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2020 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary

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97 delegates (84 pledged, 13 unpledged) to the Democratic National Convention
Candidate Joe Biden Bernie Sanders Home state Delaware Vermont Delegate count 56 28 Popular vote 581,463 293,441 Percentage 62.86% 31.72%
Biden   50 – 60%   60 – 70%   70 – 80%

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v t e

The 2020 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary took place on April 7, 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice election, as part of the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Wisconsin primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 97 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 84 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Although all forms of voting had to take place on or until April 7, full results were not allowed to be released before April 13, in accordance with a district court ruling.

As of the primary on April 7, former vice president Joe Biden and senator Bernie Sanders were the only candidates left in the race. Even though results were only released six days later, Sanders dropped out and suspended his campaign the next morning (after he had already heavily scaled it back and focused on the treatment of the pandemic crisis), leaving Biden as the party's presumed presidential nominee. Nevertheless, Sanders declared that he wanted to continue competing for delegates at the national convention in subsequent primaries. Biden had ultimately won the primary with around 63% of the vote and 56 delegates, while Sanders, who had previously won Wisconsin in the 2016 primaries, only received around 32% of the vote and 28 delegates.

Procedure

Wisconsin was the only state that voted on April 7, 2020, in the Democratic primaries. The primary followed seven original primary dates between March 17 and April 4 which had been cancelled and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Voting took place throughout the state from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. In the open primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15% at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 84 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between 5 and 11 were allocated to each of the state's 8 congressional districts and another 10 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 19 at-large delegates. Originally planned with 77 delegates, the final number included a 10% bonus of 7 additional delegates on the 55 district and 19 at-large delegates by the Democratic National Committee due to the April date, which belonged to Stage II on the primary timetable.

On April 26, 2020, county caucuses selected delegates for congressional district caucuses, which took place on May 17, 2020, designating national convention district-level delegates. The administrative committee meeting was subsequently held on the day of the state convention on June 12, 2020, to vote on the 19 at-large and 10 pledged PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention. The delegation also included 13 unpledged PLEO delegates: 8 members of the Democratic National Committee, 4 members of Congress (one senator and 3 representatives), and the governor Tony Evers.

COVID-19 pandemic

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, several states had delayed their scheduled primaries and extended the vote-by-mail period. Concerns were raised by health officials, poll workers, and voters that in-person voting at the height of the pandemic would be unsafe for vulnerable individuals. Democratic Governor Tony Evers initially signed an executive order for all-mail-in election, but the order was rejected by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature.

On April 2, although U.S. District Judge William M. Conley refused to postpone the election, he extended the deadline for absentee voting to April 13 (ordering clerks not to release any election data before that date). However, on April 6, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Conley's decision, meaning that all absentee ballots still had to be postmarked by "election day, Tuesday, April 7" even though it was still acceptable for the ballots to be received by the clerks as late as April 13. The Supreme Court of the United States "did not alter the provision in Conley's amended order which prohibits the reporting of results until April 13".

Governor Evers then called a special session of the legislature to postpone in-person voting, but the session ended within minutes without action, forcing the primary to go on as planned. Despite having previously expressed the view that he would violate the law by doing so, on April 6, Evers issued an executive order which, if enforced, would have postponed the April 7 elections until the tentative date of June 9. Republican leaders immediately announced that they would challenge the order in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Evers did not have the authority to postpone the elections, thus meaning that Evers' executive order was nullified, and that the elections would be held as scheduled on April 7. This was appealed to a federal court who sided with the governor, and that was appealed to the US Supreme Court, which on a 5–4 vote, upheld the state court's ruling.

Voting was somewhat chaotic, with people waiting in the rain for hours in some cases in masks and social distancing. However, by the time the election concluded, Milwaukee Election Commissioner Neil Albrecht stated that despite some of the problems, the in-person voting ran smoothly.

Candidates

The following individuals were on the ballot in Wisconsin:

Running

• Joe Biden
• Bernie Sanders

Withdrawn

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

Polling

Results

See also

• Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on politics
• 2020 Wisconsin elections
• 2020 Wisconsin Republican primary

