2020 United States presidential election in Utah
Biden's greatest support came from Salt Lake County, the state's most populous county, where he won 53.7%, the first outright majority for a Democratic nominee in the county since Johnson in 1964. Biden also won Summit County (Park City), which, along with Salt Lake, was one of two counties in the state Hillary Clinton had carried in 2016 (and the only one where she had won a majority); and he flipped Grand County (Moab), which had voted Democratic in 1992 and 2008.


2020 United States presidential election in Utah
Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Trump's strength in Utah came from Mormons. 53% of voters identified as Mormons, and Trump received 72% of their votes. Trump also won the suburban areas, which make up 57% of the state, with 54% of the vote.


2020 United States presidential election in Utah
Utah is also one of the 7 states (along with Arkansas, Nevada, California, Illinois, Florida, and Hawaii) as well as the District of Columbia in which Trump’s margin increased from 2016.


2020 United States presidential election in Utah, Primary elections, Republican primary
The Republican primary was held on March 3, 2020. Utah politicians Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney both declined to run against Trump.


2020 United States presidential election in Utah, Primary elections, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary was held on March 3, 2020. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and former Vice President Joe Biden were among the major declared candidates.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont
The 2020 United States presidential election in Vermont was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Vermont voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Vermont has three electoral votes in the Electoral College.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont
Vermont was won by Biden with 66.1% of the vote, making this his best performance in a state (if D.C. is not counted). Prior to the election, all 14 news organizations projected Vermont as a state Biden would win, or a safe blue state. With a victory margin of 35.4% over Trump, the Green Mountain State gave Biden his widest margin of victory as well as highest vote percentage of any state, making 2020 the first ever presidential election in which Vermont was the most Democratic state in the nation.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont
Vermont also saw the largest increase in turnout from 2016, increasing 14.3%. Biden greatly improved on Hillary Clinton's 55.7% vote share and 25.9% margin from 2016, when third party candidates received over 14% of the vote. Biden's performance was also the fourth-strongest Democratic performance in state history. Trump carried only one county, the sparsely-populated Essex County bordering New Hampshire, which had voted for the winner from 1980 to 2016.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont
Vermont had once been one of the most Republican states in the Northeast. From 1856 to 1988, it voted Republican in every election except Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide in 1964. However, the brand of Republicanism practiced in the Green Mountain State has historically been a moderate one. Coupled with an influx of more liberal newcomers from out of state, this made Vermont considerably friendlier to Democrats as the national GOP moved further to the right. After narrowly supporting George H. W. Bush in 1988, Vermont gave Bill Clinton a 16-point margin in 1992.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont
Republicans have not seriously contested the state since then, and Vermont is now reckoned as part of the "Blue Wall"–the 19 jurisdictions that delivered their 242-255 electoral votes to the Democratic standard-bearer at every election from 1992 to 2012. Underlining how Republican Vermont once was, Trump and George W. Bush are the only Republicans to win the White House without carrying Vermont.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont
Another factor for Biden's improvement was strong support from Bernie Sanders, one of the state's U.S. Senators and a former candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination who, despite endorsing Hillary Clinton, had received 5.7% of the vote in 2016 as a non-soliciting write-in candidate. Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Sanders maintained a 63% approval rating among his constituents, and his supporters broke 93% for Biden.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont, Primary elections, Republican primary
The Republican primary was held on March 3, 2020. Donald Trump and Bill Weld were among the declared Republican candidates.


2020 United States presidential election in Vermont, Primary elections, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary was held on March 3, 2020. Bernie Sanders, one of the two current senators from Vermont and a 2016 Democratic primary candidate, declared his candidacy on February 19, 2019, after speculation he would do so. Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren were among the other major declared candidates.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
The 2020 United States presidential election in Virginia was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Virginia voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Virginia has 13 electoral votes in the Electoral College.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this a state Biden would win, or a likely blue state. On the day of the election, Biden won Virginia with 54.11% of the vote, and by a margin of 10.11%, the best performance for a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. Biden became the first Democratic nominee to win Chesterfield County and Lynchburg City since 1948, Virginia Beach City since 1964, James City County since 1968, and Stafford County since 1976. He also flipped Chesapeake City back to the Democratic Party.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
Trump flipped no counties or independent cities in the state. Nevertheless, Biden became the first Democrat in history to win the election without Covington City, Nelson and Caroline County, as well as the first since 1992 to win without Buckingham County, and the first since 1960 to win without Westmoreland County, a notable bellwether.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
The diversification of Northern Virginia as well as sliding suburban support for Republicans allowed Biden to win the once-key battleground state without actively campaigning in Virginia. Biden won Henrico County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, and Fairfax County with 63.7%, 61.5%, 62.6%, and 69.9%, respectively; all four were former suburban bastions of the Republican Party in Virginia, the first outside Richmond and the others in Northern Virginia. All four had voted Republican in every election from 1968 through 2000.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
In Arlington County, a closer DC-area suburban county that had turned Democratic several decades earlier, Biden won with 80.6% of the vote, becoming the first nominee of either party in at least a century to crack 80% there. Biden's combined margin in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, and Arlington Counties was greater than his statewide margin of victory. Crucially for his performance in Northern Virginia, Biden carried government workers by 18%.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
In this election, Virginia weighed in as 5.6% more Democratic than the nation as a whole. Although Virginia was considered a reliably Republican state at the presidential level from 1952 to 2004 (only having gone to the Democrats once during that period, in Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide), it has not voted Republican in a presidential election since 2004, and it has not elected a Republican to any statewide office since 2009. Migration into counties in Northern Virginia close to Washington, D.C. has tilted these densely populated areas towards the Democrats. This was the first election since 1988 that a presidential candidate won Virginia by double digits (George H. W. Bush having carried the Old Dominion by 20.5% in his first run), and the first election in which any presidential candidate received over 2 million votes in Virginia.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia
As Georgia tilted towards Biden, this was also the first election in which fellow Southern states Georgia and Virginia voted for the same candidate since 2004, when both solidly backed George W. Bush. Conversely, Virginia and Florida continued drifting apart after a more-than-100-year run (from 1880 through 2012) of voting alike in every election save 1976 and 1996, as Florida reprised its support for Trump. This was also the first election where a former Confederate State backed a Democratic candidate with a margin of victory greater than 10% since Arkansas and Louisiana did so in 1996.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia, Primary elections, Canceled Republican primary
The Virginia Republican Party is one of several state GOP parties that have officially canceled their respective primaries and caucuses. Donald Trump's re-election  campaign and GOP officials have cited the fact that Republicans canceled several state primaries when George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush sought a second term in 1992 and 2004, respectively; and Democrats scrapped some of their primaries when Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were seeking reelection in 1996 and 2012, respectively. At the Virginia State Republican Convention, originally scheduled for May 2020 but postponed to August 15, 2020, the state party will formally bind all 48 of its national pledged delegates to Trump.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia, Primary elections, Democratic primary
The Virginia Democratic primary took place on March 3, 2020, as part of the "Super Tuesday" suite of elections.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia, Primary elections, Democratic primary
Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders were among the major declared candidates.


