2020 United States Senate election in Idaho

2020 United States Senate election in Idaho
	County results; Risch: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; Jordan: 50–60% 60–70%
U.S. senator before election; Jim Risch; Republican	Elected U.S. senator ; Jim Risch; Republican

The 2020 United States Senate election in Idaho was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Idaho, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Republican Senator Jim Risch won reelection to a third term in office, defeating Democratic nominee Paulette Jordan, who, percentage wise, had the worst performance of a Democratic senatorial candidate for this seat since 2002. However, Risch also performed nearly three points worse than he did when he was reelected in 2014, and additionally, he slightly underperformed incumbent President Donald Trump's performance in the concurrent presidential election.

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

Nominee[]

Jim Risch, incumbent U.S. Senator^[1]

Results[]

Republican primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Risch (incumbent)	200,184	100.00%
Total votes			200,184	100.00%

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

Nominee[]

Paulette Jordan, former state representative and nominee for Governor of Idaho in 2018^[3]

Eliminated in primary[]

James Vandermaas, former law enforcement officer and candidate for Idaho's 1st congressional district in 2018^[4]

Withdrawn[]

Nancy Harris, businesswoman^[5] (endorsed Jordan)
Travis Oler, farmer and U.S. Army veteran (ran for state house)^[6] (endorsed Vandermaas)

Declined[]

A.J. Balukoff, Boise School District board member, nominee for Governor of Idaho in 2014, and candidate for Governor of Idaho in 2018^[7] (endorsed Vandermaas)
Mark Nye, state senator^[7]
Michelle Stennett, minority leader of the Idaho Senate^[7]

Endorsements[]

Paulette Jordan

Individuals

Nancy Harris, businesswoman and withdrawn candidate^[8]
Aaron Paul, actor known for Breaking Bad^[9]

Publications

Idaho Statesman^[10]

James Vandermaas

Individuals

A.J. Balukoff, Boise School District board member and nominee for Governor of Idaho in 2014^{[citation needed]}
Travis Oler, farmer and withdrawn candidate^[11]

Results[]

County results:

Jordan—>90%

Jordan—80-90%

Jordan—70-80%

Democratic primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paulette Jordan	72,778	85.70%
	Democratic	James Vandermaas	12,145	14.30%
Total votes			84,923	100.00%

Other candidates[]

Constitution Party[]

Nominee[]

Ray Writz^[12]

Independents[]

Declared[]

Natalie Fleming, software developer^[13]

General election[]

Predictions[]

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[14]	Safe R	October 29, 2020
Inside Elections^[15]	Safe R	October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[16]	Safe R	November 2, 2020
Daily Kos^[17]	Safe R	October 30, 2020
Politico^[18]	Safe R	November 2, 2020
RCP^[19]	Safe R	October 23, 2020
DDHQ^[20]	Safe R	November 3, 2020
538^[21]	Safe R	November 2, 2020
Economist^[22]	Safe R	November 2, 2020

Endorsements[]

Paulette Jordan (D)

U.S Vice Presidents

Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States and 2020 Democratic nominee for President^[23]

Individuals

Nancy Harris, businesswoman and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020^[8]
Aaron Paul, actor known for Breaking Bad^[9]

Organizations

Center for Biological Diversity^[24]
DSCC^[25]
Emily’s List^[26]
National Education Association^[27]
National Women's Political Caucus^[28]

Publications

Idaho Statesman ^[29]

Polling[]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Jim Risch (R)	Paulette Jordan (D)	Other	Undecided
Spry Strategies (R) Archived September 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine^[A]^[B]	August 29 – September 1, 2020	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	53%	28%	8%^[b]	11%

Results[]

In spite of a landslide loss and the weakest performance by a Democrat for this seat since 2002, Jordan won two counties that had voted for Risch in 2014, flipping Latah and Teton counties.^[30]

United States Senate election in Idaho, 2020^[31]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Risch (incumbent)	538,446	62.62%	-2.71%
	Democratic	Paulette Jordan	285,864	33.25%	-1.42%
	Independent	Natalie Fleming	25,329	2.95%	N/A
	Constitution	Ray Writz	10,188	1.18%	N/A
Total votes			859,827	100.0%
	Republican hold

Notes[]

Partisan clients

^ Archived September 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
^ Poll conducted for the Women's Liberation Front.

^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
^ "Another candidate" with 8%

References[]

