2020 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary

2020 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary
← GA KY →
34 delegates (28 pledged, 6 unpledged); to the Democratic National Convention ; The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
County results	Biden 40 – 50% 50 – 60% 60 – 70% 70 – 80%
	Biden 40 – 50% 50 – 60% 60 – 70% 70 – 80%

Last updated October 18, 2024

Pledged national convention delegates
Type	Del.
CD1	6
CD2	7
CD3	6
PLEO	3
At-large	6
Total pledged delegates	28

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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%.^[3]^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]^[7]

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.^[8]

Candidates

The following candidates qualified for the ballot in West Virginia:^[9]

Running

Joe Biden
David Lee Rice

Withdrawn

Results

2020 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary^[10]
Candidate	Votes	%	Delegates
Joe Biden	122,518	65.35	28
Bernie Sanders (withdrawn)	22,793	12.16
David Lee Rice	15,470	8.25
Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn)	5,741	3.06
Tulsi Gabbard (withdrawn)	4,163	2.22
Michael Bloomberg (withdrawn)	3,759	2.01
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn)	3,455	1.84
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn)	3,011	1.61
Andrew Yang (withdrawn)	2,590	1.38
Michael Bennet (withdrawn)	1,865	0.99
Tom Steyer (withdrawn)	1,235	0.66
Deval Patrick (withdrawn)	882	0.47
Total	187,482	100%	28

