Following is our coverage of the Veepstakes contenders.
Biden's process will likely take all of June and July, with a nominee announced prior to, or at, the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 17.
With links to their issue-based coveraeg, the contenders are:
We report on the nomination races for several third-party candidates throughout the election.
We also report on party platforms, and will update them for 2020 as they become avbailable.
Following is our list of parties and candidates:
Green Party Convention planned for July 9-12, 2020
Gov. Jesse Ventura(MN): Exploratory Committee as of April 27, 2020
vs.Howie Hawkins(NY): Green candidate since May 2019
vs.Ian Schlakman(MD): Withdrew Green candidacy Dec. 2018
Rep. Justin Amash(MI): Exploratory Committee as of April 28, 2020
vs.Arvin Vohra(MD): Libertarian candidate since July 2018
vs.Larry Sharpe(NY): Libertarian V.P. candidate since July 2018
vs.Sen. Lincoln Chafee(RI): Withdrew Libertarian candidacy April 5, 2020
vs.Zoltan Istvan(CA): Withdrew Libertarian candidacy Nov. 2017
Socialist Party Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the Peace and Freedom Party
Convention planned for August 2020; primaries held on Super Tuesday
Gloria La Riva(CA): nominee-apparent since March 3, 2020
Former Rep. Kweisi Mfume to be sworn in immediately
Kweisi Mfume, Former President of the NAACP, won a special election in Maryland's 7th House district, and will join the 116th Congress immediately upon being sworn in.
Mr. Mfume replaces U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, who passed away last October.
Following is a list of special elections that have taken place during the 116th Congress (with three more to follow later this spring!):
District / Election date / New member of Congress
Previous member of Congress / reason for leaving Congress
Senator Bernie Sanders ended his campaign after losing a series of primaries, including the Wisconsin primary run with low voter turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice President Joe Biden is now the presumptive nominee.
Some of our book reviews and excerpt collections from Sen. Sanders:
Political leaders' policy stances to fight the pandemic
We will collect politicians' statements on the coronavirus pandemic,
and add additional excerpts over time.
Bernie Sanders : Cover all costs for coronavirus testing and treatment
Joe Biden on Education : Provide school lunch even if schools closed for pandemic
Donald Trump : Refused coronavirus test kits from World Health Organization
Tom Steyer : Mandatory Coronavirus vaccines; and other immediate actions
Mike Bloomberg : CDC needs funding to fight coronavirus; Trump de-funded it
Pete Buttigieg : Deal with coronavirus with international integration
Amy Klobuchar : Billions for CDC for coronavirus; billions for NIH too
Elizabeth Warren : The most vulnerable people are susceptible to Coronavirus
Source: See political candidates' coronavirus policy stances.
Final Tuesday primaries, March 17, 2020
Primaries finalized; many changes due to coronavirus
President Trump exceeded the number of delegates required to win the Republican nomination (i.e. he has won the primary).
Gov. Bill Weld withdrew from seeking the Republican nomination, leaving Trump unopposed.
Biden gained almost 300 delegates, after gaining over 200 last week, and now stands at about 60% of the total delegates needed to secure the nomination.
Ohio was supposed to hold a primary on Tuesday, but Gov. Mike DeWine closed the polls despite an Ohio Supreme Court challenge.
The 11th Democratic debate took place with no audience (only Biden and Sanders debated, after moving to Washington to avoid travel).
More electoral disruptions will follow -- many states have now postponed their primaries -- we comment below on the media's reaction and poor coverage of coronavirus.
Final Tuesday 3/17 delegate counts:
AZ
FL
IL
Final Tuesday Total
Prior delegates
Grand Total
Joe Biden
39
151
93
283
897
1180
Bernie Sanders
28
55
60
143
728
871
Others
0
168
168
PLEOs ("Superdelegates")
13
44
29
86
403
489
TOTAL Dem (1,991 to win)
80
250
182
512
2196
2708
Donald Trump
122
67
189
1237
1426
Bill Weld
0
1
1
TOTAL GOP (1,276 to win)
189
1238
1427
Source: See The Green Papers for delegate counts; see Bill Weld's page for full issue excerpts; each state winner highlighted in bold; delegate figures as of 3/19/20.
