Democratic Party Presidential Primaries
Primaries and caucuses:
- In the first stage of voting, candidates from the same party compete in a public vote
- Rather than having a national contest, there are separate contests for each state. This is a public vote,
but each voter can only vote in one party’s primary.
- Candidates compete in a state to win delegates. Each state is given a number of delegates that
broadly reflects its population. Delegates are party activists who agree to go to a party convention to
vote for a specific candidate, according to how the voters in that state have voted.
- Republican primaries = traditionally used as a winner takes all system. Now some states use
a proportional system
- Democrat primaries = award delegates to candidates in proportion to their vote totals in that
state.
The 2020 democratic party primaries and caucuses will be a series of electoral contests by the Democratic
Party to select the approximately 3,769 pledged delegates to the Democratic Union Convention – who shall
elect the Democratic nominee for President of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Independently of the results of primaries and caucuses, the Democratic Party will also appoint 765 unpledged
delegates (superdelegates) to participate in its national convention. In contrast to all previous election cycles,
superdelegates will no longer have the right to cast decisive votes at the convention's first ballot for the
presidential nomination (limiting their voting rights to either non-decisive votes on the first ballot or decisive
votes for subsequent ballots on a contested convention)
Candidates:
- Michael Bennet
- Joe Biden
- Cory Booker
- Steve Bullock
- Pete Buttigieg
- Julian Castro
- Bill de Blasio
- John Delaney
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Kamala Harris
- Amy Klobuchar
- Wayne Messam
- Beto O’Rourke
- Tim Ryan
- Bernie Sanders
- Joe Sestak
- Tom Steyer
- Elizabeth Warren
- Marianne Williamson
- Andrew Yang
Debates/ Key Moments:
1st Debate: (June 26 and June 27, 2019)
- Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio said they would abolish private health insurance
- Warren = “Medicare-for-All” an important part of her platform.
Primaries and caucuses:
- In the first stage of voting, candidates from the same party compete in a public vote
- Rather than having a national contest, there are separate contests for each state. This is a public vote,
but each voter can only vote in one party’s primary.
- Candidates compete in a state to win delegates. Each state is given a number of delegates that
broadly reflects its population. Delegates are party activists who agree to go to a party convention to
vote for a specific candidate, according to how the voters in that state have voted.
- Republican primaries = traditionally used as a winner takes all system. Now some states use
a proportional system
- Democrat primaries = award delegates to candidates in proportion to their vote totals in that
state.
The 2020 democratic party primaries and caucuses will be a series of electoral contests by the Democratic
Party to select the approximately 3,769 pledged delegates to the Democratic Union Convention – who shall
elect the Democratic nominee for President of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Independently of the results of primaries and caucuses, the Democratic Party will also appoint 765 unpledged
delegates (superdelegates) to participate in its national convention. In contrast to all previous election cycles,
superdelegates will no longer have the right to cast decisive votes at the convention's first ballot for the
presidential nomination (limiting their voting rights to either non-decisive votes on the first ballot or decisive
votes for subsequent ballots on a contested convention)
Candidates:
- Michael Bennet
- Joe Biden
- Cory Booker
- Steve Bullock
- Pete Buttigieg
- Julian Castro
- Bill de Blasio
- John Delaney
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Kamala Harris
- Amy Klobuchar
- Wayne Messam
- Beto O’Rourke
- Tim Ryan
- Bernie Sanders
- Joe Sestak
- Tom Steyer
- Elizabeth Warren
- Marianne Williamson
- Andrew Yang
Debates/ Key Moments:
1st Debate: (June 26 and June 27, 2019)
- Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio said they would abolish private health insurance
- Warren = “Medicare-for-All” an important part of her platform.
