The 2020 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The Massachusetts primary was a semi-closed primary, with the state awarding 114 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 91 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.
While senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had been thoroughly projected in all pre-election polls and forecasts to compete for victory till the last day, former vice president Joe Biden, who had barely polled over 15% in the state, made an enormous surge and won by a large margin with over 33% of the vote and 37 delegates, continuing his string of Super Tuesday victories. One of the greatest upsets of the night, Biden almost certainly owed his success to the last minute endorsements from former Democratic opponents Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O'Rourke after his South Carolina win. Sanders finished behind in second place with nearly 27% and 30 delegates, while Warren's third-place finish in her home state with around 21% of the vote and 24 delegates was regarded the final crush to her candidacy. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg did not win any delegates.
Procedure Massachusetts was one of 14 states and one territory holding primaries on March 3, 2020, also known as "Super Tuesday". Voting took place throughout the state from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in much of the state, with some precincts opening at 5:45 a.m. In the semi-closed primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level to be considered viable. The 91 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between 6 and 8 were allocated to each of the state's 9 congressional districts and another 12 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 20 at-large delegates.). The Super Tuesday primary as part of Stage I on the primary timetable received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on the first shared date or on a March date in general.
After congressional district caucuses on April 25, 2020, during which national convention district delegates were selected, the state party committee met on May 16, 2020, and voted on the 20 at-large and 12 pledged PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention. The delegation was joined by 23 unpledged PLEO delegates: 9 members of the Democratic National Committee, 11 members of Congress (both senators, notably Elizabeth Warren, and 9 representatives, including former candidate Seth Moulton), as well as former DNC chairs Steven Grossman, Debra DeLee, and Paul G. Kirk. Pledged nationalconvention delegates Type Type CD1 6 CD6 6 CD2 6 CD7 8 CD3 6 CD8 7 CD4 6CD96 CD5 8 12 At-large 20Total pledged delegates 91
Candidates The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth released the following list of candidates on the ballot:
Running
Joe Biden Michael Bloomberg Tulsi Gabbard Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren
Withdrawn
Michael Bennet Cory Booker Pete Buttigieg Julian Castro John Delaney Amy Klobuchar Deval Patrick Tom Steyer Marianne Williamson Andrew Yang
There were also a write-in option and a "no preference" option on the ballot.
Polling Polling AggregationSource of poll aggregation Dateupdated Datespolled BernieSanders ElizabethWarren JoeBiden MichaelBloomberg TulsiGabbard Others/Undecided270 to Win270 to Win March 3, 2020 Until March 3, 202022.4% 21.0% 15.0% 13.6% 1.8% 26.2%FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEight March 3, 2020 until March 3, 2020 24.4% 21.0% 18.1% 14.5% 0.4% 21.6%Average23.4% 21.0% 16.6% 14.0% 1.1% 23.9%Massachusetts primary results (March 3, 2020) 26.6% 21.4%33.4% 11.7% 0.7% 6.1%
