2020 United States presidential election in Delaware

2020 United States presidential election in Delaware
Turnout	68.86% 3.51 pp
President before election; Donald Trump; Republican	Elected President ; Joe Biden; Democratic

The 2020 United States presidential election in Delaware 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.^[3] Delaware voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump from Florida, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence from Indiana against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Delaware has three electoral votes in the Electoral College.^[4]

Delaware is the home state of Biden, who represented the state in the U.S. Senate for 36 years from 1973 to 2009. Biden defeated Trump in the state by 19 points, a significant improvement over Hillary Clinton's 11% margin over Trump in 2016, and even a slight improvement over Barack Obama's margin in 2012, when Biden was his running mate. Biden flipped the swing county of Kent, while Sussex County, which last voted Democratic on the Presidential level when Bill Clinton carried it in 1996, stayed Republican, although Biden previously carried the county in six of his seven runs to the Senate. Delaware's remaining county, New Castle—home to Biden's hometown of Wilmington and part of both the Northeast megalopolis and the Philadelphia metropolitan area, containing 55% of the state's population—stayed Democratic, having last voted Republican when George H. W. Bush carried it in 1988, also the last time the state voted for the Republican nominee. Biden's margin in New Castle County would have been more than enough to carry the state; he carried his home county by over 106,000 votes, far exceeding his statewide margin of 96,000 votes.

Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Biden's strength in his home state came from African-Americans with 91%; and Caucasians with 50%, including those with a college degree with 54%. 59% of Delawarean voters had a favorable opinion of him.^[5] Biden won overwhelmingly in his hometown of Wilmington, earning 26,698 votes to Trump's 3,580.^[6]

With Biden's victory nationwide, he became the first person representing Delaware ever elected president.

Primary elections

The primary elections were originally scheduled for April 28, 2020. On March 24, they were moved to June 2 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 7, the primary elections were again postponed to July 7.^[7]^[8] By that time, President Donald Trump of the Republican Party and former Vice President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party had already clinched enough delegates to become the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. This was Biden's third presidential attempt, as he had previously campaigned in the 1988 and 2008 Democratic presidential primaries but failed to secure the nomination both times.

Republican primary

Incumbent President Donald Trump was essentially uncontested in the Republican primary.^[9] The state has 16 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.^[10]

However, Trump was not unopposed: Rocky De La Fuente took 12% of the vote, with Trump polling 88%.^[11]

2020 Delaware Republican presidential primary^[12]
Candidate	Votes	%	Delegates^[13]
Donald Trump (incumbent)	28,876	88.05%	16
Rocky De La Fuente	3,920	11.95%
Total	32,796	100%	16

Democratic primary

2020 Delaware Democratic presidential primary^[14]
Candidate	Votes	%	Delegates^[15]
Joe Biden	81,954	89.39	21
Bernie Sanders (withdrawn)	6,878	7.50
Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn)	2,850	3.11
Total	91,682	100%	21

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[16]	Safe D	September 10, 2020
Inside Elections^[17]	Safe D	September 4, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[18]	Safe D	July 14, 2020
Politico^[19]	Safe D	September 8, 2020
RCP^[20]	Safe D	August 3, 2020
Niskanen^[21]	Safe D	July 26, 2020
CNN^[22]	Safe D	August 3, 2020
The Economist^[23]	Safe D	September 2, 2020
CBS News^[24]	Likely D	August 16, 2020
270towin^[25]	Safe D	August 2, 2020
ABC News^[26]	Safe D	July 31, 2020
NPR^[27]	Likely D	August 3, 2020
NBC News^[28]	Safe D	August 6, 2020
538^[29]	Safe D	September 9, 2020

Polling

Aggregate polls


Source of poll aggregation	Dates administered	Dates updated	Joe Biden Democratic	Donald Trump Republican	Other/ Undecided ^[a]	Margin
270 to Win^[30]	October 5 – November 1, 2020	November 3, 2020	57.5%	35.5%	7.0%	Biden +22.0
FiveThirtyEight^[31]	until November 2, 2020	November 3, 2020	58.9%	34.6%	6.5%	Biden +24.3
Average			58.2%	35.1%	6.8%	Biden +23.2

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[b]	Margin of error	Donald Trump Republican	Joe Biden Democratic	Jo Jorgensen Libertarian	Howie Hawkins Green	Undecided
SurveyMonkey/Axios^[32]	Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2020	656 (LV)	± 6%	38%^[c]	60%	-	-	–
SurveyMonkey/Axios^[32]	Oct 1–28, 2020	1,323 (LV)	–	37%	62%	-	-	–
SurveyMonkey/Axios^[32]	Sep 1–30, 2020	395 (LV)	–	37%	61%	-	-	2%
University of Delaware^[33]	Sep 21–27, 2020	847 (LV)	–	33%	54%	2%	1%	10%^[d]
SurveyMonkey/Axios^[32]	Aug 1–31, 2020	348 (LV)	–	32%	67%	-	-	1%
PPP^[34]	Aug 21–22, 2020	710 (V)	± 3.7%	37%	58%	-	-	5%
SurveyMonkey/Axios^[32]	Jul 1–31, 2020	453 (LV)	–	31%	67%	-	-	2%
SurveyMonkey/Axios^[32]	Jun 8–30, 2020	232 (LV)	–	34%	64%	-	-	2%
Gonzales Research^[35]	Jan 16–21, 2020	410 (LV)	± 5.0%	40%	56%	-	-	4%

