2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

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The 2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts 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] Massachusetts 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. Massachusetts has 11 electoral votes in the Electoral College.[3]

Quick facts Turnout, Nominee ...
2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
← 2016
November 3, 2020
2024 →
Turnout76.00%[1] Increase
 
Nominee Joe Biden Donald Trump
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Delaware Florida
Running mate Kamala Harris Mike Pence
Electoral vote 11 0
Popular vote 2,382,202 1,167,202
Percentage 65.60% 32.14%
President before election

Donald Trump
Republican

 Elected President

Joe Biden
Democratic

Close

Prior to the election, Massachusetts was widely considered a state Biden would win or a safe blue state. On election day, Biden easily carried Massachusetts with a 33-point margin, the largest margin whereby any nominee had carried the state since Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide. Massachusetts was one of three states where Biden won every county, the other two being Rhode Island and Hawaii.

Massachusetts voted 29% more Democratic than the national average.

Primary elections

Presidential preference primaries were scheduled for March 3, 2020, for each of the political parties with state ballot access.

Democratic primary

Main article: 2020 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden were among the declared major Democratic candidates. Elizabeth Warren, one of the two current senators from Massachusetts, formed an exploratory committee in December 2018 and declared her intention to run in February 2019.[4][5]

This section is an excerpt from 2020 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary § MAresults.[edit]
More information Candidate, Votes ...
2020 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary[6]
Candidate Votes % Delegates[7]
Joe Biden 473,861 33.41 37
Bernie Sanders 376,990 26.58 30
Elizabeth Warren 303,864 21.43 24
Michael Bloomberg 166,200 11.72
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn)[a] 38,400 2.71
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn)[a] 17,297 1.22
Tulsi Gabbard 10,548 0.74
Deval Patrick (withdrawn) 6,923 0.49
Tom Steyer (withdrawn)[a] 6,762 0.48
Andrew Yang (withdrawn) 2,708 0.19
Michael Bennet (withdrawn) 1,257 0.09
John Delaney (withdrawn) 675 0.05
Marianne Williamson (withdrawn) 617 0.04
Cory Booker (withdrawn) 426 0.03
Julian Castro (withdrawn) 305 0.02
All Others 1,941 0.14
No Preference 5,345 0.38
Blank ballots 4,061 0.29
Total 1,418,180 100% 91
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Republican primary

Main article: 2020 Massachusetts Republican presidential primary

Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker declined to run, as did Utah Senator and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.[8][9][10][11]

This section is an excerpt from 2020 Massachusetts Republican presidential primary § MAresults.[edit]
More information Candidate, Popular vote ...
2020 Massachusetts Republican presidential primary[12]
Candidate Popular vote Delegates
Count Percentage
Donald Trump (incumbent) 239,115 86.32 41
Bill Weld 25,425 9.18 0
Joe Walsh (withdrawn) 3,008 1.09 0
Rocky De La Fuente 675 0.24 0
No Preference 4,385 1.58 0
Blank ballots 2,242 0.81 0
All Others 2,152 0.78 0
Total 277,002 100% 41
Close

Libertarian primary

Main article: 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries
Quick facts Candidate, Home state ...
2020 Massachusetts Libertarian presidential primary
March 3, 2020
2024 →
← CA
NC →
 
Candidate Write-in
(uncounted)		 No preference Vermin Supreme
Home state Various N/A Massachusetts
Popular vote 958 804 398
Percentage 25.0% 21.0% 10.4%
 
Candidate Jacob Hornberger Dan Behrman Kim Ruff
(withdrawn)
Home state Virginia Nevada Arizona
Popular vote 369 294 224
Percentage 9.6% 7.7% 5.8%
Election results by county[b]
  No preference
  Jacob Hornberger
Close

A number of Libertarian candidates declared for the race, including New Hampshire State Representative Max Abramson, Adam Kokesh, Vermin Supreme and former Libertarian National Committee vice-chair Arvin Vohra.[13][14][15]

More information Candidate, Votes ...
Massachusetts Libertarian presidential primary, March 3, 2020[16]
Candidate Votes Percentage
All others 958 25.0%
No preference 804 21.0%
Vermin Supreme 399 10.4%
Jacob Hornberger 369 9.6%
Dan Behrman 294 7.7%
Kim Ruff (withdrawn) 224 5.8%
Arvin Vohra 151 3.9%
Ken Armstrong 145 3.8%
Jo Jorgensen 141 3.7%
Sam Robb 127 3.3%
Adam Kokesh 125 3.3%
Max Abramson 98 2.6%
Total 3,835 100%
Close