2020 United States presidential election in Virginia, Primary elections, Green primary
The Green Party of Virginia conducted an online ranked choice primary from April 20 to April 26, 2020.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
The 2020 United States presidential election in Washington was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia participated. Washington voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Washington has 12 electoral votes in the Electoral College.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Prior to the election, most news organizations forecast Washington as a state that Biden would win, or a safe blue state. Biden won the state by almost 20 points, the largest winning margin for a presidential candidate of any party since 1964. He also flipped the swing county of Clallam, which now holds the record for having voted for the winning presidential candidate since 1980. Biden also became the candidate with the highest vote total in the state's history, with 2,369,612 votes.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
The Seattle area, home to almost two-thirds of the state's population, is overwhelmingly Democratic. However, Trump won a considerable majority in outlying communities, garnering over 70% of the vote in rural counties such as Columbia. Eastern Washington is very rural and leans Republican, partly due to the strong tinge of social conservatism it shares with neighboring Idaho, a GOP stronghold. That said, Biden was able to improve on Clinton's margin in Whitman County--anchored by the college town of Pullman--increasing it from 4.1% in 2016 to 10.2% in 2020, the best performance for a Democrat in the county since 1936. In addition, he narrowed Trump's margin in Spokane County from 8.4% to 4.3%. Biden earned 75% of the vote in King County, home to Seattle. This was the largest margin by any candidate in a presidential race since the county's creation.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Biden's strength in Washington came from 59% among white voters and 79% among Asian-Americans. 34% of voters were secular and supported Biden by 78%. Biden also became the first Democrat since Washington's admission into the union to win the presidency without winning Mason County, the first Democrat since JFK in 1960 to prevail without winning Cowlitz County, and the first Democrat since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to prevail without winning Grays Harbor County and Pacific County.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Primary elections
The primaries for the major parties were on March 10, 2020. On March 14, 2019, Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill moving the state's presidential primary up from May to the second Tuesday in March.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Primary elections, Republican primary
Donald Trump, Bill Weld, Joe Walsh, and Rocky de la Fuente had declared their candidacy for the Republican Party, but only Trump met all of the state party's criteria by the official deadline of January 21, 2020, for being included on the ballot. Thus Trump essentially ran unopposed in the Republican primary, and thus he received all of Washington's 43 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Primary elections, Democratic primary
A number of Democratic Party candidates ran or expressed interest in running. Additionally, Seattle-based billionaire Howard Schultz announced a potential bid as an independent in early 2019, but backed out in September of that year. The party's candidates included on the ballot at the deadline were Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Primary elections, Green primary
As a minor party, Washington State's Green Party affiliate is excluded from the publicly funded Presidential Primary in Washington State. The Green Party of Washington facilitated its primary by a mail-in ballot to its members after its Spring Convention on May 23 (deadline was June 13).


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Primary elections, Green primary
All candidates recognized by the Green Party of the United States by April 23 were on the ballot, plus a write-in option:


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), General election, Electoral slates
These slates of electors were nominated by each party in order to vote in the Electoral College should their candidate win the state:


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), General election, Results
By winning nearly 58% of the vote, Joe Biden's performance was the best showing for a presidential candidate of any party in Washington since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in 1964.


2020 United States presidential election in Washington (state), General election, By congressional district
Biden won 7 of 10 congressional districts with the remaining 3 going to Trump.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia
The 2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. West Virginia voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. West Virginia has five electoral votes in the Electoral College.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Trump easily carried West Virginia on Election Day by 38.9 points, down from 42.1 points in 2016. Prior to the election, all 16 news organizations declared West Virginia a safe red state.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia
With 68.62% of its vote, this would prove to be Trump’s 2nd strongest state, only behind Wyoming.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
West Virginia, which was solidly Democratic territory for much of the 20th century, has consistently voted Republican in presidential elections since 2000. Republicans started making gains in the state in the 21st century due to championing of environmentalism by Democrats such as Al Gore, which contradicts the state's coal-mining culture.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
West Virginia became Trump's second-strongest state in 2020, changing places with Wyoming, after having been Trump's strongest state by vote share in 2016. West Virginia was one of two states where Trump won every county, the other being Oklahoma. The closest county in the state, and the only one Trump won without a majority of the vote, was Monongalia County, home to Morgantown and the main campus of West Virginia University. Trump's margin of victory of 1.24% in Monongalia marked the closest a Democrat has come to winning any county in West Virginia since 2008.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
This was the third consecutive presidential election where every county within the state voted Republican, but the first since 1996 in which the Democratic vote share increased relative to the preceding election. Biden received 40% of the vote only in 4 counties - Monongalia, Kanawha County, home to state capital and largest city Charleston, Cabell County, home to state's second largest city Huntington, and Jefferson County, home to Washington, D.C. exurbs.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
Trump's overhaul of Obama-era coal emissions standards appeared to benefit him in the state. Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Trump's strength in West Virginia came from White voters who prioritized focusing on expanding production of fossil fuels, such as coal, who comprised 58% of voters and broke for Trump by 90%. Trump's strongest region was southern West Virginia.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
This coal-mining, union-heavy region was once among the most heavily Democratic places in the nation; Logan County, for example, broke 72% of its ballots for Bill Clinton in 1996, 61% for Al Gore in 2000, and even 52% for John Kerry in 2004; but by 2008, John McCain flipped it to the Republican column with 54% of the vote, which increased to 68% for Mitt Romney in 2012 and by 2016 and 2020, it had voted 80.9% for Trump.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
During the same election cycle, incumbent Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito was re-elected by a margin slightly larger than Trump's, beating out Democrat Paula Jean Swearengin by 43.3 points.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Primary elections
The primary elections were originally scheduled for May 12, 2020. In April, they were moved to June 9 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Primary elections, Democratic primary
Vice President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary and received all of West Virginia's 28 pledged delegates, as well as all six unpledged PLEO (party leaders and elected officials) delegates, to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Primary elections, Republican primary
Incumbent President Donald Trump won the Republican primary and received all of West Virginia's 35 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Primary elections, Mountain (Green) primary
West Virginia's Green Party affiliate conducted an online party-run primary, utilizing the state's original primary date of May 12, 2020 as its deadline.