County results


County	Joe Biden		Bernie Sanders		David Lee Rice		Others		Total votes
County	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	Total votes
Barbour	68.83%	923	7.98%	107	10.22%	137	12.97%	174	1,341
Berkeley	73.74%	5,952	12.31%	994	2.92%	236	11.03%	890	8,072
Boone	54.40%	1,689	10.27%	319	17.39%	540	17.94%	557	3,105
Braxton	62.80%	1,133	8.09%	146	11.97%	216	17.14%	309	1,804
Brooke	62.70%	1,861	10.88%	323	8.79%	261	17.63%	523	2,968
Cabell	68.32%	6,792	15.17%	1,508	4.34%	431	12.17%	1,211	9,942
Calhoun	47.29%	392	16.04%	133	21.59%	179	15.08%	125	829
Clay	52.01%	439	10.31%	87	19.31%	163	18.37%	155	844
Doddridge	59.44%	192	14.55%	47	13.31%	43	12.70%	41	323
Fayette	63.52%	3,167	12.01%	599	9.07%	452	15.40%	768	4,986
Gilmer	55.24%	448	11.47%	93	15.04%	122	18.25%	148	811
Grant	69.64%	211	13.53%	41	4.62%	14	12.21%	37	303
Greenbrier	66.10%	2,660	12.03%	484	7.70%	310	14.17%	570	4,024
Hampshire	64.56%	942	9.87%	144	9.73%	142	15.84%	231	1,459
Hancock	65.23%	2,217	9.44%	321	8.68%	295	16.65%	566	3,399
Hardy	62.55%	810	10.42%	135	11.89%	154	15.14%	196	1,295
Harrison	66.02%	5,266	10.04%	801	8.38%	668	15.56%	1,241	7,976
Jackson	71.03%	1,986	8.66%	242	8.83%	247	11.48%	321	2,796
Jefferson	74.69%	4,807	14.05%	904	1.55%	100	9.71%	625	6,436
Kanawha	73.10%	18,069	11.75%	2,905	3.64%	901	11.51%	2,844	24,719
Lewis	58.51%	976	10.97%	183	11.69%	195	18.83%	314	1,668
Lincoln	57.38%	1,182	10.10%	208	18.20%	375	14.32%	295	2,060
Logan	50.90%	1,504	11.95%	353	19.90%	588	17.25%	510	2,955
Marion	61.93%	4,818	13.47%	1,048	7.38%	574	17.22%	1,340	7,780
Marshall	59.87%	2,107	10.88%	383	11.88%	418	17.37%	611	3,519
Mason	62.10%	1,670	9.26%	249	13.13%	353	15.51%	417	2,689
McDowell	57.85%	980	8.26%	140	13.58%	230	20.31%	344	1,694
Mercer	62.94%	2,683	13.61%	580	8.42%	359	15.03%	641	4,263
Mineral	68.51%	1,162	11.32%	192	9.08%	154	11.09%	188	1,696
Mingo	41.10%	921	14.15%	317	20.44%	458	24.31%	545	2,241
Monongalia	63.65%	7,967	17.74%	2,221	3.94%	493	14.67%	1,836	12,517
Monroe	66.53%	811	10.83%	132	8.53%	104	14.11%	172	1,219
Morgan	72.64%	770	14.15%	150	2.83%	30	10.38%	110	1,060
Nicholas	60.90%	1,483	9.61%	234	10.18%	248	19.31%	470	2,435
Ohio	68.14%	3,700	13.02%	707	4.90%	266	13.94%	757	5,430
Pendleton	65.30%	557	7.97%	68	10.32%	88	16.41%	140	853
Pleasants	64.11%	493	8.32%	64	10.92%	84	16.65%	128	769
Pocahontas	63.62%	640	12.33%	124	8.05%	81	16.00%	161	1,006
Preston	64.01%	1,606	12.55%	315	10.56%	265	12.88%	323	2,509
Putnam	69.66%	3,882	12.17%	678	6.01%	335	12.16%	678	5,573
Raleigh	63.50%	4,520	11.89%	846	9.40%	669	15.21%	1,083	7,118
Randolph	59.44%	2,200	10.00%	370	15.10%	559	15.46%	572	3,701
Ritchie	61.85%	274	11.06%	49	13.32%	59	13.77%	61	443
Roane	64.33%	880	12.72%	174	9.80%	134	13.15%	180	1,368
Summers	61.84%	1,050	10.13%	172	15.43%	262	12.60%	214	1,698
Taylor	64.85%	1,057	11.35%	185	8.90%	145	14.90%	243	1,630
Tucker	58.09%	578	15.48%	154	10.15%	101	16.28%	162	995
Tyler	58.78%	318	11.65%	63	12.57%	68	17.00%	92	541
Upshur	71.84%	1,194	10.83%	180	5.29%	88	12.04%	200	1,662
Wayne	62.70%	2,533	9.75%	394	14.31%	578	13.24%	535	4,040
Webster	50.46%	491	10.89%	106	17.06%	166	21.59%	210	973
Wetzel	55.10%	1,112	11.05%	223	15.96%	322	17.89%	361	2,018
Wirt	57.55%	286	9.86%	49	15.29%	76	17.30%	86	497
Wood	68.58%	4,550	12.36%	820	7.63%	506	11.43%	759	6,635
Wyoming	47.65%	871	11.27%	206	22.43%	410	18.65%	341	1,828

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.^[11] Many of the traditionally more conservative West Virginia Democrats went on to vote for Donald Trump.^[12]

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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).

Related Research Articles

The 2020 Colorado Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The Colorado primary, the first in the state since 2000, was a semi-closed primary and awarded 79 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 67 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The Massachusetts primary was a semi-closed primary, with the state awarding 114 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 91 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Vermont Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The Vermont primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 24 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 16 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Virginia Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The Virginia primary was an open primary, wherein any registered voter can vote, regardless of party registration. The state awarded 124 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 99 were pledged delegates allocated at the local level.

The 2020 Louisiana Democratic presidential primary took place on July 11, 2020, a Saturday, in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. It was originally planned for April 4 together with three other primaries, but was moved twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Louisiana primary was a closed primary, with the state awarding 60 delegates, of which 54 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Idaho Democratic presidential primary took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Idaho primary required that voters would be registered Democrats or unaffiliated, and awarded 25 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 20 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

The 2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Mississippi primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 41 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 36 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Missouri primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 79 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 68 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Washington Democratic presidential primary took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The state-run semi-open primary, which was used instead of party-run caucuses for the first time by Washington's Democrats, awarded 109 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 89 were pledged delegates allocated according to the results of the primary.

