2020 Alabama Democratic presidential primary

Alabama is one of 14 states holding primaries on March 3, 2020, also known as "Super Tuesday,"[6] having joined other southern states on the date after a bill on June 10, 2015 shifted the date.[7]

Voting is expected to take place from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. In the open primary, candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 52 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 52 pledged delegates, between 4 and 8 are allocated to each of the state's 7 congressional districts and another 7 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 11 at-large pledged delegates. Bonus delegates will be allocated as Alabama shares a primary date with numerous other states on Super Tuesday; these numbers do not yet account for these delegates.[8]

Should presidential candidates be allocated more delegates based on the results of the primary than delegate candidates presented, then supplemental delegates will be elected at caucuses on Saturday, March 28, 2020.[9] The national convention delegation meeting will subsequently be held on Saturday, April 4, 2020, to vote on the 11 pledged at-large and 7 PLEO delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 52 pledged delegates Alabama sends to the national convention will be joined by 9 unpledged PLEO delegates (7 members of the Democratic National Committee, Senator Doug Jones, and U.S. Representative Terri Sewell).[8]

The following people filed for the presidential primary and were on the ballot in Alabama:[10]

Running

• Joe Biden
• Bernie Sanders
• Michael Bloomberg
• Elizabeth Warren
• Tulsi Gabbard

Withdrawn

• Pete Buttigieg
• Amy Klobuchar
• Tom Steyer
• Andrew Yang
• Cory Booker
• Michael Bennet
• Deval Patrick
• Julian Castro

According to the Federal Election Commission, between April 1, 2019 and November 23, 2020, Joe Biden raised $2,412,420.93 from Alabama-based contributions.[11] Bernie Sanders raised $306,101.54,[12] Michael Bloomberg raised $212.82,[13] Elizabeth Warren raised $129,887.99,[14] and Tulsi Gabbard raised $19,775.81.[15][lower-alpha 1]

Joe Biden's victory in Alabama was near-guaranteed. Four years earlier, Hillary Clinton carried the state with 77.84% against Bernie Sanders and won every county and congressional district, a feat repeated by Biden.[17] FiveThirtyEight, which made state-by-state predictions prior to the primaries, gave Biden a 92% chance at winning the Yellowhammer State, a landslide over Sanders' 5% chance.[18] Aggregate polling from FiveThirtyEight right before election day showed Biden up with 40.2%, Sanders at 18.4%, Bloomberg at 15.9%, Warren at 10.9%, Gabbard at 0.5%, and other/undecided 14.1%.[19] 270toWin had Biden ahead as well with 44.5% of support, 23.5 percentage points ahead of Bernie Sanders at 21%.[20]

The week before, Biden swept the South Carolina primary by a 28.88% margin over Sanders, reviving Biden's candidacy after crushing losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.[21] Additionally, the moderate wing of the primary, consisting of former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, representative Beto O'Rourke from Texas's 16th district, and Senator Kamala Harris from California coalesced behind and endorsed Biden while the progressive wing, consisting of Senators Sanders and Warren, remained fractured.[22][23][24][25][26] Thus, right before Super Tuesday, Biden's support surged.

As with most states in the American South, the majority – 49% – of Alabama's Democratic electorate is African American, and these voters backed Biden with 72% per exit polls by CNN.[27] Biden's best performance, regionally, was in the Black Belt, a historically Democratic region due to high proportions of African Americans, which is attributable to the prominence of slavery in this region before emancipation. He carried the Birmingham/South Central region with 68%, and this region comprises 44% of the Democratic electorate in the state. Biden won voters 45 to 64 with 67% and those older than 65 with 78%. He also won all education groups, ideologies, and party affiliations.

Sanders' best performance was among young voters, a demographic group he dominated in both 2016 and 2020. He captured voters aged 18 to 29 with 46%, 16 points ahead of Biden. However, this win was futile to overcome Biden, as young voters are more inconsistent voters[3] and their turnout decreased compared to 2016. According to the Brookings Institution, Alabama voters aged 17 to 29 comprised 14% of the Democratic primary vote share in 2016 but only 10% in 2020.[28] While Biden carried every race and region, Sanders was most competitive among white voters (consist of 46% of the electorate and backing Biden 57-22), voters in the North (also backing Biden 57-22), rural voters (38% of the electorate and backing Biden 52-19), and Independents (23% of the electorate and backing Biden 51-24); Sanders performed well among these voting blocs in 2016, and did so again, yet was overshadowed by Biden's strength in the Deep South.

Ideological differences were also evident. Self identified liberals only supported the Vice President 55-24, but he overwhelmed moderates with 74% of the vote. Bloomberg actually came second in the moderate and conservative vote, capturing 10% and 22%, respectively, ahead of Sanders with 8% and 5%. Biden's margins were narrowest among voters which prioritized addressing income inequality, whom he won 53-26, and believe the Democratic nominee should "bring needed change," who backed Biden 52-25. 24% of voters believed the Democratic nominee should have more liberal policies than Barack Obama, and Senator Sanders – considered the most progressive in the contest[29] – won this group 42-38, followed by Senator Warren carrying 12%.

On the same day, Biden carried all of the other southern Super Tuesday states of Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, and his upset victories in Maine, Massachusetts, and Minnesota catapulted him to frontrunner status.[30] He would go on to lose the state in the general election, but retained his resounding victories among Black voters in the Black Belt.

• The Green Papers delegate allocation summary
• Alabama Democratic Party delegate selection plan
• FiveThirtyEight Alabama primary poll tracker