# 2020 United States attorney general elections

The 2020 United States attorney general elections were held on November 3, 2020, in 10 states. The previous attorney general elections for this group of states took place in 2016, except in Vermont where attorneys general only serve two-year terms and elected their current attorney general in 2018. Nine state attorneys general ran for reelection and eight won, while Republican Tim Fox of Montana could not run again due to term limits and Republican Curtis Hill of Indiana was eliminated in the Republican convention.
The elections took place concurrently with the 2020 presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, and numerous state and local elections.
No attorneys general offices changed party control in 2020.

## Election predictions

Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.
Most election predictors use:
* "tossup": no advantage
* "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
* "lean": slight advantage
* "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
* "safe": near-certain chance of victory
| State | PVI | Incumbent | Last race | Cook June 12, 2020 | Result |
| Indiana | R+9 | Curtis Hill (lost re-nomination) | 61.9% R | Tossup | Rokita (58.3%) |
| Missouri | R+9 | Eric Schmitt | 58.5% R | Safe R | Schmitt (59.5%) |
| Montana | R+11 | Tim Fox (term-limited) | 67.7% R | Tossup | Knudsen (58.5%) |
| North Carolina | R+3 | Josh Stein | 50.3% D | Lean D | Stein (50.1%) |
| Oregon | D+5 | Ellen Rosenblum | 55.2% D | Solid D | Rosenblum (56.0%) |
| Pennsylvania | EVEN | Josh Shapiro | 51.4% D | Likely D | Shapiro (50.9%) |
| Utah | R+20 | Sean Reyes | 65.4% R | Solid R | Reyes (60.6%) |
| Vermont | D+15 | T. J. Donovan | 66.6% D | Solid D | Donovan (63.1%) |
| Washington | D+7 | Bob Ferguson | 66.9% D | Solid D | Ferguson (56.4%) |
| West Virginia | R+19 | Patrick Morrisey | 51.6% R | Lean R | Morrisey (63.8%) |

## Statistics
### Race summary

| State | Attorney General | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
| Indiana | Curtis Hill | Republican | 2016 | Incumbent lost renomination. New attorney general elected. Republican hold. | ▌ Y Todd Rokita (Republican) 58.3% ▌ Jonathan Weinzapfel (Democratic) 41.7% |
| Missouri | Eric Schmitt | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent elected to full term. | ▌ Y Eric Schmitt (Republican) 59.4% ▌ Richard Finneran (Democratic) 37.9% ▌ Kevin Babcock (Libertarian) 2.7% |
| Montana | Tim Fox | Republican | 2012 | Incumbent term-limited. New attorney general elected. Republican hold. | ▌ Y Austin Knudsen (Republican) 58.5% ▌ Raph Graybill (Democratic) 41.5% |
| North Carolina | Josh Stein | Democratic | 2016 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y Josh Stein (Democratic) 50.1% ▌ Jim O'Neill (Republican) 49.9% |
| Oregon | Ellen Rosenblum | Democratic | 2012 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y Ellen Rosenblum (Democratic) 56.0% ▌ Michael Cross (Republican) 41.3% ▌ Lars Hedbor (Libertarian) 2.3% |
| Pennsylvania | Josh Shapiro | Democratic | 2016 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y Josh Shapiro (Democratic) 50.8% ▌ Heather Heidelbaugh (Republican) 46.3% ▌ Daniel Wassmer (Libertarian) 1.8% ▌ Richard Weiss (Green) 1.0% |
| Utah | Sean Reyes | Republican | 2012 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y Sean Reyes (Republican) 60.6% ▌ Greg Skordas (Democratic) 33.7% ▌ Rudy Bautista (Libertarian) 5.7% |
| Vermont | T. J. Donovan | Democratic | 2016 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y T. J. Donovan (Democratic) 67.7% ▌ H. Brooke Paige (Republican) 27.5% ▌ Cris Ericson (Progressive) 4.6% |
| Washington | Bob Ferguson | Democratic | 2012 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y Bob Ferguson (Democratic) 56.4% ▌ Matt Larkin (Republican) 43.5% |
| West Virginia | Patrick Morrisey | Republican | 2012 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌ Y Patrick Morrisey (Republican) 63.8% ▌ Sam Petsonk (Democratic) 36.2% |

### Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 1%
* North Carolina, 0.26%
States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%:
* Pennsylvania, 4.52%
Blue denotes races won by Democrats.

## Indiana

The 2020 Indiana Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the attorney general of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Democratic primary convention was scheduled for June 13, 2020. The Republican primary convention was scheduled with a live stream on June 18, 2020, followed by mail-in voting between June 22 and July 9.
Incumbent Attorney General Curtis Hill ran for re-election, but was defeated at the Republican nominating convention by former U.S. Representative Todd Rokita, who eventually won after three rounds of votes. Jonathan Weinzapfel, former mayor of Evansville, narrowly won the Democratic nomination at the party's nominating convention.
In the general election, Rokita defeated Weinzapfel by approximately 500,000 votes, a margin of more than 16 percentage points. Due to a smaller third-party vote, both Rokita and Weinzapfel received a larger percentage of the vote than their party's candidates in the state's presidential and gubernatorial elections. Rokita carried Tippecanoe County, which voted for Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race, while Weinzapfel carried his home of Vanderburgh County, which voted for Republicans Donald Trump and Eric Holcomb in the presidential and gubernatorial races.

