2020 Presidential Primaries Calendar

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) concerns, some states are postponing primary elections.

As of Apr. 8, 2020, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island have delayed voting. Alaska, Hawaii, and Wyoming Democrats have canceled in-person voting in favor of mail-in ballots.

Please check with your state officials to confirm your primary voting date.

Additionally, the Democratic National Convention has been moved from July to August.

Each state, DC, and US territory holds a Democratic and a Republican primary, caucus, or convention to select a presidential candidate before the party nominates a candidate for a nationwide presidential election. A primary is a statewide vote in which each voter selects their preferred candidate. A caucus is a "system of local gatherings" during which voters decide on a candidate. A state convention works like the national convention, in which the jurisdictions within the state hold primaries or caucuses and then send delegates to the convention to select a candidate. Most states hold primaries. If an election is a caucus or convention, it is noted below.

While we do not usually include US territories in our state-by-state lists and people in US territories cannot vote in the presidential election, each territory does have primaries or caucuses, sends delegates to the party conventions, and is therefore included below. We have not included primaries for third parties because they do not happen consistently in every state; we have included the third party conventions when dates are available.

Five states, DC, and three territories hold Democratic and Republican conventions in different months, hence their being marked in pink on the map above: Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky, Hawaii, North Dakota, DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam.

The candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties are selected at the conventions based on the number of delegates gained from each state. Delegates are people who travel to the national conventions to represent the state. The 2020 Democratic party convention will have an estimated 3,768 pledged delegates, plus an additional 764 superdelegates. The 2020 Republican national convention will have an estimated 2,440 pledged delegates, plus an additional 110 unpledged delegates. Pledged delegates have agreed to vote for the candidate who wins the state's election. Each state has rules on how delegates are awarded to candidates. Superdelegates, or unpledged delegates, are not bound to any particular candidate and may vote however they choose. To win the party nomination, a candidate must win the majority of the party's delegates.

Each primary or caucus is open, closed, or mixed. Open means that any registered voter may vote, regardless of party registration or affiliation, but must choose only one party's ballot to vote on. Closed means that only voters registered with the particular party may vote, and, in most cases, voters must be registered with the party before voting day. Mixed most often means that independent voters may vote without declaring party affiliation, though the rules vary state-by-state and by party.

Some state Republican parties have canceled their Republican primaries, including South Carolina, Kansas, and Arizona. According to Nik DeCosta-Kilpa, the cancelations have precedent in both parties: "[T]here's also a history of parties of an incumbent president canceling primaries in those states to save money, since the parties pay for primary elections. But when it has happened, it has usually been the case that the president was running without any major primary challengers. Arizona Democrats didn’t hold a presidential primary in 2012 and 1996. Kansas did the same in 1996, citing $1.4 million in savings. And both parties in South Carolina have canceled primaries twice since the 1980s." The canceled primaries are still listed below but marked as canceled.

