United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2020
| 2020 Democratic Party primary elections |
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Elections to the U.S. Senate were held on November 3, 2020. A total of 33 of the 100 seats were up for regular election. This page provides an overview of U.S. Senate Democratic Party primaries in 2020.
Those elected to the U.S. Senate in the 33 regular elections on November 3, 2020, began their six-year terms on January 3, 2021.
Special elections were also held to fill vacancies that occurred in the 116th Congress, including 2020 special U.S. Senate elections in Arizona for the seat that John McCain (R) won in 2016 and in Georgia for the seat that Johnny Isakson (R) won in 2016.
This page focuses on the U.S. Senate Democratic primaries. For more in-depth information about the U.S. Senate Republican primaries and general elections, see the following pages:
Partisan breakdown
Republicans gained two Senate seats in the 2018 general elections, bringing their majority up to 53. Democrats held 45 seats following the election, and independents who caucused with Democrats held two.
| U.S. Senate Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2018 | After the 2018 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 47 | 45 | |
| Republican Party | 51 | 53 | |
| Independent | 2 | 2 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 100 | 100 | |
Democratic primaries
Louisiana is included in the list below even though the state uses a majority-vote system in which all candidates regardless of partisan affiliation are listed on the same first-round ballot.
By date
| 2020 Democratic primaries by date | |
|---|---|
| Date | State |
| March 3 | |
| March 10 | |
| March 17 | |
| May 12 | |
| May 19 | |
| June 2 | |
| June 9 | |
| June 23 | |
| June 30 | |
| July 7 | |
| July 14 | |
| August 4 | |
| August 6 | |
| August 11 | |
| August 18 | |
| September 1 | |
| September 8 | |
| September 15 | |
| November 3 | |
By state
Alabama
Democratic primary candidatesThis primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
- Doug Jones (Incumbent) ✔
Alaska
Alaska Democratic and Independence primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyArizona
Democratic primary candidates- Mark Kelly ✔
- Bo Garcia (Write-in)
Arkansas
Democratic primary candidatesThe Democratic Party primary was canceled. No candidates filed for this race.
Colorado
Democratic primary candidates- Dan Baer
- Derrick Blanton
- Diana Bray
- Denise Burgess
- Ellen Burnes
- Lorena Garcia
- David Goldfischer
- Michael Johnston
- Danielle Kombo
- Dustin John Leitzel
- Alice Madden
- Critter Milton
- Keith Pottratz
- Stephany Rose Spaulding
- Erik Underwood
- John Walsh
- Michelle Ferrigno Warren
- Angela Williams
- Trish Zornio
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyDelaware
Democratic primary candidates- Chris Coons (Incumbent) ✔
- Jessica Scarane
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyGeorgia
- Regular election - United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)
Democratic primary candidates- Sarah Riggs Amico
- Marckeith DeJesus
- Maya Dillard Smith
- James Knox
- Tricia Carpenter McCracken
- Jon Ossoff ✔
- Teresa Tomlinson
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyIdaho
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyIllinois
Democratic primary candidates- Dick Durbin (Incumbent) ✔
Iowa
Democratic primary candidates- Michael Franken
- Kimberly Graham
- Theresa Greenfield ✔
- Eddie Mauro
- Cal Woods (unofficially withdrew)
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyKansas
Democratic primary candidatesKentucky
Democratic primary candidates- Jimmy Ausbrooks
- Charles Booker
- Mike Broihier
- Maggie Jo Hilliard
- Andrew Maynard
- Amy McGrath ✔
- Eric Rothmuller
- John Sharpensteen
- Bennie Smith
- Mary Ann Tobin
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyLouisiana[1]
Primary candidates- Bill Cassidy (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
- Beryl Billiot (Independent)
- John Paul Bourgeois (Independent)
- Reno Jean Daret III (Independent)
- Derrick Edwards (Democratic Party)
- Xan John (Independent)
- David Drew Knight (Democratic Party)
- M.V. Mendoza (Independent)
- Dustin Murphy (Republican Party)
- Jamar Myers-Montgomery (Independent)
- Adrian Perkins (Democratic Party)
- Antoine Pierce (Democratic Party)
- Melinda Mary Price (Independent)
- Aaron Sigler (Libertarian Party)
- Peter Wenstrup (Democratic Party)
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyMaine
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyMassachusetts
Democratic primary candidates- Edward J. Markey (Incumbent) ✔
- Joseph Kennedy III
Michigan
Democratic primary candidates- Gary Peters (Incumbent) ✔
