2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Activists occupy hotel
The sanctuary was both a place of refuge for unsheltered people for displaced by the riots on East Lake Street, as well as an attempt at police abolition—volunteers believed that residents could police themselves without traditional law enforcement. At the height of the sanctuary hotel's occupancy, the police abolition movement in Minneapolis had taken hold. Several local agencies, including the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on June 3, had formally dissolved their relationships with the city’s police department. Nine of the thirteen members of the city's council pledged at a large rally in Powderhorn Park on June 7 to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Volunteer workers and residents at the hotel pledged not to call law enforcement or allow police officers inside the hotel.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Eviction and closure
After about a week the situation in the hotel descended into chaos with sexual assaults, sex trafficking, armed drug drug trafficking, rampant drug use, vandalism, violence, and fires. There were at least four overdoses and one death during the sanctuary occupation. Many of the volunteers did not have experience working with vulnerable populations and they were also overwhelmed by the number of people staying there. By June 10, estimates were that 200 to 300 people were living at the hotel.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Eviction and closure
After hotel rooms filled up, people coming to the hotel seeking a place to stay slept in the lobby, hallways, and conference rooms. Neighbors reported that the lack of controlled entry resulted in people coming in and departing the hotel at all hours of the day. Some who came to the hotel used it as a place to run commercial sex work and drug dealing operations. There were numerous 9-1-1 calls for gunfire, sex trafficking, and drug dealing. Those living in nearby apartments reported seeing rooftop gunfire and fires.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Eviction and closure
The hotel owner said on June 9 that residents of the hotel would be evicted, and residents began moving out. Volunteers formally ended their role at the hotel, and volunteers supplied camping equipment to some residents and helped move them to camps in the Powderhorn Park and Peavy Field city parks. Though all volunteers left, sanctuary movement organizers said that the hotel sanctuary would not be closing, and other residents stayed behind. Minneapolis police and community groups eventually cleared the hotel of its last residents on June 15.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Eviction and closure
A leader of MAD DADS, a local community non-profit in Minneapolis, that sought to prevent drug abuse, said about the hotel at eviction, "It was just inhabitable for people. Broken glass, needles everywhere. People were being abused and all kinds of drug use. It was dangerous for families to be in here."


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Eviction and closure
Hennepin County outreach workers helped many people find indoor shelter options who stayed at the hotel. The sanctuary movement, who had organized the project, upon abandoning the hotel led some residents to Powderhorn Park, where they pitched several tents. The owner of the hotel did not end up accepting any money that volunteers had offered to pay for the rooms.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Aftermath
After its closure, the Midtown Sheraton Hotel experiment became a source of controversy for discussions about homelessness and social justice issues. Progressive magazine Mother Jones described the hotel experiment as an “utopian sanctuary”. Far right-wing commentators at Gateway Pundit characterized events as the hotel as a "Marxist" movement of rioters and squatters and largely reported on acts of vandalism there. One resident described the hotel environment as "chaotic and unruly". MplsStPaul magazine described the situation by the time residents were evicted as having  "disintegrated into a disaster—the hotel overrun with rampant drug use and sex trafficking".