FEBRUARY 2020
	Date	State	Party	Number of delegates to party convention	Open/Closed/Mixed
	Feb. 3	Iowa	Democratic caucus	41	mixed
			Republican caucus	40	mixed
	Feb. 11	New Hampshire	Democratic	24	mixed
			Republican	22	mixed
*South Carolina's Republican primary was canceled.	Feb. 15	South Carolina	Republican	50	open
	Feb. 15	Nevada	Democratic caucus	36	closed
*Nevada's Republican primary was canceled.	Feb. 25	Nevada	Republican caucus	25	closed
	Feb. 29	South Carolina	Democratic	54	open
MARCH 2020
	Date	State	Party	Number of delegates to party convention	Open/Closed/Mixed
Super Tuesday	Mar. 3	Alabama	Democratic	52	open
			Republican	50	open
*Alaska's Republican primary was canceled.	Mar. 3	Alaska	Republican caucus	28	closed
	Mar. 3	American Samoa	Democratic caucus	6	open
	Mar. 3	Arkansas	Democratic	31	open
			Republican	40	open
	Mar. 3	California	Democratic	416	mixed
			Republican	172	closed
	Mar. 3	Colorado	Democratic	67	open
			Republican	37	open
*Georgia's primary was moved to May 19, 2020 and then moved to June 9, 2020.	Mar. 3	Georgia	Democratic	105	open
			Republican	76	open
	Mar. 3	Massachusetts	Democratic	91	mixed
			Republican	41	mixed
	Mar. 3	Minnesota	Democratic	75	open
			Republican	39	open
	Mar. 3	North Carolina	Democratic	110	mixed
			Republican	71	mixed
	Mar. 3	Oklahoma	Democratic	37	mixed
			Republican	43	closed
	Mar. 3	Tennessee	Democratic	64	open
			Republican	58	open
	Mar. 3	Texas	Democratic	228	open
			Republican	155	open
	Mar. 3	Utah	Democratic	29	open
			Republican	40	closed
	Mar. 3	Vermont	Democratic	16	open
			Republican	17	open
	Mar. 3	Virginia	Democratic	99	open
			Republican	49	open
	Mar. 3	Democrats Abroad	Democratic	13	must be members of Democrats Abroad
*Kansas' Republican primary was canceled.	Mar. 7	Kansas	Republican caucus	39	mixed
*Kentucky's primary was moved to June 23, 2020.	Mar. 7	Kentucky	Republican caucus	46	closed
*Louisiana's primary was moved to June 20, 2020.	Mar. 7	Louisiana	Democratic	50	closed
			Republican	46	closed
	Mar. 7	Maine	Republican caucus	22	closed
	Mar. 8	Maine	Democratic caucus	22	closed
	Mar. 8	Puerto Rico	Republican	23	open
	Mar. 10	Hawaii	Republican caucus	19	closed
	Mar. 10	Idaho	Democratic	20	mixed
			Republican	32	closed
	Mar. 10	Michigan	Democratic	125	open
			Republican	73	open
	Mar. 10	Mississippi	Democratic	36	open
			Republican	39	open
	Mar. 10	Missouri	Democratic	68	open
			Republican	54	open
	Mar. 10	North Dakota	Democratic caucus	14	open
*Ohio's primary has been moved to Apr. 28 and is almost exclusively vote-by-mail.	Mar. 10	Ohio	Democratic	136	mixed
			Republican	82	mixed
	Mar. 10	Washington	Democratic	89	mixed
			Republican	44	closed
	Mar. 12	Virgin Islands	Republican caucus	9	closed
	Mar. 14	DC	Republican caucus	19	closed
	Mar. 14	Guam	Republican caucus	19	closed
	Mar. 14	Northern Marianas	Democratic convention	6	closed
	Mar. 14	Wyoming	Republican convention	12	mixed
	Mar. 17	Arizona	Democratic	67	closed
*Arizona's Republican primary was canceled.	Mar. 17	Arizona	Republican	57	closed
	Mar. 17	Florida	Democratic	67	closed
			Republican	57	closed
	Mar. 17	Illinois	Democratic	155	mixed
			Republican	67	mixed
	Mar. 17	Northern Marianas	Republican caucus	9	closed
	Mar. 24	American Samoa	Republican caucus	6	open
*Puerto Rico's primary was moved to Apr. 26, 2020.	Mar. 29	Puerto Rico	Democratic	51	open
*Wyoming has cancelled in-person voting for the Democratic caucus. Constituents may still vote by mail. Ballots need to be received by the Democratic party by Apr. 17.	Mar. 30	Wyoming	Democratic caucus	13	mixed
APRIL 2020
	Date	State	Party	Number of delegates to party convention	Open/Closed/Mixed
	Apr. 3-5	North Dakota	Republican convention	29	closed
*Alaska Democrats have canceled in-person voting. Constituents may still vote by mail. Ballots need to be received by the Democratic party Apr. 10, 2020	Apr. 4	Alaska	Democratic	14	open
*Hawaii Democrats have canceled in-person voting. Constituents may still vote by mail. Ballots need to be received by the Democratic party May 22, 2020.	Apr. 4	Hawaii	Democratic	22	open
*Wisconsin's primary was moved to June 9, 2020, however the state's Supreme Court overturned the change. The primary remains on Apr. 7, 2020.	Apr. 7	Wisconsin	Democratic	77	open
			Republican	52	open
*New York's Republican primary was canceled.	Apr. 23	New York	Republican	95	closed
*Puerto Rico's primary was moved from Mar. 29, 2020. and then postponed indefinitely.	Apr. 26	Puerto Rico	Democratic	51	open
*New York's Democratic primary was moved to June 23, 2020, later canceled, and reinstated.	Apr. 28	New York	Democratic	224	closed
*Connecticut's primary was moved to June 2, 2020.	Apr. 28	Connecticut	Democratic	49	closed
			Republican	28	closed
*Delaware's primary was moved to June 2, 2020.	Apr. 28	Delaware	Democratic	17	closed
			Republican	16	closed
*Maryland's primary was moved to June 2, 2020.	Apr. 28	Maryland	Democratic	79	mixed
			Republican	38	mixed
*Ohio's primary was moved from Mar. 10 and is almost exclusively vote-by-mail.	Apr. 28	Ohio	Democratic	136	mixed
*Pennsylvania's primary was moved to June 2, 2020.	Apr. 28	Pennsylvania	Democratic	153	closed
			Republican	88	closed
*Rhode Island's primary was moved to June 2, 2020	Apr. 28	Rhode Island	Democratic	21	mixed
			Republican	19	mixed
MAY 2020
	Date	State	Party	Number of delegates to party convention	Open/Closed/Mixed
	May 2	Kansas	Democratic	33	mixed
	May 2	Guam	Democratic caucus	6	closed
*Indiana's primary was moved to June 2, 2020.	May 5	Indiana	Democratic	70	open
			Republican	58	open
	May 12	Nebraska	Democratic	25	mixed
			Republican	36	mixed
	May 12	West Virginia	Democratic	24	mixed
			Republican	34	mixed
*Georgia's primary was moved from Mar. 3, 2020 and then moved to June 9, 2020	May 19	Georgia	Democratic	105	open
			Republican	76	open
	May 19	Kentucky	Democratic	46	closed
	May 19	Oregon	Democratic	52	closed
			Republican	28	closed
May 21-25, 2020 Libertarian National Convention

