2020 United States presidential election in North Dakota
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| Elections in North Dakota |
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The 2020 United States presidential election in North Dakota 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.[2] North Dakota voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican nominee, incumbent President Donald J. Trump from Florida, and running mate Vice President Michael R. Pence from Indiana against Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden from Delaware, and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris of California. North Dakota has three electoral votes in the Electoral College.[3]
Trump easily won North Dakota 65.1% to 31.8%, a margin of 33.35%, about three points down from his 36-point victory in 2016. Joe Biden won the same two counties Walter Mondale, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton won in 1984, 2000 and 2016 respectively: the majority-Native American counties of Rolette and Sioux, both of which have long been Democratic strongholds. However, Biden only came 2.7 points short of winning Cass County, which holds the state's largest city of Fargo, as compared to Clinton's 10.5-point loss in 2016.
Biden became the first Democrat to win the presidency without winning Sargent County since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 and the first without Benson, Ransom, or Steele Counties since John F. Kennedy in 1960. Despite Biden's modest improvement over Hillary Clinton four years earlier, this remains the second-worst Democratic performance in the state since 1980. Trump's vote share was also the largest for any candidate in the state since 1952.
Caucuses
[edit]Democratic caucuses
[edit]The North Dakota Democratic–NPL Party held a firehouse caucus on March 10, 2020.
All of the withdrawn candidates had withdrawn from the race while mail-in voting had already begun.
| Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernie Sanders | 7,682 | 52.81 | 8 |
| Joe Biden | 5,742 | 39.47 | 6 |
| Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn) | 366 | 2.52 | |
| Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn) | 223 | 1.53 | |
| Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn) | 164 | 1.13 | |
| Michael Bloomberg (withdrawn) | 113 | 0.78 | |
| Tulsi Gabbard | 89 | 0.61 | |
| Andrew Yang (withdrawn) | 20 | 0.14 | |
| Tom Steyer (withdrawn) | 6 | 0.04 | |
| Michael Bennet (withdrawn) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| John Delaney (withdrawn) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| Deval Patrick (withdrawn) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Unsigned votes / Overvotes / Blank Votes | [a]133 | 0.91 | |
| Total | 14,546 | 100% | 14 |
Republican caucuses
[edit]The North Dakota Republican Party held a non-binding firehouse caucus on March 10, 2020, with incumbent President Donald Trump running unopposed.[5][6]
The party then formally selected their 29 Republican National Convention delegates, unpledged to any particular candidate at the state party convention. The state party convention was originally scheduled for March 27–29, but due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic it was ultimately cancelled.[7][8]
Libertarian nominee
[edit]- Jo Jorgensen, Psychology Senior Lecturer at Clemson University
General election
[edit]Final predictions
[edit]| Source | Ranking |
|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[9] | Solid R |
| Inside Elections[10] | Solid R |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[11] | Safe R |
| Politico[12] | Solid R |
| RCP[13] | Solid R |
| Niskanen[14] | Safe R |
| CNN[15] | Solid R |
| The Economist[16] | Safe R |
| CBS News[17] | Likely R |
| 270towin[18] | Safe R |
| ABC News[19] | Solid R |
| NPR[20] | Likely R |
| NBC News[21] | Solid R |
| 538[22] | Solid R |
Polling
[edit]Graphical summary
[edit] | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Polls with a sample size of <100 have their sample size entries marked in red to indicate a lack of reliability.