Green primary

Main article: 2020 Green Party presidential primaries
More information Candidate, Votes ...
Massachusetts Green Party presidential primary, March 3, 2020 [17]
Candidate Votes Percentage National delegates
Dario Hunter 224 16.9 2
Howie Hawkins 217 16.4 1
Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry 141 10.6 1
Kent Mesplay 55 4.1 0
David Rolde 4 0.3 0
Write-In 369 27.8 0
No Preference 316 23.8 7
Total 1326 100.00% 11
Close

General election

Predictions

More information Source, Ranking ...
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[18] Safe D September 10, 2020
Inside Elections[19] Safe D September 4, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[20] Safe D July 14, 2020
Politico[21] Safe D September 8, 2020
RCP[22] Safe D August 3, 2020
Niskanen[23] Safe D July 26, 2020
CNN[24] Safe D August 3, 2020
The Economist[25] Safe D September 2, 2020
270towin[26] Safe D August 2, 2020
ABC News[27] Safe D July 31, 2020
NBC News[28] Safe D August 6, 2020
538[29] Safe D September 9, 2020
Close

Polling

Graphical summary

%support010203040506070804/7/20207/31/20209/30/2020TrumpBidenJorgensenHawkinsOther/undecidedOpinion polling for the 2020 United States p...
View source data.

Aggregate polls

More information Source of poll aggregation, Dates administered ...
Source of poll
aggregation		 Dates
administered		 Dates
updated		 Joe
Biden
Democratic		 Donald
Trump
Republican		 Other/
Undecided
[c]		 Margin
270 to Win[30] October 17 – November 2, 2020 November 3, 2020 65.0% 28.7% 6.3% Biden +36.3
RealClearPolitics[31] July 31 – August 27, 2020 September 15, 2020 64.0% 28.3% 7.7% Biden +35.7
FiveThirtyEight[32] until November 2, 2020 November 3, 2020 64.6% 28.9% 6.5% Biden +35.8
Average 64.5% 28.6% 6.8% Biden +35.9
Close

Polls

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[d]		 Margin
of error		 Donald
Trump
Republican		 Joe
Biden
Democratic		 Jo
Jorgensen
Libertarian		 Howie
Hawkins
Green		 Other Undecided
MassInc[33] Oct 23–30, 2020 929 (LV) – 28% 62% - - 8%[e] 2%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[34] Oct 1–28, 2020 5,848 (LV) – 28% 70% - - – –
YouGov/UMass Amherst[35] Oct 14–21, 2020 713 (LV) – 29% 64% - - 3%[f] 3%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[34] Sep 1–30, 2020 2,655 (LV) – 32% 66% - - – 2%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[34] Aug 1–31, 2020 2,286 (LV) – 29% 69% - - – 2%
Emerson College/WHDH[36] Aug 25–27, 2020 763 (LV) ± 3.5% 31% 69% - - – –
MassINC/WBUR[37] Aug 6–9, 2020 501 (LV) ± 4.4% 27% 63% - - 5%[g] 4%
UMass/YouGov[38] Jul 31 – Aug 7, 2020 500 (RV) ± 5.9% 28% 61% - - – –
SurveyMonkey/Axios[34] Jul 1–31, 2020 2,509 (LV) – 26% 72% - - – 2%
MassINC[39] Jul 17–20, 2020 797 (RV) – 23% 55% - - 10%[h] 12%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[34] Jun 8–30, 2020 1,091 (LV) – 27% 71% - - – 2%
Emerson College/7 News[40] May 4–5, 2020 740 (RV) ± 3.5% 33%[i] 67% - - – –
University of Massachusetts Lowell/YouGov[41] Apr 27 – May 1, 2020 1,000 (RV) ± 3.6% 30% 58% - - 7%[j] 4%
Emerson College[42] Apr 4–7, 2019 761 (RV) ± 3.5% 31% 69% - - – –
Close
More information Former candidates, Poll source ...
Close

Results

More information Party, Candidate ...
2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts[43]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Biden
Kamala Harris 		2,382,202 65.60 +4.62
Republican Donald Trump
Mike Pence		 1,167,202 32.14 –0.67
Libertarian Jo Jorgensen
Spike Cohen		 47,013 1.29 –2.93
Green Howie Hawkins
Angela Walker		 18,658 0.51 –0.95
Write-in 16,327 0.45 –1.07
Total votes 3,631,402 100% +1.49
Democratic win
Close
Treemap of the 2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts.
Biden:
     50-60%      60-70%
     70-80%      80-90%

