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Fall 2018
Form PACS and "exploratory committees" to see which candidates are worthwhile. Later followed by the announcement of candidacies and televised debates.

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Early 2018-April 2020
When candidates enter and exit the presidential race and declare their candidacy or withdrawal from the race.

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February 3 2020
States use this to select a potential presidential nominee. Primaries use secret ballots for voting. Caucuses are local gatherings where people vote at the end of the meeting for a particular candidate.

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Biden- August 18 2020
Trump- August 24 2020
Officially selecting a candidate to represent their party.

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Republican- August 24-27 2020
Democrat- August 17-20 2020
This happens through the party's state primaries and caucuses. State delegates go to the national convention to vote to confirm their choice of candidates.

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June 2018- varies
Organized efforts to influence the decision making within parties.

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November 3 2020
It is to make a final choice with the various candidates who have been nominated by parties or who are running as independent or write-in candidates.

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January 6 2021
The voters elect a group of electors where their only purpose is to elect the president and vice president. The electoral college is used to ensure that the more popular states don't overpower the smaller states when choosing the nation's leader.

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https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_election,_2020

https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/key-dates

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Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) won the presidential election on November 3, 2020. Biden received 306 electoral votes and President Donald Trump (R) received 232 electoral votes. In the national popular vote, Biden received 81.2 million votes and Trump received 74.2 million votes.

Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021, becoming the oldest president to take office at 78 years old. His running mate, former Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), became the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Sixteen U.S. presidents-approximately one-third-have won two consecutive elections. Prior to Trump, George H.W. Bush (R) was the last president to lose his re-election campaign in 1992.

The election took place on November 3, 2020. The following four candidates qualified to appear on enough state ballots to win a majority-at least 270 electoral votes-in the Electoral College:

Ballotpedia identified 13 battleground states. Click here to learn more about these key states.

This page provides an overview of the race with information on the following topics:

See also: Presidential candidates, 2020, and Timeline of announcements in the presidential election, 2020

The following four notable candidates ran for president. Notable candidates include individuals who have qualified to appear on enough state ballots to win a majority-at least 270 electoral votes-in the Electoral College. A complete list of candidates registered with the Federal Election Commission can be found here.

The following vice presidential candidates were selected at national party conventions or named by the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Presidential election results

Results by state

National results

Results by Congressional district

In the 2020 presidential election, Biden received the most votes in 224 Congressional districts. Trump received the most votes in 211 Congressional districts.

2020 presidential results by Congressional district

Candidate

Districts won

Joe Biden

224

Donald Trump

211

Lawsuits related to the 2020 presidential election

The following is a list of post-election lawsuits involving the presidential election. Where available, case names and numbers, states of origin, courts of origin, and links to complaints and docket reports are provided.

2020 presidential race ratings

The following map reflects the average presidential race rating for each state as forecast by the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball.

Florida, Iowa, Maine's 2nd Congressional District, and Ohio moved from Toss Up to Leans Republican.

Georgia and North Carolina moved from Toss Up to Leans Democratic.

Texas moved from Tilt Republican to Toss Up.

Georgia and North Carolina moved from Toss Up to Tilt Democratic.

Texas moved from Leans Republican to Toss Up.

Battleground states

Battleground states are states that have split support for Democratic and Republican candidates in recent presidential election cycles. Sometimes referred to as swing states or purple states, they are critical to a candidate's campaign strategy since the majority of states consistently vote for the same presidential party and are not competitive.

Using the average of race ratings from the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball, Ballotpedia identified 13 battleground states. These are the states on which an electoral victory hinged:

Election results in battleground states

The table below details the number of Congressional districts won by each candidate in the battleground states.

2020 presidential results by Congressional district, battleground states

State

Districts won by Biden

Districts won by Trump

General election debates

The following table provides an overview of the date, location, and host in each scheduled 2020 general election debate.

Click on any of the following links to read policy positions from the 2020 presidential candidates.

Abortion

Criminal justice

Economy

Education

Energy and environmental issues

Foreign policy

Gun regulation

Healthcare

Immigration

Impeachment

Labor

Trade

Campaign finance

Fundraising

The following chart displays Joe Biden and Donald Trump's overall fundraising over time through the Post-General 2020 campaign finance reports. Hover over each line for more specific figures.

The following chart displays Joe Biden and Donald Trump's overall spending over time through the Post-General 2020 campaign finance reports. Hover over each line for more specific figures.

Cash on hand

The following chart displays cash on hand-a measurement of how much money a campaign has currently available in its campaign accounts-for Joe Biden and Donald Trump as of each reporting deadline during the 2020 campaign cycle.

Electoral College

The Electoral College is the process by which the states and District of Columbia elect the president of the United States. Each state is represented by a number of electors equal to the size of its congressional delegation. There are 538 electors in total. To win the Electoral College, a candidate must receive a majority-at least 270-electoral votes.