Aggregate polls
| Source of poll aggregation |
Dates administered |
Dates updated |
Joe Biden Democratic-NPL |
Donald J. Trump Republican |
Other/ Undecided [b] |
Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270 to Win[23] | September 26 – October 17, 2020 | October 19, 2020 | 38.0% | 57.5% | 4.5% | Trump +19.5 |
| FiveThirtyEight[24] | until November 2, 2020 | November 3, 2020 | 38.7% | 56.0% | 5.3% | Trump +17.3 |
| Average | 38.4% | 56.8% | 4.8% | Trump +18.4 | ||
Polls
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[c] |
Margin of error |
Donald J. Trump Republican |
Joe Biden Democratic-NPL |
Jo Jorgensen Libertarian |
Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyMonkey/Axios[25] | Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2020 | 402 (LV) | ± 7% | 59%[d] | 39% | – | – | – |
| SurveyMonkey/Axios[25] | Oct 1–28, 2020 | 700 (LV) | – | 57% | 42% | – | – | – |
| SurveyMonkey/Axios[25] | Sep 1–30, 2020 | 249 (LV) | – | 63% | 34% | – | – | 3% |
| DFM Research/North Dakota Voters First[26] | Sep 26–29, 2020 | 460 (A) | ± 4.6% | 51% | 37% | – | 4%[e] | 7% |
| DFM Research/North Dakota Voters First[27] | Sep 12–16, 2020 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.5% | 56% | 37% | – | 3%[f] | 4% |
| SurveyMonkey/Axios[25] | Aug 1–31, 2020 | 269 (LV) | – | 66% | 32% | – | – | 2% |
| SurveyMonkey/Axios[25] | Jul 1–31, 2020 | 261 (LV) | – | 63% | 36% | – | – | 1% |
| SurveyMonkey/Axios[25] | Jun 8–30, 2020 | 88 (LV) | – | 71% | 28% | – | – | 1% |
| DFM Research[28] | Mar 3–5, 2020 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.9% | 55% | 38% | – | 2% | 5% |
| DFM Research[29] | Jan 28 – Feb 1, 2020 | 600 (A) | ± 4.0% | 59% | 34% | – | 2% | 5% |
| 1892 Polling/Doug Burgum[30][A] | Jul 15–17, 2019 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 60% | 34% | – | – | – |
| DFM Research[31] | May 14–18, 2019 | 400 (A) | ± 4.9% | 54% | 39% | – | 2% | 5% |
Former candidates
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|
with Donald J. Trump and Michael Bloomberg
with Donald J. Trump and Pete Buttigieg
with Donald J. Trump and Amy Klobuchar
with Donald J. Trump and Bernie Sanders
with Donald J. Trump and Elizabeth Warren
|
Electoral slates
[edit]These slates of electors were nominated by each party in order to vote in the Electoral College should their candidate win the state:[33]
| Donald Trump and Mike Pence Republican Party |
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Democratic-NPL Party |
Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen Libertarian Party |
|---|---|---|
| Sandy J. Boehler Ray Holmberg Robert Wefald |
Heidi Heitkamp Bernice Knutson Warren Larson |
Dustin Gawrylow Martin J. Riske Dylan Stuckey |
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Donald J. Trump Michael R. Pence |
235,595 | 65.11% | +2.16% | |
| Democratic–NPL | Joe Biden Kamala Harris |
114,902 | 31.78% | +4.53% | |
| Libertarian | Jo Jorgensen Spike Cohen |
9,393 | 2.60% | −3.63% | |
| Write-in | 1,929 | 0.53% | −1.32% | ||
| Total votes | 361,819 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
By county
[edit]| County | Donald Trump Republican |
Joe Biden Democratic-NPL |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 981 | 77.30% | 258 | 20.33% | 30 | 2.37% | 723 | 56.97% | 1,269 |
| Barnes | 3,568 | 64.12% | 1,820 | 32.70% | 177 | 3.18% | 1,748 | 31.42% | 5,565 |
| Benson | 1,094 | 55.79% | 822 | 41.92% | 45 | 2.29% | 272 | 13.87% | 1,961 |
| Billings | 541 | 85.20% | 72 | 11.34% | 22 | 3.46% | 469 | 73.86% | 635 |
| Bottineau | 2,575 | 74.19% | 821 | 23.65% | 75 | 2.16% | 1,754 | 50.54% | 3,471 |
| Bowman | 1,395 | 84.19% | 228 | 13.76% | 34 | 2.05% | 1,167 | 70.43% | 1,657 |
| Burke | 994 | 86.06% | 137 | 11.86% | 24 | 2.08% | 857 | 74.20% | 1,155 |
| Burleigh | 34,744 | 68.46% | 14,348 | 28.27% | 1,661 | 3.27% | 20,396 | 40.19% | 50,753 |