Tabulation of individual polls of the 2020 Massachusetts Democratic Primary Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin JoeBiden MichaelBloomberg CoryBooker PeteButtigieg KamalaHarris AmyKlobuchar BetoO'Rourke DevalPatrick BernieSanders ElizabethWarren Other Undecided Mar 2, 2020 Klobuchar withdraws from the race; endorses BidenSwayableSwayable Mar 1–2, 2020 917 (LV) ± 4.0% 17% 18% – 11% – 5% – – 27% 15% 8% –Data for ProgressData for Progress Feb 28–Mar 2, 2020 301 (LV) ± 5.6% 26% 15% – 2% – 1% – – 26% 28% 2% – Mar 1, 2020 Buttigieg withdraws from the race; endorses BidenSuffolk University/Boston Globe/WBZ-TVSuffolk University/Boston Globe/WBZ-TV Feb 26–29, 2020 500 (LV) - 11.0% 13.0% – 12.4% – 5.0% – –24.2% 22.2% 3.6% 8.6%WBUR/MassINCWBUR/MassINC Feb 23–26, 2020 426 (LV) ± 4.9% 9% 13% - 14% - 6% - -25% 17% 9% 8%UMass AmherstUMass Amherst Feb 18–24, 2020 400 (LV) ± 5.9% 12% 9% - 14% - 7% - -25% 23% 8% 3%Falchuk & DiNataleFalchuk & DiNatale Feb 16–18, 2020 453 (LV) – 13% 13% – 13% – 14% – –17% 16% 5% 8%University of Massachusetts LowellUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell Feb 12–19, 2020 450 (LV) ± 6.1% 14% 12% – 15% – 9% – –21% 20% 6% 4% Feb 12, 2020 Patrick withdraws from the raceFalchuk & DiNataleFalchuk & DiNatale Jan 27–30, 2020 334 (LV) – 16% 8% – 6% – 7% – 3% 12%23% 7% – Jan 13, 2020 Booker withdraws from the race Dec 3, 2019 Harris withdraws from the race Nov 24, 2019 Bloomberg announces his candidacy Nov 14, 2019 Patrick announces his candidacy Nov 1, 2019 O'Rourke withdraws from the raceWBURWBUR Oct 16–20, 2019 456 ± 4.6% 18% – 0% 7% 3% 1% 0% – 13% 33% 7% 15%Suffolk UniversitySuffolk University Sep 3–5, 2019 500 - 26% – 1% 5% 3% 0% 1% – 8% 24% 6% 25% Aug 23, 2019 Moulton withdraws from the raceSuffolk UniversitySuffolk University Jun 5–9, 2019 370 ± 5.1%22% – 1% 8% 5% 0% 1% – 6% 10% 5% 42% Apr 25, 2019 Biden announces his candidacy Apr 22, 2019 Moulton announces his candidacy Apr 14, 2019 Buttigieg announces his candidacyEmerson CollegeEmerson College Apr 4–7, 2019 371 ± 5.0% 23% – 2% 11% 7% 2% 8% – 26% 14% 8% – Mar 14, 2019 O'Rourke announces his candidacy Feb 19, 2019 Sanders announces his candidacy Feb 10, 2019 Klobuchar announces her candidacy Feb 9, 2019 Warren announces her candidacy Feb 1, 2019 Booker announces his candidacy Jan 21, 2019 Harris announces her candidacyYouGov/UMass AmherstYouGov/UMass Amherst Nov 7–14, 2018 655 –19% – 3% – 6% 3% 10% 6% 14% 11% 1% 27%
Hypothetical polling with only Biden, Sanders and Warren Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin JoeBiden BernieSanders ElizabethWarren UndecidedEvan Falchuk and Lou DiNatalie/Commonwealth MagazineEvan Falchuk and Lou DiNatalie/Commonwealth Magazine Oct 23–25, 2019 443 (LV) – 35% 13%41% 11%
Results
2020 Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary Candidate Votes % Delegates Joe Biden473,86133.4137 Bernie Sanders 376,990 26.58 30 Elizabeth Warren 303,864 21.43 24 Michael Bloomberg 166,200 11.72 rowspan=15 Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn) 38,400 2.71 Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn) 17,297 1.22 Tulsi Gabbard 10,548 0.74 Deval Patrick (withdrawn) 6,923 0.49 Tom Steyer (withdrawn) 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 1,418,180100% 91
