2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary


The 2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary took place in Minnesota, United States, on March 3, 2020, as one of 14 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary the weekend before. The Minnesota primary was an open primary, with the state party awarding 92 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 75 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Early voting was possible for just over six weeks beginning January 17, 2020.
This primary is only for the presidential election; Minnesota also holds a primary for elections within the state, which on August 11, 2020. Biden benefitted from agrarian white voters who followed Senator Klobuchar's lead, then the front-runner in her home state, in endorsing Biden at the last minute. Klobuchar had banked some early votes in some western Minnesota counties, and carried a number of counties despite her withdrawal from the race. Sanders lost many counties he had won in 2016, when he won the state easily by double digit margins against Hillary Clinton, while Biden won 76 of them. In 2020 Sanders's only strongholds in the state were in college towns and the Minneapolis and St. Paul city limits.

Candidates

The following candidates have filed and are on the ballot in Minnesota:
Running
Withdrawn
Minnesota was one of 14 states holding primaries on March 3, 2020, also known as "Super Tuesday", to determine the state's presidential nominating contest. Party-run caucuses are still held in the state, but no longer include or influence the presidential nomination question. Then-governor Mark Dayton signed a bill on May 22, 2016 making this change to the state's presidential nominating contests.
Absentee voting began on January 17, 2020. A legal challenge was brought jointly by James Martin and a Republican candidate threatening to disrupt the process, but was denied by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Voting on Super Tuesday took place from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in much of the state, with voting in certain townships starting at 10:00 a.m. Under Minnesota's open primary law, there are no qualifications that a candidate must meet in order for that candidate's name to be printed on a primary ballot excepting only being included in the notice provided by the party's chair to the Minnesota Secretary of State; there are no restrictions as to what names the chair may give in its notice. Under state party rules, however, candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 75 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 75 pledged delegates, between 4 and 10 are allocated to each of the state's 8 congressional districts and another 10 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials, in addition to 16 at-large pledged delegates. Bonus delegates will be allocated as Minnesota shares a primary date with numerous other states on Super Tuesday; these numbers do not yet account for these delegates.
After organizing unit conventions running from Saturday, March 7, 2020 until Sunday, April 19, 2020 during which delegates for congressional district and state conventions are nominated, third level congressional district conventions will take place between Saturday, May 2, 2020 and Friday, May 29, 2020, where national convention district delegates will be selected. The state convention will subsequently be held on Sunday, May 31, 2020 to vote on the 16 pledged at-large and 10 PLEO delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 75 pledged delegates Minnesota sends to the national convention will be joined by 17 unpledged PLEO delegates.

Campaign

With the impeachment trial coming up and taking up the time of several of the top tier candidates, including Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, the start of early voting was extremely important to her and the state party. Several rallies featuring her and other top DFL officials were held on that day, January 17.
Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign one day before Super Tuesday, after 100,000 voters had already requested early voting ballots. This is likely to have contributed to her receiving 5.6 percent of the vote, and coming in first in several counties.

Polling

Amy Klobuchar lead in pre-election polling, but withdrew from the race the night before the election and endorsed Joe Biden.

Results


15 candidates and an uncommitted option were on the ballot. Candidates' names remain on the ballot even if the candidate has suspended/ended his/her campaign before the primary.
CandidateVotes%Delegates
Joe Biden287,55338.6438
Bernie Sanders222,43129.8927
Elizabeth Warren114,67415.4110
Michael Bloomberg61,8828.320
Amy Klobuchar 41,5305.580
Pete Buttigieg 7,6161.020
Tulsi Gabbard2,5040.340
Andrew Yang 1,7490.240
Tom Steyer 5510.070
Michael Bennet 3150.040
Marianne Williamson 2260.030
Cory Booker 1970.030
John Delaney 1720.020
Julian Castro 1140.020
Deval Patrick 720.010
Uncommitted2,6120.350
Total744,198100%75

†Candidate withdrew after no-excuse, in-person absentee voting started on January 17, 2020.

Results by county

Analysis

Exit polls indicated Biden winning handily the white voters and older people, he also won by just 4 points the African American vote, in sharp contrast with the southern states, while Sanders won the non-white vote overall by a wide margin, young voters, as well as voters from the LGBTQ+ community