Big Tuesday primaries, March 10, 2020
Biden wins big again
Big Tuesday 3/10 delegate counts:
ID
MI
MO
MS
ND
WA
Big Tuesday Total
Prior delegates
Grand Total
Joe Biden
11
73
44
34
6
33
201
696
897
Bernie Sanders
9
52
24
2
8
19
114
614
728
Others
0
168
168
PLEOs ("Superdelegates")
5
22
12
5
4
47
95
308
403
TOTAL Dem (1,991 to win)
25
147
80
41
18
99
410
1786
2196
Donald Trump
32
73
54
40
29
43
271
966
1237
Bill Weld
0
1
1
TOTAL GOP (1,276 to win)
271
967
1238
Source: See The Green Papers for delegate counts; see Bernie Sanders's page for full issue excerpts; each state winner highlighted in bold; delegate figures as of 3/18/20.
Super Tuesday primaries, March 3, 2020
Biden wins big; Bloomberg and Warren withdraw
We present below the delegate totals from Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states.
Biden has taken the lead in delegates (the only number that matters). He stands at 628, or 31% of the total delegates needed to secure the nomination.
Sanders, in second with 556, fell to second place, with 28% of the delegate total needed.
Bloomberg withdrew after a poor showing (he did get 57 delegates, including a win in American Samoa, solidly placing him in fourth place in delegate count).
Warren withdrew after coming in 3rd place in her home state of Massachusetts, and 3rd or below everywhere else (falling to 4th place in delegate count).
We also list below the PLEO "Superdelegates", who will mostly vote for the establishment frontrunner (Biden). Counting those, Biden is halfway to the nomination.
Sanders' only hope is a huge turnaround next Tuesday and the following Tuesday, which seems very unlikely, given that the demographics match states Biden already won.
The only question remaining is whether Sanders will stick it out until he is mathematically eliminated (which could be "never", causing a "brokered convention", where the superdelegates decide the nominee, which would mean Biden anyway).
Bottom line: It's over; Biden has won the nomination.
Super Tuesday delegate counts:
AL
AR
AS
CA
CO
MA
ME
MN
NC
OK
TN
TX
UT
VA
VT
Super Tuesday Total
Prior delegates
Grand Total
Joe Biden
44
17
169
14
37
11
38
67
21
36
111
5
67
5
642
54
696
Michael Bloomberg
0
5
4
13
11
4
2
5
10
3
57
0
57
Pete Buttigieg
0
0
26
26
Tulsi Gabbard
2
2
0
2
Bernie Sanders
8
9
220
23
29
9
27
37
13
22
102
13
31
11
554
60
614
Elizabeth Warren
13
10
25
4
10
2
1
1
5
3
1
75
8
83
PLEOs ("Superdelegates")
8
5
5
80
21
23
8
16
13
6
9
32
11
25
8
270
38
308
TOTAL Dem (1,991 to win)
60
36
11
495
79
114
32
91
123
43
73
260
35
124
24
1600
186
1786
Donald Trump
50
40
172
37
41
22
39
71
43
58
155
40
48
17
833
133
966
Bill Weld
0
1
1
TOTAL GOP (1,276 to win)
833
134
967
Source: See The Green Papers for delegate counts; see Joe Biden's page for full issue excerpts; each state winner highlighted in bold; delegate figures as of 3/12/20.
South Carolina primary, Feb. 29, 2020
Republicans cancel primary; Trump gains 50 delegates by party acclamation
Democratic South Carolina primary:
Popular Vote:
Toward 4,750 delegates: (1,991 to win + superdelegates)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripped up her official copy of the speech while the audience was filing out.
A motion to censure Rep. Pelosi for that action was filed in the U.S. House of Representatives (her action is not a crime, but can warrant censuure, if the House so votes).
Many investigators carefully watched footage recorded during the speech, and found her pages "pre-ripped" (i.e. she planned the event for the end of the speech)
When President Trump handed Pelosi the official copy at the beginning of the speech, he snubbed her handshake when she accepted it.
In addition to the "viral image" aspects, there were a series of staged events incorporated into the speech
(inviting guests to personify the president's points has long been a staple of SOTU speeches; staging actual events during the speech is new):
Rush Limbaugh received a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the speech.
