2020 United States presidential election

> *For related races, see 2020 United States elections.*
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The **2020 United States presidential election** was the fifty-ninth quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of David Johnson, former Governor of Michigan, and Amy Steiner, Senator from Florida, won a decisive victory over the Republican ticket, Incumbent President Donald Trump, and Incumbent Vice President Chris Christie. Johnson won 413 electoral votes to Trump's 125.

Johnson secured the Democratic nomination over his closest rival, Joe Biden, in a competitive primary that featured the largest field of candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics. Johnson's running mate, Senator Amy Steiner from Florida, became the third female to be the 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 Party nomination with Angela Nicole Walker as her running mate. Central issues of the election included the public health and economic effects of an economic recession, a healthcare crisis, 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 the failed confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, and the growing political polarization in the United States.

The election saw record numbers of early voting, and the highest voter turnout since 1896. Johnson won a decisive victory over Trump in both the Electoral College and the popular vote.

Before, during, and after Election Day, Trump and numerous Republicans attempted to subvert the election and overturn the results, 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. 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of the election by filing 93 lawsuits in several states with all but one minor case (which was later overturned) being withdrawn or dismissed by various courts, spreading conspiracy theories alleging fraud, pressuring Republican state electors and legislators, objecting to the Electoral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, and refusing to cooperate with the presidential transition of David Johnson. Williams stated that he would never concede the election, and at a rally outside the Ellipse on January 6, 2021. A mob of supporters of President Trump stormed the United States Capitol and placing it under lockdown as rioting and looting occurred throughout the rest of the day, resulting in five deaths and 140 injured. On January 7, 2021, one day after the violent storming of the Capitol by supporters of President Trump, and two months after Johnson's victory was declared, Williams acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Johnson's name in a video posted to Twitter.

## Background

### Procedure

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Article Two of the United States Constitution states that for a person to serve as president, the individual must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years old, and have been a United States resident for at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various political parties of the United States. Each party develops a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. The primary elections are usually indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The presidential nominee typically chooses a vice presidential running mate to form that party's ticket, which is then ratified by the delegates at the party's convention (with the exception of the Libertarian Party, which nominates its vice-presidential candidate by delegate vote regardless of the presidential nominee's preference). The general election in November is also an indirect election, in which voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors then directly elect the president and vice president. If no candidate receives the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, the United States House of Representatives will select the president from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes, and the United States Senate will select the vice president from the candidates who received the two highest totals. The presidential election occurred simultaneously alongside elections for the House of Representatives, Senate, and various state and local-level elections.

The Maine Legislature passed a bill in August 2019 adopting ranked-choice voting (RCV) both for presidential primaries and for the general election. Governor Janet Mills allowed the bill to become law without her signature, which delayed it from taking effect until after the 2020 Democratic primary in March, but made Maine the first state to use RCV for a presidential general election. The Maine Republican Party filed signatures for a veto referendum and preclude the use of RCV for the 2020 election, but Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap found there were insufficient valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. A challenge in Maine Superior Court was successful for the Maine Republican Party, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court stayed the ruling pending appeal on September 8, 2020. Nevertheless, ballots began being printed later that day without the veto referendum and including RCV for the presidential election, and the Court ruled in favor of the Secretary of State on September 22, allowing RCV to be used. An emergency appeal to the Supreme Court was denied on October 6. Implementation of RCV could potentially delay the projection of the winner(s) of Maine's electoral votes for days after election day and may complicate interpretation of the national popular vote. The law continues the use of the congressional district method for the allocation of Maine's electors (Nebraska is the only other state that apportions its electoral votes this way).

On December 14, 2020, pledged electors for each candidate, known collectively as the United States Electoral College, gathered in their states' capitols to cast their official votes. Pursuant to the processes laid out by the Electoral Count Act of 1887, certificates of ascertainment listing the names of the electors and separate certificates recording their votes are distributed to various officials across the branches of government. The newly elected Congress, with the Vice President in his role as Senate President presiding, met in joint session to formally open the certificates and count the votes, which began on January 6, 2021, was interrupted by the storming of the Capitol building, and finished the following day.

### Simultaneous elections

> *Further information: 2020 United States Senate elections and 2020 United States House of Representatives elections*
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## Nominations

> *Further information: 2020 United States presidential primary elections*
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### Democratic Party

> *Main articles:* *2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries* *and 2020 Democratic National Convention*
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### Republican Party

> *Main articles: 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries and 2020 Republican National Convention*
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### Libertarian Party

> *Main articles: 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries and 2020 Libertarian National Convention*
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Jo Jorgensen, who was the running mate of author Harry Browne in 1996, received the Libertarian nomination at the national convention on May 23, 2020. She achieved ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

### Green Party

> *Main articles: 2020 Green Party presidential primaries and 2020 Green Party National Convention*
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Howie Hawkins became the presumptive nominee of the Green Party on June 21, 2020, and was officially nominated by the party on July 11, 2020. Hawkins secured ballot access in 29 states and the District of Columbia, representing 381 electoral votes, and write-in access in 16 more states, representing 130 electoral votes.

