The 2020 Illinois Democratic presidential primary took place on March 17, 2020, the third primary Tuesday of the month, as one of three states voting on the same day in the Democratic Party primaries for the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

, while the contest in Ohio had been postponed for roughly a month. The Illinois primary was an open primary, with the state awarding 182 delegates to the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...

, of which 155 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Immediately after the polls closed at 7:00 pm

Central Time Central Time may refer to: * Central Time Zone, a time zone in North America * Central European Time, a time zone in Europe *Australian Central Time, a time zone in Australia (see Time in Australia) {{disambiguation ...

, the Associated Press declared former vice president Joe Biden the winner of the Illinois primary. Biden was victorious in all but one county, Champaign County, winning 59% of the vote and 95 delegates, while senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

received the rest of 36% and 60 delegates. Together with his victories on the same day in Florida and Arizona, Biden greatly expanded the gap in delegates between him and Sanders. Voter turnout was significantly down from 2016, due to the closure of polling places as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Procedure

Illinois was one of three states which held primaries on March 17, 2020, alongside Arizona and Florida, while only one day before Ohio had been the first state to postpone its primary due to the COVID-19 pandemic and cancel in-person voting, accepting ballots until April 28 instead. Voting took place throughout the state from 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. In the open primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 155 pledged delegates to the

were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between three and eight were allocated to each of the state's 18 congressional districts and another 20 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 34 at-large delegates. As a March primary on Stage I of the primary timetable Illinois received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on a March date. National convention district level delegates were listed on the ballot and chosen during the primary. The national convention delegation meeting was subsequently held on April 27, 2020 to vote on the 34 at-large and 20 pledged PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention through a quorum of district delegates. The delegation also included 27 unpledged PLEO delegates: 10 members of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

, 15 members of Congress (both senators and 13 representatives), the governor J. B. Pritzker, and former president Barack Obama.

Candidates

The following candidates qualified for the ballot in Illinois: Running * Joe Biden * Tulsi Gabbard *

Withdrawn *

Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed t ...

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

* Cory Booker *

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...

* John Delaney *

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

* Tom Steyer * Elizabeth Warren * Andrew Yang

Polling

Results

Notes

References

External links

The Green Papers delegate allocation summaryIllinois Democratic Party delegate selection plan
{{2020 Democratic primaries Illinois Democratic Democratic primary

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Illinois Democratic primary