2020 Vermont Democratic presidential 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.

2020 Vermont Democratic presidential primary

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24 delegates (16 pledged, 8 unpledged)
to the Democratic National Convention
The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
 
Candidate Bernie Sanders Joe Biden
Home state Vermont Delaware
Delegate count 11 5
Popular vote 79,921 34,669
Percentage 50.57% 21.94%

 
Candidate Elizabeth Warren Michael Bloomberg
Home state Massachusetts New York
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 19,785 14,828
Percentage 12.52% 9.38%

  Bernie Sanders
  Joe Biden
Pledged national
convention
delegates
Type Del.
CD at-large 11
PLEO 2
At-large 3
Total pledged delegates 16

While Senator Bernie Sanders won the primary in his home state by a landslide, gaining over 50% of the vote and 11 delegates,[1] he underperformed compared to the 2016 primary, when he had won over 85% of the vote, allowing former Vice President Joe Biden to garner 5 delegates with a 22% second-place finish and add to the narrative of his surge following the South Carolina primary. Senator Elizabeth Warren and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg placed third and fourth respectively without any delegates.

Procedure

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Vermont was one of 14 states and one territory holding primaries on Super Tuesday.[2] The Super Tuesday primary as part of Stage I on the primary timetable received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on the first shared date or on a March date in general.[3]

Early voting began on January 18, 2020, and took six days a week between then and election day.[4] Regular voting took place throughout the state from 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. in much of the state, with some precincts closing as late as 10:00 p.m. In the open primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent in order to be considered viable. The 16 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, 11 were formally allocated as district delegates on the basis of the statewide result (by definition coterminous with the state's sole congressional district) and another 2 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 3 at-large delegates, both also according to the statewide result.[5]

After town caucuses on April 21, 2020, designated delegates for the state convention, the state convention was held on May 30, 2020, to nominate national convention district delegates, who in turn elected the 3 at-large and 2 pledged PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention at the national convention delegate meeting on June 13, 2020. The delegation also included 8 unpledged PLEO delegates: 4 members of the Democratic National Committee, 3 members from Congress (both senators, including formally Independent Bernie Sanders, and representative Peter Welch), and former DNC chair Howard Dean.[5]

Candidates

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The following people have filed and qualified to be on the ballot in Vermont.[6]

Running

Withdrawn

The name of early presidential candidate Michael Bennet, who had already dropped out of the race, was written in by three voters.

Polling

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Polling Aggregation
Source of poll aggregation Date
updated
Dates
polled
Bernie
Sanders
Elizabeth
Warren
Joe
Biden
Michael
Bloomberg
Tulsi
Gabbard
Other/
Undecided[d]
270 to Win[7] March 3, 2020 February 4–March 2, 2020 52.0% 14.0% 10.7% 10.3% 1.0% 12.0%
RealClear Politics[8] March 3, 2020 Insufficient recent polling to supply an average.
FiveThirtyEight[9] March 3, 2020 until March 2, 2020[e] 53.0% 14.2% 10.4% 8.9% 0.9% 12.6%
Average 52.5% 14.1% 10.55% 9.6% 0.95% 12.3%
Vermont primary results (March 3, 2020) 50.6% 12.5% 21.9% 9.4% 0.8% 4.8%
Tabulation of individual polls of the 2020 Vermont Democratic Primary
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[f]
Margin
of error
Joe
Biden
Michael
Bloomberg
Pete
Buttigieg
Amy
Klobuchar
Bernie
Sanders
Elizabeth
Warren
Other Un-
decided
Mar 2, 2020 Klobuchar withdraws from the race
Swayable[10] Mar 1–2, 2020 147 (LV) ± 11.0% 11% 16% 5% 2% 48% 17% 2%[g]
Data for Progress[11] Feb 28–Mar 2, 2020 236 (LV) ± 6.9% 16% 8% 1% 57% 16% 2%[h]
Mar 1, 2020 Buttigieg withdraws from the race
Vermont Public Radio[12] Feb 4–10, 2020 332 (LV) ± 4.0% 5% 7% 9% 4% 51% 13% 2%[i] 7%