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Aftermath
Prior to the eviction of residents at the Sheraton Hotel, organizers admitted they were ill-equipped to manage the situation and made public please for government agencies to take over. Organizers of the hotel experiment, as well as project's unintended outcomes, were criticized. Social service providers and organizers of other homeless camps in the city noted the lack of security to control entry, inexperienced volunteers, and lack of oversight of resident activities. The sanctuary movement at the Sheraton Midtown Hotel was also criticized for being a predominately White-led volunteer effort, especially as many of the residents were Black or American Indian.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, "Sanctuary hotel", Aftermath
Some volunteers at the hotel felt the effort inadvertently harmed many of the people they tried to serve. As residents were being evicted from the Sheraton Midtown Hotel in early June, activists enlisted the help of local social justice advocacy group Black Visions Collective, but volunteer organizers felt the move came too late and ultimately it did not help the project succeed.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Powderhorn Park encampments
Powderhorn Park is a 66-acre (27 ha) city park in Powderhorn Park, a residential neighborhood in Minneapolis. It is managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. An encampment emerged first at the park on June 10. Though social service providers attempted to connect people staying at the Sheraton Midtown Hotel with housing options, the sanctuary movement volunteers helped some hotel residents form a 10-tent encampment on Powderhorn Park property. At the time, the superintendent of the park board, Al Bangoura, expressed concern that the violence and other problems that occurred at the hotel would also occur at the park.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Powderhorn Park encampments
By June 12, the encampment had more than doubled to 25 tents, with approximately 18 people living there,  and the park board issued an eviction order. The park, however, was not cleared as the office of Governor Walz intervened and said that executive orders prohibited officials from disbanding it, and some park board members said the encampment should remain.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Powderhorn Park encampments
Less than one week later, the number of tents increased to 50, between the original camp site and a satellite encampment on the other side of the park, as more people were transported via Metro buses from the Sheraton Midtown Hotel to the park. Volunteers, who were unaware that that buses would be dropping off more people at the park encampment, were worried the influx of new residents would be disruptive to the culture they had established there. Dozens of unsheltered people soon arrived that had been staying at other hotels paid for donations to the hotel sanctuary project. As the Powderhorn Park encampment quickly grew, outreach workers were worried that a much larger encampment would overwhelm volunteers and be too dangerous for the people living there.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Uncontrolled growth and safety issues
The Powderhorn encampment had grown to grown to 180 tents by June 17. The park board met that night and passed a resolution to allow people to seek refuge in city parks. The board also committed to working with social service providers to identify long-term housing options encampment residents. The encampment situation, however, quickly grew out of the control of park board officials. By the end of June, at Powderhorn Park there were 400 total tents between two encampments, and 44 encampments emerged at other parks across the city, some with as many as 300 residents. The park board reported later that many encampment residents had come from outside of Minneapolis to live in the parks.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Uncontrolled growth and safety issues
At Powderhorn Park, numerous sexual assaults, fights, and drug use at the encampment generated alarm for nearby residents and city officials. Minneapolis city counselor Alondra Cano had called a community meeting about the encampment, but cancelled it out of safety concerns. A planned voter registration drive by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party scheduled for June 19 at the encampment was also canceled as the park was not considered safe for volunteers. A juvenile was sexually assaulted at the encampment during the overnight hours on June 26. The sexual assault of a woman was reported at the encampment on June 28. Another juvenile was sexually assaulted on July 4. Seven other series crimes were reported at the encampment between July 5 and July 13.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Uncontrolled growth and safety issues
By mid July the sprawling encampment at Powderhorn Park had grown to 560 tents by with an estimated 800 people living there.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Permit process established
On July 14, Governor Walz signed an executive order that modified the eviction moratorium to allow local governments to disband camps for safety concerns, illegal activity, and property damage.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Permit process established
After facing pressure from residents that lived near Powderhorn Park, the park board created a permit process to restrict the size and growth of camps, which was considered major departure from their decision a month prior to allow people to seek refuge on park property. The park board resolution passed on July 16 restricted the number of camps on park property to 20 with a maximum of 25 tents each. Park encampments were to be prohibited within a certain distance of schools and permitted encampments required buffer zones to ensure park visitors were kept safe. The resolution also required organizations to sponsor and obtain permits, or the encampments risked being disbanded and residents having belonging removed from camps. The permits did not have a specified end date, but the resolution called for progress towards moving encampment residents to shelters and other housing options.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Permit process established
The first permitted encampment opened at Lake Harriet and some others soon followed. By early August, the park board had estimated there were 413 tents across 38 city parks, but local media reported that encampments were noticed at more than 55 parks, with only the four park sites of Lake Harriet, Marshall Terrace Park, The Mall, and Bde Maka Ska at William Berry Park having obtained permits. A permit was later granted for an encampment outside Theodore Wirth House, the superintendent’s home residence and historic park administration building. The park board also designated a dozen other parks where permits would be allowed if organizations applied for permits: Boom Island, Riverside, Annie Young, BF Nelson, Franklin Steele, Minnehaha Falls, Lyndale Farmstead, Martin Luther King Jr., Bryn Mawr, Beltrami, Logan, and Lake Nokomis parks.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Closure of Powderhorn Park encampments
Following a revision to state executive orders on evictions and the permit process they established, the park board began closing one of the two encampments at Powderhorn Park in late July. City outreach teams worked to connect residents with shelter options. Some displaced Powderhorn Park residents moved to other camps sites in the city, but many refused to leave. The encampment was the source of continued violent crime and drug overdoses. From July 15 to early August, thirteen additional violent crimes were reported at Powderhorn Park, including multiple assaults, a rape, arson, and injuries from gunfire.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Closure of Powderhorn Park encampments
The park board moved to close the site and gave residents two weeks to decide between a shelter or being moved to other encampments in the city that had permits, with the city providing transportation. Some residents chose to stay. The park board cleared the 35 remaining tents at Powderhorn Park on August 14, as police faced off with protesters and fired pepper spray, and made two arrests of demonstrators.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Closure of Powderhorn Park encampments
At its peak, the Powderhorn Park encampment was considered the largest in the history of the Twin Cities metropolitan history, having 560 tents with an estimated 800 people living it by the end of July. However, there was no agreed upon count of the number of people living at the camp. The park board published a count of the number of tents at Powderhorn Park that it updated daily; the count peaked at about 570 in July. People observing the encampment said there were approximately 1.5 to 1.75 people per tent, with a possible total of over 800 residents. Others said that individual encampment residents had multiple tents and put the person count closer to 250. A separate report by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism said as many as 700 tents were at Powderhorn Park by July.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Unpermitted encampments
By early August several unpermitted encampments in parks had emerged at Loring, Logan, Lake Nokomis, Elliot, Matthews, Beltrami, and Boom Island parks, among other sites. Social service providers expressed concern that the expansion of encampments were diverting unhoused people away from shelter and more-stable housing options. Some park board members expressed frustration that encampments at Peavey, Powderhorn Park, Kenwood, and Elliot Parks—which had several reported safety and health issues—were not disbanded.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Unpermitted encampments
In particular, the unpermitted encampment that emerged at Kenwood park drew concern from neighbors due to is proximity to a school and other safety incidents, such when police responded to an indecent exposure incident by a man and a fight that resulted in several arrests, and the 10-tent encampment was later relocated to another section of the same park. Unpermitted encampments were later cleared at Elliot, Kenwood, Matthews, and Loring parks, among others. Some residents were transferred to Franklin Steele Park or other encampment sites.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Peavy Field Park
In late June, an unpermitted encampment emerged at Peavy Field Park, a 7-acre (2.8 ha) youth recreation area and playground in the city's Ventura Village, that drew criticism for safety concerns. The encampment violated the park board's permit resolution as it was located adjacent to the K-12 Hope Academy school that shared the park grounds. On July 1, a teenager was shot multiple times outside the Peavy Park encampment. On July 16, two people were wounded by gunshots at the encampment. On August 11, thirty-five gunshot rounds were fired in Peavy Park, but no one was injured. School staff, parents, and students from K-12 Hope Academy requested the park board clear the encampment so that students could safety return to using the park equipment and fields when school would resume in early September.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Peavy Field Park
The park board issued vacate notices for those staying at the 12-tent encampment on August 10 and attempted to connect those staying there with shelters and social services over the following weeks. Protesters, however, initially blocked officials from clearing the camp. On September 24, the park board disbanded the camp for the five remaining people staying there and cleared the park of abandoned tents, hypodermic needles, and biohazard materials. A group of demonstrators gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center building in downtown Minneapolis the night of September 24 to protest the encampment's closure. Law enforcement authorities made five arrests of demonstrators; none of those arrested had been staying at the encampment.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, "Wall of Forgotten Natives"
On September 3, 2020, a group backed by protesters and American Indian Movement advocates re-occupied a site they referred to as the "Wall of Forgotten Natives" near Hiawatha and Franklin avenues in Minneapolis. The site on Little Earth Trail along Minnesota State Highway 55/Hiawatha Avenue had been barricaded by the state in 2018 when an encampment closed after experiencing drug overdoses, spread of disease, violence, fires, and deaths. The Highway 55 encampment had been linked to four deaths in 2018.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, "Wall of Forgotten Natives"
In September 2020, reoccupation of the encampment with 40 tents came after the city closed another encampment at Phillips Park on 13th Avenue South due to health and safety concerns, and after officials sought help from nonprofit organizations to house residents. Reestablishment of the Hiawatha encampment also came during time of increasing confrontation between Minneapolis officials and homeless advocates, as the city had hoped to close all encampments by October 2020, but state patrol officers did not intervene when a group cut locks to enter the fenced-off area. Though the city and county had allocated $8 million for three new shelters, including a Native-specific one, advocates were unsatisfied with the response by local officials to the needs of Native homeless persons, and established the camp.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Decline of encampments
People residing in encampments declined as the city moved more people to shelters and hotels. The number of encampments in city parks fell from more than 40 in August to more than 20 by September. Encampments with permits remained in 15 city parks by late September. The park board estimated that there were 222 tents in city parks as of October 15.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Decline of encampments
City officials said they did not have an exact deadline to close encampments, but they said they intended to help connect encampment residents to shelters and close all camps before the onset of cold weather. In October, the Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit to prevent closure of homeless encampments in city parks, but it was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Decline of encampments
By the end of November, the park board issued vacate notices for the encampment at The Mall Park along the Midtown Greenway due to several fires, injuries, overdoses, and other violent crimes that were reported there. In early December, fifty-three tents remained across three encampments: Minnehaha Park, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, and The Mall Park. Outreach workers were unable to convince some residents to move to available shelter space. On December 10, the park board closed the encampment at The Mall Park, citing health and safety issues, and seven of the eight people residing there declined shelter assistance offered by Hennepin County.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Homicide in Minnehaha Park
By the end of 2020, the last encampment in city parks remained at Minnehaha Park, a 167-acre (68 ha) regional park that was among the city's oldest parks and most visited tourist destinations for its famed waterfall and creek gorge. On December 31 park board officials issued vacate notices to those staying there that would be effective on January 3, 2021. Officials provided encampment residents with five short-term shelter options, but some residents chose to stay at the camp.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Homicide in Minnehaha Park
Activists vowed to protest if residents were evicted and argued that those staying at the encampment had been relatively peaceful, and that they should be allowed to stay. On January 3, 2021, Minneapolis police recovered the body of the 38-year old Sedric L. Dorman inside a tent at the Minnehaha Park encampment. Dorman's death was ruled a homicide, the city's first in 2021, from the multiple stab wounds he sustained early that afternoon.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Park encampments, Closure of encampments
Citing "documented health and safety concerns", the park board closed the Minnehaha Park encampment, the last remaining one in city parks, on January 7, 2021.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
Some who volunteered at encampments were motivated by the murder of George Floyd to seek justice on social issues. The Minneapolis Sanctuary Movement, one of the organizations coordinating activities at the Sheraton Midtown Hotel and Powderhorn Park encampment described their purpose as being a "community care experiment fighting for housing justice, abolition, and land reclamation by supporting the most impacted people to take the lead".