JUNE 2020
	Date	State	Party	Number of delegates to party convention	Open/Closed/Mixed
*Connecticut's primary was moved from Apr. 28, 2020	June 2	Connecticut	Democratic	49	closed
			Republican	28	closed
*Delaware's primary was moved from Apr. 28, 2020.	June 2	Delaware	Democratic	17	closed
			Republican	16	closed
*Indiana's primary was moved from May 5, 2020	June 2	Indiana	Democratic	70	open
			Republican	58	open
*Maryland's primary was moved from Apr. 28, 2020	June 2	Maryland	Democratic	70	mixed
			Republican	38	mixed
	June 2	Montana	Democratic	16	open
			Republican	27	open
*New Jersey's primary was moved to July 7, 2020.	June 2	New Jersey	Democratic	107	closed
			Republican	49	closed
	June 2	New Mexico	Democratic	29	closed
			Republican	22	closed
*Pennsylvania's primary was moved from Apr. 28, 2020.	June 2	Pennsylvania	Democratic	153	closed
			Republican	88	closed
*Rhode Island's primary was moved from Apr. 28, 2020.	June 2	Rhode Island	Democratic	21	mixed
			Republican	19	mixed
	June 2	South Dakota	Democratic	14	open
			Republican	29	closed
	June 6	Virgin Islands	Democratic caucus	6	closed
*Georgia's primary was first moved from Mar. 3, 2020 to May 19. It was later moved to June 9.	June 9	Georgia	Democratic	105	open
			Republican	76	open
	June 16	DC	Democratic	17	closed
*Louisiana's primary was moved from Mar. 7, 2020.	June 20	Louisiana	Democratic	50	closed
			Republican	46	closed
*Kentucky's primary was moved from Mar. 7, 2020	June 23	Kentucky	Republican caucus	46	closed
*New York's primary was moved from Apr. 28, 2020, later canceled, and ordered reinstated by a federal judge.	June 23	New York	Democratic	224	closed
JULY 2020
	Date	State	Party	Number of delegates to party convention	Open/Closed/Mixed
*New Jersey's primary was moved from June. 2, 2020	July 7	New Jersey	Democratic	107	closed
			Republican	49	closed
JULY 9-12, 2020 Green Party National Convention

