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2020 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary

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34 delegates (28 pledged, 6 unpledged) to the Democratic National Convention The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
Candidate Joe Biden Bernie Sanders (withdrawn) David Lee Rice Home state Delaware Vermont West Virginia Delegate count 28 0 0 Popular vote 122,518 22,793 15,470 Percentage 65.35% 12.16% 8.25%
County results Biden   40 – 50%   50 – 60%   60 – 70%   70 – 80%

Elections in West Virginia
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v t e

The 2020 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary was held on June 9, 2020 alongside the Georgia primary, as part of the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. It was originally scheduled for May 12, 2020, but was moved to June 9 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The West Virginia primary was a semi-closed primary, with the state awarding 34 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 28 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

Former vice president and recently determined presumptive nominee Joe Biden swept the state and won all 28 delegates with 65% of the vote, winning all 55 counties. Senator Bernie Sanders missed the delegate threshold with little more than 12%, a stark reversal from 2016 when he had won all 55 counties, and David Lee Rice, an army veteran and resident of Parkersburg, West Virginia, who did not appear on the ballot in any other state, received 8%.

Procedure

West Virginia was previously scheduled to vote on May 12, 2020, alongside Nebraska, in the Democratic primaries, but on April 1 the primary was rescheduled by governor Jim Justice to June 9, 2020, setting it alongside the equally rescheduled Georgia primary. Voting took place throughout the state from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

In the semi-closed primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 28 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between 6 and 7 were allocated to each of the state's 3 congressional districts and another 3 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 6 at-large delegates. Originally planned with 24 delegates, the final number included a 20% bonus of 4 additional delegates on the original number of 16 district and 5 at-large delegates by the Democratic National Committee due to the original May date, which belonged to Stage III on the primary timetable.

Following the election of district delegates to the district caucuses and the state convention on June 2, national convention district-level delegates were elected by the district caucuses during the state convention on June 12, 2020, and the 6 at-large and 3 pledged PLEO delegates were elected by the state executive committee the following day, also at the state convention. The delegation also included 6 unpledged PLEO delegates: 5 members of the Democratic National Committee and one senator from Congress.

Candidates

The following candidates qualified for the ballot in West Virginia:

Running

• Joe Biden
• David Lee Rice

Withdrawn

• Michael Bennet
• Michael Bloomberg
• Pete Buttigieg
• Tulsi Gabbard
• Amy Klobuchar
• Deval Patrick
• Bernie Sanders
• Tom Steyer
• Elizabeth Warren
• Andrew Yang

Results

County results

Analysis

Four years earlier, Sanders won the West Virginia primary by a wide margin, 51 to 35, against Hillary Clinton. This was considered to be mainly based on a protest vote against Clinton and both her and the Obama administration's coal policies. Many of the traditionally more conservative West Virginia Democrats went on to vote for Donald Trump.

In 2020, the strength Sanders had among traditionally more conservative Democrats, protest vote or not, almost collapsed, with most of the support swinging to Joe Biden. Biden was the presumptive nominee at the time as Sanders had suspended his campaign shortly before, however, Sanders did notably better than in the Kentucky primary a few weeks later, which was another state were more conservative Democrats turned out for him in 2016. This is the first primary in which the Democrat primary had fewer votes than the GOP primary.

In an indication of the alienation of the West Virginia Democratic Party from the national one, this primary marked the third consecutive time where a candidate only running in the West Virginia Democratic primary received a notable performance, with nationally obscure candidate David Lee Rice receiving 8.3% of the vote (a pattern which began in 2000, when local perennial candidate Angus McDonald won about 8%; since then, similarly unexpected results occurred in 2008 (then-withdrawn candidate John Edwards unexpectedly won about 7.5% of the vote), 2012 (Keith Judd, an imprisoned felon from California, won over 40%), and 2016 (Paul Farrell, a Huntington attorney, won about 9% and came close to winning a delegate from the state's southern congressional district).

References

1. Lacie Pierson (April 1, 2020). "Gov. Justice delays WV primary election until June 9". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
2. "West Virginia State Primary Election Results 2020". New York Times. June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
3. "Incumbents file for reelection on second day of filing period". Charleston Gazette-Mail. January 14, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
4. "Obituary: David Lee Rice". WTAP. May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
5. Putnam, Josh. "The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar". Frontloading HQ. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
6. "Democratic Timing Penalties and Bonuses". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
7. "The Math Behind the Democratic Delegate Allocation - 2020". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
8. "West Virginia Democratic Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. May 20, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
9. "Candidate Listing by Office". services.sos.wv.gov. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
10. "Results – Democratic Contests". results.enr.clarityelections.com/. West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
11. "How Anti-Coal Bernie Sanders Won Coal Country". ThinkProgress. May 12, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
12. "Donald Trump Supporters Boost Bernie Sanders in West Virginia". NBC News. May 11, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.

External links

• The Green Papers delegate allocation summary
• West Virginia Democratic Party draft delegate selection plan

• 2020 United States Democratic presidential primaries by state
• 2020 West Virginia elections
• West Virginia Democratic primaries
• Elections postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic