The 2020 United States state treasurer elections were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the state treasurer in seven states. These elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections.
The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2016. The state treasurer of Vermont serves a two-year term and was last elected in 2018. Going into the election, there were 22 Republican state treasurers and 20 Democratic state treasurers. Five Republican state treasurers were up for election, of whom Kelly Schmidt of North Dakota was retiring. Four Democratic state treasurers were up for election, all seeking re-election.
Republicans flipped the state treasurer's office in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, while Democrats flipped the state treasurer's office in Washington.
Partisan composition Going into these elections, this class of secretaries of state was made up of five Republicans and four Democrats. Republicans were defending one state won by Hillary Clinton in 2016 (Washington), while Democrats were defending two states won by Donald Trump in 2016 (Pennsylvania and West Virginia).
Race summary State State treasurer Party Firstelected Status Candidates Missouri Republican 2019 (appointed) Incumbent elected to full term. North Carolina Republican 2016 Incumbent re-elected. North Dakota Republican 2004 Incumbent retired. Republican hold. Oregon Democratic 2016 Incumbent re-elected. Pennsylvania Democratic 2016 Incumbent lost re-election. Republican gain. Utah Republican 2015 (appointed) Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Democratic 2010 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Republican 2016 Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain. West Virginia Democratic 1996 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain.
Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Pennsylvania, 0.8%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%: North Carolina, 5.16% Washington, 6.9%
Blue denotes races won by Democrats. Red denotes races won by Republicans.
Missouri
Incumbent state treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick ran and won re-election to a full term after he defeated Democratic nominee Vicki Englund with 59.1% of the vote.
North Carolina
Incumbent Republican Dale Fowell won re-election to a second term after he defeated Democratic nominee Ronnie Chatterji with 51.2% of the vote.
North Dakota
Incumbent Republican state treasurer Kelly Schmidt was eligible to run for re-election but instead chose to retire. State Representative Thomas Beadle won, defeating Democratic nominee Mark Haugen.
Oregon
Incumbent Democratic Tobias Read won re-election to a second term after he defeated Republican nominee Jeff Gudman with 51.7% of the vote.
Pennsylvania
Incumbent Democratic state treasurer Joe Torsella ran for a second term but was defeated by Republican nominee Stacy Garrity.
Utah
Incumbent Republican state treasurer David Damschen won re-election to a full term after he defeated Libertarian nominee Joseph Speciale.
Vermont
Incumbent Democratic Beth Pearce won re-election to a sixth term after she defeated Republican nominee Carolyn Whitney Branagan.
Washington
Incumbent Republican state treasurer Duane Davidson ran for re-election but was defeated by Democratic nominee Mike Pellicciotti.
West Virginia
Incumbent Democratic state treasurer John Perdue ran for re-election but was defeated by Republican nominee Riley Moore.
Notes
References