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
MplsStPaul magazine described the dynamic as having "lines blurred between sanctuary and rogue activists" who used the circumstances of encampment residents to advance an agenda of social and racial justice, sometimes at the expense of the welfare of unhoused people. In a press conference on September 3, 2020, American Indian activists that helped re-establish the "Wall of Forgotten Natives", an encampment along Hiawatha Avenue/Highway 55, described the encampment as reclaiming lands belonging to Native people prior to European settlement. Some advocates believed citizens had a right to seek refuge on public lands, and felt the park board permitting process was not permissive enough.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
Police abolition advocates viewed the Sheraton Midtown Hotel and park encampments as a step in establishing a "police-free" city. Volunteers and residents at some encampments pledged not to call 9-1-1 or allow access to law enforcement to access sanctuary locations. Some of the neighbors near the Powderhorn Park encampment, who were described in a profile by The New York Times as progressive and mostly White, also agreed to avoid calling the police. Many campsites across the city, however, featured crime and safety challenges, such robberies, rapes, sex trafficking, assaults, drug overdoses, and shootings.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
Some neighbors were conflicted about calling law enforcement to respond to violence at the camps, with some instances of reluctance reportedly out of fear that it might subject People of Color to further trauma. Activists at Powderhorn Park encampment were criticized for not calling paramedics to treat people who overdosed on drugs, and some speculated that deaths or serious drug-related medical injuries could have been prevented had emergency services been rendered. Activists also drew criticism for not assisting law enforcement investigations of crimes at encampment sites, such as the when people refused to identify the alleged perpetrator who raped a 14-year old at the Powderhorn Park camp.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
By July, some neighbors of park encampments expressed in media interviews the viewpoint that the all-volunteer at effort did work effectively. It was also reported that at times many of the volunteer and resident-led meetings at encampments became contentious. At encampments, some activists resisted outside help from social service providers and government agencies and insisted that they were self-sufficient, and other volunteers felt that well-intentioned efforts were ultimately doing more harm to vulnerable people.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
Park Board Vice President LaTrisha Vetaw characterized some of the activists at encampments as "White saviors” who in her opinion were naïve to the social and economic needs of people at encampments.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
After one of the two Powderhorn Park encampments closed in mid July, a statement by the Minnesota Sanctuary Movement said, "Powderhorn Sanctuary residents and volunteers have been at risk of violence not because of a failure of volunteers, but because of the lack of any coordinated response by our representatives and electeds (sic), a buildup of decades of absolute neglect in the area of dignified housing, and centuries of structural violence.…Sanctuary volunteers are helping residents move as best as they are able, but the park’s new permitting system is not workable, the incompetent city has no solutions, and the county and state have not accepted responsibility."


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
City officials adopted a de-escalation for disbanding camps due to the ongoing civil unrest, and when they attempted to remove tents at non-permitted sites, they faced opposition from the sanctuary movement and protest groups. Park encampment closures, even after several health and safety incidents that drew concern from neighborhoods, were the subject of protests by non-resident activist who blocked officials from clearing camps. Some protesters acted as "eviction defense" by boarding heavy machinery that cleared supplies and material from camps, resulting in officers firing pepper spray and making arrests.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
On September 5, a protest group marched from Bryant Park to the home of Al Bangoura, the park board superintendent, to protest park board actions regarding camps. A protester breached the property, climbed onto the porch roof, and spray-painted security cameras to obstruct surveillance. Hundreds of people protested the closure of the Powdernhorn Park camp on July 20 and about four or five people were arrested. In August, protesters blocked officials from clearing the Peavy Park encampment, which was located adjacent to a school playground and had been the location of several violent incidents.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Activism and protests
About 100 protests gather outside the Minnesota State Capitol building in Saint Paul in September to demand that the governor and state legislature increase public support for hotel rooms for unhoused persons and greater investment in public housing.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Permitted sites
In 2020, the park board issued permits for five encampments, those at Lake Harriet (up to 11 tents), Marshall Terrace Park (up to 15 tents), The Mall (up to 15 tents), William Berry Park (up to 25 tents), and outside the Theodore Wirth House. The park board designated 12 other parks as suitable locations for encampments: Annie Young Meadow, Beltrami Park, BF Nelson Park, Boom Island Park, Bryn Mawr Meadows Park, Franklin Steele Park, Lake Nokomis, Logan Park, Lyndale Farmstead Park, Minnehaha Park, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park, and Riverside Park.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Permitted sites
The park board had difficulty controlling the number and size of camps despite the permitting process it established. Encampments spread to 40 park sites by mid year. The park board reported that there was a total of 44 encampment park sites throughout 2020, while a media source reported as many as 55 park encampments had appeared by August.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Permitted sites
According to the park board, the encampments brought an influx of people into Minneapolis who sought to live in city parks. Some people in unpermitted encampments were offered help to move to other permitted camps, but many refused. Several encampment residents declined available shelter space during the permit project. Some encampment residents said they felt threatened by activists if they tried to leave encampments, while others said they were paid by activists to remain at encampments.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Public services and costs
The park board spent $713,856 to administer camps from June 2020 to early January 2021, including use of $373,350 in Minnesota Emergency Response Funds. The park board provided portable toilets, trash containers, and stations for handwashing at camp sites. Some felt that the number of toilets and handwashing stations were too limited, which made it difficult to stop the spread of communicable diseases at camp sites. The board and park staff collaborated with several agencies to help find available shelter beds, such as Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, and Heading Home Hennepin. By October 2020, officials for Hennepin County, the regional jurisdiction that included Minneapolis, had spent $12 million to provide housing for those at serious risk of COVID-19, and proposed a $22 million plan for six additional shelter sites for county residents experiencing homelessness.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Health and safety issues
Worries about the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in shelters were cited by some encampment residents as their reason to say at park sites as opposed to shelter spaces or other housing options. Despite creating a permit process for encampments, the park board said in July 2020 that "parks are not designed or operated in a manner that supports human habitation", and that they preferred to work with partner organizations to find housing options for those experiencing homelessness and residing in park encampments.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Health and safety issues
The park board did not view the encampments as a permanent or long-term solution, citing the onset of extreme winter weather brought on by Minneapolis' climate that could pose other health and safety challenges to residents living in encampments. Officials considered the park encampments a short-term solution during a chaotic year that was necessary only until people could be connected with shelters and housing.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Health and safety issues
Many encampments received notoriety for shootings, drug use, drug trafficking, sexual assaults, sex trafficking, and other safety concerns. Neighbors who lived near park encampments said that regular gunshots were heard in the area. Parks that had encampment sites were left littered with trash, abandoned camping equipment, hypodermic needles, and human waste. After several sexual assaults occurred at encampments, including of minors, volunteers had to move some women and children to secret, non-permitted campsites in other parts of the city.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Health and safety issues
By the end of the permit period, four people died had in Minneapolis park encampments, between the time of June 2020 and January 2021. One of the park deaths was a homicide of the 38-year old Sedric Dorman of Minneapolis, who was fatally stabbed inside a tent at Minnehaha Park on January 3, 2021.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Permits not renewed for 2021
Park board commissioners passed a resolution by a 5-3 vote on February 3, 2021, to cancel encampment permits and defer to human services agencies and Hennepin County for the provision of services to unsheltered people living in parks. Park Board President Jono Cowgill and Commissioners Bourn, Forney, Meyer, and Musich voted for the resolution. Commissioners Londel French, AK Hassan, and Kale Severson voted against it.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Permits not renewed for 2021
The board's resolution stated that use of encampments to shelter homeless people "is not a safe, proper, or dignified form of housing and is, at best, a temporary solution for encamped individuals", and it encouraged "the State of Minnesota, Hennepin County, and the City of Minneapolis to continue pursuit of expanded opportunities for permanent shelter for unsheltered homeless populations". The resolution revoked the authority of the park board superintendent to issue future encampment permits. At the park board's February 3 meeting, a Minneapolis resident circulated a petition to disband the independent board in lieu of city government management of parks, and blamed the park board commissioner for the violence, sexual assaults, shootings, and homicides that occurred on parkland during 2020.


2020 Minneapolis park encampments, Aftermath, Permits not renewed for 2021
The prohibition of encampments on park property became a major topic of discussion for candidates seeking park board office in the November 2021 municipal elections.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary
The 2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary took place in Minnesota, United States, on March 3, 2020, as one of 14 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary the weekend before. The Minnesota primary was an open primary, with the state party awarding 92 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 75 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Early voting was possible for just over six weeks beginning January 17, 2020.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary
This primary is only for the presidential election; Minnesota also holds a primary for elections within the state, which occurred on August 11, 2020. Biden benefitted from agrarian white voters who followed Senator Klobuchar's lead, then the front-runner in her home state, in endorsing Biden at the last minute. Klobuchar had banked some early votes in some western Minnesota counties, and carried a number of counties despite her withdrawal from the race. Sanders lost many counties he had won in 2016, when he won the state easily by double digit margins against Hillary Clinton, while Biden won 76 of them. In 2020 Sanders's only strongholds in the state were in college towns, St. Cloud and the Minneapolis and St. Paul city limits.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Candidates
The following candidates have filed and are on the ballot in Minnesota:


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Minnesota was one of 14 states holding primaries on March 3, 2020, also known as "Super Tuesday", to determine the state's presidential nominating contest. Party-run caucuses are still held in the state, but no longer include or influence the presidential nomination question. Then-governor Mark Dayton signed a bill on May 22, 2016 making this change to the state's presidential nominating contests.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Absentee voting began on January 17, 2020. A legal challenge was brought jointly by James Martin and a Republican candidate threatening to disrupt the process, but was denied by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Voting on Super Tuesday took place from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in much of the state, with voting in certain townships starting at 10:00 a.m.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Under Minnesota's open primary law, there are no qualifications that a candidate must meet in order for that candidate's name to be printed on a primary ballot excepting only being included in the notice provided by the party's chair to the Minnesota Secretary of State; there are no restrictions as to what names the chair may give in its notice. Under state party rules, however, candidates must meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
The 75 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 75 pledged delegates, between 4 and 10 are allocated to each of the state's 8 congressional districts and another 10 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 16 at-large pledged delegates. Bonus delegates will be allocated as Minnesota shares a primary date with numerous other states on Super Tuesday; these numbers do not yet account for these delegates.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
After organizing unit conventions running from Saturday, March 7, 2020 until Sunday, April 19, 2020 during which delegates for congressional district and state conventions are nominated, third level congressional district conventions will take place between Saturday, May 2, 2020 and Friday, May 29, 2020, where national convention district delegates will be selected. The state convention will subsequently be held on Sunday, May 31, 2020 to vote on the 16 pledged at-large and 10 PLEO delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 75 pledged delegates Minnesota sends to the national convention will be joined by 17 unpledged PLEO delegates (8 members of the Democratic National Committee; 7 members of Congress, including both Senators, notably Amy Klobuchar, and 5 U.S. Representatives; and former vice president Walter Mondale).


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Campaign
With the impeachment trial coming up and taking up the time of several of the top tier candidates, including Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, the start of early voting was extremely important to her and the state party. Several rallies featuring her and other top DFL officials were held on that day, January 17.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Campaign
Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign one day before Super Tuesday, after 100,000 voters had already requested early voting ballots. This is likely to have contributed to her receiving 5.6 percent of the vote, and coming in first in several counties.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Polling
Amy Klobuchar lead in pre-election polling, but withdrew from the race the night before the election and endorsed Joe Biden (who went on to win Minnesota).


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Results
15 candidates and an uncommitted option were on the ballot. Candidates' names remain on the ballot even if the candidate has suspended/ended his/her campaign before the primary.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Results
†Candidate withdrew after no-excuse, in-person absentee voting started on January 17, 2020.


2020 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Exit polls indicated Biden winning handily the white voters and older people, he also won by just 4 points the African American vote, in sharp contrast with the southern states, while Sanders won the non-white vote overall by a wide margin, young voters, as well as voters from the LGBTQ+ community


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team
The 2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team was a baseball team that represented the University of Minnesota in the 2020 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Golden Gophers were members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Siebert Field and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were led by thirty-ninth-year head coach John Anderson.


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team
The season was cut short in stages by March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team, Previous season
The Golden Gophers finished the 2019 NCAA Division I baseball season 29–27 overall (15–9 conference) and tied for third place in conference standings, qualifying for the 2019 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament.


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team, Previous season, MLB Draft
The following Golden Gophers on the 2019 roster were selected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft:


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
The 2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Gophers played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach P. J. Fleck.


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24.


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, Previous season
The Golden Gophers finished the 2019 season with finished with their highest win total ever, at  11–2, 7–2 in Big Ten play to finish tied for first place in the West Division. They were invited to the Outback Bowl, where they defeated Auburn and finished #10 in the AP poll.


2020 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, Schedule
Minnesota had games scheduled against Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech, and BYU, but canceled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A special election
A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on February 4, 2020, to elect a new member for District 30A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, caused by the resignation of Republican member Nick Zerwas. A primary election was held on January 14, 2020, to nominate Republican candidate. Paul Novotny, the Republican nominee, won the special election.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A special election, Background
On November 25, 2019, District 30A incumbent Nick Zerwas announced he would resign a week later on December 6. Zerwas, who was born with a congenital heart defect and had recently undergone heart surgery, said he would like to spend more time with his family and to better support them outside of the Legislature. On November 27, 2019, Governor Tim Walz announced the date of the special election, which will be held before and allow the winner to be seated by the February 11 reconvening of the 91st Minnesota Legislature.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A special election, Background
District 30A represents southeastern Sherburne County and a small part of northeastern Wright County. Zerwas first represented the district after winning election in 2012, succeeding fellow Republican Mary Kiffmeyer, who retired to seek election to the Minnesota Senate. In the last election in 2018, Zerwas won with 64 percent of the vote.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A special election, Candidates
The candidate filing period was from December 3 to December 10, 2019.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A special election, Candidates, Republican Party of Minnesota
District 30A Republican delegates held a convention to endorse a candidate in Elk River on December 7, 2019. Paul Novotny won the endorsement over Kathy Ziebarth on the first ballot. Ziebarth said after the convention she would continue to seek the Republican nomination in the primary election.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 60A special election
A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on February 4, 2020, to elect a new member for District 60A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, caused by the death of Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) member Diane Loeffler. A primary election was held on January 21, 2020, to nominate a DFL candidate. Sydney Jordan, the DFL nominee, won the special election.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 60A special election, Background
On November 16, 2019, District 60A 15-year incumbent Diane Loeffler died of cancer. On November 27, 2019, Governor Tim Walz announced the date of the primary and special elections. Walz chose the date of the primary election to accommodate the large student population in the district, while still taking place before the February 11 reconvening of the 91st Minnesota Legislature.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 60A special election, Background
District 60A is located in Hennepin County, representing northeast Minneapolis. Loeffler first represented the area when it was District 59A after winning election in 2004, succeeding fellow DFL member Len Biernat, who did not seek re-election. In the last election in 2018, Loeffler won with 86 percent of the vote.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 60A special election, Candidates
The candidate filing period was from December 3 to December 10, 2019.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives District 60A special election, Primary election
The area represented by District 60A has in recent decades voted overwhelmingly for DFL candidates. The winner of the DFL nomination would likely be the winner of the special election.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives election
The 2020 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 92nd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 11, 2020. The election coincided with the election of the other house of the Legislature, the Senate, and other elections.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives election, Background
The last election in 2018 resulted in the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) winning a majority of 75 seats, ending four years of a Republican majority. As there was no Senate election, this resulted in split control of the Legislature with Republicans holding a majority in the Senate they won in 2016.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives election, Electoral system
The 134 members of the House of Representatives were elected from single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting for two-year terms. Contested nominations of recognized major parties (DFL, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis, Legal Marijuana Now, and Republican) for each district were determined by an open primary election. Minor party candidates were nominated by petition. Write-in candidates must have filed a request with the secretary of state's office for votes for them to be counted. The filing period was from May 19 to June 2, 2020.


2020 Minnesota House of Representatives election, Primary elections results
A primary election was held in 23 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. 11 Republican nominations and 12 DFL nominations were contested. Nine incumbents were opposed for their party's nomination. DFL incumbents Raymond Dehn in District 59B and John Lesch in District 66B were not renominated.


2020 Minnesota Lynx season
The 2020 WNBA season is the 22nd season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on July 26, 2020, versus the Connecticut Sun.


2020 Minnesota Lynx season
This WNBA season will feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games. However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.


2020 Minnesota Lynx season
The Lynx' season started strongly, as the team won five of their first six games, with their only loss coming to the Seattle Storm. They won three of the next five to hold a 8–3 record at the halfway mark of the season. The team finished the season with a 3–2 stretch of five games and a 3–3 stretch of the last six games. Their overall 14–8 record earned them the fourth seed in the playoffs.


2020 Minnesota Lynx season
As the fourth seed, the Lynx earned a bye into the Second Round. They faced off against the Phoenix Mercury, and won a very close game 80–79. With that win, they advanced to face Seattle in the Semifinals. The Lynx lost the first game in the series by two points, and then were defeated by ten points and twenty-one points in games two and three. The three game sweep ended the Lynx' season.


2020 Minnesota Republican presidential primary
The 2020 Minnesota Republican presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 14 contests scheduled for Super Tuesday in the Republican Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election.


2020 Minnesota Senate election
The 2020 Minnesota Senate election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020, to elect members to the Senate of the 92nd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 11, 2020. The election coincided with the election of the other house of the Legislature, the House of Representatives, and other elections.