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyMinnesota
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyMississippi
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyMontana
Democratic primary candidates- Steve Bullock ✔
- Mike Knoles (unofficially withdrew)
- John Mues
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyNebraska
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyNew Hampshire
Democratic primary candidates- Jeanne Shaheen (Incumbent) ✔
- Tom Alciere
- Paul Krautmann
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyNew Jersey
Democratic primary candidates- Cory Booker (Incumbent) ✔
- Lawrence Hamm
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyNew Mexico
Democratic primary candidatesNorth Carolina
Democratic primary candidatesOklahoma
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyOregon
Democratic primary candidates- Jeff Merkley (Incumbent) ✔
Rhode Island
Democratic primary candidates- Jack Reed (Incumbent) ✔
South Carolina
Democratic primary candidatesThis primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
South Dakota
Democratic primary candidatesThis primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyTennessee
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyTexas
Democratic primary candidates- Chris Bell
- Michael Cooper
- Amanda Edwards
- Jack Daniel Foster Jr.
- Annie Garcia
- Victor Harris
- Mary Jennings Hegar ✔
- Sema Hernandez
- D.R. Hunter
- Adrian Ocegueda
- Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez
- Royce West ✔
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyVirginia
Democratic primary candidatesThis primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
- Mark Warner (Incumbent) ✔
West Virginia
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveyWyoming
Democratic primary candidates = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection surveySeats up for election
Twelve seats held by Democrats and 23 seats held by Republicans were up for election in 2020, including the Arizona special election and the Georgia special election. In 2014, the Republican Party picked up nine seats, resulting in their having more seats to defend in 2020. The map below shows what seats were up for election and the incumbent heading into the election in each race.
Presidential election data
- Democrats were defending 2 seats in states won by Donald Trump (R) in the 2016 presidential election: Alabama (held by Doug Jones) and Michigan (held by Gary Peters). Trump won Alabama by 28 points and Michigan by less than 1 percentage point.
- Republicans were defending 2 seats in states won by Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2016 presidential election: Colorado (held by Cory Gardner) and Maine (held by Susan Collins). Clinton won Colorado by 5 points and Maine by 3 points.
In 2018, Senate seats were up for election in 10 states with a Democratic incumbent that Trump won and one state with a Republican incumbent that Clinton won. Click here for more details.
Outside ratings
The following table compared U.S. Senate race ratings from The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections prior to the November 2020 elections.
Special elections
Special elections to United States Senate are often required in the event of vacancies. This table lists special Senate elections from 2019 to 2020.
| Results of special elections to the 116th Congress (Senate) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Election date | Incumbent | Winner | Election MOV | Previous election MOV | 2016 Presidential election MOV |
| U.S. Senate in Arizona | November 3, 2020 |  Martha McSally[2] |
Mark Kelly |
D+3 | D+2 | R+4 |
| U.S. Senate in Georgia | January 5, 2021 (runoff) | Kelly Loeffler[3] |
Raphael Warnock |
D+2.1 | R+14 | R+5 |
See also
- United States Congress elections, 2020
- United States Senate elections, 2020
- United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2018
- United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2018
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2020
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Louisiana is included here even though the state uses a majority-vote system in which all candidates regardless of partisan affiliation are listed on the same first-round ballot.
- ↑ In December 2018, McSally was appointed to fill the Senate seat previously held by John McCain (R), who passed away in August 2018. Jon Kyl (R) was first appointed to the seat and held it from September 2018 to December 2018. The 2020 special election decided who would serve out the rest of the six-year term McCain was elected to in 2016.
- ↑ Isakson announced his resignation effective December 31, 2019. The 2020 special election decided who would serve out the rest of the six-year term Isakson was elected to in 2016.