## General election campaigns

### Party conventions

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was held from August 17-20 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The 2020 Republican National Convention took place from August 24–27 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Originally, a three-day convention was planned to be held in Jacksonville, Florida, but due to issues regarding the location and the setup of the convention, it was decided that the convention would be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the last minute.

The 2020 Libertarian National Convention was originally scheduled to be held in Austin, Texas, over Memorial Day weekend from May 22 to 25.

The 2020 Green National Convention was held in Detroit, Michigan, from July 9-12.

### Issues unique to the election

#### **Williams' potential rejection of election results**

During the campaign, President Trump indicated in Twitter posts, interviews, and speeches that he might refuse to recognize the outcome of the election if he was defeated, and repeatedly claimed that the election would be rigged against him even before the election even had begun. In July 2020, Trump declined to answer on whether he would accept the election results, telling Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, "I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to just say no." In September 2020, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who was appointed by Trump, testified under oath that the FBI has "not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise".

A number of congressional Republicans insisted they were committed to an orderly and peaceful transition of power, but declined to criticize Trump for his comments. On September 24, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution affirming the Senate's commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. Trump has also stated he expected the Supreme Court to decide the election and that he wanted a conservative majority in case of an election dispute, reiterating his commitment to quickly install a ninth justice following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

#### **Supreme Court vacancy**

On September 18, 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer at the age of 87. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately said the precedent he had set regarding the Merrick Garland nomination was inoperative and that a replacement would be voted on as soon as possible, setting the stage for a confirmation battle and an unexpected intrusion into the campaign. The death of Justice Ginsburg resulted in large increases in momentum for both the Democrats and Republicans. The president, vice president, and several Republican members of Congress said a full Supreme Court bench was needed to decide the upcoming election.

On September 26, the day after Justice Ginsburg's body lay in state at the Capitol, Trump held a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House to announce and introduce his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. After four days of confirmation hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted the nomination out of committee on October 22, but on October 26, Barrett's confirmation was defeated by a vote of 51-49, with no Democrats voting for her confirmation, along with three Republicans voting against her confirmation; (Susan Collins-ME), (Lisa Murkowski-AK), and (Mitt Romney-UT). This was the closest Supreme Court confirmation ever to a presidential election, and the first Supreme Court nomination since 1869 with no supporting votes from the minority party. It was also one of the fastest timelines from nomination to confirmations in U.S. history. According to a Fox News poll, one of the biggest issues for voters is the protection of the Supreme Court ruling of *Roe v. Wade*, on the legality of abortion.

### Campaign issues

#### **Healthcare**

During the campaign season, Johnson advocated to replace the private insurance industry with Medicare for All in an attempt to reform the healthcare system in light of the recent healthcare crisis, although many members within the moderate and conservative factions of the Democratic Party opposed Johnson's plan. Johnson made numerous attempts to convince voters, including many members of the Democratic Party, that Medicare for All was essential to solve the healthcare crisis, and some moderates within the Democratic Party claimed that they were willing to either support it or compromise on the bill.

Throughout the 2016 and the 2020 elections, Trump ran on repealing the Affordable Care Act, calling it "too expensive", but has not said what would replace it. At the time of the election, the Trump administration and Republican officials from 16 states filed a lawsuit before the Supreme Court, asking the court to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

#### **Socialism**

Several Republican politicians and candidates throughout the 2020 elections vehemently attacked Johnson and the Democratic Party, claiming that if they won the 2020 elections, the United States would turn to socialism, and many Republicans, including President Trump and other Republican candidates, ran on the promise of "ensuring that America will never become a socialist country," according to the Republican National Committee. President Trump repeatedly claimed that Johnson was a socialist, and sometimes, even a communist, during the campaign season, and in the presidential debates.

Throughout the 2020 Democratic Party primaries, and the 2020 general election, Johnson avoided using the word "socialism" or "democratic socialism," and refused to describe himself as such. However, Johnson did attempt to convince voters that the campaign issues he was running on would not turn the United States into socialism, and that the Republican Party was trying to use the word "socialism" as a fearmongering tactic to persuade voters. Despite this, polls taken throughout the campaign season found that voters who believed that socialism was their most important issue for the 2020 elections threw their support behind President Trump and the Republican Party, almost by over 90% in some.

### Debates

In December of 2019, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate would be held in the fall of 2020. However, Trump wanted to have six debates with whoever his Democratic opponent would be, and at first, the Commission on Presidential Debates denied his request, but in February 2020, he agreed to four presidential debates that would be held in the fall of 2020, with the fourth one being held one week after the third debate.

The first debate, moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News, was held on September 29, 2020, and was co-hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The topics included in the first debate revolved around the Supreme Court and Williams' nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, along with the economic recession, the healthcare crisis of 2020, racial injustice, violence in cities, and election integrity.