Former candidates

Donald Trump vs. Michael Bloomberg

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[b]	Margin of error	Donald Trump (R)	Michael Bloomberg (D)	Undecided
Gonzales Research^[35]	Jan 16–21, 2020	410 (LV)	± 5.0%	47%	48%	5%

Donald Trump vs. Pete Buttigieg

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[b]	Margin of error	Donald Trump (R)	Pete Buttigieg (D)	Undecided
Gonzales Research^[35]	Jan 16–21, 2020	410 (LV)	± 5.0%	45%	50%	5%

Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[b]	Margin of error	Donald Trump (R)	Bernie Sanders (D)	Undecided
Gonzales Research^[35]	Jan 16–21, 2020	410 (LV)	± 5.0%	46%	47%	7%

Donald Trump vs. Elizabeth Warren

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[b]	Margin of error	Donald Trump (R)	Elizabeth Warren (D)	Undecided
Gonzales Research^[35]	Jan 16–21, 2020	410 (LV)	± 5.0%	46%	49%	5%

Results

2020 United States presidential election in Delaware^[36]^[37]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Biden Kamala Harris	296,268	58.74	+5.65
	Republican	Donald Trump (incumbent) Mike Pence (incumbent)	200,603	39.77	–1.95
	Libertarian	Jo Jorgensen Spike Cohen	5,000	0.99	–2.34
	Green	Howie Hawkins Angela Nicole Walker	2,139	0.42	–0.95
	Independent	Kanye West (write-in)	169	0.03	N/A
	American Solidarity	Brian T. Carroll (write-in)	87	0.02	N/A
	Independent	Jade Simmons (write-in) Claudeliah Roze (write-in)	28	0.01	N/A
	Socialism and Liberation	Gloria La Riva (write-in)	14	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Mark Charles (write-in)	8	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Barbara Bellar (write-in)	7	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Brock Pierce (write-in) Karla Ballard (write-in)	5	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Shawn Howard (write-in)	4	0.00	N/A
	American Party of America^[38]	Dennis Ball (write-in)	3	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Todd Cella (write-in)	2	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Princess Khadijah Maryam Jacob-Fambro (write-in)	2	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Mitchell Williams (write-in)	2	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Tom Hoefling (write-in) Andy Prior (write-in)	1	0.00	N/A
	Independent	President Boddie (write-in)	1	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Kathryn Gibson (write-in)	1	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Kasey Wells (write-in)	1	0.00	N/A
	Independent	Deborah Rouse (write-in)	1	0.00	N/A
Total votes			504,346	100%	+13.64
	Democratic win

By county

County	Joe Biden Democratic		Donald Trump Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Kent	44,552	51.19%	41,009	47.12%	1,464	1.69%	3,543	4.07%	87,025
New Castle	195,034	67.81%	88,364	30.72%	4,235	1.47%	106,670	37.09%	287,633
Sussex	56,682	43.82%	71,230	55.07%	1,440	1.11%	-14,548	-11.25%	129,352
Totals	296,268	58.74%	200,603	39.77%	7,475	1.49%	95,665	18.97%	504,346

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Kent (largest city: Dover)^[39]

By congressional district

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district is called the at-large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.

District	Trump	Biden	Representative
At-large	39.77%	58.74%	Lisa Blunt Rochester

Turnout

According to the Delaware's Elections website, voter turnout was 68.86% with 509,241 ballots cast out of 739,570 registered voters.^[1]

Notes

^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
^ Overlapping sample with the previous SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, but more information available regarding sample size
^ "None/other/undecided" with 10%