Week of AUGUST 17, 2020 Democratic National Convention *The Democratic National Convention was rescheduled from July 13-16 due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) concerns.

AUGUST 24-27, 2020 Republican National Convention

NOVEMBER 3, 2020 Election Day

Sources:

Sarah Almukhtar, Jonathan Martin, and Matt Stevens, "2020 Presidential Election Calendar," June 25, 2019

Tal Axelrod, "Indiana Postpones Primary Due to Coronavirus Fears," thehill.com, Mar. 20, 2020

Tal Axelrod, "New Jersey Moves Primary Elections to July," thehill.com, Apr. 8, 2020

Ballotpedia, "Democratic Delegate Rules, 2020," ballotpedia.org (accessed July 10, 2019)

Ballotpedia, "Republican Delegate Rules, 2020," ballotpedia.org (accessed July 10, 2019)

Rafael Bernal, "Puerto Rico Delays Its Primary a Second Time," thehill.com, Apr. 2, 2020

Eric Bradner and Kate Sullivan, "Wisconsin Governor Orders Delay of Primary Election until June," cnn.com, Apr. 6, 2020

Devan Cole, "Alaska GOP Cancels Its 2020 Presidential Primary in Show of Support for Trump," cnn.com, Sep. 23, 2019

Nick Corasaniti and Stephanie Saul, "2020 Democratic Primary Election: Voting Postponed in 5 States Because of Virus," nytimes.com, Mar. 17, 2020

Nik DeCosta-Klipa, "Bill Weld Goes off on Republicans' Plans to Cancel Presidential Primaries in Several States," Sep. 6, 2019

Democrats Abroad, "Democrats Abroad Calls on Americans Abroad to Participate in the 2020 Presidential Primary," democratsabroad.org, May 3, 2019

Jonathan Easley and Justine Coleman, "Wisconsin Supreme Court Blocks Governor's Effort to Delay Election," thehill.com, Apr. 6, 2020

D'Angelo Gore, "Caucus vs. Primary," factcheck.org, Apr. 8, 2008

The Green Papers, "2020 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions," thegreenpapers.com (accessed July 10, 2019)

Max Greenwood, "Georgia further Delays Primary Election to June," thehill.com, Apr. 9, 2020

Chris Keller, "2020: Democratic Primaries and Key Dates on the Presidential Election Calendar," latimes.com, June 26, 2019

Catherine Kim, "The 2020 Election Calendar," vox.com, June 26, 2019

Libertarian Convention, "2020 Libertarian National Convention," libertariancovention.org (accessed July 10, 2019)

Bill Mahoney, "New York Cancels Republican Presidential Primary," politico.com, Mar. 3, 2020

Nevada Republican Party, "Nevada GOP Re-Elects Chairman Michael J. McDonald, Opts out of 2020 Caucus," nevadagop.org, Sep. 9, 2019

Open Primaries, "Open Primaries State-by-State," openprimaries.org (accessed July 10, 2019)

Open Primaries, "Primary Type Definitions," openprimaries.org (accessed July 10, 2019)

Miles Parks, "Voting Amid Coronavirus: What You Need to Know," npr.org, Mar. 16, 2020

Starlene Rankin (Green Party Staff), Email, Sep. 7, 2019

Kate Sullivan, "Connecticut Governor Says Primaries Moved to June," cnn.com, Mar. 19, 2020

Kate Sullivan, "Rhode Island Postpones Primaries and Alaska Democrats Cancel In-Person Voting Due to Coronavirus," cnn.com, Mar. 23, 2020

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