Notes

1. Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined
2. FiveThirtyEight aggregates polls with a trendline regression of polls rather than a strict average of recent polls.
3. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
4. Don't know with 2%; Refused to answer with 2%
5. Gabbard with 3%
6. Part of a 1,750 registered voter poll of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
7. Gabbard and Steyer with 1%; "Someone else" with 0%
8. "Not sure/other" with 11%
9. Gabbard with 0.8%; Patrick with 0.6%; Bennet and Delaney with 0.4%; Steyer with 0.3%
10. Gabbard and Steyer with 1%; Patrick and Williamson with 0%; someone else with 1%; Bennet and Delaney not reported
11. Gabbard and Steyer with 2%; Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Delaney, and Patrick with 0%; none of the above with 1%
12. Gabbard with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Delaney, Patrick, Steyer and Williamson with 0%; someone else with 1%; would not vote with 1%
13. Bullock, Steyer, Williamson, someone else, Would not vote, and Refused with 1%; Bennet, Castro, and Delaney with 0%
14. Gabbard and O'Rourke with 1%; others with 0%
15. O'Rourke with 1%; Steyer with 0%; Castro with no voters; other with 0%
16. Bullock, Gabbard and O'Rourke with 1%; Bennet, Delaney, Ryan, Sestak, Steyer, Williamson and Other with <1%; Castro and Messam with 0%; None of the above with 1%
17. "Someone else", Bullock, Gillibrand, O'Rourke, Steyer with 1%; Bennet, Gabbard, Delaney, Castro, Ryan and Williamson with 0%
18. Gabbard with 2%; Inslee, O'Rourke, Steyer, and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Messam, and Sestak with 0%
19. Gabbard and O'Rourke with 2%; Castro, Delaney, Gillibrand and Inslee with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Gravel, Hickenlooper, Moulton, Ryan, Swalwell and Williamson with 0%; Messam and Sestak with no voters
20. Castro, Gabbard, Gillibrand, and O'Rourke with 1%; Delaney, Hickenlooper, Inslee, and Yang with 0%
21. O'Rourke with 5%; Hickenlooper with 2%; Castro, Gillibrand, and Yang with 1%; Delaney, Gabbard, and Inslee with 0%; others with 2%
22. O'Rourke with 6%; Gillibrand with 1%; Castro, Gabbard, Hickenlooper, and Inslee with 0%; others with 3%

References

1. Larsen, Emily (April 7, 2020). "An awkward coronavirus Democratic primary in Wisconsin". The Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
2. Sullivan, Sean; Janes, Chelsea (April 8, 2020). "Bernie Sanders to end his presidential campaign". Washington Post. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
3. ^ "Bernie Sanders drops out of the 2020 race, clearing Joe Biden's path to the Democratic nomination". CNN. April 8, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
4. Putnam, Josh. "The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar". Frontloading HQ. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
5. ^ "Wisconsin Democratic Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. May 3, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
6. "Democratic Timing Penalties and Bonuses". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
7. "The Math Behind the Democratic Delegate Allocation - 2020". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
8. "Wisconsin set to hold in-person voting in presidential primary". Reuters. April 4, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
9. Dzhanova, Yelena (March 24, 2020). "Coronavirus is disrupting the 2020 election. Here are the states that have adjusted their primaries". CNBC. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
10. Richmond, Todd (April 3, 2020). "Wisconsin barrels ahead with election despite virus fears". AP.
11. Johnson, Martin (April 4, 2020). "Wisconsin Republicans say they will ask Supreme Court to block extended absentee voting". TheHill. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
12. "Supreme Court blocks extended absentee voting in Wisconsin primary". Channel3000.com. April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
13. Supreme Court of the United States (April 6, 2020). "REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, ET AL. v. DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, ET AL. No. 19A1016" (PDF). electionlawblog.org. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
14. "URGENT – Wisconsin Supreme Court Orders Election Day to Continue and U.S. Supreme Court Alters Ballot Receipt Deadline; Tallying and Reporting Results Still Prohibited Until April 13 – COVID-19". Wisconsin Elections Commission. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
15. Glauber, Bill; Marley, Patrick. "In matter of seconds, Republicans stall Gov. Tony Evers' move to postpone Tuesday election". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
16. Governor Evers Tweet April 1 2020
17. ^ Bradner, Eric; Sullivan, Kate (April 6, 2020). "Wisconsin governor orders delay of primary election until June". CNN. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
18. Ruthhart, Bill (April 7, 2020). "Wisconsin governor issues executive order to delay Tuesday's election until June". chicagotribune.com.
19. "Wisconsin Supreme Court rules Evers cannot postpone election". WISN. Associated Press. April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
20. Mystal, Elie (April 7, 2020). "SCOTUS Just Set the Stage for Republicans to Steal the Election". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
21. Perano, Ursula. "Wisconsin won't be declaring a winner tonight". Axios. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
22. Mikkelson, Marti (April 8, 2020). "Milwaukee Election Chief: Despite Some Issues, In-Person Voting Went Smoothly". www.wuwm.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
23. "Certificate of Ballot Placement for Presidential Preference Vote" (PDF). Wisconsin Elections Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
24. 270 to Win
25. RealClear Politics
26. FiveThirtyEight
27. Marquette University Law School
28. Public Policy Polling
29. YouGov/Yahoo News
30. Marquette University Law School
31. YouGov/University of Wisconsin-Madison
32. Baldwin Wallace University/Oakland University/Ohio Northern University
33. Marquette University Law School
34. Fox News
35. Marquette University Law School
36. Marquette University Law School
37. Siena Research/New York Times
38. Kaiser Family Foundation
39. Fox News
40. Marquette University Law School
41. Change Research
42. Change Research Archived 2019-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
43. Zogby Analytics
44. Zogby Analytics
45. Emerson College Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine
46. "April 2020 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Primary Results". Wisconsin Elections Commission. Wisconsin Secretary of State. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
47. Canvass Results for 2020 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Vote - 4/7/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. May 4, 2020. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
48. "Delegate Tracker". interactives.ap.org. Associated Press. Retrieved April 30, 2020.

External links

• The Green Papers delegate allocation summary
• FiveThirtyEight Wisconsin primary poll tracker
• ScotusBlog

• 2020 United States Democratic presidential primaries by state
• 2020 Wisconsin elections
• Wisconsin Democratic primaries