2020 Minnesota Senate election, Background
The last election in 2016 resulted in the Republican Party of Minnesota winning a majority of seats, after losing a majority to the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) only four years earlier in the previous election in 2012. In conjunction with the result of the House election, it also resulted in the return of all-Republican control of the Legislature for the first time since 2012 and only the second time Republicans have had majorities in both houses since the return of partisan elections to the Senate in 1976. Control of the Senate has alternated between the Republicans and the DFL every election since 2010. All-Republican control of the Legislature ended when the DFL won a majority in the House in 2018.


2020 Minnesota Senate election, Background
A special election was held for District 11 on February 5, 2019, as a result of the resignation of incumbent DFL Senator Tony Lourey after he was selected to be the next commissioner of human services by Governor-elect Tim Walz in early January 2019. Republican State Representative Jason Rarick won the special election, increasing the Republican majority to 35 seats.


2020 Minnesota Senate election, Background
In October 2020, The Washington Post identified this state election as one of eight whose outcomes could affect partisan balance during post-census redistricting.


2020 Minnesota Senate election, Electoral system
The 67 members of the Senate were elected from single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting for two-year terms. Contested nominations of recognized major parties (DFL, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis, Legal Marijuana Now, and Republican) for each district were determined by an open primary election. Minor party candidates were nominated by petition. Write-in candidates must have filed a request with the secretary of state's office for votes for them to be counted. The filing period was from May 19 to June 2, 2020.


2020 Minnesota Senate election, Primary elections results
A primary election was held on August 11 in 16 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. Four Republican nominations and 13 DFL nominations were contested. Nine incumbents were opposed for their party's nomination. DFL incumbents Erik Simonson in District 7 and Jeff Hayden in District 62 were not renominated.


2020 Minnesota Senate election, Post-election changes
On November 18, 2020, longtime DFL senators Thomas M. Bakk and David Tomassoni announced they would be leaving the DFL party and form their own "Independent Caucus" in the state senate. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka welcomed the move and promised to give both senators chairmanships on "prominent committees". This changes the senate composition to 34 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and two independents.


2020 Minnesota Twins season
The 2020 Minnesota Twins season  was the 60th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 11th season at Target Field and the 120th overall in the American League. It was the team's second year under manager Rocco Baldelli.


2020 Minnesota Twins season
On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled. Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks. On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season.


2020 Minnesota Twins season
Players reported to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24 Opening Day. On the last day of the shortened 2020 season, the Twins clinched the American League Central division title for the second year in a row thanks to a loss by the Chicago White Sox. On September 29, the Twins lost Game One of the 2020 American League Wild Card Series to the Houston Astros. The game was their seventeenth consecutive postseason loss, which broke the record for the longest postseason losing streak in North American sports, passing the 1975-79 Chicago Blackhawks. The Twins were ultimately swept two games to zero in the best-of-three series, extending their record-breaking losing streak to eighteen games.


2020 Minnesota United FC season
The 2020 Minnesota United FC season was the eleventh season of Minnesota United FC's existence and their fourth season in Major League Soccer, the top-tier of American soccer. United plays at Allianz Field and is coached by Adrian Heath. Outside of MLS, Minnesota United were also scheduled to participate in the 2020 U.S. Open Cup and the 2020 Leagues Cup, before their cancelations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as various preseason competitions.


2020 Minnesota United FC season, Competitions, U.S. Open Cup
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, US Soccer cancelled the competition.


2020 Minnesota United FC season, Statistics, Appearances and goals
Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season
The 2020 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 60th in the National Football League, their fifth playing home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their seventh under head coach Mike Zimmer. This was the Vikings' first time since 2005 that long-time assistant Kevin Stefanski was not part of the Vikings coaching staff, as he left to become the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns on January 12, 2020.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season
After going 1–5 in their first six games for the first time since 2013, the team failed to improve upon their 10–6 record from 2019 after a Week 11 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and failed to match their 10–6 record after a Week 14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Vikings were eliminated from playoff contention following a week 16 loss to the New Orleans Saints, and ultimately finished 7–9, their first losing season since 2014. The Vikings conceded 475 points during the season, the third-highest total in franchise history, although they also managed to score 430 points, also the third-most in team history.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Draft
The Vikings had a total of 15 selections in the 2020 NFL Draft, a record number since the draft moved to a seven-round format in 1994. Although they had lost their original fifth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in the trade for kicker/punter Kaare Vedvik prior to the 2019 season and their seventh-round pick in the trade that sent wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills earlier in the 2020 offseason, the Diggs trade gave the Vikings extra picks in the first, fifth and sixth rounds. They also had an extra pick in the seventh round after trading guard Danny Isidora to the Miami Dolphins at the start of the 2019 season, as well as one compensatory pick in the third round and two in the seventh as a result of free agency losses in 2019.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Draft
After taking Louisiana State wide receiver Justin Jefferson 22nd overall with the first-round pick they acquired from the Bills, the Vikings traded their original first-round pick (25th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the 31st overall pick, as well as selections in the fourth and fifth rounds; with the 31st overall pick, the Vikings took Texas Christian cornerback Jeff Gladney. The Vikings used their second-round pick on Boise State offensive tackle Ezra Cleveland, then took Mississippi State cornerback Cameron Dantzler in the third round, before trading their third-round compensatory pick to the New Orleans Saints for the Saints' remaining picks in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Draft
In the fourth round, the Vikings used the picks they acquired from the 49ers and Saints to select South Carolina defensive end D. J. Wonnum and Baylor defensive tackle James Lynch, before taking Oregon linebacker Troy Dye with their original fourth-round pick. The Vikings traded the fifth-round pick they acquired from the Bills to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft, before using their remaining fifth-round selections on Temple Owls cornerback Harrison Hand and Miami wide receiver K. J. Osborn.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Draft
In the sixth round, the Vikings traded the other pick they acquired from the Bills – along with the seventh-round selection they got from the Dolphins – to the Ravens for another seventh-round pick and a fifth-round pick in 2021 before taking Oregon State offensive tackle Blake Brandel and Michigan safety Josh Metellus. The Vikings then had four remaining picks in the seventh round, which they used on Michigan State Spartans defensive end Kenny Willekes, Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley, Mississippi State safety Brian Cole II and Washburn guard Kyle Hinton.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Final roster
Rookies in italics52 active, 11 inactive, 15 practice squad (+1 exempt)


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Preseason
The Vikings' preseason schedule was announced on May 7, but was canceled in late July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Green Bay Packers
This was the Vikings' first loss in their season opener since 2015. The 43 points scored by the Packers was the most the Vikings had conceded in a season opener in franchise history. Wide receiver Adam Thielen scored two touchdowns for the first time since Week 5 of the 2019 season against the New York Giants.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Indianapolis Colts
This loss dropped the Vikings to 0–2 for the first time since 2013. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was intercepted three times on 26 pass attempts that included just 11 completions for 113 yards; he ended up with a passer rating of 15.9.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at New Orleans Saints
With the loss, Minnesota was eliminated from the playoffs, clinching their first losing season since 2014 and only the second under head coach Mike Zimmer.


2020 Minnesota Vikings season, Pro Bowl
Two Vikings players—running back Dalvin Cook and rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson—were selected for the 2021 Pro Bowl, the team's lowest contribution to the event since 2014, when they had no Pro Bowlers. Cook received the most votes among NFC running backs to go to his second Pro Bowl (after his rookie season in 2017), and only Russell Wilson received more votes out of any position in the NFC team, while Jefferson was the Vikings' first rookie wide receiver to be selected since Percy Harvin in 2009.


2020 Minnesota elections
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020. All seats in the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives were up for election as well as several judicial seats, Minnesota's 10 presidential electors, a United States Senate seat, Minnesota's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives, and several positions for local offices. A primary election to nominate major party candidates and several judicial and local primary elections were held on August 11, 2020.


2020 Minnesota elections, Electoral system
Elections for state and federal offices were held via first-past-the-post voting. The candidate or bloc of presidential electors that wins the most votes will be elected. Nominations for parties with major party status—the DFL, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis, Legal Marijuana Now, and Republican parties—were determined by an open primary election. The candidate that won the most votes in each party became their party's nominee for the general election. If only a single candidate sought the nomination for each party, a primary election for that office was not held.