The 2020 Alaska Democratic presidential primary had been scheduled to take place on April 4, 2020, in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, but in-person voting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mail-in voting was extended to April 10, 2020. The Alaska primary was a closed party-run primary, with the state awarding 19 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 15 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Voters cast ranked-choice voting ballots, with a voter's ballot counting for four ranked backup choices if their original choice was in last place and below the 15 percent threshold for winning delegates.

The 2020 Hawaii Democratic presidential primary had been scheduled to take place on April 4, 2020, a Saturday, in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, but in-person voting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mail-in voting was extended to May 22, 2020. Instead, voters had until May 22 to submit mail-in ballots. The Hawaii primary was a closed party-run primary, awarding 33 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 24 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Voters cast ranked-choice voting ballots, with a voter's ballot counting for two ranked backup choices if their original choice was in last place and below the 15 percent threshold for winning delegates.

The 2020 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary took place on June 2, 2020, after being postponed due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, as one of eight delayed and regular primaries on the same day in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. It was originally planned to take place on April 28, 2020, as one of several northeastern states in the "Acela primary". The Rhode Island primary was a semi-closed primary, with the state awarding 35 delegates, of whom 26 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

The 2020 Kansas Democratic presidential primary took place until May 2, 2020, in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, as in-person voting had been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kansas primary was a closed party-run primary, undertaken completely by mail-in voting, it was the sole contest held on that date. The state awarded 45 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 39 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Voters cast ranked choice voting ballots, with a voter's ballot counting for four ranked backup choices if their original choice was in last place and below the 15 percent threshold for winning delegates.

The 2020 Indiana Democratic presidential primary had been scheduled to take place on May 5, 2020, but was postponed to June 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside seven delayed and regular primaries on that day in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Indiana primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 89 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 82 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

The 2020 Montana Democratic presidential primary took place on June 2, 2020, as one of eight delayed and regular primaries on the same day in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Montana primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 25 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 19 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

The 2020 New Mexico Democratic presidential primary took place on June 2, 2020, as one of eight delayed and regular primaries on the same day in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The New Mexico primary was a closed primary, with the state awarding 46 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 34 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

The 2020 District of Columbia Democratic presidential primary took place on June 2, 2020, as one of eight delayed and regular contests on that day in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The District of Columbia primary was a closed primary, with the district awarding 45 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 20 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.

The 2020 Georgia Democratic presidential primary was held on June 9, 2020, alongside the West Virginia primary, as part of the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. It was originally scheduled for March 24, 2020, but was moved to June 9 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and previously cast early mail-in votes were disallowed and separately counted. The election coincided with primaries for Georgia's Class 2 Senate seat and Georgia's U.S. House of Representatives seats. The Georgia primary was an open primary, which awarded 118 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 105 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.

The 2020 Maine Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The Maine primary, the first in the state since 2000, was a closed primary, meaning that only registered Democrats could vote in this primary, but unenrolled voters were permitted to enroll in a party at the polls with same day registration. The state awarded 32 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, 24 of which were pledged delegates allocated based on the results of the primary. The primary election coincided with a people's veto referendum to reject changes to Maine's vaccination laws.

The 2020 Wyoming Democratic presidential caucuses had been scheduled to take place on April 4, 2020 in the Democratic Party primaries and caucuses for the 2020 presidential election, but in-person voting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mail-in voting was extended to April 17, 2020. The Wyoming caucuses were a closed caucus, with the state awarding 18 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 14 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the caucus. Voters cast ranked-choice voting ballots, with a voter's ballot counting for four ranked backup choices if their original choice was in last place and below the 15 percent threshold for winning delegates.

References

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

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[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.

[FHQ-primarydates-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.

[WV-SOS-results-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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]