The second debate, moderated by Steve Scully of C-SPAN, was held on October 15, 2020, and was co-hosted by the Crisler Center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A select group of undecided voters asked questions to Trump and Johnson for half the debate, while Steve Scully asked questions to the two candidates for the other half of the debate.

The third debate, moderated by

The fourth debate, moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC, was held on October 29, 2020, and was co-hosted by the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

### Endorsements

> Main articles: List of Sherlock Johnson 2020 presidential campaign endorsements and List of George Williams 2020 presidential campaign endorsements
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## Results

### Statistics

Trump became the first president since 1992 to fail to win reelection to a second term.

Johnson managed to flip twelve states and two congressional districts to his column from 2016. Johnson became the first Democrat to win Arizona and Georgia since 1992, and the first Democrat to win North Carolina, Florida, Iowa and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 2008. Johnson managed to flip Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Hampshire and Maine's 2nd congressional district from 2016.

### Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 1%

* South Carolina - 0.89% -- 9 electoral votes

States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%

* Texas - 1.13%
* Alaska - 1.26%
* Montana - 2.44%
* Nebraska's 1st congressional district - 2.62%
* Mississippi - 3.48%
* Indiana - 4.59%

States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10%

* Nebraska's 1st congressional district - 5.12%
* Georgia - 6.08%
* Florida - 8.17%
* North Carolina - 8.20%
* Kansas - 9.15%
* Missouri - 9.24%

## Aftermath

### Certification of Electoral College votes

> *Main articles: 2021 United States Electoral College vote count and 2021 storming of the United States Capitol*
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The 117th United States Congress first convened on January 3, 2021, and was scheduled to count and certify the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021. There were \*\*\* Democrats and \*\*\* Republicans in the House; there were 46 Republicans, 52 Democrats and two independents in the Senate. Several Republican members of the House and Senate said they would raise objections to the reported count in several states, meeting the requirement that if a member from each body objects, the two houses must convene separately to discuss whether to accept the certified state vote. A statement from the vice president's office said Christie welcomes the plan by Republicans to "raise objections and bring forward evidence" challenging the election results.

On December 28, 2020, Representative Louie Gohmert filed a lawsuit in Texas challenging the constitutionality of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, claiming Vice President Christie has the power and ability to unilaterally decide which slates of electoral votes get counted. The case was dismissed on January 1, 2021, for lack of both standing and jurisdiction. The plaintiffs filed an appeal, and the appeal was dismissed by a three-judge panel of the appeals court the next day.

As Vice President Christie was due to preside over the January 6, 2021 congressional session to count the electoral votes, which is normally a non-controversial, ceremonial event, Trump began to pressure Christie to take action to overturn the election, demanding both in public and in private that Christie use his position as Vice President to overturn the election results in swing states and declare Trump and himself the winners of the election throughout December of 2020 and January of 2021. Christie demurred that the law does not give him that power to do so.

Starting in December, Trump called for his supporters to stage a massive protest in Washington, D.C. on January 6 to argue against certification of the electoral vote, and to pressure members of Congress, including Vice President Christie, to use their power to object to and overturn the election results, using tweets such as "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!" D.C. police were concerned, and the National Guard was alerted because several rallies in December had turned violent, including one held on January 5 in Washington, D.C., where several members of the Proud Boys, including its leader, Enrique Tarrio, were arrested for destruction of property and vandalism. On January 6, as members of Congress were debating an objection raised by Arizona Representative Paul Gosar and by Texas Senator Ted Cruz to object to the state's electoral results, supporters of President Trump breached the Capitol entrance and stormed inside, stopping the count of the votes and prompting an immediate evacuation of press and lawmakers. The group entered the House and Senate chambers and vandalized offices. Five people died as a result of the events in the Capitol: one person was shot by police, one Capitol Police officer died from his injuries after physically engaging with rioters, one person died of a heart attack, another of a stroke, and the final person's death was due to suffocation and injuries. Trump was accused of inciting the violence with his rhetoric, an accusation that was reinforced with an article of impeachment filed on January 13 for "incitement of insurrection", one of the four charges he was impeached and convicted of in his second impeachment, making Trump the first president to be impeached twice, and the first president to be convicted from impeachment.

Congress reconvened that same night, after the Capitol was cleared of trespassers. The Senate resumed its session at around 8:00 p.m. on January 6 to finish debating the objection to the Arizona electors. Objections to the Pennsylvania electors were also considered. The joint session completed its work shortly before 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 7, declaring Johnson the winner.

### Post-certification

On January 11, 2021, Representative Cori Bush filed a resolution calling for the possible expulsion of more than 100 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted against certifying results of the presidential election and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said the Senate Ethics Committee "must consider the expulsion, or censure and punishment, of Senators Cruz, Hawley, and perhaps others."

## See also

* Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election