A member of the military was rejoined with his wife, who did not expect his return that evening.
A young student was granted an Opportunity Scholarship after being denied entrance to a charter school in Pensylvania.
Juan Guaidó, the "shadow president" of Venezuela was introduced to America (Guaidó is recognized as the president by the U.S. but his opponent Nicolás Madurom controls the government).
There were also numerous policy points in the speech, and in the numerous responses, which we excerpt.
But the images and events are what this speech will be remembered for!
1,700 caucuses statewide for delegates to Democratic and Republican National Conventions
Both major parties held caucuses to elect delegates to their National Conventions.
The Iowa Democratic Caucuses were plagued by technical snafus; we'll report the results when available.
As a result of those problems, many people are calling for Iowa to replace their caucus with a normal primary election.
OnTheissues agrees, for the simple reason that primaries are better for democracy.
About 202,000 people participated in the 2020 Iowa caucuses (170,000 Democrats and 32,000 Republicans) -- that is under 10% of the registered voters of Iowa (2.1 million as of January 2020).
In a typical primary, such as New Hampshire in 2016, 535,000 people voted (250,000 Democrats and 285,000 Republicans) -- that is over 50% turnout of the registered voters of N.H. (980,000 as of January 2020).
Caucuses discourage voter participation, for reasons that were obvious to anyone watching the shenanigans nationally televised from Iowa -- few people want to go stand in a gymnasium for two hours straight!
The Republican Iowa caucuses went smoothly, with three candidates on the ballot. Results listed below. 40 national delegates will be awarded, towards the total of 2,550 delegates.
Bottom Line for Republicans: Trump's challengers did make a showing, with Weld getting one committed delegate. Walsh withdrew after these results.
The Democratic Iowa caucuses will award 41 national delegates (estimates below) and then hold two more rounds of gymnasium-standing events over the next two months to finalize those estimates, towards the total of 4,750 delegates.
Bottom Line for Democrats: Sanders won the popular vote on the first round, and also won the "second alignment" but by a smaller margin. Buttigieg got the most "state delegate equivalents," 564-562, and the most national delegates (14-11).
Representative John Delaney (D-MD-6) suspended his campaign after not making the cutoff for the January 14 debate in Iowa nor the upcoming debate in New Hampshire.
Bolton was asked by the House of Representatives to testify in the impeachment trial on 11/7/19, but said he would not testify until a court resolved the related disputes between Trump and Congress.
During the Senate impeachment trial, on 1/6/2020, Bolton agreed to testify to the Senaite, if subpoenaed. A 51-49 Senate vote cancelled all further testimony and evidence, so Bolton never testified.
Bolton has written a book ("The Room Where It happened", coming out in May 2020) where he claims Trump told him in August 2019 that Trump wanted to continue the freeze on aid to Ukraine pending their investigation into Joe Biden and his son -- one of the core issues of Trump's impeachment.
We excerpt and review below several of Bolton's other books and public statements, and we'll excerpt and review the new book when it comes out.
Seventh Democratic primary debate, with six candidates, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, three weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Three candidates withdrew after not qualifying for the debate (and will not participate in the Iowa caucuses):
Mayor Julian Castro withdrew on Jan. 2, and endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Jan. 6.
Marianne Williamson terminated her campaign on Jan. 3, and withdrew on Jan. 10.
The rules of the Iowa caucuses are more complicated than typical presidential primaries:
Meeting places are set up by local Democratic Committees in over 1,600 locations across Iowa, one per town or one per precinct in larger cities.
Any registered Democrat can attend in their neighborhood, with or without a pre-commitment to any candidate, but there are no absentee ballots nor early voting (only those who attend can vote, except people with disabilities and military members abroad can participate by video).
Candidates' supporters make speeches to persuade the uncommitted voters, and then each candidate's supporters gather in one section of the room to be counted.
A preliminary count determines which candidates make a 15% minimum cutoff for "viability." Supporters of non-viable candidates can then move to another candidate's section for the final count.
National news media report the percentage of the caucus final tallies, which are only approximate, because national delegates are actually chosen over the course of two more events:
Caucus delegates are apportioned, based on the final count for each candidate in each local caucus, to attend a County Convention; Iowa has 99 counties.
