.41 4,192 33.46 980 7.82 1,171 9.35 663 5.29 359 2.87 134 1.07 50 0.40 47 0.38 29 0.23 12 0.10 3 0.02 5 0.04 64 0.51 8 0.06 12,530
Clallam 7,255 38.91 5,588 29.97 1,789 9.60 1,910 10.24 921 4.94 632 3.39 220 1.18 65 0.35 65 0.35 31 0.17 17 0.09 10 0.05 8 0.04 114 0.61 19 0.10 18,644
Clark 32,525 37.73 30,341 35.20 6,717 7.79 8,296 9.62 4,332 5.03 1,801 2.09 863 1.00 370 0.43 250 0.29 137 0.16 66 0.08 33 0.04 36 0.04 323 0.37 110 0.13 86,200
Columbia 190 37.92 135 26.95 34 6.79 69 13.77 26 5.19 23 4.59 8 1.60 2 0.40 2 0.40 2 0.40 2 0.40 1 0.20 0 0 4 0.80 3 0.60 501
Cowlitz 6,459 39.84 4,924 30.37 1,061 6.54 2,091 12.90 747 4.61 339 2.09 186 1.15 93 0.57 84 0.52 47 0.29 11 0.07 10 0.06 15 0.09 120 0.74 25 0.15 16,212
Douglas 1,905 40.58 1,546 32.94 288 6.14 485 10.33 233 4.96 104 2.22 49 1.04 23 0.49 15 0.32 11 0.23 7 0.15 4 0.09 1 0.02 19 0.40 4 0.09 4,694
Ferry 306 31.74 347 36.00 75 7.78 124 12.86 50 5.19 31 3.22 14 1.45 3 0.31 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.10 2 0.21 11 1.14 0 0 964
Franklin 2,477 34.93 2,865 40.40 399 5.63 728 10.27 254 3.58 144 2.03 79 1.11 39 0.55 21 0.30 27 0.38 9 0.13 11 0.16 3 0.04 31 0.44 5 0.07 7,092
Garfield 107 40.23 62 23.31 26 9.77 30 11.28 20 7.52 13 4.89 4 1.50 0 0 2 0.75 1 0.38 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.38 266
Grant 2,276 33.34 2,285 33.47 438 6.42 951 13.93 381 5.58 213 3.12 91 1.33 34 0.50 35 0.51 23 0.34 17 0.25 4 0.06 2 0.03 59 0.86 17 0.25 6,826
Grays Harbor 4,097 35.27 3,865 33.27 853 7.34 1,495 12.87 632 5.44 305 2.63 111 0.96 53 0.46 59 0.51 24 0.21 13 0.11 9 0.08 5 0.04 74 0.64 21 0.18 11,616
Island 8,394 40.20 6,246 29.91 1,991 9.53 1,873 8.97 1,082 5.18 750 3.59 233 1.12 69 0.33 60 0.29 17 0.08 13 0.06 10 0.05 8 0.04 115 0.55 20 0.10 20,881
Jefferson 5,086 36.82 5,163 37.38 1,469 10.64 930 6.73 474 3.43 386 2.79 114 0.83 31 0.22 27 0.20 11 0.08 11 0.08 6 0.04 5 0.04 85 0.62 14 0.10 13,812
King 235,655 38.26 232,575 37.76 67,096 10.89 36,978 6.00 21,278 3.45 12,130 1.97 3,701 0.60 2,370 0.38 814 0.13 560 0.09 459 0.07 128 0.02 149 0.02 1,545 0.25 424 0.07 615,862
Kitsap 23,998 38.96 20,029 32.52 5,713 9.28 5,388 8.75 3,171 5.15 1,715 2.78 594 0.96 258 0.42 177 0.29 65 0.11 45 0.07 19 0.03 22 0.04 341 0.55 59 0.10 61,594
Kittitas 2,561 34.16 2,883 38.46 667 8.90 597 7.96 328 4.38 224 2.99 107 1.43 36 0.48 21 0.28 13 0.17 11 0.15 4 0.05 3 0.04 40 0.53 2 0.03 7,497
Klickitat 1,475 35.50 1,526 36.73 356 8.57 345 8.30 204 4.91 114 2.74 45 1.08 13 0.31 18 0.43 5 0.12 5 0.12 5 0.12 1 0.02 38 0.91 5 0.12 4,155
Lewis 3,512 35.66 3,453 35.06 719 7.30 1,120 11.37 488 4.95 216 2.19 113 1.15 39 0.40 37 0.38 21 0.21 14 0.14 12 0.12 5 0.05 86 0.87 14 0.14 9,849
Lincoln 414 36.32 295 25.88 83 7.28 183 16.05 75 6.58 39 3.42 24 2.11 5 0.44 3 0.26 4 0.35 1 0.09 0 0 0 0 12 1.05 2 0.18 1,140