### Democratic convention

Democratic convention results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Jonathan Weinzapfel | 1,057 | 51.2% |
| | Democratic | Karen Tallian | 1,009 | 48.8% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,066 | 100.0% |

### Republican convention

Republican convention results :
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 1 | | Round 2 | Round 2 | | Round 3 | Round 3 |
| Candidate | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % |
| Todd Rokita | 479 | 27.37 | +122 | 601 | 34.66 | +272 | 873 | 52.15 |
| Curtis Hill (inc.) | 655 | 37.43 | +46 | 701 | 40.43 | +100 | 801 | 47.85 |
| Nate Harter | 327 | 18.69 | +105 | 432 | 24.91 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| John Westercamp | 289 | 16.51 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Active ballots | 1,750 | 100.00 | | 1,734 | 100.00 | | 1,674 | 100.00 |
| Exhausted ballots | 7 | 0.40 | +16 | 23 | 1.31 | +60 | 83 | 4.72 |
| Total ballots | 1,757 | 100.00 | | 1,757 | 100.00 | | 1,757 | 100.00 |

### General election

2020 Indiana Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Todd Rokita | 1,722,007 | 58.34 | 3.97 |
| | Democratic | Jonathan Weinzapfel | 1,229,644 | 41.66 | 3.97 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,951,651 | 100.00 | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

## Missouri

The 2020 Missouri Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the attorney general of Missouri. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, along with elections to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt was elected to a full term, defeating Democrat Rich Finneran. He was appointed by Governor Mike Parson after Josh Hawley was elected to the U.S Senate in 2018.

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Eric Schmitt (incumbent) | 602,577 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 602,577 | 100.0 |

### Democratic primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Richard Finneran | 272,516 | 55.39% |
| | Democratic | Elad Gross | 219,462 | 44.61% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 491,978 | 100.0% |

### General election

Missouri Attorney General election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Eric Schmitt (incumbent) | 1,752,792 | 59.38% | +0.88% |
| | Democratic | Rich Finneran | 1,117,713 | 37.87% | –3.63% |
| | Libertarian | Kevin C. Babock | 81,100 | 2.75% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,951,605 | 100.00% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

## Montana

The 2020 Montana Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the attorney general of the U.S. state of Montana. Incumbent Republican Montana Attorney General Tim Fox was re-elected in 2016 with 67.7% of the vote. Fox was term-limited and was ineligible to run for re-election. Fox decided to run for the Governor of Montana election, losing the nomination to Greg Gianforte. Republican Austin Knudsen defeated Republican Jon Bennion in the primary and defeated Democrat Raph Graybill in the general election by over 14 points.

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Austin Knudsen | 116,113 | 59.8% |
| | Republican | Jon Bennion | 78,161 | 40.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 194,274 | 100.0 |

### Democratic primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Raph Graybill | 79,772 | 57.1% |
| | Democratic | Kimberly Dudik | 59,963 | 42.9% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 139,735 | 100.0% |

### General election

Montana Attorney General election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Austin Knudsen | 348,322 | 58.51% |
| | Democratic | Raph Graybill | 247,025 | 41.49% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 595,347 | 100.00% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

## North Carolina

The 2020 North Carolina Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the attorney general of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Party primary elections were held on March 3, 2020.
Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, first elected in 2016, ran for re-election against Republican Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill. With a narrow margin separating Stein and O'Neill, the Associated Press was finally able to call Stein the winner on Nov. 17, 2020 (two weeks after Election Day).

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jim O'Neill | 338,567 | 46.55% |
| | Republican | Sam Hayes | 226,453 | 31.14% |
| | Republican | Christine Mumma | 162,301 | 22.31% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 727,321 | 100.00% |

### Democratic primary

This primary was canceled because Attorney General Josh Stein was uncontested.

### General election

North Carolina Attorney General election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Josh Stein (incumbent) | 2,713,400 | 50.13% | −0.14% |
| | Republican | Jim O'Neill | 2,699,778 | 49.87% | +0.14% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,413,178 | 100.00% | N/A |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## Oregon

The 2020 Oregon Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the attorney general of Oregon. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum was originally appointed to the role by former Governor John Kitzhaber on June 29, 2012 to finish the term of her predecessor John Kroger, who resigned from office. She was elected to a full term in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. This office is not subject to term limits, and Rosenblum won a third full term, defeating Republican activist Michael Cross who led an unsuccessful 2019 attempt to recall Governor Kate Brown.