2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia, General election, Results
Trump won West Virginia, carrying the popular vote in each of the state's 55 counties.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
The 2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Wisconsin voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Wisconsin has 10 electoral votes in the Electoral College.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was scheduled to be held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, but it was moved to the nearby Wisconsin Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Polls of Wisconsin in the lead-up to election day showed a clear Biden lead, averaging in the high single digits. Prior to polling day, most news organizations considered that the state was leaning towards Biden. Wisconsin was ultimately won by Biden by a narrow 0.63% margin over Trump, who had won it in 2016 by 0.77% against Hillary Clinton; however, Biden carried the state with a slightly larger margin than Al Gore or John Kerry did in either 2000 or 2004, respectively.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Once again, Trump massively outperformed his polling average, which had Biden up 8.4 points in the state, but it was not enough to win it. Trump held his own in counties in northern Wisconsin and also in the WOW counties. Biden became the first Democrat to win the White House without the once-strongly Democratic counties of Kenosha and Forest since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 as well as the first to win without Pepin County since 1944. However, Biden won the highest vote share for a Democrat in crucial Waukesha County, at 38.8%, since Jimmy Carter in 1976.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Trump carried Brown County, which is Republican-leaning but competitive, though Biden won the city of Green Bay and improved on Clinton's margin in the county at large by about 3.7 points. Biden won back Sauk County, a county in the driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin; Biden also flipped Door County, which has voted for the winning candidate in each election since 1980, save for 1992.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
On November 18, Trump announced that he would request a recount in Milwaukee County and Dane County. On November 29, both counties had re-affirmed Biden's victory, giving him a net gain of 87 votes over Trump.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is tied for the longest perfect streak with Michigan and Pennsylvania, neither of which have backed the losing candidate since after 2004, when all three backed Democratic nominee John Kerry, but incumbent President George W. Bush was re-elected.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
This is the first time since 2004 that Wisconsin did not vote for the same candidate as neighboring Iowa.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, several states delayed their scheduled primaries and extended the vote-by-mail period. Concerns were raised by health officials, poll workers, and voters that in-person voting at the height of the pandemic would be unsafe for vulnerable individuals. Governor Tony Evers (D) signed an executive order for all-mail-in election, but the order was rejected by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
On April 2, although U.S. District Judge William M. Conley refused to postpone the election, he extended the deadline for absentee voting to April 13 (ordering clerks not to release any election data before that date). However, on April 6, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Conley's decision, meaning that all absentee ballots must still be postmarked by "election day, Tuesday, April 7" even though it will still be acceptable for the ballots to be received by the clerks as late as April 13. The Supreme Court of the United States "did not alter the provision in Conley's amended order which prohibits the reporting of results until April 13".


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Governor Evers then called a special session of the legislature to postpone in-person voting, but the session ended within minutes without action, forcing the primary to go on as planned.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Despite having previously expressed the view that he would violate the law by doing so, on April 6, Evers issued an executive order which, if enforced, would have postponed the April 7 elections until the tentative date of June 9. Republican leaders immediately announced that they would challenge the order in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Evers did not have the authority to postpone the elections, thus meaning that Evers' executive order was nullified, and that the elections would be held as scheduled on April 7.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
This was appealed to a federal court who sided with the Governor, and that was appealed to the US Supreme Court, which on a 5–4 vote, upheld the State court's ruling.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Voting was somewhat chaotic, with people waiting in the rain for hours in some cases in masks and social distancing. However, by the time the election concluded, Milwaukee Election Commissioner Neil Albrecht stated that despite some of the problems, the in-person voting ran smoothly.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Primary elections, Republican primary
Incumbent President Donald Trump ran unopposed in the Republican primary, and thus received all of Wisconsin's 52 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Green Party and Kanye West ballot access lawsuits
In August 2020, the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted to keep rapper Kanye West, an independent presidential candidate, off of the 2020 general election ballot in a 5-1 decision on the basis that West's application arrived too late—arriving in person seconds after the deadline.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Green Party and Kanye West ballot access lawsuits
The Commission was split along party lines in a 3-3 decision to keep Howie Hawkins, the Green Party presidential candidate off of the 2020 general election ballot. Hawkins gathered 3,623 valid signatures; however, forms with 1,834 signatures had a different address for Hawkins' running mate Angela Walker. The partisan board voted only to certify the 1,789, placing Hawkins/Walker below the 2,000 signatures required to be on the ballot.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Green Party and Kanye West ballot access lawsuits
Walker subsequently filed a legal petition to be included on the ballot. On September 10, 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that that election officials had to wait to mail absentee ballots until the court decided whether or not to include the Green Party on the ballot. Some municipal election commissions had already mailed out absentee ballots while others were concerned that they would miss the September 17 deadline by which Wisconsin state law required absentee ballots to mailed out to those who requested them. On September 14, 2020, the court ruled that the ballots would remain as-is without Hawkins or West on the ballot stating, "given their delay in asserting their rights, we would be unable to provide meaningful relief without completely upsetting the election."


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Electoral slates
These slates of electors were nominated by each party in order to vote in the Electoral College should their candidates win the state:


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Results
Between 2016 and 2020, the number of voters in Milwaukee suburban counties voting for the Democratic presidential candidate increased.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, By congressional district
Trump won 6 out of 8 congressional districts in Wisconsin.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Aftermath
On November 6, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said: "There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results." No evidence of such "irregularities" has been provided by the Trump campaign.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Aftermath
On November 18, the Trump campaign wired nearly $3 million dollars to the Wisconsin Election Commission in a petition for a partial recount of the 2020 presidential election results. The recount would take place in Milwaukee and Dane counties. "These two counties were selected because they are the locations of the worst irregularities," the campaign claimed in a release.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Aftermath
Milwaukee certified its recount results on November 27, 2020, and led to Joe Biden gaining a net 132 votes. Dane certified its recount results on November 29, 2020, and led to Donald Trump gaining a net 45 votes. In total, the recount across the two counties led to Joe Biden increasing his lead by an additional 87 votes.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, General election, Electors
On November 30, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers certified Wisconsin's electors for Biden. The following electors all cast their vote for Biden:


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Analysis
The Badger State has voted Republican in gubernatorial and senatorial elections a few times prior to 2016, but Wisconsin was still seen as a lean-Democratic state, as it had a blue streak going back to 1988 and had only gone Republican four times since 1964. As such, it made up part of the blue wall. Trump pulled off a surprise win in the state in 2016, in large part due to a collapse in support for Hillary Clinton in the state.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Analysis
Both the Democratic and Republican candidates improved on their performances in the state in 2020, with Trump achieving a record total number of votes for a Republican candidate in the state of Wisconsin, nearly matching George W. Bush's 2004 performance in percentage. Conversely, Biden had the second most votes ever for a Democrat in Wisconsin, behind Obama's performance in 2008. While Biden's margin of victory was narrow (0.6%), and well behind Barack Obama's performances, it was nonetheless wider than Al Gore's 0.2% in 2000 and John Kerry's 0.4% in 2004.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Analysis
Joe Biden received strong support in the city of Milwaukee, improving on Clinton's 2016 performance by 3.6 points in its county; Biden received 92% and 60% of the black and Latino vote respectively, with most of that electorate living in Milwaukee County. Both candidates performed well in the state with whites, with Trump carrying whites overall by 6 points, though Biden performed better with college-educated whites. Cementing Biden's victory was his strong performance in Dane County, which he carried by nearly 53 points.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Analysis
Biden would also carry La Crosse County by 13 points, Eau Claire County by 10 points, and flipped Sauk County and the bellwether Door County, while only losing Brown County by 7 points, winning the county seat Green Bay. Biden even made in-roads in Waukesha and Washington counties, nearly breaking 40% in the former and breaking 30% in the latter, though Trump still held these counties with large margins.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Analysis
On the other hand, Trump was able to hold much of the driftless region in southwestern Wisconsin; many of these counties, such as Vernon, Crawford, and Grant were reliably Democratic during the latter half of the 20th century, but Trump maintained his results from 2016, solidifying a Republican shift in this part of the state. Additionally, Trump performed strongly in the more traditionally conservative northern counties of Wisconsin. Finally, Trump kept Kenosha County in his column, with both candidates improving there; Kenosha County is significant, as it was the site of the Jacob Blake shooting, which triggered nationwide protests. Biden thus became the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying Kenosha County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying Pepin County since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.