Mason 4,613 38.20 3,892 32.23 845 7.00 1,442 11.94 618 5.12 307 2.54 135 1.12 39 0.32 60 0.50 20 0.17 10 0.08 4 0.03 3 0.02 73 0.60 15 0.12 12,076
Okanogan 1,996 33.39 2,327 38.93 564 9.43 544 9.10 220 3.68 131 2.19 62 1.04 27 0.45 10 0.17 17 0.28 8 0.13 3 0.05 2 0.03 54 0.90 13 0.22 5,978
Pacific 1,826 38.00 1,433 29.82 404 8.41 589 12.26 269 5.60 119 2.48 47 0.98 24 0.50 18 0.37 11 0.23 6 0.12 5 0.10 1 0.02 48 1.00 5 0.10 4,805
Pend Oreille 684 38.56 560 31.57 101 5.69 208 11.72 97 5.47 42 2.37 22 1.24 10 0.56 13 0.73 4 0.23 2 0.11 1 0.06 2 0.11 23 1.30 5 0.28 1,774
Pierce 61,097 40.23 54,385 35.81 10,938 7.20 13,340 8.78 5,856 3.86 2,489 1.64 1,401 0.92 671 0.44 350 0.23 232 0.15 143 0.09 62 0.04 53 0.03 690 0.45 167 0.11 151,874
San Juan 2,633 35.72 2,780 37.71 874 11.86 422 5.72 305 4.14 211 2.86 79 1.07 16 0.22 14 0.19 5 0.07 4 0.05 3 0.04 3 0.04 23 0.31 0 0 7,372
Skagit 10,145 39.36 8,514 33.03 2,090 8.11 2,371 9.20 1,227 4.76 760 2.95 274 1.06 82 0.32 71 0.28 41 0.16 23 0.09 9 0.03 8 0.03 129 0.50 32 0.12 25,776
Skamania 822 37.83 794 36.54 164 7.55 187 8.61 86 3.96 60 2.76 31 1.43 8 0.37 1 0.05 1 0.05 0 0 2 0.09 0 0 12 0.55 5 0.23 2,173
Snohomish 64,871 39.64 59,779 36.52 12,642 7.72 12,718 7.77 6,580 4.02 3,102 1.90 1,593 0.97 711 0.43 364 0.22 233 0.14 111 0.07 63 0.04 64 0.04 664 0.41 172 0.11 163,667
Spokane 30,618 35.68 29,750 34.67 6,520 7.60 9,880 11.51 4,581 5.34 2,001 2.33 828 0.96 390 0.45 252 0.29 115 0.13 104 0.12 46 0.05 23 0.03 596 0.69 102 0.12 85,806
Stevens 1,954 35.95 1,737 31.95 394 7.25 693 12.75 295 5.43 172 3.16 61 1.12 21 0.39 25 0.46 15 0.28 8 0.15 8 0.15 3 0.06 37 0.68 13 0.24 5,436
Thurston 23,350 35.69 24,833 37.95 6,184 9.45 5,072 7.75 2,776 4.24 1,583 2.42 593 0.91 284 0.43 179 0.27 76 0.12 52 0.08 24 0.04 17 0.03 351 0.54 54 0.08 65,428
Wahkiakum 345 38.33 285 31.67 62 6.89 106 11.78 49 5.44 23 2.56 11 1.22 4 0.44 1 0.11 3 0.33 1 0.11 0 0 0 0 7 0.78 3 0.33 900
Walla Walla 3,547 39.25 2,925 32.37 801 8.86 834 9.23 377 4.17 293 3.24 103 1.14 45 0.50 33 0.37 21 0.23 8 0.09 4 0.04 0 0 45 0.50 0 0 9,036
Whatcom 18,752 31.68 27,295 46.11 5,354 9.04 3,175 5.36 2,068 3.49 1,169 1.97 572 0.97 256 0.43 115 0.19 61 0.10 55 0.09 20 0.03 31 0.05 228 0.39 42 0.07 59,193
Whitman 2,050 30.09 3,040 44.63 727 10.67 383 5.62 291 4.27 144 2.11 72 1.06 37 0.54 12 0.18 5 0.07 3 0.04 0 0 6 0.09 37 0.54 5 0.07 6,812
Yakima 8,129 34.72 8,880 37.93 1,317 5.63 2,928 12.51 922 3.94 505 2.16 230 0.98 77 0.33 90 0.38 108 0.46 28 0.12 21 0.09 9 0.04 150 0.64 18 0.08 23,412
Total 591,403 37.94 570,039 36.57 142,652 9.15 122,530 7.86 63,344 4.06 33,383 2.14 13,199 0.85 6,403 0.41 3,455 0.22 2,044 0.13 1,314 0.08 573 0.04 508 0.03 6,450 0.41 1,479 0.09 1,558,776