| Cass | 42,619 | 49.53% | 40,311 | 46.84% | 3,123 | 3.63% | 2,308 | 2.69% | 86,053 |
| Cavalier | 1,499 | 74.21% | 474 | 23.47% | 47 | 2.32% | 1,025 | 50.74% | 2,020 |
| Dickey | 1,742 | 71.86% | 608 | 25.08% | 74 | 3.06% | 1,134 | 46.78% | 2,424 |
| Divide | 904 | 75.21% | 265 | 22.05% | 33 | 2.74% | 639 | 53.16% | 1,202 |
| Dunn | 1,951 | 83.45% | 342 | 14.63% | 45 | 1.92% | 1,609 | 68.82% | 2,338 |
| Eddy | 854 | 67.72% | 383 | 30.37% | 24 | 1.91% | 471 | 37.35% | 1,261 |
| Emmons | 1,738 | 86.51% | 237 | 11.80% | 34 | 1.69% | 1,501 | 74.71% | 2,009 |
| Foster | 1,362 | 76.60% | 373 | 20.98% | 43 | 2.42% | 989 | 55.62% | 1,778 |
| Golden Valley | 871 | 84.89% | 137 | 13.35% | 18 | 1.76% | 634 | 71.54% | 1,026 |
| Grand Forks | 16,987 | 54.85% | 12,880 | 41.59% | 1,103 | 3.56% | 4,107 | 13.26% | 30,970 |
| Grant | 1,145 | 82.91% | 207 | 14.99% | 29 | 2.10% | 938 | 67.92% | 1,381 |
| Griggs | 907 | 72.56% | 308 | 24.64% | 35 | 2.80% | 599 | 47.92% | 1,250 |
| Hettinger | 1,091 | 83.16% | 196 | 14.94% | 25 | 1.90% | 895 | 68.22% | 1,312 |
| Kidder | 1,215 | 83.22% | 221 | 15.14% | 24 | 1.64% | 994 | 68.08% | 1,460 |
| LaMoure | 1,645 | 74.13% | 527 | 23.75% | 47 | 2.12% | 1,118 | 50.38% | 2,219 |
| Logan | 930 | 86.43% | 128 | 11.90% | 18 | 1.67% | 802 | 74.53% | 1,076 |
| McHenry | 2,364 | 78.72% | 564 | 18.78% | 75 | 2.50% | 1,800 | 59.94% | 3,003 |
| McIntosh | 1,153 | 79.24% | 261 | 17.94% | 41 | 2.82% | 892 | 61.30% | 1,455 |
| McKenzie | 4,482 | 82.71% | 814 | 15.02% | 123 | 2.27% | 3,668 | 67.69% | 5,419 |
| McLean | 4,198 | 75.83% | 1,230 | 22.22% | 108 | 1.95% | 2,968 | 53.61% | 5,536 |
| Mercer | 3,856 | 82.48% | 704 | 15.06% | 115 | 2.46% | 3,152 | 67.42% | 4,675 |
| Morton | 12,243 | 73.67% | 3,872 | 23.30% | 504 | 3.03% | 8,371 | 50.37% | 16,619 |
| Mountrail | 2,824 | 67.80% | 1,256 | 30.16% | 85 | 2.04% | 1,568 | 37.64% | 4,165 |
| Nelson | 1,141 | 64.21% | 586 | 32.98% | 50 | 2.81% | 555 | 31.23% | 1,777 |
| Oliver | 918 | 86.12% | 129 | 12.10% | 19 | 1.78% | 789 | 74.02% | 1,066 |
| Pembina | 2,460 | 73.85% | 786 | 23.60% | 85 | 2.55% | 1,674 | 50.25% | 3,331 |
| Pierce | 1,585 | 74.48% | 497 | 23.36% | 46 | 2.16% | 1,088 | 51.12% | 2,128 |
| Ramsey | 3,577 | 66.59% | 1,639 | 30.51% | 156 | 2.90% | 1,938 | 36.08% | 5,372 |
| Ransom | 1,418 | 57.78% | 945 | 38.51% | 91 | 3.71% | 473 | 19.27% | 2,454 |
| Renville | 1,065 | 80.74% | 220 | 16.68% | 34 | 2.58% | 845 | 64.06% | 1,319 |
| Richland | 5,072 | 64.93% | 2,510 | 32.13% | 230 | 2.94% | 2,562 | 32.80% | 7,812 |
| Rolette | 1,257 | 33.04% | 2,482 | 65.25% | 65 | 1.71% | -1,225 | -32.21% | 3,804 |
| Sargent | 1,266 | 61.16% | 738 | 35.65% | 66 | 3.19% | 528 | 25.51% | 2,070 |
| Sheridan | 688 | 84.73% | 104 | 12.81% | 20 | 2.46% | 584 | 71.92% | 812 |
| Sioux | 258 | 21.75% | 804 | 67.79% | 124 | 10.46% | -546 | -46.04% | 1,186 |
| Slope | 380 | 88.99% | 44 | 10.30% | 3 | 0.71% | 336 | 78.69% | 427 |
| Stark | 12,110 | 80.47% | 2,499 | 16.60% | 441 | 2.93% | 9,611 | 63.87% | 15,050 |
| Steele | 652 | 59.93% | 392 | 36.03% | 44 | 4.04% | 260 | 23.90% | 1,088 |
| Stutsman | 6,994 | 70.23% | 2,676 | 26.87% | 289 | 2.90% | 4,318 | 43.36% | 9,959 |
| Towner | 830 | 70.70% | 317 | 27.00% | 27 | 2.30% | 513 | 43.70% | 1,174 |
| Traill | 2,522 | 60.98% | 1,493 | 36.10% | 121 | 2.92% | 1,029 | 24.88% | 4,136 |
| Walsh | 3,324 | 69.50% | 1,333 | 27.87% | 126 | 2.63% | 1,991 | 41.63% | 4,783 |
| Ward | 19,974 | 70.71% | 7,293 | 25.82% | 979 | 3.47% | 12,681 | 44.89% | 28,246 |
| Wells | 1,893 | 79.74% | 442 | 18.62% | 39 | 1.64% | 1,451 | 61.12% | 2,374 |
| Williams | 11,739 | 81.90% | 2,169 | 15.13% | 426 | 2.97% | 9,570 | 66.77% | 14,334 |
| Totals | 235,595 | 65.11% | 114,902 | 31.76% | 11,322 | 3.13% | 120,693 | 33.35% | 361,819 |
By congressional district
[edit]Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district is an at-large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.