2020 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, Analysis
In terms of partisan lean, Biden was able to win 7% of Republicans in the state, which is significant, as they voted in this cycle by about 5 points more than Democrats. More importantly, Biden won independent voters by 12 points; Hillary Clinton lost this bloc to Trump by 10 points in 2016.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming
The 2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. Wyoming voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump and running mate Vice President Mike Pence, against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Wyoming has three electoral votes in the Electoral College. Trump, the Republican nominee and incumbent president of the United States, won the state's three electoral votes.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming
Trump routed Biden in Wyoming, with his 69.94% vote share there making it his strongest win in the election. He won the sparsely-populated state by a margin of 43.39%, down from his 45.77% four years earlier. Prior to the election, all news organizations declared Wyoming a safe red state, therefore justifying its status as one of the safest red states in the country, not being won by a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide victory.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming
Despite his loss, Biden scored a landslide win in Teton County, garnering a larger vote share in it than any nominee since 1984. He also narrowly flipped the bellwether of Albany County, anchored by the college town of Laramie, which had supported Obama in 2008 before returning to the Republican Party in 2012 and 2016, albeit by a narrow margin. Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Trump's strength in Wyoming came from whites, who comprised 89% of the electorate, and from voters prioritizing energy policy, with 62% believing the government should focus on expanding production of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, or coal.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses
The Democratic caucuses were originally scheduled for April 4, 2020. On March 22, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wyoming Democratic Party canceled in-person voting in favor of mail-in voting. The deadline was also extended to April 17.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming, Caucuses, Republican caucuses
The Republican state party convention was held in May to officially select the final delegates to the national convention.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming, General election, Polling, Polls
Polls with a sample size of <100 have their sample size entries marked in red to indicate a lack of reliability.


2020 United States presidential election in Wyoming, General election, Electoral slates
These slates of electors were nominated by each party in order to vote in the Electoral College should their candidate win the state:


2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
The 2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. District of Columbia voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. The District of Columbia has three electoral votes in the Electoral College. Prior to the election, Washington DC was considered to be a virtual certainty for Biden. The nation's capital is heavily Democratic and has voted for the Democratic nominee for president by large margins in every election it has participated in.


2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
As has happened in every election since 1961, when the District was granted electors under the Twenty-third Amendment, the Democratic nominee received a higher vote share in the District of Columbia than in any other jurisdiction. Biden's 86.75 point margin of victory was virtually identical to that secured by Hillary Clinton in 2016.


2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections
The District of Columbia held primary elections on June 2, 2020.


2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Republican primary
Donald Trump ran unopposed in the Republican primary, and thus received all of the district's 19 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.


2020 United States presidential election predictions
Most election predictors for the 2020 United States presidential election used:


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Primaries
In August 2018, the Democratic National Committee voted to disallow superdelegates from voting on the first ballot of the nominating process, beginning with the 2020 election. This required a candidate to win a majority of pledged delegates from the assorted primary elections in order to win the party's nomination. The last time this did not occur was the nomination of Adlai Stevenson II at the 1952 Democratic National Convention. Meanwhile, six states used ranked-choice voting in the primaries: Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, and Wyoming for all voters; and Iowa and Nevada for absentee voters.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Primaries
After Hillary Clinton's loss in the previous election, the Democratic Party was seen largely as leaderless, and was also seen as fractured between the centrist Clinton wing and the more progressive Sanders wing of the party, echoing the rift brought up in the 2016 primary election. In 2018, several U.S. House districts that Democrats hoped to gain from the Republican majority had contentious primary elections. Politico's Elena Schneider described these clashes as a "Democratic civil war". During this period, there was a general shift to the left in regards to college tuition, healthcare, and immigration among Democrats in the Senate.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Primaries
Overall, the 2020 primary field had 29 major candidates, breaking the record for the largest field under the modern presidential primary system previously set during the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries with 17 major candidates.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Primaries
Entering the Iowa caucuses on February 3, 2020, the field had decreased to 11 major candidates. Results were delayed in Iowa, with Pete Buttigieg winning in state delegate equivalents despite Bernie Sanders winning more votes, followed by Sanders narrowly winning over Buttigieg in the February 11, New Hampshire primary. Following Michael Bennet, Deval Patrick, and Andrew Yang dropping out, Sanders won the Nevada caucuses on February 22. Joe Biden then won the South Carolina primary, causing Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Tom Steyer to abandon their campaigns (Buttigieg and Klobuchar then immediately endorsed Biden).


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Primaries
After Super Tuesday, March 3, Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren quit the race, leaving three candidates left: Biden and Sanders, the main contenders, and Tulsi Gabbard, who remained in the race despite facing nigh-on insurmountable odds. Gabbard then dropped out and endorsed Biden after the March 17, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois races. On April 8, 2020, Sanders dropped out, reportedly after being convinced by former president Barack Obama, leaving Biden as the only major candidate remaining, and the presumptive nominee. Biden then gained endorsements from Obama, Sanders and Warren. By June 5, 2020, Biden had officially gained enough delegates to ensure his nomination at the convention, and proceeded to work with Sanders to develop a joint policy task force.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Vice presidential selection
Senator Kamala Harris was announced as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate on August 11, 2020. When inaugurated, Harris will be the first woman, first African-American, and first Asian-American vice president of the United States, as well as the second person with non-European ancestry (after Herbert Hoover's vice-president Charles Curtis). She is the third female vice presidential running mate after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008. She is the first person representing the Western United States to appear on the Democratic Party presidential ticket.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Democratic Party nomination, Candidates
The following major candidates have either (a) served as vice president, a member of the cabinet, a U.S. senator, a U.S. representative, or a governor, (b) been included in a minimum of five independent national polls, or (c) received substantial media coverage.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
In election cycles with incumbent presidents running for re-election, the race for the party nomination is usually pro-forma, with token opposition instead of any serious challengers and with their party rules being fixed in their favor. The 2020 election was not an exception; with Donald Trump formally seeking a second term, the official Republican apparatus, both state and national, coordinated with his campaign to implement changes to make it difficult for any primary opponent to mount a serious challenge. On January 25, 2019, the Republican National Committee unofficially endorsed Trump.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
Several Republican state committees scrapped their respective primaries or caucuses, citing the fact that Republicans canceled several state primaries when George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush sought a second term in 1992 and 2004, respectively; and Democrats scrapped some of their primaries when Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were seeking reelection in 1996 and 2012, respectively. After cancelling their races, some states immediately pledged their delegates to Trump, while other states later held a convention or meeting to officially award their delegates to him.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
The Trump campaign also urged Republican state committees that used proportional methods to award delegates in 2016 (where a state's delegates are divided proportionally among the candidates based on the vote percentage) to switch to a "winner-takes-all" (where the winning candidate in a state gets all its delegates) or "winner-takes-most" (where the winning candidate only wins all of the state's delegates if he exceeds a predetermined amount, otherwise they are divided proportionally) for 2020.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
Nevertheless, reports arose beginning in August 2017 that members of the Republican Party were preparing a "shadow campaign" against the president, particularly from the party's moderate or establishment wings. Then-Arizona senator John McCain said, "Republicans see weakness in this president." Maine senator Susan Collins, Kentucky senator Rand Paul, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie all expressed doubts in 2017 that Trump would be the 2020 nominee. Senator Jeff Flake claimed in 2017 that Trump was "inviting" a primary challenger by the way he was governing.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld became Trump's first major challenger in the Republican primaries following an announcement on April 15, 2019. Weld, who was the Libertarian Party's nominee for vice president in 2016, was considered a long shot because of Trump's popularity within his own party and Weld's positions on issues such as abortion, gun control and same-sex marriage that conflicted with conservative positions on those issues. In addition, businessman Rocky De La Fuente also entered the race but was not widely recognized as a major candidate.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
Former Illinois representative Joe Walsh launched a primary challenge on August 25, 2019, saying he would not vote for Trump if Trump became the nominee. Walsh ended his presidential bid on February 7, 2020, after drawing around 1% support in the Iowa caucuses. Walsh declared that "nobody can beat Trump in a Republican primary" because the Republican Party was now "a cult" of Trump. On September 8, 2019, former South Carolina Governor and representative Mark Sanford officially announced that he would be another Republican primary challenger to Trump. He dropped out of the race 65 days later on November 12, 2019, after failing to gain support in Republican circles.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Primaries
Trump's re-election campaign has essentially been ongoing since his victory in 2016, leading pundits to describe his tactic of holding rallies continuously throughout his presidency as a "never-ending campaign". On January 20, 2017, at 5:11 p.m. EST, he submitted a letter as a substitute of FEC Form 2, by which he reached the legal threshold for filing, in compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act. During the primary season, Trump ran an active campaign, even holding rallies in the February primary states, including South Carolina and Nevada where Republican primaries were canceled. Trump won every race and, having won enough delegates to ensure his nomination at the convention, became the presumptive nominee on March 17, 2020. Weld suspended his campaign the next day.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Republican Party nomination, Candidates
The following major candidates have either (a) held public office, (b) been included in a minimum of five independent national polls, or (c) received substantial media coverage.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Other parties and independent candidates, Libertarian Party nomination
Jo Jorgensen, who was the running mate of author Harry Browne in 1996, received the Libertarian nomination at the national convention on May 23, 2020. She achieved ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Other parties and independent candidates, Green Party nomination
Howie Hawkins became the presumptive nominee of the Green Party on June 21, 2020, and was officially nominated by the party on July 11, 2020. Hawkins was also nominated by the Socialist Party USA, Socialist Alternative, and the Legal Marijuana Now Party. Hawkins secured ballot access to 381 electoral votes and write-in access to 130 electoral votes.