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Michael Cross | 279,909 | 96.71% |
| | Republican | Write-ins | 9,537 | 3.29% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 289,446 | 100.0% |

### Democratic primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ellen Rosenblum (incumbent) | 483,273 | 99.04% |
| | Democratic | Write-ins | 4,661 | 0.96% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 487,934 | 100.0% |

### General election

2020 Oregon Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Ellen Rosenblum (incumbent) | 1,264,716 | 55.97% | +0.79% |
| | Republican | Michael Cross | 934,357 | 41.35% | −0.04% |
| | Libertarian | Lars Hedbor | 52,087 | 2.30% | −0.88% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 8,490 | 0.38% | +0.08% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,259,650 | 100.0% | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## Pennsylvania

The 2020 Pennsylvania Attorney General was held on November 3, 2020. Primary elections were originally due to take place on April 28, 2020. However, following concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States including Pennsylvania, the primaries were delayed until June 2, 2020. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro defeated Republican Heather Heidelbaugh to win a second term.

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Heather Heidelbaugh | 1,055,168 | 100.0% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,055,168 | 100.0% |

### Democratic primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Josh Shapiro (incumbent) | 1,429,414 | 100.0% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,429,414 | 100.0% |

### General election

Pennsylvania Attorney General election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Josh Shapiro (incumbent) | 3,461,215 | 50.85% | −0.56% |
| | Republican | Heather Heidelbaugh | 3,153,677 | 46.33% | −2.28% |
| | Libertarian | Daniel Wassmer | 120,478 | 1.77% | N/A |
| | Green | Richard Weiss | 71,069 | 1.04% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,806,439 | 100.0% | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## Utah

The 2020 Utah Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020 along with several federal and state elections.
Incumbent Attorney General Sean Reyes was re-elected to a third term, defeating Democratic nominee Greg Skordas and Libertarian nominee Rudy Bautista.

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Sean Reyes (incumbent) | 275,212 | 54.04% |
| | Republican | David O. Leavitt | 234,036 | 45.96% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 509,248 | 100% |

### Democratic convention

Greg Skordas ran unopposed for the nomination.

### Libertarian convention

Defense attorney Rudy Bautista won the nomination.

### General election

2020 Utah Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Sean Reyes (incumbent) | 878,853 | 60.58% |
| | Democratic | Greg Skordas | 489,500 | 33.74% |
| | Libertarian | Rudy Bautista | 82,444 | 5.68% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,450,797 | 100.00% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

## Vermont

The 2020 Vermont Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020 along with several federal and state elections.
Incumbent Democratic Attorney General T. J. Donovan won re-election in a landslide over Republican H. Brooke Paige.

### Democratic primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | T.J. Donovan (incumbent) | 94,198 | 99.1 |
| | Democratic | Other | 885 | 0.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 95,083 | 100.0 |

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | H. Brooke Paige | 21,572 | 49.4% |
| | Republican | Emily Peyton | 20,376 | 46.7% |
| | Republican | Other | 1,707 | 3.9% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 43,655 | 100.0% |

### Progressive primary

Progressive primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive | Cris Ericson | 409 | 59.1% |
| | Progressive | Other | 283 | 40.9% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 692 | 100.0% |

### General election

2020 Vermont Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | T.J. Donovan (incumbent) | 234,081 | 63.10% |
| | Republican | H. Brooke Paige | 94,892 | 25.58% |
| | Progressive | Chris Ericson | 15,846 | 4.27% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 344,819 | 100.00% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## Washington

The 2020 Washington Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020 along with several federal and state elections.
Incumbent Attorney General Bob Ferguson ran for re-election. He finished first in the open primary, receiving 56% of the vote, and then defeated primary runner-up Republican Matt Larkin in the general election.

### Results

2020 Washington Attorney General election :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Bob Ferguson (incumbent) | 1,356,225 | 55.8 |
| | Republican | Matt Larkin | 575,470 | 23.7 |
| | Republican | Brett Rogers | 296,843 | 12.2 |
| | Republican | Mike Vaska | 199,826 | 8.2 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 2,372 | 0.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,430,736 | 100.0 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Bob Ferguson (incumbent) | 2,226,418 | 56.43 |
| | Republican | Matt Larkin | 1,714,927 | 43.47 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 3,968 | 0.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,945,313 | 100 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## West Virginia

The 2020 West Virginia Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020 along with several federal and state elections.
Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey ran for re-election after being re-elected with 51.6% of the vote in 2016. He was unopposed in the Republican primary and faced Democrat Sam Petsonk on election day. He defeated Petsonk in a landslide.

### Republican primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Patrick Morrisey (incumbent) | 175,837 | 100.0% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 175,837 | 100.0% |

### Democratic primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sam Petsonk | 86,849 | 50.04% |
| | Democratic | Isaac Sponaugle | 86,704 | 49.96% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 173,553 | 100.0% |

### General election

General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Patrick Morrisey (incumbent) | 487,250 | 63.77% |
| | Democratic | Sam Petsonk | 276,798 | 36.23% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 764,048 | 100.0% |