| District | Trump | Biden | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| At-large | 65.11% | 31.76% | Kelly Armstrong |
Analysis
[edit]North Dakota, a rural state covered in the Midwestern Plains, is one of the most reliably Republican states in the nation. It last voted for a Democrat in 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson carried it against the backdrop of his nationwide landslide victory. Since 1964, North Dakota has been competitive in only three elections: 1976, 1996, and 2008.
A few prime reasons why this state votes heavily for Republicans include its older, majority-White populace; agribusiness; and the state's recent oil boom. In recent presidential elections, Bakken shale oil has been a major driver of conservative success in the state, as the oil boom increasingly fuels the economy of North Dakota.[34] The main oil boom has taken place in the western counties—perhaps Trump's main base. Trump signed executive orders on his first month in office, reviving the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines rejected by the Obama administration.[35]
See also
[edit]- United States presidential elections in North Dakota
- Presidency of Joe Biden
- 2020 United States presidential election
- 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries
- 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries
- 2020 United States elections
Notes
[edit]- ^ Unsigned 87, over 7, blank 39 votes
- ^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
- ^ a b c d e f Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear - ^ Overlapping sample with the previous SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, but more information available regarding sample size
- ^ "Other candidate" with 4%
- ^ "Other candidate" with 3%
Partisan clients
- ^ Poll sponsored by Burgum's campaign
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Statewide Results". North Dakota Secretary of State. November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
- ^ Kelly, Ben (August 13, 2018). "US elections key dates: When are the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential campaign?". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "2020 Democratic Caucus Results". North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
- ^ "6 states will vote in Tuesday's GOP presidential primary. Trump will win all 6". Vox. March 10, 2020.
- ^ "North Dakota Republican Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- ^ "North Dakota GOP cancels state convention because of coronavirus threat". KFGO. March 18, 2020.
- ^ "2020 State Convention – North Dakota Republican Party". Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- ^ "2020 POTUS Race ratings" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
- ^ "POTUS Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
- ^ "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2020 President". crystalball.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
- ^ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
- ^ 2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions Archived April 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.
- ^ David Chalian; Terence Burlij (June 11, 2020). "Road to 270: CNN's debut Electoral College map for 2020". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
- ^ "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Election Battleground Tracker". CBS News. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Presidential Election Interactive Map". 270 to Win.
- ^ "ABC News Race Ratings". CBS News. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Electoral Map Ratings: Trump Slides, Biden Advantage Expands Over 270 Votes". NPR.org. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ "Biden dominates the electoral map, but here's how the race could tighten". NBC News. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ 270 to Win
- ^ FiveThirtyEight
- ^ a b c d e f SurveyMonkey/Axios
- ^ "DFM Research/North Dakota Voters First" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
- ^ DFM Research/North Dakota Voters First
- ^ a b DFM Research
- ^ a b c d e f DFM Research
- ^ 1892 Polling/Doug Burgum
- ^ DFM Research
- ^ Zogby Analytics
- ^ "Statewide Results". North Dakota Secretary of State. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ Cohen, Micah (October 14, 2012). "An Extra Ingredient in North Dakota Politics: Oil". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- ^ Volcovici, Valerie (December 6, 2016). "Trump supports completion of Dakota Access Pipeline". Reuters. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
Further reading
[edit]- Summary: State Laws on Presidential Electors (PDF), Washington DC: National Association of Secretaries of State, August 2020,
North Dakota
External links
[edit]- Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "North Dakota", Voting & Elections Toolkits
- "North Dakota: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
- "League of Women Voters of North Dakota". (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
- North Dakota at Ballotpedia