2020 United States presidential primary elections, Other parties and independent candidates, Other third-party and independent candidates
Various other minor party and independent candidates were on the ballot in several states, among them activist and writer Gloria La Riva, businessman and perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente, coal executive Don Blankenship, entrepreneur Brock Pierce, rapper Kanye West, and educator Brian Carroll.


2020 United States redistricting cycle
The 2020 United States redistricting cycle will take place following the completion of the 2020 United States census. In all fifty states, various bodies will re-draw state legislative districts. States that are apportioned more than one seat in the United States House of Representatives will also draw new districts for that legislative body.


2020 United States redistricting cycle
The rules for redistricting vary from state to state, but all states draw new legislative and congressional maps either in the state legislature, in redistricting commissions, or through some combination of the state legislature and a redistricting commission. Though various laws and court decisions have put constraints on redistricting, many redistricting institutions continue to practice gerrymandering, which involves drawing new districts with the intention of giving a political advantage to specific groups. Political parties prepare for redistricting years in advance, and partisan control of redistricting institutions can provide a party with major advantages. Aside from the possibility of mid-decade redistricting, the districts drawn in the 2020 redistricting cycle will remain in effect until the next round of redistricting following the 2030 United States census.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Reapportionment
Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the United States House of Representatives and apportions Representatives to the states based on population, with reapportionment occurring every ten years. The decennial United States census determines the population of each state. Each of the fifty states is guaranteed at least one representative, and the Huntington–Hill method is used to assign the remaining 385 seats to states based on the population of each state. Congress has provided for reapportionment every ten years since the enactment of the Reapportionment Act of 1929. Since 1913, the U.S. House of Representatives has consisted of 435 members, a number set by statute, though the number of Representatives temporarily increased in 1959. Reapportionment also affects presidential elections, as each state is guaranteed electoral votes equivalent to the number of Representatives and Senators representing the state.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Reapportionment
Prior to the 2022 U.S. House elections, each state apportioned more than one Representative will draw new congressional districts based on the reapportionment following the 2020 census. Based on the official counts of the 2020 census, California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will each lose one seat, while Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon will each gain one seat, and Texas will gain two seats. Though California lost a seat for the first time in its history, the 2020 census continued a broader trend of Northeastern and Midwestern states losing seats and Western and Southern states gaining seats.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Congressional redistricting methods
Each U.S. Representative represents one congressional district, which encompasses all or part of a single state. Every state with more than one congressional district must pass a new redistricting plan before the filing deadlines of the 2022 elections. In most states, the state legislature draws the new districts, but some states have established redistricting commissions. Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, and Washington use independent commissions to draw House districts, while Hawaii and New Jersey use "politician commissions" to draw House districts. Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming will continue to have only one representative in the House, and so will not have to draw new House districts.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Congressional redistricting methods
In all other states, the legislature draws district lines, although some states have advisory commissions that can play a major role in drawing lines, and other states have backup commissions if the state legislature is unable to draw the lines itself. In many states, districts are drawn with the intent to benefit certain political groups, including one of the two major political parties, in a practice known as gerrymandering. Most states draw new lines by passing a law the same way any other law is passed, but some states have special procedures.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Congressional redistricting methods
Connecticut and Maine require a two-thirds super-majority in each house of the state legislature for redistricting plans, while district lines are not subject to gubernatorial veto in Connecticut and North Carolina. The Ohio redistricting process is designed to encourage the legislature to pass a map with bipartisan support, but the majority party can pass maps that last for four years (as opposed to the normal ten years) without the support of the minority party. The legislatures of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia can override gubernatorial vetoes with a simple majority vote, giving governors in those states little leverage in the drawing of new district maps.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Congressional redistricting methods, Limits on congressional redistricting
Though the states have wide latitude in the re-drawing of congressional districts, state power over redistricting is subject to limits set by the U.S. Constitution, rulings of the federal judiciary and statutes passed by Congress. In the case of Wesberry v. Sanders, the Supreme Court of the United States established that states must draw districts that are equal in population "as nearly as is practicable." Subsequent court cases have required states to redistrict every ten years, although states can redistrict more often than that depending on their own statutes and constitutional provisions.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Congressional redistricting methods, Limits on congressional redistricting
Since the passage of the 1967 Uniform Congressional Districts Act, most states have been barred from using multi-member districts; all states currently use single-member districts. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 establishes protections against racial redistricting plans that would deny minority voters an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. The Supreme Court case of Thornburg v. Gingles established a test to determine whether redistricting lines violate the Voting Rights Act. In some states, courts have required the creation of majority-minority districts.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Congressional redistricting methods, Limits on congressional redistricting
In addition to standards required by federal law, many states have also adopted other criteria, including compactness, contiguity, and the preservation of political subdivisions (such as cities or counties) or communities of interest. Some states, including Arizona, Colorado, New York and Washington require the drawing of competitive districts.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Control of congressional redistricting, Congressional redistricting plans passed by legislature
The table shows the partisan control of states in which congressional redistricting is enacted through either a bill or a joint resolution passed by the legislature. States in which the governor can technically veto the bill, but that veto can be overridden by a simple majority of the state legislature, are marked as "simple maj. override".