Results

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Popular vote share by county
  Sanders—40–50%
  Sanders—50–60%
2020 Vermont Democratic presidential primary[13]
Candidate Votes % Delegates[14]
Bernie Sanders 79,921 50.57 11
Joe Biden 34,669 21.94 5
Elizabeth Warren 19,785 12.52
Michael Bloomberg 14,828 9.38
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn)[b] 3,709 2.35
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn)[b] 1,991 1.26
Tulsi Gabbard 1,303 0.82
Andrew Yang (withdrawn)[c] 591 0.37
Tom Steyer (withdrawn)[b] 202 0.13
Deval Patrick (withdrawn)[c] 137 0.09
Marianne Williamson (withdrawn) 135 0.09
Donald Trump (write-in Republican) 83 0.05
Julian Castro (withdrawn) 52 0.03
Hillary Clinton (write-in) 5 0.00
Michael Bennet (write-in) 3 0.00
Other candidates / Write-in [j]238 0.15
Overvotes / Blank votes [k]380 0.24
Total 158,032 100% 16


Results by county

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2020 Vermont Democratic primary

(results per county)[15]

County Bernie Sanders Joe Biden Elizabeth Warren Michael Bloomberg Pete Buttigieg Amy Klobuchar Tulsi Gabbard Andrew Yang Tom Steyer Deval Patrick Marianne Williamson Mark Stewart Julian Castro Write-ins Overvotes Blank votes Total votes cast
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Addison 5,069 48.61 2,256 21.63 1,581 15.16 974 9.34 227 2.18 117 1.12 67 0.64 34 0.33 15 0.14 7 0.07 6 0.06 11 0.11 5 0.05 17 0.16 7 0.07 35 0.34 10,428
Bennington 3,568 45.10 2,308 29.17 813 10.28 827 10.45 158 2.00 69 0.87 62 0.78 27 0.34 10 0.13 20 0.25 9 0.11 4 0.05 5 0.06 17 0.21 3 0.04 12 0.15 7,912
Caledonia 2,749 50.88 1,182 21.88 656 12.14 501 9.27 121 2.24 56 1.04 59 1.09 33 0.61 5 0.09 10 0.19 6 0.11 4 0.07 1 0.02 5 0.09 7 0.13 8 0.15 5,403
Chittenden 26,465 51.98 9,959 19.56 6,972 13.69 4,647 9.13 1,254 2.46 777 1.53 375 0.74 173 0.34 43 0.08 22 0.04 37 0.07 27 0.05 14 0.03 56 0.11 9 0.02 83 0.16 50,913
Essex 408 43.78 275 29.51 55 5.90 117 12.55 22 2.36 15 1.61 10 1.07 7 0.75 2 0.21 0 0 0 0 2 0.21 0 0 7 0.75 1 0.11 11 1.18 932
Franklin 3,962 50.14 1,919 24.28 527 6.67 1,021 12.92 194 2.46 81 1.03 57 0.72 47 0.59 7 0.09 8 0.10 14 0.18 7 0.09 4 0.05 25 0.32 3 0.04 26 0.33 7,902
Grand Isle 936 46.73 475 23.71 178 8.89 284 14.18 54 2.70 31 1.55 17 0.85 9 0.45 2 0.10 0 0 1 0.05 2 0.10 0 0 3 0.15 2 0.10 9 0.45 2,003
Lamoille 3,146 53.57 1,271 21.64 495 8.43 680 11.58 114 1.94 65 1.11 37 0.63 26 0.44 5 0.09 4 0.07 2 0.03 0 0 2 0.03 9 0.15 1 0.02 16 0.27 5,873
Orange 3,283 52.10 1,342 21.30 885 14.05 451 7.16 134 2.13 85 1.35 60 0.95 20 0.32 8 0.13 6 0.10 4 0.06 2 0.03 2 0.03 5 0.08 3 0.05 11 0.17 6,301
Orleans 1,985 51.53 899 23.34 341 8.85 439 11.40 67 1.74 37 0.96 35 0.91 14 0.36 5 0.13 4 0.10 7 0.18 5 0.13 1 0.03 1 0.03 2 0.05 10 0.26 3,852
Rutland 5,585 46.49 3,275 27.26 979 8.15 1,463 12.18 310 2.58 133 1.11 122 1.02 46 0.38 18 0.15 16 0.13 15 0.12 15 0.12 5 0.04 16 0.13 5 0.04 11 0.09 12,014
Washington 8,668 51.76 3,260 19.47 2,479 14.80 1,347 8.04 467 2.79 178 1.06 134 0.80 66 0.39 17 0.10 9 0.05 23 0.14 16 0.10 9 0.05 19 0.11 6 0.04 49 0.29 16,747
Windham 6,857 55.21 2,316 18.65 1,844 14.85 748 6.02 237 1.91 171 1.38 115 0.93 36 0.29 31 0.25 17 0.14 6 0.05 9 0.07 2 0.02 13 0.10 4 0.03 13 0.10 12,419
Windsor 7,240 47.22 3,932 25.64 1,980 12.91 1,329 8.67 350 2.28 176 1.15 153 1.00 53 0.35 34 0.22 14 0.09 5 0.03 6 0.04 2 0.01 26 0.17 4 0.03 29 0.19 15,333
Total 79,921 50.57 34,669 21.94 19,785 12.52 14,828 9.38 3,709 2.35 1,991 1.26 1,303 0.82 591 0.37 202 0.13 137 0.09 135 0.09 110 0.07 52 0.03 219 0.14 57 0.04 323 0.20 158,032

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Filed as Mark Stewart in the Vermont primary
  2. ^ a b c d e f Candidate withdrew during absentee voting, shortly before the primary.
  3. ^ a b c d Candidate withdrew following the New Hampshire primary, when absentee voting had already begun.
  4. ^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined
  5. ^ FiveThirtyEight aggregates polls with a trendline regression of polls rather than a strict average of recent polls.
  6. ^ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  7. ^ Gabbard with 0%; Steyer with no voters; "Other" with 2%
  8. ^ Gabbard with 2%
  9. ^ Yang with 2%; Gabbard with 1%
  10. ^ Including "Blank" (written in) with 8 votes; Ron Paul, Michelle Obama, John Edwards and two others with 2 votes; and 110 other write-ins with 1 vote
  11. ^ 57 overvotes and 323 blank votes

References

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  1. ^ Wilson Ring (March 3, 2020). "Sanders wins his home state of Vermont on Super Tuesday". Associated Press. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  2. ^ Putnam, Josh (May 31, 2016). "The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar". Frontloading HQ. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "Democratic Timing Penalties and Bonuses". The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  4. ^ WCAX (January 17, 2020). "Vermont's early primary voting period opens". WCAX 3.
  5. ^ a b "Vermont Democratic Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. May 3, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "Qualified Candidates for the Vermont Presidential Primary" (PDF). Vermont Secretary of State. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  7. ^ 270 to Win
  8. ^ RealClear Politics
  9. ^ FiveThirtyEight
  10. ^ Swayable Archived 2020-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Data for Progress
  12. ^ Vermont Public Radio
  13. ^ "OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE CANVASSING COMMITTEE UNITED STATES AND VERMONT STATEWIDE OFFICES PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY" (PDF). Vermont Secretary of State. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  14. ^ "2020 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Idaho Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  15. ^ "Official Report of the Canvassing Committee" (PDF). Vermont Official State Website. United States and Vermont Statewide Offices. March 3, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
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