2020 Minnesota elections, Electoral system
Judicial and several local elections will be held via a nonpartisan blanket primary. Each voter had up to as many votes as there are positions to be filled. Voters could vote for a candidate not more than once. The top number of candidates that won the most votes in the primary election that was twice the number of positions to be filled advanced to the general election. If not more than twice the number of candidates to be elected sought election, a primary election was not held.


2020 Minnesota elections, Electoral system
Most cities, school districts, and all townships and hospital districts did not hold a primary election—instead all candidates appeared at the general election. The top number of candidates that win the most votes in the general election that is equal to the number of positions to be filled will be elected. Judicial and local elections are nonpartisan.


2020 Minnesota elections, Electoral system
The candidate filing period was from May 19 to June 2, 2020. The filing period for cities, townships, school districts, and hospital districts that did not hold a primary election was from July 28 to August 11, 2020.


2020 Minnesota elections, State elections, Legislative elections, Minnesota Senate
All 67 seats in the Minnesota Senate were up for election. The Republicans hold a majority of 35 seats and the DFL hold 32 seats. The Republicans have held a majority in the Senate since the 2016 election.


2020 Minnesota elections, State elections, Legislative elections, Minnesota House of Representatives
All 134 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives were up for election. The DFL hold a majority of 75 seats and the Republicans hold 59 seats. The DFL have held a majority in the House since the 2018 election.


2020 Minnesota elections, State elections, Judicial elections
One seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court was up for election. Justice Paul Thissen was up for his first election following his appointment in 2018 by Governor Mark Dayton. Four seats on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and several seats on the Minnesota District Courts were also up for election.


2020 Minnesota elections, Federal elections, President
Minnesota's 10 electors in the Electoral College were up for election, who will subsequently cast votes for president and vice president on December 14, 2020.


2020 Minnesota elections, Federal elections, President
Minnesota has voted for the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1976, the longest streak of any U.S. state as of the 2016 election. The Democratic nominee in 2016, Hillary Clinton, won Minnesota by less than two percentage points over Republican nominee Donald Trump.


2020 Minnesota elections, Federal elections, United States Senate
Minnesota's class 2 United States Senate seat was up for election. Incumbent DFL Senator Tina Smith was originally appointed in 2018 by Governor Mark Dayton to replace Senator Al Franken after he resigned. Smith won a special electionand is seeking election to her first full term in the SenateThe DFL has held Minnesota's class 2 U.S. Senate seat since 2009 when Al Franken defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman after a protracted recount following the 2008 election. Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith was appointed in January 2018 by Governor Mark Dayton to replace Franken after he resigned following sexual harassment allegations. Smith won her first election in the 2018 special election.


2020 Minnesota elections, Federal elections, United States Senate
Former U.S. Representative Jason Lewis is the Republican nominee. Other candidates include Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Kevin O'Connor and Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party candidate Oliver Steinberg. Candidates who lost the primary election for the Republican nomination included John Berman, Bob Carney, Cynthia Gail, and James Reibestein. Candidates who lost the primary election for the DFL nomination included Steve Carlson, Ahmad Hassan, Paula Overby, and Christopher Seymore.


2020 Minnesota elections, Federal elections, United States House of Representatives
Minnesota's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. The DFL hold five seats and the Republicans hold three seats.


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections
Elections for several subdivisions were held—including elections for counties, municipalities, school districts, and hospital districts.


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, Counties
All 87 counties held regular elections. 37 counties held primary elections. Five counties also held special elections on the day of the general election. Kanabec County had a ballot question on the day of the general election.


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, Counties
Some counties held elections for one or more of the following:


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, Municipalities
829 cities and 656 townships held regular elections. 32 cities held primary elections. 101 cities and 51 townships held special elections. Bemidji and Minneapolis each held a special election on the day of the primary election. All other special elections were held on the day of the general election. Bloomington, Minneapolis, and Minnetonka did not have regularly scheduled elections, but each had one or more ballot questions on the day of the general election. Jeffers had a ballot question on the day of the primary election. 22 cities and 12 townships had one or more ballot questions on the day of the general election.


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, Municipalities
Cities held elections for one or more of the following:


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, Municipalities
Townships held elections for one or more of the following:


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, School districts
294 school districts held regular elections to elect half of the members of their board of directors. Minneapolis and Red Lake each held a primary election. Barnesville, Duluth, Fridley, Orono, Prinsburg, Rush City, and Saint Paul did not have regularly scheduled elections, but each held a special election or had one or more ballot questions on the day of the general election. 28 other school districts also held a special election on the day of the general election. Ely, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, and McGregor each had one or more ballot questions on the day of the primary election. 43 school districts had one or more ballot questions on the day of the general election.


2020 Minnesota elections, Local elections, Hospital districts
14 hospital districts held regular elections to elect half of the members of their board of directors. Two hospital districts also held special elections on the day of the general election.


2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary
The 2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary took place on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Mississippi primary is an open primary, with the state awarding 41 delegates, of which 36 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.


2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary
Immediately after the polls closed at 7:00pm central time, the Associated Press declared that Joe Biden had won the Mississippi primary. Exit polls showed Biden garnering 87% of the black vote, which made up 69% of the Democratic electorate in Mississippi. Biden won every county in the state, and was the only Democratic Party candidate to get above 15% of the vote statewide, the threshold for getting statewide delegates, although Sanders came very close to getting 15% of statewide vote.


2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Mississippi is one of 6 states (and Democrats abroad) which held primaries on March 10, 2020, one week after Super Tuesday.


2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Voting took place throughout the state from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 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 36 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 36 pledged delegates, between 4 and 9 are allocated to each of the state's 4 congressional districts and another 5 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 8 at-large pledged delegates. Bonus delegates will be allocated as Mississippi shares a primary date with numerous other states holding contests the week after Super Tuesday; these numbers do not yet account for these delegates.


2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
After county conventions expected on Saturday, March 14, 2020, where congressional district and state convention delegates will be elected, congressional district conventions are slated for successive Saturdays between April 4 and April 25, 2020, in each of the state's congressional districts in ascending order at which congressional delegates to the national conventions will be selected. The state convention is then expected to be held on Saturday, May 16, 2020, to vote on the 8 pledged at-large and 5 PLEO delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 36 pledged delegates Mississippi sends to the national convention will be joined by 5 unpledged PLEO delegates (4 members of the Democratic National Committee and U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson).


2020 Mississippi Republican presidential primary
The 2020 Mississippi Republican presidential primary took place on March 10, 2020, as one of five contests scheduled for that date in the Republican presidential primaries for the 2020 election.


2020 Mississippi Republican presidential primary, Results
Incumbent President Donald Trump was challenged by two candidates: businessman and perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente of California, and former governor Bill Weld of Massachusetts.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team
The 2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team represented Mississippi State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Dudy Noble Field, Polk–DeMent Stadium.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team, Previous season
The Bulldogs finished 52–15 overall, and 20–10 in the conference. They participated in the 2019 College World Series


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team, Preseason, SEC Coaches poll
The SEC coaches poll was released on February 6, 2020 with the Tigers predicted to finish tied for third in the Western Division.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team, Schedule and results
*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team, Rankings
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team, MLB Draft
†Competitive Balance Round A‡J.T. Ginn was drafted out of high school as the 30th overall pick but honored his commitment to Mississippi State. He had Tommy John surgery in March 2020.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
The 2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by first-year head coach Mike Leach.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
In a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs compiled a 3–7 record in a 10-game all-SEC schedule. As the NCAA had waived bowl eligibility requirements for the season, the Bulldogs received an invitation to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated Tulsa, becoming one of the few bowl teams with a losing record to record a bowl victory.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team, Previous season
The Bulldogs went 2019 6-6 in the regular season 6–6 including a 3–5 record in SEC play to finish in fifth in the Western Division. They were invited to play in the Music City Bowl, where they lost against Louisville. Joe Moorhead was fired in January 2020, several days after the bowl.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team, SEC Media Days
In the preseason media poll, Mississippi State was predicted to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team, Schedule
Mississippi State announced its 2020 football schedule on August 7, 2019. The 2020 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team, Schedule
The Bulldogs had games scheduled against Alabama A&M, New Mexico, NC State, and Tulane, but were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team
The 2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team represents Mississippi State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I softball season. The Bulldogs play their home games at Nusz Park.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team, Previous season
The Bulldogs finished the 2019 season 35–23 overall, and 9–15 in the SEC to finish in twelfth in the conference. The Bulldogs went 2–2 in the Seattle Regional during the 2019 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team, Preseason, SEC preseason poll
The SEC preseason poll was released on January 15, 2020.


