2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut
The 2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut 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.[1] Connecticut voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Connecticut has seven electoral votes in the Electoral College.[2]
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Elections in Connecticut |
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's primary elections were postponed until August 11, 2020, marking the first time that the modern presidential primary season has extended into August. By that time, incumbent 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. Furthermore, both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions were scheduled one and two weeks afterward, respectively, essentially making the Connecticut primary races pro forma.
Biden won the state by 20 points, a notable improvement from Hillary Clinton's 13-point win in the state in 2016. He fared especially well in Fairfield County, an ancestrally Republican area, as well as the Hartford suburbs. Biden also came within 5 points of flipping traditionally Republican Litchfield County, having previously voted Democratic in 2008, and 4.2 points of flipping traditionally Democratic Windham County, having previously voted Democratic in 2012. Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Biden's strength in Connecticut came from college-educated voters with 64% (a large voting bloc in this state), White women with 60%, and Latinos with 71%. Additionally, Biden won over white voters (which composed 81% of the electorate) with 55%.[3] Biden won a combined 70% in large cities and 62% in suburban areas. Biden is also the first presidential nominee ever to exceed 1 million votes in the state. His total is also the current highest that any candidate in any race in Connecticut has received, surpassing the previous record of 1,008,714 that Richard Blumenthal received in his 2016 Senate race. At the same time, Biden became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Windham County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.[4]
Connecticut was one of sixteen states where President Trump received less percentage of the vote than he did in the 2016 election.[lower-alpha 1]
Primary elections
The primary elections were originally scheduled for April 28, 2020. On March 19, they were moved to June 2 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] Then on April 17, they were further pushed back to August 11.[6]
Republican primary
The state had 28 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention, all going to Trump.[7]
Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates |
---|---|---|---|
Donald Trump | 71,667 | 78.4% | 28 |
Uncommitted | 12,994 | 14.2% | |
Rocky De La Fuente (withdrawn) | 6,791 | 7.4% | |
Total | 91,452 | 100% | 28 |
Democratic primary
Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates[9] |
---|---|---|---|
Joe Biden | 224,500 | 84.90% | 60 |
Bernie Sanders (suspended) | 30,512 | 11.54% | |
Uncommitted | 5,975 | 2.26% | |
Tulsi Gabbard (withdrawn) | 3,429 | 1.30% | |
Total | 264,416 | 100% | 60 |
General election
Predictions
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report[10] | Safe D | September 10, 2020 |
Inside Elections[11] | Safe D | September 4, 2020 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] | Safe D | July 14, 2020 |
Politico[13] | Safe D | September 8, 2020 |
RCP[14] | Likely D | November 3, 2020 |
Niskanen[15] | Safe D | July 26, 2020 |
CNN[16] | Safe D | August 3, 2020 |
The Economist[17] | Safe D | September 2, 2020 |
CBS News[18] | Likely D | August 16, 2020 |
270towin[19] | Safe D | August 2, 2020 |
ABC News[20] | Safe D | July 31, 2020 |
NPR[21] | Likely D | August 3, 2020 |
NBC News[22] | Likely D | August 6, 2020 |
538[23] | Safe D | September 9, 2020 |
Polling
Graphical summary
Aggregate polls
Source of poll aggregation |
Dates administered |
Dates updated |
Joe Biden Democratic |
Donald Trump Republican |
Other/ Undecided [lower-alpha 2] |
Margin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FiveThirtyEight | until October 24, 2020 | October 25, 2020 | 59.5% | 33.7% | 6.8% | Biden +25.8 |
Polls
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[lower-alpha 3] |
Margin of error |
Donald Trump Republican |
Joe Biden Democratic |
Jo Jorgensen Libertarian |
Howie Hawkins Green |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SurveyMonkey/Axios | Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2020 | 2,031 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 38%[lower-alpha 4] | 60% | - | - | – | – |
Swayable | Oct 23 – Nov 1, 2020 | 367 (LV) | ± 6.2% | 33% | 64% | 2% | 1% | – | – |
SurveyMonkey/Axios | Oct 1–28, 2020 | 3,782 (LV) | – | 35% | 63% | - | - | – | – |
Sacred Heart University | Oct 8–21, 2020 | 1,000 (A) | ± 3.02% | 26% | 51% | - | - | 2% | 20% |
SurveyMonkey/Axios | Sep 1–30, 2020 | 1,415 (LV) | – | 37% | 61% | - | - | – | 2% |
SurveyMonkey/Axios | Aug 1–31, 2020 | 1,009 (LV) | – | 35% | 64% | - | - | – | 1% |
SurveyMonkey/Axios | Jul 1–31, 2020 | 1,360 (LV) | – | 39% | 59% | - | - | – | 2% |
