2020 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

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. 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.

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

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.

Republican primary

Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker declined to run, as did Utah Senator and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Libertarian primary

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.

+ Massachusetts Libertarian presidential primary, March 3, 2020CandidateVotesPercentage All others95825.0% No preference80421.0% Vermin Supreme39910.4% Jacob Hornberger3699.6% Dan Behrman2947.7% Kim Ruff (withdrawn)2245.8% Arvin Vohra1513.9% Ken Armstrong1453.8% Jo Jorgensen1413.7% Sam Robb1273.3% Adam Kokesh1253.3% Max Abramson982.6% Total 3,835 100%

Green primary

+ Massachusetts Green Party presidential primary, March 3, 2020 https://electionstats.state.ma.us/elections/view/135904/ Candidate Votes Percentage National delegatesDario 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 0Write-In 369 27.8 0No Preference 316 23.8 7 Total1326100.00%11

General election

Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political ReportSeptember 10, 2020Inside ElectionsSeptember 4, 2020Sabato's Crystal BallJuly 14, 2020PoliticoSeptember 8, 2020RCPAugust 3, 2020Niskanen2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions , Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.July 26, 2020CNNAugust 3, 2020The EconomistSeptember 2, 2020270towinAugust 2, 2020ABC NewsJuly 31, 2020NBC NewsAugust 6, 2020538September 9, 2020

Polling

Aggregate polls +Source of pollaggregationDates administeredDates updatedJoeBiden DonaldTrumpOther/UndecidedMargin270 to Win270 to WinOctober 17 – November 2, 2020November 3, 202065.0%28.7%6.3%Biden +36.3RealClearPoliticsRealClearPoliticsJuly 31 – August 27, 2020September 15, 202064.0%28.3%7.7%Biden +35.7FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEightuntil November 2, 2020November 3, 202064.6%28.9%6.5%Biden +35.8Average64.5%28.6%6.8%Biden +35.9

Polls Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrumpJoeBidenJoJorgensenHowieHawkinsOtherUndecidedMassIncMassInc Oct 23–30, 2020 929 (LV) –28%62% - -8%2%SurveyMonkey/AxiosSurveyMonkey/AxiosOct 1–28, 20205,848 (LV) –28%70% - - – –YouGov/UMass AmherstYouGov/UMass Amherst Oct 14–21, 2020 713 (LV) – 29%64% - - 3% 3%SurveyMonkey/AxiosSep 1–30, 20202,655 (LV) –32%66% - - –2%SurveyMonkey/AxiosAug 1–31, 20202,286 (LV) –29%69% - - –2%Emerson College/WHDHEmerson College/WHDHAug 25–27, 2020763 (LV)± 3.5%31%69% - - – –MassINC/WBURMassINC/WBURAug 6–9, 2020501 (LV)± 4.4%27%63% - -5%4%UMass/YouGovUMass/YouGovJul 31 – Aug 7, 2020500 (RV)± 5.9%28%61% - - – –SurveyMonkey/AxiosJul 1–31, 20202,509 (LV) –26%72% - - –2%MassINCJul 17–20, 2020797 (RV) –23%55% - -10%12%SurveyMonkey/AxiosJun 8–30, 20201,091 (LV) –27%71% - - –2%Emerson College/7 NewsEmerson College/7 NewsMay 4–5, 2020740 (RV)± 3.5%33%67% - - – –University of Massachusetts Lowell/YouGovUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell/YouGovApr 27 – May 1, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.6%30%58% - -7%4%Emerson CollegeEmerson College Apr 4–7, 2019 761 (RV) ± 3.5% 31% 69% - - – –with Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrump (R) BernieSanders (D) UndecidedEmerson College Apr 4–7, 2019 761 (RV) ± 3.5% 36% 64% –

with Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrump (R) ElizabethWarren (D) UndecidedEmerson College Apr 4–7, 2019 761 (RV) ± 3.5% 37% 63% –

Results

By county County Joe BidenDemocratic Donald TrumpRepublican Various candidatesOther 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% 432,014Totals2,382,20265.60%1,167,20232.14%81,9982.26%1,215,00033.46%3,631,402

Ashburnham (Worcester) Athol (Worcester) Barre (Worcester) Bellingham (Norfolk) Billerica (Middlesex) Bridgewater (Plymouth) Bourne (Barnstable) East Longmeadow (Hampden) Granby (Hampshire) Groveland (Essex) Hanover (Plymouth) Hardwick (Worcester) Kingston (Plymouth) Lynnfield (Essex) Mendon (Worcester) Millbury (Worcester) Northbridge (Worcester) Orange (Franklin) Pembroke (Plymouth) Pepperell (Middlesex) Plainville (Norfolk) Plympton (Plymouth) Raynham (Bristol) Rowley (Essex) Royalston (Worcester) Rutland (Worcester) Salisbury (Essex) Saugus (Essex) Sterling (Worcester) Sutton (Worcester) Tewksbury (Middlesex) Townsend (Middlesex) Tyngsborough (Middlesex) Uxbridge (Worcester) Webster (Worcester) West Brookfield (Worcester) Westfield (Hampden) Westminster (Worcester) Whitman (Plymouth) Wilbraham (Hampden)

By congressional district Biden won all nine congressional districts, breaking 60% of the vote in eight of them. District Trump Biden Representative 37% 61% Richard Neal 36% 61% Jim McGovern 34% 63% Lori Trahan 34% 64% Joe Kennedy III Jake Auchincloss 24% 74% Katherine Clark 35% 62% Seth Moulton 13% 85% Ayanna Pressley 32% 66% Stephen Lynch 40% 58% Bill Keating

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. 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. 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. 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. 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 2020 Massachusetts general election United States presidential elections in Massachusetts 2020 United States elections 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries 2020 Green Party presidential primaries 2020 United States elections

Notes

References

Further reading

. (About incident in Dalton, Massachusetts)

External links

(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)