References

^ ^a ^b "2020 General Election Results". Delaware Department of Elections. November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^ "Delaware Election Results 2020". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
^ Kelly, Ben (August 13, 2018). "US elections key dates: When are the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential campaign?". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
^ "Delaware Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
^ "Delaware Election Results". Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
^ "Delaware primary elections moved to July 7 due to COVID-19 pandemic". WPVI-TV. May 7, 2020.
^ "Delaware presidential primary delayed because of coronavirus". Associated Press. March 24, 2020.
^ "Biden, Trump easily win in Delaware primary". Newark Post. Associated Press. July 7, 2020.
^ "Delaware Republican Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
^ "July 07, 2020 Presidential Primary Report". elections.delaware.gov. July 9, 2020.
^ "Delaware Election Results". Department of Elections. Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
^ "Delegate Tracker". interactives.ap.org. Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
^ "Delaware Election Results". Department of Elections. Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
^ "Delegate Tracker". interactives.ap.org. Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
^ "2020 POTUS Race ratings" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
^ "POTUS Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
^ "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2020 President". crystalball.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
^ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
^ "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
^ 2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions Archived April 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.
^ David Chalian; Terence Burlij (June 11, 2020). "Road to 270: CNN's debut Electoral College map for 2020". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
^ "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
^ "2020 Election Battleground Tracker". CBS News. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
^ "2020 Presidential Election Interactive Map". 270 to Win.
^ "ABC News Race Ratings". CBS News. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
^ Montanaro, Domenico (August 3, 2020). "2020 Electoral Map Ratings: Trump Slides, Biden Advantage Expands Over 270 Votes". NPR.org. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
^ "Biden dominates the electoral map, but here's how the race could tighten". NBC News. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
^ "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^ 270 to Win
^ FiveThirtyEight
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f SurveyMonkey/Axios
^ University of Delaware
^ PPP
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Gonzales Research
^ Federal Election Commission (January 28, 2021). "2020 Presidential General Election Results" (PDF). pp. 2–8. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^ Delaware Department of Elections. "Official Write-In Votes – 2020 General Election" (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^ Peddie, Matthew (October 30, 2020). "Third Party Presidential Candidate Dennis Ball Makes His Case To Voters". WMFE-FM. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^ "Counties that flipped from Donald Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election". The Republican. March 17, 2021. Archived from the original on January 4, 2025.

External links

Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Delaware", Voting & Elections Toolkits
"Delaware: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
"League of Women Voters of Delaware". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Delaware at Ballotpedia

[othercalc-30] Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.

[key-33] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[35] Overlapping sample with the previous SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, but more information available regarding sample size

[37] "None/other/undecided" with 10%

[officialresults-1] "2020 General Election Results". Delaware Department of Elections. November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2021.

[2] "Delaware Election Results 2020". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.

[3] Kelly, Ben (August 13, 2018). "US elections key dates: When are the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential campaign?". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.

[4] "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.

[:0-5] "Delaware Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.

[6] "Delaware Election Results". Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

[7] "Delaware primary elections moved to July 7 due to COVID-19 pandemic". WPVI-TV. May 7, 2020.

[8] "Delaware presidential primary delayed because of coronavirus". Associated Press. March 24, 2020.

[9] "Biden, Trump easily win in Delaware primary". Newark Post. Associated Press. July 7, 2020.

[GP-GOP-10] "Delaware Republican Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved June 23, 2020.

[11] "July 07, 2020 Presidential Primary Report". elections.delaware.gov. July 9, 2020.

[DE-DoE-results-12] "Delaware Election Results". Department of Elections. Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved July 8, 2020.

[DE-AP-delegates-13] "Delegate Tracker". interactives.ap.org. Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2020.

[2020_Delaware_Democratic_presidential_primary_DE-DoE-results-14] "Delaware Election Results". Department of Elections. Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved July 8, 2020.

[2020_Delaware_Democratic_presidential_primary_DE-AP-delegates-15] "Delegate Tracker". interactives.ap.org. Associated Press. Retrieved July 8, 2020.

[16] "2020 POTUS Race ratings" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

[17] "POTUS Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

[18] "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2020 President". crystalball.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

[19] "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.

[20] "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.

[niskanen-21] 2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions Archived April 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.

[22] David Chalian; Terence Burlij (June 11, 2020). "Road to 270: CNN's debut Electoral College map for 2020". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2020.

[23] "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. Retrieved July 7, 2020.

[24] "2020 Election Battleground Tracker". CBS News. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.

[25] "2020 Presidential Election Interactive Map". 270 to Win.

[26] "ABC News Race Ratings". CBS News. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.

[27] Montanaro, Domenico (August 3, 2020). "2020 Electoral Map Ratings: Trump Slides, Biden Advantage Expands Over 270 Votes". NPR.org. Retrieved August 3, 2020.

[28] "Biden dominates the electoral map, but here's how the race could tighten". NBC News. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.

[29] "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.

[31] 270 to Win

[32] FiveThirtyEight

[DE-SurveyMonkey/Axios-34] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f SurveyMonkey/Axios

[36] University of Delaware

[38] PPP

[Gonzales_Research-39] Gonzales Research

[FEC_results-40] Federal Election Commission (January 28, 2021). "2020 Presidential General Election Results" (PDF). pp. 2–8. Retrieved December 8, 2021.

[41] Delaware Department of Elections. "Official Write-In Votes – 2020 General Election" (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved December 8, 2021.

[42] Peddie, Matthew (October 30, 2020). "Third Party Presidential Candidate Dennis Ball Makes His Case To Voters". WMFE-FM. Retrieved December 8, 2021.

[43] "Counties that flipped from Donald Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election". The Republican. March 17, 2021. Archived from the original on January 4, 2025.

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