2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut

2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut
Turnout	79.70%
Biden 50–60% 60–70%	Trump 50–60%
	Municipal results
President before election; Donald Trump; Republican	Elected President ; Joe Biden; Democratic

The 2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut 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] Connecticut 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. Connecticut has seven electoral votes in the Electoral College.^[3]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's primary elections were postponed until August 11, 2020, marking the first time that the modern presidential primary season has extended into August. By that time, incumbent President Donald Trump of the Republican Party and former Vice President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party had already clinched enough delegates to become the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. Furthermore, both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions were scheduled one and two weeks afterward, respectively, essentially making the Connecticut primary races pro forma.

Biden won the state by 20 points, a notable improvement from Hillary Clinton's 13-point win in the state in 2016. He fared especially well in Fairfield County, an ancestrally Republican area, as well as the Hartford suburbs. Biden also came within five points of flipping traditionally Republican Litchfield County, which had previously voted Democratic in 2008; and 4.2 points of flipping traditionally Democratic Windham County, which had previously voted Democratic in 2012. Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Biden's strength in Connecticut came from college-educated voters with 64% (a large voting bloc in the state), White women with 60%, Latinos with 71%, and Jews with 80%. Additionally, Biden won over white voters (which composed 81% of the electorate) with 55%.^[4] Biden won a combined 70% in large cities and 62% in suburban areas. Biden is also the first presidential nominee ever to exceed 1 million votes in the state. Additionally, his total is currently the highest that any candidate in any race in Connecticut has received, surpassing the previous record of 1,008,714 that Richard Blumenthal received in his 2016 Senate race. At the same time, Biden became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Windham County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.^[5]

Primary elections[]

The primary elections were originally scheduled for April 28, 2020. On March 19, they were moved to June 2 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6] Then on April 17, they were further pushed back to August 11.^[7]

Republican primary[]

The state had 28 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention, all going to Trump.^[8]

2020 Connecticut Republican presidential primary^[9]
Candidate	Votes	%	Delegates
Donald Trump	71,667	78.4%	28
Uncommitted	12,994	14.2%
Rocky De La Fuente (withdrawn)	6,791	7.4%
Total	91,452	100%	28

Democratic primary[]

2020 Connecticut Democratic presidential primary^[10]
Candidate	Votes	%	Delegates^[11]
Joe Biden	224,500	84.90%	60
Bernie Sanders (withdrawn)	30,512	11.54%
Uncommitted	5,975	2.26%
Tulsi Gabbard (withdrawn)	3,429	1.30%
Total	264,416	100%	60

Libertarian caucus[]

Voting took place from April 25–28, 2020.^[12]

Connecticut Libertarian presidential caucus^[12]
Candidate	Round 1			Round 19
Candidate	Votes	%	Transfer	Votes	%
Jacob Hornberger	47	31.7%	+ 48	85	66.9%
James P. Gray	23	13.8%	+ 19	42	33.1%
Jo Jorgensen	18	10.8%	- 34	Eliminated in round 18
Adam Kokesh	14	8.4%	- 22	Eliminated in round 17
Vermin Supreme	14	8.4%	- 16	Eliminated in round 16
Brian Ellison	6	3.6%	- 11	Eliminated in round 15
Souraya Faas	4	2.4%	- 8	Eliminated in round 14
N.O.T.A	8	4.2%	- 8	Eliminated in round 13
Dan Behrman	5	3.0%	- 5	Eliminated in round 12
Sorinne Ardeleanu	4	2.4%	- 5	Eliminated in round 11
Sam Robb	4	2.4%	- 5	Eliminated in round 10
Arvin Vohra	4	2.4%	- 4	Eliminated in round 9
John Monds	4	2.4%	- 4	Eliminated in round 8
Ken Armstrong	1	0.6%	- 3	Eliminated in round 7
Phil Gray	2	1.2%	- 2	Eliminated in round 6
Steve Richey	1	0.6%	- 1	Eliminated in round 5
Erik Gerhardt	1	0.6%	- 1	Eliminated in round 4
Jedidiah Hill	1	0.6%	- 1	Eliminated in round 3
Louis Vanacore	1	0.6%	- 1	Eliminated in round 2
Kenneth Blevins, James Ogle, Rhett Smith	0	0.0%	- 0	Eliminated in round 1
Round 1 Total	167	100.0%	Round 9 Total	167 (40 exhausted)	100.0%

General election[]

Predictions[]

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[13]	Safe D	September 10, 2020
Inside Elections^[14]	Safe D	September 4, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[15]	Safe D	July 14, 2020
Politico^[16]	Safe D	September 8, 2020
RCP^[17]	Likely D	November 3, 2020
Niskanen^[18]	Safe D	July 26, 2020
CNN^[19]	Safe D	August 3, 2020
The Economist^[20]	Safe D	September 2, 2020
CBS News^[21]	Likely D	August 16, 2020
270towin^[22]	Safe D	August 2, 2020
ABC News^[23]	Safe D	July 31, 2020
NPR^[24]	Likely D	August 3, 2020
NBC News^[25]	Likely D	August 6, 2020
538^[26]	Safe D	September 9, 2020

