The following is a timeline of major events leading up and during the 2020 United States presidential election, the 59th quadrennial United States presidential election, from January to October 2020. For previous events, see Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election (2017–2019). For subsequent events, see Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election (November 2020–January 2021)
The presidential primaries and caucuses were held between February and August 2020, staggered among the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories. The conventions in August nominated president Donald Trump for the Republican Party and Joe Biden for the Democratic Party.
The "invisible primary" and debate period
The "invisible primary" is the first phase of any presidential contest, when hopefuls "test the waters" by forming PACS and "exploratory committees" in order to see if such an endeavor is worthwhile. This is followed by the formal announcement of candidacies, and a period of televised debates and other events prior to the beginning of delegate selection.
January 2020
January 2: Castro drops out of the Democratic primary, after failing to gain traction in the race and struggling to raise enough money to stay solvent. Struggling financially, Williamson lays off her entire campaign staff but pledges to stay in the race with just volunteers. January 6: Former Rhode Island governor and senator Lincoln Chafee announces his candidacy for the Libertarian Party nomination. January 10: Williamson drops out of the Democratic primary, eight days after laying off her entire campaign staff. Six candidates qualify for the seventh Democratic debate. January 13: Struggling financially, and facing the prospect of being forced off the campaign trail to attend the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump in his capacity as a senator, Booker drops out of the Democratic primary. January 14: The seventh Democratic debate takes place at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. January 15–16: The House of Representatives appoints impeachment managers, who then formally present the articles of impeachment to the Senate to begin the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump. This forces the remaining senators running for the Democratic nomination (Bennet, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren) off the campaign trail on the days when the trial is in session. January 17: The United States Supreme Court agrees to combine and hear Colorado Department of State v. Baca and Chiafalo v. Washington to resolve the question as to whether states can constitutionally punish faithless electors, a ruling that could fundamentally change the outcome of 2020 and future presidential elections. Start of early voting: Minnesota January 18: Start of early voting: Vermont, Virginia Democratic primary (In-Person Absentee) The first of a series of North Dakota Republican Party district conventions, which elect delegates to the state party convention. The North Dakota Republican Party does not hold any presidential preference caucus or primary per se, but instead selects their national convention delegates directly at the state party convention. January 20: Eight Democratic candidates appear at the Iowa Brown and Black Forum in Des Moines, Iowa. January 21: The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. is confirmed in Washington state. January 25: Start of early voting: Michigan January 28: The Lesser-Known Candidates Forum takes place at New Hampshire Institute of Politics on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, featuring 17 Republican and 33 Democratic minor candidates. January 30: The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. January 31: Unable to gain traction, Delaney drops out of the Democratic race, stating that he does not want to take support from other candidates in the upcoming Iowa caucuses. The Democratic National Committee removes the donor qualification requirements for the ninth and subsequent Democratic debates, paving the way for Bloomberg to participate since he is primarily using his own money instead of accepting individual donations. Several of Bloomberg's opponents complain that this is basically changing the rules in the middle of the game. A group of six Democratic National Committee members discuss potential rule changes designed to weaken Sanders's surging campaign and head off a brokered convention. A DNC spokesman later dismisses the idea. January 31: The Kansas Republican Convention assembles, where the second delegation to the national convention is chosen and officially bound to Trump.