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Control of congressional redistricting, Congressional redistricting plans passed by legislature
An * indicates that a 2/3 super-majority vote is required in the legislatureA ↑ indicates that one party can override a gubernatorial veto because of a super-majority in the legislatureA † indicates that the state employs an advisory commissionA ‡ indicates that the state employs a backup commission


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Control of congressional redistricting, Congressional redistricting plans passed by commissions
Six states with multiple members of the House of Representatives use independent commissions to draw congressional districts. In Arizona, Montana, and Washington, the four party leaders of the state house and state senate each select one member of the Independent Redistricting Commission, and these four members select a fifth member who is not affiliated with either party. In California, the Citizen's Redistricting Commission consists of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four individuals who are not members of either party. In Idaho, the four party leaders of the state house and state senate and the chairmen of the two most popular state parties (based on the results of the most recent gubernatorial vote) each select a member of the Commission for Reapportionment.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Control of congressional redistricting, Congressional redistricting plans passed by commissions
Two states use politician commissions to draw congressional districts. In Hawaii, the president of the state senate and the speaker of the state house each select two members of the Reapportionment Commission, while the minority parties in both chambers each appoint two members of the commission. The eight members of the commission then select a ninth member, who also chairs the commission. In New Jersey, the four party leaders of the state house and state senate and the party leaders of the two largest parties each choose two members of the Apportionment Commission, and the twelve members of the commission select a thirteenth member to chair the commission.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, United States House of Representatives, Control of congressional redistricting, Congressional redistricting plans passed by commissions
One state, Virginia, uses a hybrid, bipartisan commission consisting of eight legislators and eight non-legislator citizens. The commission is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Legislative redistricting methods
Each state draws new legislative district boundaries every ten years. Every state except Nebraska has a bicameral legislative branch. Nebraska is also unique in that it has the only legislative body that is officially non-partisan. Most states must pass redistricting plans by the time of the filing deadlines for the 2022 elections. The exceptions are Virginia and New Jersey, which must pass new plans in 2021, Louisiana and Mississippi which have a 2023 deadline, and Montana, which has a 2024 deadline.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Legislative redistricting methods
Fifteen states use independent or politician commissions to draw state legislative districts. In the other states, the legislature is ultimately charged with drawing new lines, although some states have advisory or back-up commissions. Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas have backup commissions that draw district lines if the legislature is unable to agree on new districts. Iowa, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont employ advisory commissions. In Oregon, the Secretary of State will draw the legislative districts if legislature fails to do so.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Legislative redistricting methods
In Connecticut and Maine, a 2/3 super-majority vote in each house is required to create new districts, while in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, and North Carolina, the governor cannot veto redistricting plans. The legislatures of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia can override gubernatorial vetoes with a simple majority vote, giving governors in those states little leverage in the drawing of new district maps.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Legislative redistricting methods, Limits on state legislative redistricting
The states have wide latitude in re-drawing legislative districts, but the U.S. Supreme Court case of Reynolds v. Sims established that states must draw districts that are "substantially equal" in population to one another. Federal court cases have established that deviation between the largest and smallest districts generally cannot be greater than ten percent, and some states have laws requiring less deviation. Court cases have also required states to redistrict every ten years, although states can redistrict more often than that depending on their own statutes and constitutional provisions.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Legislative redistricting methods, Limits on state legislative redistricting
States are free to employ multi-member districts, and different districts can elect different numbers of legislators. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 establishes protections against racial redistricting plans that would deny minority voters an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. The Supreme Court case of Thornburg v. Gingles established a test to determine whether redistricting lines violate the Voting Rights Act.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Legislative redistricting methods, Limits on state legislative redistricting
Many states have also adopted other criteria, including compactness, contiguity, and the preservation of political subdivisions (such as cities or counties) or communities of interest. Some states, including Arizona, require the drawing of competitive districts, while other states require the nesting of state house districts within state senate districts.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Control of legislative redistricting, State legislative redistricting plans passed by legislature
The table shows the partisan control of states in which state legislative redistricting is enacted via a bill passed by the legislature. States in which the governor can technically veto the bill, but that veto can be overridden by a simple majority of the state legislature, are marked as "simple maj. override".


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Control of legislative redistricting, State legislative redistricting plans passed by legislature
An * indicates that a 2/3 super-majority vote is required in the legislatureA ↑ indicates that one party can override a gubernatorial veto because of a super-majority in the legislatureA † indicates that the state employs an advisory commissionA ‡ indicates that the state employs a backup commission


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Control of legislative redistricting, State legislative redistricting plans passed by commission
Eight states use independent commissions to draw state legislative districts. In Alaska, the governor appoints two individuals and the Speaker of the House, senate president, and Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court each appoint one individual to the Redistricting Board. In Arizona, Montana, and Washington, the four legislative party leaders each appoint one member to the redistricting commission, and these four individuals choose a fifth member to chair the commission. California's Citizen's Redistricting Commission consists of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four individuals who are not members of either party. Idaho's Commission for Reapportionment consists of six individuals appointed by the chairmen of the two largest parties (based on the most recent gubernatorial vote) and the four state legislative party leaders.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Control of legislative redistricting, State legislative redistricting plans passed by commission
Six states use politician commissions to draw state legislative districts. Arkansas's Board of Apportionment consists of the governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. The Ohio Redistricting Commission consists of the governor, auditor, secretary of state, and four individuals appointed by the state legislative party leaders. Hawaii's Reapportionment Commission consists of eight appointees of the state legislative party leaders, and these appointees select a ninth member to chair the commission.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Control of legislative redistricting, State legislative redistricting plans passed by commission
The New Jersey Apportionment Commission consists of twelve individuals appointed by the state legislative party leaders and the two major party chairmen, with these twelve individuals choosing a thirteenth member to chair the board. Pennsylvania's redistricting commission consists of four appointees chosen by the state legislative party leaders, and these four appointees choose a fifth member to chair the commission. In Missouri, a commission is created for each legislative chamber as a result of the governor picking from lists submitted by the leaders of the two major parties.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, State legislatures, Control of legislative redistricting, State legislative redistricting plans passed by commission
One state, Virginia, uses a hybrid, bipartisan commission consisting of eight legislators and eight non-legislator citizens. The commission is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Redistricting organizations and funds
Democrats were particularly unhappy with the results of the 2012 House elections in which Democratic House candidates received more votes than Republican House candidates, but Republicans retained control of the chamber. Organizations such as the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee have established funds dedicated to helping Democrats in the 2020 round of redistricting. Democrats also established the National Democratic Redistricting Committee to coordinate Democratic redistricting efforts. Republicans established a similar group, the National Republican Redistricting Trust.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, Federal court rulings
In the 2013 case, Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which was a coverage formula that determined which states and counties required preclearance from the Justice Department before making changes to voting laws and procedures. The formula had covered states with a history of minority voter disenfranchisement, and the preclearance procedure was designed to block discriminatory voting practices. In the 2019 case of Rucho v. Common Cause, the Supreme Court held that claims of partisan gerrymandering present nonjusticiable political questions that cannot be reviewed by federal courts.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, Federal court rulings
In another 2019 case, Department of Commerce v. New York, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from adding a question to the 2020 census regarding the citizenship of respondents.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, State court rulings
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Florida ordered the state to draw a new congressional map on the basis of a 2010 state constitutional amendment that banned partisan gerrymandering.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, State court rulings
In 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out the 2011 U.S. House of Representatives map on the grounds that it violated the state constitution; the court established new redistricting standards requiring districts to be compact and to minimize the splitting of counties and towns.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, State court rulings
In 2019, a North Carolina state court struck down the state's legislative districts on the grounds that the district had been created with the partisan intent of favoring Republican candidates.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, Ballot measures
In 2015, Ohio voters approved a ballot measure changing the composition of the commission charged with drawing state legislative districts, adding two legislative appointees to the commission and creating rules and guidelines designed to make partisan gerrymandering more difficult. In May 2018, Ohio voters approved a proposal that modified the state's congressional redistricting processes.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, Ballot measures
In 2018, voters in Colorado and Michigan approved of a proposal to establish an independent redistricting commission for congressional and state legislative districts in their respective states. In Utah, voters approved the creation of a redistricting commission to draw congressional and state legislative districts, though the Utah state legislature retains the power to reject these maps.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, Ballot measures
In 2020, voters in Virginia approved the establishment of a bipartisan redistricting commission for both congressional and state legislative redistricting. The commission consists of eight legislators and eight non-legislator citizens, with the commission split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.


2020 United States redistricting cycle, Changes to the redistricting process since 2012, Ballot measures
In 2018, Missouri voters approved of a proposal to have a non-partisan state demographer draw state legislative districts, but in 2020 Missouri voters approved a second referendum eliminating the state demographer position and restoring the system in place prior to the 2018 referendum.


2020 United States state legislative elections
The 2020 United States state legislative elections were held on November 3, 2020 for 86 state legislative chambers in 44 states. Across the fifty states, approximately 65 percent of all upper house seats and 85 percent of all lower house seats were up for election. Nine legislative chambers in the five permanently-inhabited U.S. territories and the federal district of Washington, D.C. also held elections. The elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections, including the presidential election, U.S. Senate elections, U.S. House elections, and gubernatorial elections.


2020 United States state legislative elections
Prior to the elections, Democrats held 15 trifectas (control of the governor's office and legislative chambers), Republicans held 21 trifectas, and 14 states have a divided government. Nationwide, Republicans controlled approximately 60 percent of the legislative chambers and 52 percent of the legislative seats. These elections had a major impact on the 2020 redistricting cycle, as many states held their final legislative elections prior to the decennial drawing of new congressional and state legislative districts.


2020 United States state legislative elections
Due to the impact the redistricting cycle will have on partisan control of Congress and state legislatures, the Democrats, who had not been in control of a majority of state legislatures across the U.S. since 2010, had hoped to retake control of key chambers in advance. However, despite fundraising efforts and projections of several Republican-held chambers in competitive states flipping, the Democrats failed to flip any state chambers, which they attributed to gerrymandering in the wake of the 2010 elections, as well as state laws restricting voting, President Donald Trump being on the ballot, and the Democrats' campaigning methods. Following the election, Republicans have control of redistricting in 20 state governments, totaling 188 House districts, whereas Democrats have control in states with a total of 73 districts. Overall, these elections saw the fewest partisan changes in state legislatures since 1944.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Summary table
Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 86 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 5,876 of the 7,383 legislative seats. Many legislative chambers held elections for all seats, but some legislative chambers that use staggered elections held elections for only a portion of the total seats in the chamber. The chambers not up for election either hold regularly-scheduled elections in odd-numbered years, or have four-year terms and hold all regularly-scheduled elections in presidential midterm election years.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Summary table
Note that this table only covers regularly-scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly-scheduled elections.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Electoral predictions
Louis Jacobson of The Cook Political Report predicted that Republican-held chambers that could potentially flip to Democratic control included both chambers in Arizona, the Florida Senate, both chambers in Georgia, the Iowa House, the Michigan House, the Minnesota Senate, both chambers in North Carolina, both chambers in Pennsylvania, and the Texas House. He predicted that Republicans could potentially gain control of the Maine Senate, the Minnesota House, and both chambers in New Hampshire, all of which were controlled by the Democratic Party. Additionally, Jacobson predicted that Republicans could win control of the Alaska House, which was currently controlled by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Electoral predictions
Writing for Sabato's Crystal Ball, Chaz Nuttycombe highlighted the Alaska House and the New Hampshire Senate as the top pick-up opportunities for Republicans, and lists the Arizona House, the Arizona Senate, the Iowa House, the Michigan House, the Minnesota Senate, the North Carolina House, the North Carolina Senate, the Pennsylvania House, and the Texas House as the top pick-up opportunities for Democrats.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Alaska
Half of the seats of the Alaska Senate and all of the seats of the Alaska House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. The Alaska Senate is controlled by Republicans, while the Alaska House of Representatives is controlled by a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and independents. The Alaska House of Representatives is currently the only state legislative chamber controlled by a cross-partisan coalition.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Arizona
All of the seats of the Arizona Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans have a government trifecta with control of the governorship and both state legislative chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Arkansas
Half of the seats of the Arkansas Senate and all of the seats of the Arkansas House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, California
Half of the seats of the California State Senate and all of the seats of the California State Assembly were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Colorado
Half of the seats of the Colorado Senate and all of the seats of the Colorado House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Connecticut
All of the seats of the Connecticut State Senate and the Connecticut House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Delaware
Half of the seats of the Delaware Senate and all of the seats of the Delaware House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Florida
Half of the seats of the Florida Senate and all of the seats of the Florida House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Georgia
All of the seats of the Georgia State Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Hawaii
Half of the seats of the Hawaii Senate and all of the seats of the Hawaii House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Idaho
All of the seats of the Idaho Senate and the Idaho House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Illinois
One third of the seats of the Illinois Senate and all of the seats of the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Indiana
Half of the seats of the Indiana Senate and all of the seats of the Indiana House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Iowa
Half of the seats of the Iowa Senate and all of the seats of the Iowa House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Kansas
All of the seats of the Kansas Senate and the Kansas House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Kentucky
Half of the seats of the Kentucky Senate and all of the seats of the Kentucky House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers. Because the Kentucky legislature can override gubernatorial vetoes with a simple majority vote, Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the state legislature.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Maine
All of the seats of the Maine Senate and the Maine House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Massachusetts
All of the seats of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats retained control of both chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Michigan
All of the seats of the Michigan House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. The Michigan Senate did not hold regularly-scheduled elections in 2020. Republicans maintained control of the house of representatives.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Minnesota
All of the seats of the Minnesota Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans maintained control of the senate, while Democrats maintained control of the house of representatives.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Missouri
Half of the seats of the Missouri Senate and all of the seats of the Missouri House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Montana
Half of the seats of the Montana Senate and all of the seats of the Montana House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans held control of both chambers, and also gained a government trifecta by winning the 2020 Montana gubernatorial election.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Nebraska
Nebraska is the only U.S. state with a unicameral legislature; half of the seats of the Nebraska Legislature were up for election in 2020. Nebraska is also unique in that its legislature is officially non-partisan and holds non-partisan elections, although the Democratic and Republican parties each endorse legislative candidates.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Nevada
Half of the seats of the Nevada Senate and all of the seats of the Nevada Assembly were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, New Hampshire
All of the seats of the New Hampshire Senate and the New Hampshire House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans gained control of both chambers, establishing a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, New Mexico
All of the seats of the New Mexico Senate and the New Mexico House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, New York
All of the seats of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly were up for election in 2020. Democrats held control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, North Carolina
All of the seats of the North Carolina Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, North Dakota
Half of the seats of the North Dakota Senate and the North Dakota House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Ohio
Half of the seats of the Ohio Senate and all of the seats of the Ohio House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Oklahoma
Half of the seats of the Oklahoma Senate and all of the seats of the Oklahoma House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Oregon
Half of the seats of the Oregon State Senate and all of the seats of the Oregon House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Pennsylvania
Half of the seats of the Pennsylvania State Senate and all of the seats of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Rhode Island
All of the seats of the Rhode Island Senate and the Rhode Island House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, South Carolina
All of the seats of the South Carolina Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, South Dakota
All of the seats of the South Dakota Senate and the South Dakota House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Tennessee
Half of the seats of the Tennessee Senate and all of the seats of the Tennessee House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Texas
Half of the seats of the Texas Senate and all of the seats of the Texas House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Utah
Half of the seats of the Utah State Senate and all of the seats of the Utah House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Vermont
All of the seats of the Vermont Senate and the Vermont House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats retained control of both chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Washington
Half of the seats of the Washington State Senate and all of the seats of the Washington House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Democrats retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, West Virginia
Half of the seats of the West Virginia Senate and all of the seats of the West Virginia House of Delegates were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Wisconsin
Half of the seats of the Wisconsin State Senate and all of the seats of the Wisconsin State Assembly were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers.


