The 2020 Oregon Democratic presidential primary took place on May 19, 2020 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 ...

and was the only contest on that date. The Kentucky primary, previously also scheduled for May 19, was delayed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, while

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

already had a total vote-by-mail primary. The Oregon primary was a

closed primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

and awarded 74 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 whom 61 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results. Former vice president Joe Biden won the primary with 66% of the vote and 46 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 ...

, who had suspended his campaign a month earlier, received nearly 21% and 15 delegates and senator

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

, also withdrawn, reached almost 10% of the vote.

Procedure

Following Kentucky's postponement of its primary to June 23, Oregon was the only state to vote on May 19, 2020 in the Democratic primaries and did not need to move the primary, as Oregon had been holding elections solely through

voting by mail Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...

for decades. Two bills had been introduced in the state house in January 2019 that would have shifted the whole primary date to the second Tuesday in March in even-numbered years (which would be tantamount to a primary a week after

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...

), with the first empowering the Oregon secretary of state to shift the date and the second permitting a primary move for the purpose of regional clustering, but neither bill moved beyond committee. Another bill introduced by Republicans in the state senate in March 2019 had also proposed shifting the Oregon primary to join Super Tuesday states on the first Tuesday in March with a separate presidential primary rather than a consolidated primary, but no further action was taken on the bill after an initial public hearing. Oregon was expected to accept mail-in ballots until 8:00 p.m. local time. Candidates had to meet a threshold of 15% at the congressional district or statewide level to be considered viable. The 61 pledged delegates to the

were allocated proportionally on the basis of the primary results. Of these, between 6 and 12 were allocated to each of the state's five congressional districts and another 7 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 13 at-large delegates. Originally planned with 52 delegates, the final number included a 20% bonus of 9 additional delegates on the 34 district and 11 at-large delegates awarded by 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 ...

due to the May date, which belonged to Stage III on the primary timetable. Congressional district conventions and the state convention instead of meeting voted by mail between May 27 and June 12 on district-level and statewide delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The delegation also included 13 unpledged PLEO delegates: 6 members of the

, 6 members of Congress (both senators and four representatives), and the governor

Kate Brown Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 38th governor of Oregon since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the ...

Candidates

The following candidates were on the ballot in Oregon: * Joe Biden *

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the firs ...

(withdrawn) *

(withdrawn)

Polling

Results

Notes

;Additional candidates

References

External links

The Green Papers delegate allocation summaryDemocratic Party of Oregon Delegate selection Plan

FiveThirtyEight Oregon primary poll tracker
{{2020 Democratic primaries

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Uni ...

Oregon Democratic

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- ...