2020 Presidential Election (A New Direction)

The **2020 United States presidential election** was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party ticket of Incumbent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema defeated the Republican ticket of Incumbent President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Trump became the first U.S. president since George H. W. Bush in the 1992 presidential election and the eleventh incumbent president in the country's history to lose a bid for a second term. Sanders's 52. 6% of the popular vote was also the largest percentage of the popular vote won by any challenger to an incumbent president since the 1932 presidential election. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900, with each of the two main tickets receiving more than 71 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008. Sanders received more than 85 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election.

Sanders secured the Democratic nomination over his closest rival, former Vice President Joe Biden in a competitive primary that featured the largest field of candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics. Sanders' running mate, Senator Krysten Sinema of Arizona the third female vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket. Jo Jorgensen secured the Libertarian nomination with Spike Cohen as her running mate, and Howie Hawkins secured the Green nomination with Angela Nicole Walker as his running mate.

The election saw a record number of ballots cast early and by mail due to the ongoing pandemic. Many more Democrats voted by mail compared to Republicans. As a result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some swing states saw delays in vote counting and reporting; this led to major news outlets delaying their projection of Sanders and Sinema as the president-elect and vice president-elect until the morning of November 7, three and a half days after the election. Major media networks project a state for a candidate once there is high mathematical confidence that the outstanding vote would be unlikely to prevent the projected winner from ultimately winning that state.

Before, during, and after Election Day, Trump and numerous Republicans attempted to subvert the election and overturn the results, falsely alleging widespread voter fraud and trying to influence the vote counting process in swing states. Attorney General William Barr and officials in each of the 50 states found no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities in the election. Federal agencies overseeing election security said it was the most secure in American history. The Trump campaign and its allies, including Republican members of Congress, continued to engage in numerous attempts to overturn the results of the election by filing 63 lawsuits in several states with all but one minor case (which was later overturned) being withdrawn or dismissed by various courts, spreading conspiracy theories alleging fraud, pressuring Republican state electors and legislators, objecting to the Electoral College certification in Congress, inciting insurrection at the United States Capitol, and refusing to cooperate with the presidential transition of Bernie Sanders in what was widely described as an attempted coup. Trump said he would never concede the election. On January 7, 2021, one day after the violent storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters and two months after Sanders' victory was declared, Trump acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Sanders' name in a video posted to Twitter.

The election results in each state and the District of Columbia were certified by December 9. The presidential electors formally cast their votes for president and vice president on December 14, and their votes were officially counted by Congress on January 6–7, 2021, before and after pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol. Sanders and Sinema were inaugurated on January 20, 2021.

Central issues of the election included the public health and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; civil unrest in reaction to the killing of George Floyd and others; the U.S. Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett; and the future of the Affordable Care Act.