Results by county +2020 Massachusetts Democratic primary (results per county)CountyJoe BidenBernie SandersElizabeth WarrenMichael BloombergPete ButtigiegAmy KlobucharTulsi GabbardDeval PatrickTom SteyerAndrew YangMichael BennetJohn DelaneyMarianne WilliamsonCory BookerJulian CastroNo PreferenceBlank ballotsAll OthersTotal votes castVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Barnstable21,42338.4412,10621.729,39916.868,01114.372,1773.911,0561.893880.702130.384260.76860.15450.08180.03310.06130.0220.001860.331030.18510.0955,734Berkshire10,97838.358,19628.635,54919.382,6349.204611.612270.791150.402100.73280.10260.09150.05110.04130.0560.02110.04800.28440.15220.0828,626Bristol29,18136.9122,88528.9410,60613.4110,35013.092,1962.788181.036350.805470.694880.621200.15880.11460.06440.06370.05250.035040.643070.391890.2479,066Dukes1,96232.631,63227.151,28721.4171811.941923.19991.65360.60190.32300.5080.1350.0800.0030.0520.0310.0270.1260.1050.086,012Essex52,90033.9741,87726.8928,22018.1220,66113.274,7613.062,1111.361,4820.958520.558900.572640.171670.11790.05670.04490.03480.035860.384450.292680.17155,727Franklin4,80423.548,18540.115,15925.281,2746.243051.491590.781610.79840.41660.32420.2180.04470.23100.0520.0110.00440.22440.22130.0620,408Hampden23,00936.6019,26030.638,59913.687,86012.501,1701.865990.954840.775370.851410.221180.191650.26620.10300.05280.04440.073190.512570.411890.3062,871Hampshire10,72224.3515,31834.7812,98629.493,0526.937211.644260.972310.521410.32570.13580.13170.0490.02160.0480.0260.011460.33860.20410.0944,041Middlesex123,55330.5499,70424.64109,31827.0245,72711.3011,3022.795,3281.322,7330.681,3740.341,5170.378950.222550.061360.031240.031020.03490.011,2690.318270.204040.10404,617Nantucket1,05540.5662423.9938414.7637314.34662.54351.35150.5890.35170.6540.1520.0840.1510.0400.0000.0090.3520.0810.042,601Norfolk61,91437.0236,07421.5734,12620.4023,10113.814,7912.862,3171.391,3520.816580.398620.523450.211020.06550.03680.04420.03110.016940.414670.282750.16167,254Plymouth37,27038.6423,25424.1114,21414.7413,39013.883,3523.481,4001.459330.975660.597890.821640.17600.06530.05590.06330.03190.024680.493060.321270.1396,457Suffolk47,60829.7948,63630.4341,88526.2113,7458.602,5131.579650.608190.519740.613770.243120.202130.131030.06700.04590.04520.034640.298180.511960.12159,809Worcester47,48235.1839,23929.0822,13216.4015,30411.344,3933.261,7571.301,1640.867390.551,0740.802660.201150.09520.04810.06450.03360.035690.423490.261600.12134,957Total473,86133.41376,99026.58303,86421.43166,20011.7238,4002.7117,2971.2210,5480.746,9230.496,7620.482,7080.191,2570.096750.056170.044260.033050.025,3450.384,0610.291,9410.141,418,180
Analysis
According to exit polls, Biden overwhelmingly won voters over 50, followed by Warren, while Sanders did the same with voters under 40. Voters between the ages of 40 and 49 years old were split between Biden (32%) and Sanders (31%). Biden also won white voters by 8 points over Sanders and African-American voters by 7 points, while Sanders won the Hispanic/Latino vote over Biden by 13 points. Sanders also won the LGBTQ+ voters over Warren and Biden by 12 and 23 points respectively.
Biden carried 7 of the state's 9 congressional districts: the 1st, 3rd, 4th (where Biden got his widest margin of victory), 5th, 6th, 8th, and the 9th. Sanders carried the remaining districts. The one comprised by the Boston-Metro Area showed the best performance for Sanders, and was the only district where Warren finished second. This was a change from the pre-election prediction that Biden would do better in this district and Sanders worse.
Notes Polling Notes
See also 2020 Massachusetts Republican presidential primary Spoiler effect Split vote
References
External links The Green Papers delegate allocation summary Massachusetts Democratic Party delegate selection plan FiveThirtyEight Massachusetts primary poll tracker