The Electoral College met on December 14, 2020, to cast their votes for president and vice president of the United States. The final tally was 306 electoral votes for former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D) and 232 electoral votes for President Donald Trump (R) and Vice President Mike Pence (R).

Although there is no constitutional provision or federal law requiring electors to vote in accordance with the election results in their state, electors typically vote for their state's popular vote winner. Some states have provisions permitting the disqualification and replacement of an elector whose vote deviates from the state's popular vote. There were no faithless electors in 2020.

The following map shows the number of electoral votes per state in the 2020 presidential election.

Pivot Counties in the 2020 presidential election

Pivot Counties are the 206 counties nationwide Ballotpedia identified as having voted for Barack Obama (D) in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Media and political observers sometimes refer to these counties as swing counties.

There were:

181 Retained Pivot Counties across 32 states: Trump won these counties with a median margin of victory of 13.2 percentage points.

25 Boomerang Pivot Counties across 16 states: Biden won these counties with a median margin of victory of 3.4 percentage points.

Click "Show More" to view the list of all 206 Pivot Counties, the winner of those counties following the 2020 election, and margins of victory from 2008 to 2020.

2020 Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) held its presidential nominating convention the week of August 17, 2020, across four stages in New York City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Wilmington.

The convention was originally scheduled to take place July 13-16, 2020, in Milwaukee. Organizers postponed the event in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of the convention's events took place remotely. The DNC announced in June 2020 that delegates should not plan to travel to Milwaukee to attend the convention. Instead, votes on reports from the Rules, Platform, and Credentials committees took place remotely from August 3-15, 2020.

The Democratic National Convention Committee announced on August 5, 2020, that former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and other speakers would not travel to Milwaukee. Biden was formally nominated at the convention on August 18, 2020.

Biden announced U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D) as his running mate on August 11, 2020. Harris was the first Black woman to appear on a major party's ticket in the United States.

2020 Republican National Convention

Limited in-person events took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. On July 23, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that high-profile convention events previously moved to Jacksonville, Florida, including his nomination acceptance speech, had been canceled for public health and safety reasons. Trump formally accepted the party's nomination from the White House.

The convention was originally scheduled to take place entirely in Charlotte but statewide restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic led to the convention's planned relocation to Jacksonville. The Republican National Committee Executive Committee voted to downsize the convention in Charlotte, reducing the number of in-person delegates from 2,500 to 336. The committee also decided to adopt the 2016 platform again since the Platform Committee would not be meeting.

Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

Democratic primary debates

The following table provides an overview of the date, location, host, and number of participants in each scheduled 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate.

Republican primary debates

The Republican Party did not hold primary debates in the 2020 presidential election.

Presidential election key staff

Presidential candidates will typically have a national staff, which is overseen by a campaign manager and assisted by political consultants, senior advisors, professional polling firms, and key stakeholders such as interest group leaders and major financial supporters. They also build organizations in individual states that are overseen by state directors and staffed by party activists and political professionals well-versed in the particular politics of the area. Candidates often appoint elected officials and other important figures in their party's coalition as chairs of their national campaign and state-level campaigns.

Click here for an overview of key staff by presidential campaign.

PredictIt markets

What is a PredictIt market?

PredictIt is an online political futures market in which users purchase shares relating to the outcome of political events using real money. Each event, such as an election, has a number of contracts associated with it, each correlating to a different outcome. For instance, an election contested between four candidates would be represented by eight separate contracts, with each contract correlating to a particular candidate winning or losing the election.

The price of a share in each individual contract rises and falls based on market demand. Once the event's outcome is decided, holders of shares that correlate with the correct outcome receive a $1 payout for each share they held.

For example, a user buys 10 shares at 20 cents each in a presidential primary saying Candidate A will win. If Candidate A wins the election, the user earns $10. If the candidate loses, the user earns no money and loses his original $2 investment.

Why do PredictIt markets matter?

Services such as PredictIt are being used to gain insight into the likely outcome of elections. Microsoft Research economist David Rothschild argues that they are better suited to the task than polls: "I can create a poll that can mimic everything about a prediction market...except markets have a way of incentivizing you to come back at 2 a.m. and update your answer."

Battleground states

New Hampshire

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

Presidential election results by party, 1900-2016

This table lists presidential election results by party for each state in every presidential election held between 1900 and 2016.

Ballotpedia Trend Quizzes

Voter turnout

Fundraising

External links

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Presidential election, 2020 - Ballotpedia

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Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) won the presidential election on November 3, 2020. Biden received 306 electoral votes and President Donald Trump (R) received 232 electoral votes. In the national popular vote, Biden received 81.2 million votes and Trump received 74.2 million votes.