By county

More information County, Joe Biden Democratic ...
County Joe Biden
Democratic		 Donald Trump
Republican		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Barnstable 91,994 61.20% 55,311 36.79% 3,020 2.01% 36,683 24.41% 150,325
Berkshire 51,705 72.44% 18,064 25.31% 1,606 2.25% 33,641 47.13% 71,375
Bristol 153,377 54.92% 119,872 42.92% 6,030 2.16% 33,505 12.00% 279,279
Dukes 9,914 77.47% 2,631 20.56% 253 1.97% 7,283 56.91% 12,798
Essex 267,198 63.44% 144,837 34.39% 9,175 2.17% 122,361 29.05% 421,210
Franklin 30,030 70.73% 11,201 26.38% 1,227 2.89% 18,829 44.35% 42,458
Hampden 125,948 57.73% 87,318 40.02% 4,911 2.25% 38,630 17.71% 218,177
Hampshire 63,362 72.12% 22,281 25.36% 2,211 2.52% 41,081 46.76% 87,854
Middlesex 617,196 71.47% 226,956 26.28% 19,425 2.25% 390,240 45.19% 863,577
Nantucket 5,241 71.74% 1,914 26.20% 151 2.06% 3,327 45.54% 7,306
Norfolk 273,312 67.03% 125,294 30.73% 9,145 2.24% 148,018 36.30% 407,751
Plymouth 173,630 57.53% 121,227 40.17% 6,959 2.30% 52,403 17.36% 301,816
Suffolk 270,522 80.64% 58,613 17.47% 6,327 1.89% 211,909 63.17% 335,462
Worcester 248,773 57.58% 171,683 39.74% 11,558 2.68% 77,090 17.84% 432,014
Totals2,382,20265.60%1,167,20232.14%81,9982.26%1,215,00033.46%3,631,402
Close
Municipalities that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Biden won all nine congressional districts, breaking 60% of the vote in eight of them.[44]

More information District, Trump ...
District Trump Biden Representative
1st 37% 61% Richard Neal
2nd 36% 61% Jim McGovern
3rd 34% 63% Lori Trahan
4th 34% 64% Joe Kennedy III
Jake Auchincloss
5th 24% 74% Katherine Clark
6th 35% 62% Seth Moulton
7th 13% 85% Ayanna Pressley
8th 32% 66% Stephen Lynch
9th 40% 58% Bill Keating
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Analysis

Massachusetts has been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960, and has maintained extremely large Democratic margins since 1996. This remained true in 2020, with Massachusetts being one of six states (along with Hawaii, Vermont, Maryland, California, and New York) to give Biden over 60% of the vote. Massachusetts is ethnically diverse, highly urbanized, highly educated, and among the least religious states.

Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Biden's strength came from winning 74% of college-educated voters, which carries particular weight in Massachusetts, as the state contains the highest proportion of graduates of any state in the country.[45] Trump's slip among suburban white voters led Biden to carry almost every municipality in the Greater Boston area by at least 60% or more, while Trump carried only several towns on the South Shore and in Central Massachusetts. Biden won 298 of the 351 municipalities.[46] Biden swept all demographic groups, garnering 63% of whites, 84% of Latinos, 58% of Catholics, 56% of Protestants, and 86% of Jewish voters. Additionally, Biden won 52% of whites without a college degree within the state, one of Trump's strongest demographics elsewhere in the country.[45] While Biden overwhelmingly carried Latino voters in the state, Trump improved on his 2016 performance in heavily Hispanic cities such as Lawrence, Chelsea, and Holyoke.[47] Nevertheless, Trump had the worst vote share in Massachusetts of any Republican nominee since Bob Dole in 1996, and slightly underperformed George W. Bush's 32.5% vote share in 2000.

Massachusetts was one of five states in the nation in which Biden's victory margin was larger than 1 million raw votes, the others being California, Maryland, New York and Illinois.

See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Candidate withdrew after early voting started, but before the date of the election.
  2. [b]
    Excluding write-ins, which were not tallied.
  3. [c]
    Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
  4. [d]
    Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  5. [e]
    "Some other candidate" with 5%; "Refused" with 3%; would not vote with no voters
  6. [f]
    "Other" with 3%; would not vote with 0%
  7. [g]
    "Another candidate" with 2%; "Refused" with 3%
  8. [h]
    "Some other candidate" with 7%; would not vote with 3%
  9. [i]
    Including voters who lean towards a given candidate
  10. [j]
    "Another candidate" with 7%

References

Further reading

External links

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