The County Conventions will be held on March 21, and then a Statewide Convention on April 25, to elect 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention where teh presidential nominee will be determined.
Iowa also will send 8 superdelegates to the National Convention; they are called "PLEO delegates" (Party Leaders and Elected Officials) and are members of Congress or Democratic National Committee members.
Lincoln Chafee announces for presidency, Jan. 6, 2020
Former Rhode Island Senator and Former Rhode Island Governor
Lincoln Chafee has been elected as a Republican and a Democrat and an Independent; and has served as Mayor, Senator, and Governor.
He is now announcing his candidacy for the Liberatarian Party nomination for the presidency.
Below is our past coverage, highlighting at each time which party he was in.
7 contenders at UCLA, co-hosted by PBS Newshour and Politico.com
The sixth Democratic primary debate, with seven candidates, was held at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles; moderated by Judy Woodruff from CNN; Tim Alberta from Politico Magazine; Yamiche Alcindor and Amna Nawaz from PBS Newshour.
In order to have qualified for the debate, candidates had to bring in the support of at least 200,000 unique donors and register at least 4 percent support in four qualifying polls or at least 6 percent support in two approved polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina.
Sen. Cory Booker did not make the debate qualifications; Booker led eight other presidential candidates in a letter asking the DNC to "consider alternative debate qualification standards" for four primary debates scheduled for early 2020.
In the wake of this debate, and after the announcement of criteria for the January debate, Secretary Julian Castro withdrew from the presidential race, on Jan. 2, 2020.
The debate criteria for this debate were:
-Over 200,000 unique donors
-And 4% support in four qualifying polls
-Or 6% support in two polls in the early voting states (IA, NH, NV, and SC)
Sen. Booker ran a TV ad during the debate, which we excerpt below.
The top ten Democratic presidential candidates debated at Otterbein University in Atlanta, Georgia,
sponsored by NBC News and the Washington Post.
Changes in the field as a result of this debate:
CEO Tom Steyer (D, CA) made his second appearance in a debate, after months of TV advertising. He is now an established member of the field.
CEO Mike Bloomberg (D, NY) has re-entered the race, committing $35 million to a TV ad campaign. But Bloomberg is disqualified from all future debates, because the current rules require having thousands of donors, and Bloomberg is not accpepting donations at all. The rules for the Jan./Feb. 2020 debates have not yet been set, so Bloomberg could qualify.
Governor Deval Patrick (D, MA) also announced his candidacy. He will accept donations, but there's not enough time to qualify for the December debate, since those debate rules require scoring well in several polls, which will likely not even include Patrick for a couple of weeks. There are a half-dozen debates already set up for Jan./Feb. 2020, for which Patrick will attempt to qualify.
Three candidates dropped out of the race in the wake of this debate (in part, perhaps, because of this debate):
Rep. Joe Sestak (D, PA), dropped out on Dec. 1, 2019; former U.S. Representative from 2006-2010, and a Navy Admiral.
Governor Steve Bullock (D, MT), dropped out on Dec. 2, 2019; Governor since 2012, and Attorney General of Montana from 2007-2012.
Senator Kamala Harris (D, CA), dropped out on Dec. 3, 2019; Senator since 2016, and Attorney General of California from 2011-2016.
Deval Patrick enters presidential race: Nov. 13, 2019
Massachusetts Governor to file papers for New Hampshire presidential primary
Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) is a late entry to the Democratic presidential primary.
He may qualify for debates in early 2020, but certainly not the debate set for next week (Nov. 20th). His policy stances:
Mike Bloomberg re-enters presidential race: Nov. 8, 2019
New York Mayor files papers for Alabama presidential primary
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) met the deadline today to get onto the Alabama presidential primary ballot (the earliest deadline in the country), implying that he would meet deadlines to get onto other state ballots.
Bloomberg cited Joe Biden's failure at sparking centrist support, which Bloomberg considers his constituency (as opposed to the progressive constituency sparked by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren).
Bloomberg is a billionaire, like Tom Steyer (D-CA) and Donald Trump (R-FL), but unlike those two, Bloomberg won election and re-election before running for President.
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Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, Republican, won on Nov. 5