2020 United States state legislative elections, State summaries, Wyoming
Half of the seats of the Wyoming Senate and all of the seats of the Wyoming House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Republicans retained control of both chambers, maintaining a government trifecta.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Territorial and federal district summaries, American Samoa
All of the seats of the American Samoa Senate and the American Samoa House of Representatives are up for election. Members of the senate serve four-year terms, while members of the house of representative serve two-year terms. Gubernatorial and legislative elections are conducted on a nonpartisan basis in American Samoa.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Territorial and federal district summaries, Guam
All of the seats of the unicameral Legislature of Guam are up for election. All members of the legislature serve a two-year term.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Territorial and federal district summaries, Northern Mariana Islands
A portion of the seats of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate, and all of the seats of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, are up for election. Members of the senate serve either four-year terms, while members of the house serve two-year terms.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Territorial and federal district summaries, Puerto Rico
All of the seats of the Senate of Puerto Rico and the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico are up for election in 2020. Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives both serve four-year terms. The New Progressive Party lost control of both chambers, although the Popular Democratic Party only managed to gain majority control in the House due to the number of third party candidates elected.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Territorial and federal district summaries, U.S. Virgin Islands
All of the seats of the unicameral Legislature of the Virgin Islands are up for election in 2020. All members of the legislature serve a two-year term.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Territorial and federal district summaries, Washington, D.C.
The Council of the District of Columbia serves as the legislative branch of the federal district of Washington, D.C. Half of the council seats are up for election in 2020. Council members serve four-year terms. Democrats retained supermajority control of the council.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Table of partisan control
Prior to the 2020 elections, Republicans control approximately 60 percent of the state legislative chambers and 52 percent of the state legislative seats in the United States. Nationwide, approximately 40 percent of the population of the United States (including federal districts and territories) live in states with Republican control of the state government, 37 percent live in states with Democratic control, and 22 percent live in states with divided government.


2020 United States state legislative elections, Table of partisan control
This table shows the partisan control of governor's offices and state legislative chambers in each state. In situations where one party controls the governor's office and both legislative chambers (known as a "government trifecta"), that party is marked as having "overall" control of the state. Otherwise, overall control of the state is marked as being divided.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes
The 2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes were the result of a breakdown in contract negotiations between labor unions and hospital management over salaries, staffing levels, and access to personal protective equipment.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes
The background for both strikes stemmed from negotiations over labor contracts between the Chicago-based hospital and two unions, the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) and Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The unions had been negotiating for new contracts for several months and had held over 70 bargaining sessions with hospital management, but despite this, no agreement could be concluded between the parties. In mid-September, both unions declared their intent to strike, citing unfair labor practices. The INA strike started on September 12, with Local 73's strike commencing on September 14.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes
These were the first strikes at the University of Illinois Hospital in 46 years. Both strikes involved several hundred workers from each union, though court rulings limited the total number of union members allowed to strike by several hundred. Goals shared by both unions included increased staffing, increased pay, and greater access to personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes
On September 19, the INA announced an end to their strike, stating that progress had been made towards new contract agreements. On September 23, the SEIU came to a tentative agreement on a new contract, with their strike ending the following day. That same day, the INA announced a tentative agreement with the hospital. In early October, membership of both unions voted to accept the new contracts.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes, Background, Illinois Nurses Association
On August 24, 2020, a three-year labor contract between the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) and the University of Illinois Hospital (UIH) in Chicago was set to expire. In the leadup to the expiration, over 20 bargaining sessions were held between the union and hospital regarding a replacement. A deal between the two groups was not reached by August 24, and subsequently the contract was extended to September 7. The biggest issue regarding the negotiations pertained to nurse-to-patient ratios, with union representatives demanding limits to the total number of patients a single nurse must be responsible for.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes, Background, Illinois Nurses Association
Additional issues were related to higher pay and the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A September 2020 article in the Chicago Sun-Times reported that approximately 270 UIH workers had contracted COVID-19 by that time, with In These Times reporting that at least four UIH workers had died from the virus. Multiple sources reported that the hospital was resistant to changing policy on nurse-to-patient ratios, arguing that having set ratios does not work. However, the president of the INA refuted this, stating, "We have two decades of research to support that having adequate nurses at the bedside, will prevent falls, will prevent infections, will prevent deaths, in a hospital mind you."


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes, Background, Illinois Nurses Association
On August 19, INA members at UIH voted for a seven-day strike, with 995 nurses in favor and 12 against. On September 2, citing unfair labor practices, they filed a notice ten days in advance of their intent to strike on September 12. At the time of the announcement, the INA released a statement saying, "Barring a breakthrough in negotiations between nurses and the University of Illinois Hospital, more than 1,300 nurses will begin a seven-day strike at 7 a.m. on Saturday, September 12th".


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes, Background, Illinois Nurses Association
On September 8, the board of trustees for the University of Illinois system filed a lawsuit with the Circuit Court of Cook County to prevent the strike from occurring, claiming that, because of the important services provided by the hospital, the strike "would constitute a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the public." While the judge did not prevent the strike from occurring, on September 11 (the day before the strike was scheduled to commence), a temporary restraining order was granted against some select nurses, preventing them from striking.


2020 University of Illinois Hospital strikes, Background, Illinois Nurses Association
The ruling barred 525 nurses who worked in intensive care units out of concern that it would jeopardize the safety of the patients there. As a result, while initial estimates stated that 1,300 or 1,400 nurses would go on strike, the actual number of strikers was estimated at over 800. That same day, union representatives and hospital officials engaged in a 14-hour long bargaining session which ended at an impasse.