SurveyMonkey/Axios | Jun 8–30, 2020 | 574 (LV) | – | 32% | 65% | - | - | – | 3% |
SurveyUSA | May 19–24, 2020 | 808 (RV) | ± 4.5% | 33% | 52% | - | - | 7%[lower-alpha 5] | 8% |
Quinnipiac University | Apr 30 – May 4, 2020 | 945 (RV) | ± 3.2% | 33% | 56% | - | - | 3%[lower-alpha 6] | 7% |
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant | Mar 24 – Apr 3, 2020 | 1,000 (A) | ± 3.0% | 34% | 47% | - | - | – | – |
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant | Feb 24 – Mar 12, 2020 | 1,000 (A) | ± 3.0% | 36% | 52% | - | - | – | – |
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant | Dec 16, 2019 – Jan 2, 2020 | 1,000 (A) | ± 3.0% | 32% | 52% | - | - | – | 16% |
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant | Sep 17 – Oct 2, 2019 | 1,000 (A) | ± 3.2% | 33% | 52% | - | - | – | 15% |
Former candidates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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with Donald Trump and Pete Buttigieg
with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
with Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders
with Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren
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Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Joe Biden Kamala Harris |
1,080,680 | 59.24% | +4.67% | |
Republican | Donald Trump Mike Pence |
715,291 | 39.21% | -1.72% | |
Libertarian | Jo Jorgensen Spike Cohen |
20,227 | 1.11% | -1.85% | |
Green | Howie Hawkins Angela Walker |
7,538 | 0.41% | -0.98% | |
Write-in | 544 | 0.03% | |||
Total votes | 1,824,280 | 100.00% |
By county
County | Joe Biden | Donald Trump | Jo Jorgensen | Howie Hawkins | Other | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Fairfield | 297,505 | 62.90% | 169,039 | 35.74% | 4,593 | 0.97% | 1,681 | 0.36% | 172 | 0.04% | 128,466 | 27.16% | 472,990 |
Hartford | 283,368 | 63.06% | 159,024 | 35.39% | 5,039 | 1.12% | 1,773 | 0.39% | 132 | 0.03% | 124,344 | 27.67% | 449,336 |
Litchfield | 50,164 | 46.65% | 55,601 | 51.70% | 1,280 | 1.19% | 485 | 0.45% | 14 | 0.01% | -5,437 | -5.06% | 107,544 |
Middlesex | 56,848 | 57.31% | 40,665 | 40.99% | 1,210 | 1.22% | 444 | 0.45% | 31 | 0.03% | 16,183 | 16.31% | 99,198 |
New Haven | 242,629 | 58.05% | 169,892 | 40.65% | 3,661 | 0.88% | 1,693 | 0.41% | 105 | 0.03% | 72,737 | 17.40% | 417,980 |
New London | 79,459 | 56.92% | 57,110 | 40.91% | 2,256 | 1.62% | 757 | 0.54% | 22 | 0.02% | 22,349 | 16.01% | 139,604 |
Tolland | 44,006 | 54.63% | 34,819 | 43.23% | 1,274 | 1.58% | 398 | 0.49% | 49 | 0.06% | 9,187 | 11.41% | 80,546 |
Windham | 26,701 | 46.78% | 29,141 | 51.06% | 914 | 1.60% | 307 | 0.54% | 14 | 0.02% | -2,440 | -4.27% | 57,077 |
Totals | 1,080,680 | 59.24% | 715,291 | 39.21% | 20,227 | 1.11% | 7,538 | 0.41% | 539 | 0.03% | 365,389 | 20.03% | 1,824,275 |
By congressional district
District | Trump | Biden | Representative |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 35% | 63% | John Larson |
2nd | 44% | 55% | Joe Courtney |
3rd | 39% | 60% | Rosa DeLauro |
4th | 35% | 64% | Jim Himes |
5th | 44% | 55% | Jahana Hayes |
See also
Notes
- The other fifteen states were Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
- Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
- 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
- "Someone else" with 7%
- "Someone else" with 2%; would not vote with 1%
References
- Kelly, Ben (August 13, 2018). "US elections key dates: When are the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential campaign?". The Independent. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- "Connecticut Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- "The Political Graveyard: Windham County, Conn". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- "Connecticut governor says primaries moved to June". CNN. March 19, 2020.
- Dixon, Ken (April 17, 2020). "Connecticut's presidential primary will be delayed further by coronavirus: August 11". Connecticut Post.
- "Connecticut Republican Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- "August 2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary". Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- "2020 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Connecticut Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved August 19, 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, Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.
- David Chalian; Terence Burlij. "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.
- "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. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- "Candidate List November 2020 Election". Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
Further reading
- Summary: State Laws on Presidential Electors (PDF), Washington DC: National Association of Secretaries of State, August 2020,
Connecticut
External links
- Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Connecticut", Voting & Elections Toolkits
- "Connecticut: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
- "League of Women Voters of Connecticut". (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
- Connecticut at Ballotpedia