2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team, Schedule and results
*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the NFCA poll.


2020 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team
The 2020 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team represented Mississippi Valley State University as a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Delta Devils were led by third-year head coach Vincent Dancy and played their home games at Rice–Totten Stadium.


2020 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team
On July 20, 2020, the Southwestern Athletic Conference announced that it would not play fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes the football program. The conference is formalizing plans to conduct a competitive schedule for football during the 2021 spring semester.


2020 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team, Previous season
The Delta Devils finished the 2019 season 2–9, 1–6 in SWAC play to finish in last place in the East Division.


2020 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team, Schedule
Due to the SWAC's postponement of the 2020 football season to spring 2021, games against Nicholls, Sam Houston State, and Virginia–Lynchburg were canceled. The SWAC released updated spring schedules on August 17.


2020 Mississippi elections
Mississippi state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Its primaries were held on March 10, 2020, with runoffs taking place on June 23.


2020 Mississippi elections
In addition to the U.S. presidential race, Mississippi voters elect the Class II U.S. Senator from Mississippi, all of Mississippi's seats to the House of Representatives, and 4 of 9 seats on the Mississippi Supreme Court. They also vote on three ballot measures.


2020 Mississippi elections, Federal offices, United States House of Representatives
There are 3 U.S. Representatives in Mississippi that will be up for election in addition to 1 open seat.


2020 Mississippi elections, State Judiciary
All four incumbents whose seats are up for reelection are running again.


2020 Mississippi elections, Ballot Measures, Legalization of medical marijuana
Legalization of medical marijuana comes with two choices for voters. The first vote is for the approval of either initiative or neither. The following choice is between either 65 or 65A. Voting for Initiative 65 supports approving the medical marijuana amendment as provided by Initiative 65, which would allow medical marijuana treatment for 22 specified qualifying conditions, allow individuals to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana at one time, and tax marijuana sales at the current state sales tax rate of 7%. Voting for Alternative 65A supports approving the legislature's alternative medical marijuana amendment, which would restrict smoking marijuana to terminally ill patients; require pharmaceutical-grade marijuana products and treatment oversight by licensed physicians, nurses, and pharmacists; and leave tax rates, possession limits, and certain other details to be set by the legislature.


2020 Mississippi elections, Ballot Measures, Legalization of medical marijuana
Initiative 65 would legalize possession of up to 2.5 ounces (71 g) of medical marijuana for people with 22 kinds of pre-existing conditions. It would also implement a tax for medical marijuana, allow its consumption in all but public places, cap the cost for medical marijuana ID cards at $50 per card, issue these cards by August 15, 2021 and delegate administration of medical marijuana to the state Department of Health.


2020 Mississippi elections, Ballot Measures, Legalization of medical marijuana
Alternative 65A would legalize possession of an as of yet unspecified amount of medical marijuana for terminally ill patients suffering from as of yet unspecified pre-existing conditions, would not necessarily delegate responsibility for administration to the state Department of Health, would not cap costs for medical marijuana ID cards, would not set a tax rate for the substance and would not set a deadline by which cards had to be issued.


2020 Mississippi elections, Ballot Measures, Elimination of state electoral college
A "yes" vote supports the following: removing the requirement that a candidate for governor or elected state office receive the most votes in a majority of the state's 122 House of Representatives districts (the electoral vote requirement), removing the role of the Mississippi House of Representatives in choosing a winner if no candidate receives majority approval, and providing that a candidate for governor or state office must receive a majority vote of the people to win and that a runoff election will be held between the two highest vote-getters if no candidate receives a majority vote.


2020 Mississippi elections, Ballot Measures, Elimination of state electoral college
A "no" vote opposes this amendment to establish runoff elections for governor and state offices, thereby maintaining the electoral vote requirement and that the House of Representatives will vote for a winner if no candidate receives a majority or in the event of a tie.


2020 Mississippi elections, Ballot Measures, Approval of new state flag design
Voters may vote either yes to adopt the new flag or no to oppose adopting the new state flag. If the new proposed flag is rejected by voters, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag will reconvene, design another flag, and allow voters to approve or reject it at a special election in November 2021.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum
The 2020 Mississippi flag referendum was a legislatively referred state statute appearing on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot in Mississippi.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum
Voters were asked whether the design proposed by the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which does not contain the Confederate battle flag and includes the words "In God We Trust", should be adopted as the new official flag of Mississippi. The referendum passed by a 72.98% to 27.02% margin on November 3, 2020. Voters were not given the option to retain the old, Confederate-based flag.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Background
After an earlier redesign proposal had been voted down in the 2001 Mississippi flag referendum and following the adoption of a new state flag by Georgia in 2003, the Mississippi flag remained the only U.S. state flag to include the Confederate battle flag's saltire. In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) placed Mississippi's flag 22nd in design quality of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state and U.S. territorial flags ranked.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Background
On June 9, 2020 lawmakers gathered votes and started drafting legislation to change the state flag. The action came after weeks of national protests following the murder of George Floyd, including a protest outside the Mississippi Governor's Mansion on June 6. This was the first substantial action to change the state flag since the 2001 referendum. On June 11, Senate Democrats filed a resolution to change the state flag. On June 24, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann announced his support for a new flag. Hosemann was joined by Attorney General Lynn Fitch, State Auditor Shad White, Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Background
On June 28, 2020, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill, House Bill 1796, that would relinquish the state flag, remove the state flag from public buildings within 15 days of the bill's effective date and constitute a nine-member commission to design a new flag that would be put to voters in a referendum to be held in November 2020. The bill required that the Confederate battle flag not be included on the proposed design and the motto "In God We Trust" be included, as Georgia did when it removed the Confederate emblem from its state flag in 2003. In the House, the bill was passed by 91 in favor and 23 against. In the Senate, the bill was passed with 37 in favor and 14 against.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Background
Reversing his earlier claimed position that the people, and not "a backroom deal by a bunch of politicians", should make the decision to change the flag, Governor Tate Reeves signed the flag bill into law on June 30, 2020. As the legislation repealed the sections of the Mississippi State Code which made provisions for a state flag, namely Section 3-3-16, Mississippi ceased to have an official state flag at this point.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag
Under the terms of House Bill 1796, a body known as the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag was constituted to suggest a design for a new state flag no later than September 14, 2020. The bill instructed the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to develop a plan for the removal of the 1894 flag from public buildings across the state and provide administrative support for the commission. The act stipulated that any design proposed by the commission must include the words "In God We Trust" and must not contain the Confederate battle flag.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag
The commission consisted of nine members, three of which were appointed by the Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, three members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, and three by the Governor. Former state Supreme Court Justice Reuben V. Anderson, who serves as president of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, was unanimously elected as the commission's chairman at its first meeting on July 22.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag
The proposed design would be subject to a referendum to be held concurrently with the general election on November 3, 2020. Should the referendum result in a "yes" vote for the proposed design, then the design would be officially adopted as the new state flag of Mississippi during the next regular legislative session. Should the referendum result in a "no" vote for the proposed design, the commission would reconvene and propose different designs.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag
The legislation stated that further referenda could then be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of a year in which the commission makes a new recommendation until a "yes" vote is achieved. Mississippi would remain without an official state flag until a new one is adopted through this process. Voters were not given the option to retain the previous, Confederate-based flag.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Call for public submissions
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History invited the public to submit designs for a new state flag on July 13. In accordance with the rules imposed by House Bill 1796, designs would only be accepted if they contained the words "In God We Trust" and not include the Confederate battle flag. The commission also added that suggestions would need to be unique and adhere to principles of the North American Vexillological Association: that the design should use only two or three basic colors, be simple enough for a child to draw, and have meaningful symbolism. Entries were to be submitted by email or by post and be received by the commission by August 13, 2020 to be considered. The deadline was moved to August 1 to allow time for the commission to complete the selection process.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Selection of finalists
More than 2000 submissions (other estimates put this figure at 2800 images, but a few images were erroneously repeated) meeting the legislative criteria were received and displayed on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History website. Each of the 9 commission members picked 25 flags, narrowing the list down to 147.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Selection of finalists
At an August 14 meeting, the commission announced that they had selected nine proposals. These proposals, depicting various elements including a representation of the Mississippi River, magnolias, and stars composed of diamonds significant to the Choctaw nation, had either red, white, and blue or green and white color schemes. The commission announced that they would narrow these designs down to five finalists at its next meeting on August 18. Five semifinalists were published on August 18, and this was reduced to two finalists  on August 25.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Selection of finalists
The final two flags were the "Great River Flag" designed by Micah Whitson and "The New Magnolia" designed by Rocky Vaughan, Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles and Dominique Pugh.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Selection of finalists
On September 2, the commission voted 8–1 to put the New Magnolia flag on the November ballot. Slight modifications were made to the original design, including making the text bolder and the red and gold bars thicker. The flag is officially referred to as the "In God We Trust Flag". Rocky Vaughan is credited with designing the flag's overall layout, with design support provided by Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles and Dominique Pugh (who created the magnolia illustration featured in the center). Micah Whitson was also given credit for the appearance of the Native American star.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Proposed design, Selection of finalists
The referendum passed by a 73% to 27% margin on November 3, 2020. It was then approved by the Mississippi State House of Representatives on January 5, 2021 and passed by the State Senate on January 6, 2021. It was then signed into law by Governor Reeves on January 11, 2021, making the "In God We Trust Flag" the official state flag.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Controversy
The Satanic Temple has threatened to sue the State of Mississippi if the controversial phrase "In God We Trust" is included on the flag. Americans United for Separation of Church and State declared the state's actions as trading "a white nationalist symbol for a Christian nationalist one". Both The American Humanist Association and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have published their own editorials in disagreement with the use of the phrase on a new flag.