^ Russell, Betsy (August 12, 2019). "Risch announces re-election bid for 3rd Senate term in 2020". Idaho Press. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS". State of Idaho - Elections Department. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
^ Jennifer Bendery. "Idaho Democrat Paulette Jordan Is Running For Senate", HuffPost, February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
^ "Third Dem announces bid for Risch's Senate seat in 2020". Idaho Press. October 7, 2019.
^ "Harris withdraws from Idaho Senate race". Kootenai Valley Times. February 13, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Travis Oler Discontinues US Senate Campaign and Runs for Idaho State Legislature". Travis Oler for Idaho. Retrieved March 14, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c Singiser, Steve. "Here's our ultimate Democratic wishlist for Senate in 2020. Who's on yours?". Daily Kos. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Paulette Jordan on Instagram: "Nancy Harris has a strong voice and the best of intentions for Idaho. I'm very grateful for her support. Thank you, @nancyharrisforsenate…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Miller, Kevin (February 14, 2020). "Aaron Paul endorses Jordan Paulette". Kido Talk Radio. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
^ "Statesman endorses Democrat primary candidate for U.S. Senate". Idaho Statesman. May 10, 2020.
^ "Log In or Sign Up to View". www.facebook.com. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
^ "WRITZ, RAY - Candidate overview". FEC.gov.
^ "Natalie M Fleming for United States Senate – Partisan Free Independent Candidate for United States Congress for Idaho".
^ "2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
^ "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
^ "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
^ "2020 Senate Race Ratings". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
^ "Battle for the Senate 2020". RCP. October 23, 2020.
^ "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
^ Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
^ "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "Biden endorses Idaho's Paulette Jordan for U.S. Senate". KHQ.
^ "2020 Endorsements". Center Action Fund.
^ "DSCC Endorses Paulette Jordan in Idaho Senate Race". DSCC. July 23, 2020.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "U.S. Senate - Education Votes". educationvotes.nea.org.
^ "Endorsed candidates". NWPC. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
^ @electpaulette (October 4, 2020). "I am proud to receive this historic endorsement from Idaho's biggest newspaper! They write that Senator Risch has been disappointing and that it's time for new leadership. I couldn't agree more. Let's win this and make Idaho proud. Link in my bio! #Paulette2020 #idpol" – via Instagram.
^ "Idaho U.S. Senate Election Results". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
^ "2020 General Election Results – Statewide". Idaho Secretary of State. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

External links[]

Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Idaho", Voting & Elections Toolkits
"Idaho: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
"League of Women Voters of Idaho". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Idaho at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites

[31] Archived September 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine

[WLF-32] Poll conducted for the Women's Liberation Front.

[key-30] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[33] "Another candidate" with 8%

[1] Russell, Betsy (August 12, 2019). "Risch announces re-election bid for 3rd Senate term in 2020". Idaho Press. Retrieved August 12, 2019.

[IDsosr-2] "OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS". State of Idaho - Elections Department. Retrieved August 28, 2020.

[3] Jennifer Bendery. "Idaho Democrat Paulette Jordan Is Running For Senate", HuffPost, February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.

[4] "Third Dem announces bid for Risch's Senate seat in 2020". Idaho Press. October 7, 2019.

[5] "Harris withdraws from Idaho Senate race". Kootenai Valley Times. February 13, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}

[6] "Travis Oler Discontinues US Senate Campaign and Runs for Idaho State Legislature". Travis Oler for Idaho. Retrieved March 14, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}

[Wishlist-7] Singiser, Steve. "Here's our ultimate Democratic wishlist for Senate in 2020. Who's on yours?". Daily Kos. Retrieved February 19, 2019.

[HarrisEndorsement-8] "Paulette Jordan on Instagram: "Nancy Harris has a strong voice and the best of intentions for Idaho. I'm very grateful for her support. Thank you, @nancyharrisforsenate…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021.

[auto-9] Miller, Kevin (February 14, 2020). "Aaron Paul endorses Jordan Paulette". Kido Talk Radio. Retrieved April 25, 2020.

[auto1-10] "Statesman endorses Democrat primary candidate for U.S. Senate". Idaho Statesman. May 10, 2020.

[11] "Log In or Sign Up to View". www.facebook.com. Retrieved April 6, 2020.

[12] "WRITZ, RAY - Candidate overview". FEC.gov.

[13] "Natalie M Fleming for United States Senate – Partisan Free Independent Candidate for United States Congress for Idaho".

[Cook_PR-14] "2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.

[Inside_Elections-15] "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.

[Sabato's_Crystal_Ball-16] "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 12, 2021.

[Daily_Kos-17] "2020 Senate Race Ratings". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[Politico-18] "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.

[RCP-19] "Battle for the Senate 2020". RCP. October 23, 2020.

[DDHQ-20] "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.

[21] Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 18, 2020.

[22] "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[23] "Biden endorses Idaho's Paulette Jordan for U.S. Senate". KHQ.

[24] "2020 Endorsements". Center Action Fund.

[25] "DSCC Endorses Paulette Jordan in Idaho Senate Race". DSCC. July 23, 2020.

[26] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[27] "U.S. Senate - Education Votes". educationvotes.nea.org.

[28] "Endorsed candidates". NWPC. Retrieved July 26, 2020.

[29] @electpaulette (October 4, 2020). "I am proud to receive this historic endorsement from Idaho's biggest newspaper! They write that Senator Risch has been disappointing and that it's time for new leadership. I couldn't agree more. Let's win this and make Idaho proud. Link in my bio! #Paulette2020 #idpol" – via Instagram.

[34] "Idaho U.S. Senate Election Results". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 3, 2021.

[35] "2020 General Election Results – Statewide". Idaho Secretary of State. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

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2020 United States Senate election in Idaho

Contents

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

Nominee[]

Results[]

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

Nominee[]

Eliminated in primary[]

Withdrawn[]

Declined[]

Endorsements[]

Results[]

Other candidates[]

Constitution Party[]

Nominee[]

Independents[]

Declared[]

General election[]

Predictions[]

Endorsements[]

Polling[]

Results[]

See also[]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]