Analysis[edit]

Joe Biden won the Washington primary by a narrow 1.4 point margin, a regression for Bernie Sanders who in 2016 had beat Hillary Clinton in the state by a large 45 point margin in a caucus. Men made up 42% of the electorate, and Sanders won this group 41–28, while among women, who made up 58% of the electorate, Biden won 36–27.[13] Sanders ran most strongly among voters ages 18–44, as he won this group 59–16. In contrast, Biden won among voters over the age of 45, 39–23.[13]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Warren withdrew on March 5, 2020, five days before the primary. Absentee and early voting had already occurred.
  2. ^ Bloomberg withdrew on March 4, 2020, six days before the primary. Absentee and early voting had already occurred.
  3. ^ a b c d Candidate withdrew after Super Tuesday when all-mail voting had already begun.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Candidate withdrew before Super Tuesday when all-mail voting had already begun.
  5. ^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined
  6. ^ FiveThirtyEight aggregates polls with a trendline regression of polls rather than a strict average of recent polls.
  7. ^ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  8. ^ Gabbard with 1%; Other with 24%
  9. ^ Gabbard with 2%
  10. ^ "Some Other Democrat" with 13%
  11. ^ Estimated early vote share; respondents in the poll who indicated Warren as their first choice but that they had not yet voted were assigned to their indicated second choice.
  12. ^ Gabbard with 3%
  13. ^ Gabbard with 1%; Delaney with 0%; Steyer, Bennet, Patrick, and Booker with no voters; "other" with 1%
  14. ^ Steyer with 2%; Gabbard with 0%; "Some Other Democrat" with 0%
  15. ^ Castro, Gillibrand, and O'Rourke with 2%; Booker, Delaney, Gabbard, and Hickenlooper with 1% ; Someone else with 1%

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Washington Election Results 2020". Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Matt Lorch (March 9, 2020). "Washington state voters set to choose presidential contender in Tuesday primary". KCPQ. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  3. ^ "Biden narrowly wins Washington primary". cbsnews.com. March 17, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  4. ^ Putnam, Josh (May 31, 2016). "The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar". Frontloading HQ. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  5. ^ Putnam, Josh. "The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar". Frontloading HQ. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  6. ^ "Gov. Inslee signs bill moving presidential primary up to March". KING. Associated Press. March 14, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  7. ^ La Corte, Rachel (April 7, 2019). "Washington Democrats to use results of presidential primary". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "Democratic Timing Penalties and Bonuses". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Official Certification of Candidates" (PDF). Washington Secretary of State.
  10. ^ "March 10, 2020 Presidential Primary Results – Statewide Results". Washington Secretary of State. March 27, 2020. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  11. ^ "Associated Press Election Services - Delegate Tracker". Associated Press. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  12. ^ "March 10, 2020 Presidential Primary Results – County Results". Washington Secretary of State. March 27, 2020. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Washington Polls: Who Different Groups Supported". The New York Times. June 24, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 17, 2020.

External links[edit]

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Washington_Democratic_primary