2020 Mississippi flag referendum, Controversy
"Let Mississippi Vote" is a group that is campaigning for another referendum on a choice of four flag designs including the Magnolia flag that was adopted in the November 2020 referendum and the version that it replaced. Their aim is to give Mississippians a choice instead of voting on only one flag. The group reached their goal of 5000 volunteers and have sent wording for their referendum to the Mississippi Attorney General's Office for approval. They would need the valid signatures of 106,190 Mississippi residents for the initiative to be placed on a ballot as early as 2021.


2020 Missouri Amendment 2
2020 Missouri Amendment 2, also known as the Medicaid Expansion Initiative, was a ballot measure to amend the Constitution of Missouri to expand Medicaid. The initiative was on the August 4, 2020 primary ballot, and passed with 53.27% of the vote.


2020 Missouri Amendment 2, Contents
State government entities are estimated to have one-time costs of approximately $6.4 million and an unknown annual net fiscal impact by 2026 ranging from increased costs of at least $200 million to savings of $1 billion. Local governments expect costs to decrease by an unknown amount.


2020 Missouri Attorney General election
The 2020 Missouri Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Attorney General of Missouri. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, along with elections to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt was elected to a full term. He was appointed by Governor Mike Parson after Josh Hawley was elected to the U.S Senate in 2018.


2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary
The 2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary took place on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party presidential primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The Missouri primary is an open primary, with the state awarding 78 delegates, of which 68 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.


2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary
Immediately after the polls closed at 7:00 PM central time, the Associated Press declared that Joe Biden had won the Missouri primary. Biden won every county in the state.


2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Missouri is one of 6 states (and Democrats abroad) which held primaries on March 10, 2020, one week after Super Tuesday.


2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Voting took place throughout the state from 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 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 68 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of the 68 pledged delegates, between 4 and 8 are allocated to each of the state's 8 congressional districts and another 9 are allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 15 at-large pledged delegates. Bonus delegates will be allocated as Missouri shares a primary date with numerous other states holding contests the week after Super Tuesday; these numbers do not yet account for these delegates.


2020 Missouri Democratic presidential primary, Procedure
Following ward, township, legislative district, and county mass meetings on Thursday, April 9, 2020, during which congressional district and state convention delegates will be designated, congressional district conventions on Thursday, April 30, 2020, will choose national convention district delegates. At the meeting of the Democratic state committee in Jefferson City on Saturday, May 9, 2020, the 9 pledged PLEO delegates will be voted on, while the 15 pledged at-large delegates will be selected at the subsequent state convention in Columbia on Saturday, June 20, 2020. The 68 pledged delegates Missouri sends to the national convention will be joined by 10 unpledged PLEO delegates (7 members of the Democratic National Committee; 2 U.S. Representatives; and Dick Gephardt, former majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives).


2020 Missouri House of Representatives election
The 2020 election for Missouri House of Representatives was held on November 3, 2020. All 163 seats in the state House were up for election in 2020. The primary election was held on August 31, 2020.


2020 Missouri Republican presidential primary
The 2020 Missouri Republican presidential primary occurred on March 10, 2020. It uses the winner-take-most system, where a candidate must have an absolute majority to take all delegates.


2020 Missouri Secretary of State election
The 2020 Missouri Secretary of State General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Missouri Secretary of State. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, along with elections to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was elected to a second term.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team
The 2020 Missouri State Bears football team represented Missouri State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by Bobby Petrino in his first season as the program's 21st head coach. The Bears play their home games at Robert W. Plaster Stadium. They competed as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bears won their 10th conference championship (shared with South Dakota State) and returned the playoffs for the first time since 1990. They lost in the first round at North Dakota 44–10. Bobby Petrino won the conference coach of the year award in his first season. They finished the season ranked 13th in both Coaches and STATS poll.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Previous season
The Bears finished the 2019 season 1–10, 1–7 in MVFC play to finish in a two-way tie for ninth place. On January 10, 2020, head coach Dave Steckel was bought out of his contract with Missouri State after compiling a 13–42 record over five seasons. Five days later, on January 15, Bobby Petrino was announced as the team's new head coach.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Offseason, Transfers, Incoming
Note: • Transferred in Spring, immediately eligible for Spring season.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Preseason
Even with Bobby Petrino as head coach; expectations were low heading into the 2020 season. The Bears were coming off a 1–10 record in 2019. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; the Missouri Valley Football Conference season was moved from the Fall to the Spring. Missouri State originally had non-conference games scheduled against Oklahoma, Tarleton State, and Montana. The games against Montana and Tarleton State were canceled. The Bears added a home and home series with Central Arkansas in the Fall. The game at Oklahoma was kept on the schedule as planned.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Preseason, MVFC Media Poll
The Media picked the Bears to finish in a tie for 9th place with Western Illinois. This was the second straight season Missouri State was predicted to finish last in the conference.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Preseason, Preseason Awards
Missouri State had two players selected to the 2020 All-MVFC Preseason Team. Junior wide receiver Damoriea Vick and Senior cornerback Zack Sanders were the players chosen, both as honorable mentions.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Personnel, Coaching Staff
The coaching staff for the Bears was completed overhauled following the hire of Bobby Petrino. Director of Football Operations Lynn Mentzer was the only person retained from the Dave Steckel era. Former Central Michigan special teams and safeties coach Ryan Beard, joined the Bears as the defensive coordinator. Nick Petrino joined the Bears as the offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach after spending the previous season at UT Martin in the same capacity.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Schedule
Missouri State had a game scheduled against Tarleton State, and Montana which were later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bears played three games in the Fall. One at Oklahoma to open the season and then a home and home series with Central Arkansas. The home game vs. Central Arkansas was Missouri State's Homecoming game. The Bears played a conference only schedule in the Spring. The opener against Illinois State was postponed to April 17 after winter storms made the playing surface unplayable after it was covered in snow and ice. They had two games canceled in the Spring. Illinois State opted out of the season after playing four games. The game vs. North Dakota was canceled following a positive test in the Fighting Hawks program.


2020 Missouri State Bears football team, Game Summaries, Fall, at #5 (FBS) Oklahoma
It was all Oklahoma in this one. The Bears were no match for the Sooners for the head coaching debut for Bobby Petrino. Oklahoma used a huge 31–0 first quarter to pull away comfortably. The Bears never really threatened and were shutout in the season opener. RS Freshman QB Jaden Johnson went 9–19 with 72 yards and an interception. WR Lorenzo Thomas had 46 yards on four catches as the leading receiver. RB Tarrell Roberts led Missouri State on the ground with one carry for 26 yards which was nearly half of the 54 rushing yards the Bears tallied up.