Polling[]

Graphical summary

Aggregate polls


Source of poll aggregation	Dates administered	Dates updated	Joe Biden Democratic	Donald Trump Republican	Other/ Undecided ^[a]	Margin
FiveThirtyEight	until November 2, 2020	November 3, 2020	58.6%	32.4%	9.0%	Biden +26.3

Polls

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[b]	Margin of error	Donald Trump Republican	Joe Biden Democratic	Jo Jorgensen Libertarian	Howie Hawkins Green	Other	Undecided
SurveyMonkey/Axios	Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2020	2,031 (LV)	± 3.5%	38%^[c]	60%	-	-	–	–
Swayable Archived November 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine	Oct 23 – Nov 1, 2020	367 (LV)	± 6.2%	33%	64%	2%	1%	–	–
SurveyMonkey/Axios	Oct 1–28, 2020	3,782 (LV)	–	35%	63%	-	-	–	–
Sacred Heart University Archived November 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine	Oct 8–21, 2020	1,000 (A)	± 3.02%	26%	51%	-	-	2%	20%
SurveyMonkey/Axios	Sep 1–30, 2020	1,415 (LV)	–	37%	61%	-	-	–	2%
SurveyMonkey/Axios	Aug 1–31, 2020	1,009 (LV)	–	35%	64%	-	-	–	1%
SurveyMonkey/Axios	Jul 1–31, 2020	1,360 (LV)	–	39%	59%	-	-	–	2%
SurveyMonkey/Axios	Jun 8–30, 2020	574 (LV)	–	32%	65%	-	-	–	3%
SurveyUSA	May 19–24, 2020	808 (RV)	± 4.5%	33%	52%	-	-	7%^[d]	8%
Quinnipiac University	Apr 30 – May 4, 2020	945 (RV)	± 3.2%	33%	56%	-	-	3%^[e]	7%
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant	Mar 24 – Apr 3, 2020	1,000 (A)	± 3.0%	34%	47%	-	-	–	–
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant	Feb 24 – Mar 12, 2020	1,000 (A)	± 3.0%	36%	52%	-	-	–	–
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant	Dec 16, 2019 – Jan 2, 2020	1,000 (A)	± 3.0%	32%	52%	-	-	–	16%
Sacred Heart University/Hartford Courant	Sep 17 – Oct 2, 2019	1,000 (A)	± 3.2%	33%	52%	-	-	–	15%

show

Former candidates

Results[]

2020 United States presidential election in Connecticut^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Biden Kamala Harris	1,080,680	59.24%	+4.67%
	Republican	Donald Trump Mike Pence	715,291	39.21%	-1.72%
	Libertarian	Jo Jorgensen Spike Cohen	20,227	1.11%	-1.85%
	Green	Howie Hawkins Angela Walker	7,538	0.41%	-0.98%
	Write-in		544	0.03%
Total votes			1,824,280	100.00%

Results by county[]

County	Joe Biden Democratic		Donald Trump Republican		Jo Jorgensen Libertarian		Howie Hawkins Green		Other votes		Total votes
County	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	Total votes
Fairfield	62.90%	297,505	35.74%	169,039	0.97%	4,593	0.36%	1,681	0.04%	172	472,990
Hartford	63.06%	283,368	35.39%	159,024	1.12%	5,039	0.39%	1,773	0.03%	132	449,336
Litchfield	46.65%	50,164	51.70%	55,601	1.19%	1,280	0.45%	485	0.01%	14	107,544
Middlesex	57.30%	56,848	40.99%	40,665	1.22%	1,210	0.45%	444	0.04%	36	99,203
New Haven	58.05%	242,630	40.65%	169,893	0.88%	3,661	0.41%	1,693	0.03%	106	417,983
New London	56.92%	79,459	40.91%	57,110	1.62%	2,256	0.54%	757	0.02%	22	139,604
Tolland	54.70%	44,151	43.16%	34,838	1.58%	1,277	0.49%	398	0.06%	50	80,714
Windham	46.79%	26,706	51.05%	29,141	1.60%	914	0.54%	307	0.02%	14	57,082

By congressional district[]

Biden won all five congressional districts.

District	Trump	Biden	Representative
1st	35.3%	63.3%	John Larson
2nd	43.5%	54.5%	Joe Courtney
3rd	38.8%	59.9%	Rosa DeLauro
4th	34.5%	64.2%	Jim Himes
5th	43.9%	54.6%	Jahana Hayes

Notes[]

^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e 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
^ "Someone else" with 7%
^ "Someone else" with 2%; would not vote with 1%

References[]

^ "Connecticut Election Results 2020". The New York Times. 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. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
^ "Connecticut Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
^ "The Political Graveyard: Windham County, Conn". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
^ "Connecticut governor says primaries moved to June". CNN. March 19, 2020.
^ Dixon, Ken (April 17, 2020). "Connecticut's presidential primary will be delayed further by coronavirus: August 11". Connecticut Post.
^ "Connecticut Republican Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ "Connecticut Presidential Republican Primary Election Results". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
^ "August 2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary". Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
^ "2020 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Connecticut Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Hornberger wins Connecticut". Op A Vote. Libertarian Party of Connecticut. April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 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. "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. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
^ "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^ "Candidate List November 2020 Election". Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved September 17, 2020.