February 2020
February 2: Start of early voting: Maine (In-Person Absentee) February 3: Iowa Democratic caucuses. Final results are delayed after the Iowa Democratic Party experiences problems with its new app-based reporting system, causing errors and inconsistencies in the counting. Iowa Republican caucuses are won by Trump Start of early voting: California February 4: The Nevada Democratic Party scraps the same app system that failed in Iowa, opting to directly use its backup reporting procedures for its state caucuses. The 2020 State of the Union Address, Trump's third State of the Union Address, and the second one after the 1999 address by Bill Clinton to be delivered by an impeached president. February 5: The Senate ends the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump and votes to acquit him, well short of the two-thirds super-majority required to convict him. February 6: The delays, errors, and inconsistencies surrounding the counting of the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses prompts Democratic chairman Tom Perez to call for a recanvass. Later that night, the Iowa Democratic Party announces the results of 100 percent of the precincts, showing Buttigieg and Sanders in a virtual tie for the lead (with the former having just a one-tenth of one percentage point advantage over the latter in state delegate equivalents) prompting several news organizations to not actually call a winner at this point. Buttigieg wins 14 pledged delegates, Sanders wins 12 pledged delegates, Warren wins 8 pledged delegates, Biden wins 6 pledged delegates, and Klobuchar wins 1 pledged delegate. February 7: Walsh drops out of the Republican primary, accusing the party of being a "cult" in which Trump cannot be beat, and vowing to help the Democratic nomination get elected in the November general election. Eighth Democratic debate, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, New Hampshire. February 10: Both Buttigieg and Sanders formally request a recanvass of specific Iowa Caucus precincts. February 11: New Hampshire Democratic primary: Sanders wins the popular vote, but his margin of victory over second-place Buttigieg is small enough that both candidates each clinch nine pledged delegates. Klobuchar wins six pledged delegates. Both Bennet and Yang drop out of the Democratic race due to consecutive poor performances in Iowa and New Hampshire. New Hampshire Republican primary is won by Trump February 12: After a poor performance in the New Hampshire primary, Patrick drops out of the Democratic race. Start of early voting: Tennessee February 13: Start of early voting: North Carolina February 15: Start of early voting: Nevada Democratic caucuses February 15–17: Moving America Forward infrastructure forum, Las Vegas, Nevada February 17: Start of early voting: Arkansas February 18: Start of early voting: Texas, Utah February 19: Start of early voting: Arizona Democratic primary Ninth Democratic debate, Paris Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada. February 21: Start of voting in Washington All voting is by mail. February 22: Nevada Democratic caucuses are won by Sanders. Sanders wins 24 pledged delegates, Biden wins 9 pledged delegates, and Buttigieg wins 3 pledged delegates. The Nevada Republican state committee officially binds its state delegation to Trump. February 24: Start of early voting: Colorado, Massachusetts February 25: Tenth Democratic debate, Gaillard Center, Charleston, South Carolina. February 27: The Iowa Democratic Party announces the results of the recount of the Iowa Democratic caucuses, changing Buttigieg's initial 0.003 percent victory in the state delegate equivalents to 0.04 percent. Start of early voting: Oklahoma February 29: South Carolina Democratic primary is won by Biden. Biden wins 39 pledged delegates and Sanders wins 15 pledged delegates. Unable to win any delegates during the first four Democratic contests, Steyer drops out of the race.
March 2020
March 1: Following his fourth-place finish in the South Carolina Democratic primary, Buttigieg drops out of the race. March 2: Klobuchar drops out of the Democratic race. Both she and Buttigieg then endorse, and urge moderate Democrats to rally around, Biden. March 3 (Super Tuesday): The New York Republican Party cancels its primary after Trump is the only candidate to submit the required number of names of his delegates. The candidates for delegate are declared elected. Voting begins in the Democrats Abroad primary Democratic primaries/caucuses: Biden wins ten states: Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia Bloomberg wins American Samoa Sanders wins four states: California, Colorado, Utah, and Vermont Republican primaries: Trump runs unopposed in Maine and Minnesota. Trump wins the other 11 states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont March 4: After an overall poor performance on Super Tuesday, Bloomberg drops out of the Democratic race and endorses Biden. The Free & Equal Elections Foundation sponsors a debate at the Hilton Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, attended by various third-party candidates, and minor Democratic and Republican candidates. March 5: After an overall poor performance on Super Tuesday, including in her home state of Massachusetts, Warren drops out of the Democratic race. March 10: Due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, both Biden and Sanders cancel their Ohio rallies. The Democratic National Committee also announces that the 11th Democratic debate on March 15 will be held without an audience. Voting period ends in the Democrats Abroad primary, with counting expected to be completed on March 23. Democratic primaries/caucuses: Washington, in which all voting is by mail, becomes too close to call with numerous votes still remaining to be counted. Four states are called for Biden: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri North Dakota is called for Sanders Republican primaries/caucuses: Trump runs unopposed in North Dakota (non-binding race) and Washington. Trump wins the four other states: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri March 11: The WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. March 12: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic National Committee moves the 11th Democratic debate on March 15 from Phoenix, Arizona to the CNN studios in Washington, D.C. March 13: Trump declares a national emergency regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Louisiana becomes the first state to postpone its primaries because of the COVID-19 pandemic, moving them from April 4 to June 20. March 14: Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucuses are won by Sanders. The Guam Republican Convention directly holds the territory's national delegate selection process, officially pledging all of its delegates to Trump. Georgia moves its primaries from March 24 to May 19 after a public health emergency is declared in the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. March 15: The Northern Mariana Islands Republican caucuses select national delegates bound to Trump. Eleventh Democratic debate, CNN studios in Washington, D.C. March 16: