In American politics, a swing state is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to presidential elections, by a swing in votes. These states are usually targeted by both major-party campaigns, especially in competitive elections. Meanwhile, the states that regularly lean to a single party are known as "safe states", as it is generally assumed that one candidate has a base of support from which a sufficient share of the electorate can be drawn without significant investment or effort by the campaign.
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Harris defeated the incumbent Republican president, Donald Trump, and vice president, Mike Pence. The election took place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and related recession. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900, with each of the two main tickets receiving more than 74 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008. Biden received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election.
The 2022 United States elections were held on November 8, 2022, with the exception of absentee balloting. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the term of incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were contested to determine the 118th United States Congress. Thirty-nine state and territorial U.S. gubernatorial elections, as well as numerous state and local elections, were also contested. This was the first election affected by the 2022 U.S. redistricting that followed the 2020 U.S. census. The Republican Party ended unified Democratic control of congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives while the Democrats expanded their senate majority. Despite the eventual result, 2022 is still one of the few outliers in U.S. midterm history, it is rare for the opposition party to perform this underwhelmingly in a midterm election, marking the worst performance for an opposition party in a midterm election since 2002. Excluding their gain of the House, the Republican Party had not performed this worse in a midterm election under a Democratic president since 1934.
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 United States presidential election. The elections took place in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and through Democrats Abroad, and occurred between February 3 and August 11.
On April 25, 2019, former vice president Joe Biden released a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. On November 3, 2020, Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, defeated incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence in the general election.
Conor James Lamb is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district from 2018 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the neighboring 18th district in 2018. Lamb was also an unsuccessful candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania.
John Patrick Joyce is an American dermatologist and politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district, serving since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election, in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. Arizona voters chose 11 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Republican President Donald Trump of Florida and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana, against Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware and his running mate, United States Senator Kamala Harris of California. The Libertarian nominees were also on the ballot.
The 2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Pennsylvania voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes in the Electoral College.
In analysis of United States presidential elections, the phrase "tipping-point state" is a term that some political commentators use to describe the first state on a chart of high-margin victories to low-margin victories that gives the winning candidate a majority of electoral votes in the Electoral College.
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 very 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 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 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 Oregon Democratic presidential primary took place on May 19, 2020 in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election and was the only contest on that date. The Kentucky primary, previously also scheduled for May 19, was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Oregon already had a total vote-by-mail primary. The Oregon primary was a closed primary and awarded 74 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 61 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.
Kanye West announced his 2020 United States presidential election campaign through Twitter on July 4, 2020. On July 16, 2020, the campaign filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. He entered the election after missing at least six states' deadlines to appear on the ballot as a third-party candidate. West selected Michelle Tidball, a Christian preacher from Wyoming, as his running mate. West's platform advocated for the creation of a culture of life, endorsing environmental stewardship, supporting the arts, buttressing faith-based organizations, restoring school prayer, and providing for a strong national defense. A supporter of a consistent life ethic, West opposed abortion and capital punishment. The campaign was endorsed by his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, as well as a number of fellow rappers and entertainers.
In American politics, a blue shift, also called a red mirage, is an observed phenomenon under which counts of in-person votes are more likely than overall vote counts to be for the Republican Party, while provisional votes or absentee ballots, which are often counted later, are more likely than overall vote counts to be for the Democratic Party. This means that election day results can initially indicate a Republican is ahead, but adding provisional ballots and absentee ballots into the count can eventually show a Democratic victory.
Arnon Absalom Mishkin is an American management consultant, media personality, and news analyst for Fox News. Mishkin worked as a pollster under political consultant David Garth for the Democratic Party during electoral campaigns for Ed Koch, Jay Rockefeller, and Tom Bradley. Mishkin worked as a partner at the Boston Consulting Group and the Mitchell Madison Group, and now operates his own consultancy firm known as Mishkin Associates. Since 1998, he has been consultant for Fox News as part of their Decision Desk, and has led it since 2008, including the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 United States presidential elections. In 2021, Mishkin also served as a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
The following is a timeline of major events before, during, and after the 2020 United States presidential election, the 59th quadrennial United States presidential election, from November 2020 to January 2021. For prior events, see Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election (2017–2019) and Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election.