External links[]

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

[othercalc-27] Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.

[CTkey-28] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[29] Overlapping sample with the previous SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, but more information available regarding sample size

[30] "Someone else" with 7%

[31] "Someone else" with 2%; would not vote with 1%

[1] "Connecticut Election Results 2020". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2020.

[2] Kelly, Ben (August 13, 2018). "US elections key dates: When are the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential campaign?". The Independent. Retrieved January 3, 2019.

[3] "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.

[:0-4] "Connecticut Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.

[5] "The Political Graveyard: Windham County, Conn". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.

[6] "Connecticut governor says primaries moved to June". CNN. March 19, 2020.

[7] Dixon, Ken (April 17, 2020). "Connecticut's presidential primary will be delayed further by coronavirus: August 11". Connecticut Post.

[GP-GOP-8] "Connecticut Republican Delegation 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

[9] "Connecticut Presidential Republican Primary Election Results". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2021.

[10] "August 2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary". Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved August 28, 2020.

[11] "2020 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Connecticut Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved August 19, 2020.

[Connecticut-12] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Hornberger wins Connecticut". Op A Vote. Libertarian Party of Connecticut. April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.

[13] "2020 POTUS Race ratings" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

[14] "POTUS Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

[15] "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2020 President". crystalball.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved May 21, 2019.

[16] "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.

[17] "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.

[niskanen-18] 2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions Archived April 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.

[19] David Chalian; Terence Burlij. "Road to 270: CNN's debut Electoral College map for 2020". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2020.

[20] "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. Retrieved July 7, 2020.

[21] "2020 Election Battleground Tracker". CBS News. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.

[22] "2020 Presidential Election Interactive Map". 270 to Win.

[23] "ABC News Race Ratings". CBS News. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.

[24] "2020 Electoral Map Ratings: Trump Slides, Biden Advantage Expands Over 270 Votes". NPR.org. Retrieved August 3, 2020.

[25] "Biden dominates the electoral map, but here's how the race could tighten". NBC News. Retrieved August 6, 2020.

[26] "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 14, 2020.

[32] "Candidate List November 2020 Election". Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved September 17, 2020.

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[27]

show v t (2019 ←) 2020 United States elections (→ 2021)
U.S. President	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arizona (special) Arkansas Colorado Delaware Georgia Georgia (special) Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wyoming
U.S. House (election ratings)	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California 25th sp Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia 5th sp Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland 7th sp Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York 22nd 27th sp North Carolina 11th North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia U.S. Virgin Islands Washington West Virginia Wisconsin 7th sp Wyoming
Governors	American Samoa Delaware Lt. Gov Indiana Missouri Lt. Gov Montana New Hampshire North Carolina Lt. Gov North Dakota Puerto Rico Utah Vermont Washington Lt. Gov West Virginia
Attorneys general	Indiana Missouri Montana North Carolina Oregon Pennsylvania Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia
State legislatures	Alaska House Senate Arizona House Senate Arkansas House Senate California Assembly Senate Colorado House Senate Connecticut House Senate Delaware House Senate Florida House Senate Georgia House Senate Hawaii House Senate Idaho House Senate Illinois House Senate Indiana House Senate Iowa House Senate Kansas House Senate Kentucky House Senate Maine House Senate Massachusetts House Senate Michigan House 34th sp Minnesota House Senate Missouri House Senate Montana House Senate Nebraska Nevada Assembly Senate New Hampshire House Senate New Mexico House Senate New York Assembly Senate North Carolina House Senate North Dakota House Senate Ohio House Senate Oklahoma House Senate Oregon House Senate Pennsylvania House Senate Puerto Rico House Senate Rhode Island House Senate South Carolina House Senate South Dakota House Senate Tennessee House Senate Texas House Senate Utah House Senate Vermont House Senate Washington House Senate West Virginia House Senate Wisconsin Assembly Senate Wyoming House Senate
Mayors	Bakersfield, CA Baltimore, MD Baton Rouge, LA Clearwater, FL Corpus Christi, TX El Paso, TX Fresno, CA Honolulu, HI Irvine, CA Lubbock, TX Mesa, AZ Miami-Dade County, FL Milwaukee, WI Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Richmond, VA Riverside, CA Salt Lake County, UT Sacramento, CA San Diego, CA San Juan, PR Stockton, CA Tulsa, OK Virginia Beach, VA Wilmington, DE Winston-Salem, NC
Local	Clearwater, FL Cook County, IL Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles County, CA Orange County, CA Portland, OR San Diego, CA San Diego County, CA
State-wide	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas U.S. Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington, D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Related	Gerrymandering Postal voting Russian interference Voter suppression