2020 Democratic National Convention

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2020 Democratic National Convention
2020 presidential election
DNCC-2020-logo.png
Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center - Northeast view.jpg
The Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will be the site of the 2020 Democratic National Convention
Convention
Date(s)August 17–20, 2020
CityMilwaukee, Wisconsin
VenueFiserv Forum
ChairTom Perez
Candidates
Presidential nomineeJoe Biden of Delaware (presumptive)
Vice Presidential nomineeTBD
Voting
Total delegates3,979[a]
Votes needed for nomination1,991[1]
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2020 U.S. presidential election
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The 2020 Democratic National Convention is an event in which delegates of the United States Democratic Party will choose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election. Originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020,[2] the convention was postponed to August 17–20, 2020, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States.[3] The event is scheduled to be held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but may take place virtually.[4][5] Joe Solmonese, former President of the Human Rights Campaign, was named convention CEO in March 2019.[6]

Site selection[edit]

Bids on the site for the convention were solicited in late 2017 and were made public in the spring of 2018. Las Vegas later withdrew and decided to focus on the 2020 Republican National Convention, for which its bid was subsequently defeated by Charlotte.[7]

On June 20, 2018, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced four finalists for the convention site. Immediately following the announcement, the finalist city of Denver withdrew from consideration due to apparent scheduling conflicts.[8]

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced on March 11, 2019, that Milwaukee would host the convention.[9]

The selection of Milwaukee will make this the first Democratic National Convention to be hosted in the Midwestern United States since Chicago hosted the 1996 Democratic National Convention,[10] and the first to be hosted in a midwestern city other than Chicago since St. Louis hosted the 1916 Democratic National Convention.[11]

Bids[edit]

Winner[edit]

Finalists[edit]

With the exception of Milwaukee, each of the finalist cities was a past host of a Democratic convention. Denver hosted in both 1908 and 2008. Houston hosted in 1928. Miami hosted in 1972. In addition, both Houston and Miami have also previously hosted Republican National Conventions, with Houston hosting it once in 1992 and Miami having hosted both the 1968 and 1972 RNCs.

Other bids[edit]

Atlanta had previously hosted the 1988 convention.

Logistics[edit]

Host committee logo

Approximately 50,000 people are expected to attend the convention. 31 state delegations will stay in 2,926 Milwaukee-area hotel rooms and 26 delegations will stay in 2,841 hotel rooms in Lake County and Rosemont, Illinois. Another 11,000 hotel rooms will house volunteers, members of the media, donors, and other attendees.[18]

Milwaukee had been planning an extension of its streetcar line to be completed in advance of the convention. However, these plans faltered, and the expansion will not be completed in time for the convention.[19][20]

Organizers are also recruiting 15,000 volunteers.[21]

Delay[edit]

Due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, the convention has been delayed to the week of August 17.[3]

Format[edit]

Further information: 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and List of 2020 Democratic Party automatic delegates

Role of superdelegates[edit]

Superdelegates are delegates to the convention who are automatically chosen by the party, rather than by the results of primaries and caucuses. While technically unpledged, many of them have informally pledged themselves to a predesignated front-runner in previous elections. During the 2016 Democratic primaries, most of these favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.[22] The superdelegate system is controversial among Democrats, and supporters of both Clinton and Sanders have called for their removal in 2020.[23][24]

The Unity Reform Commission, created after the 2016 election, recommended[25] that the number of 2020 superdelegates be drastically reduced. As of July 2018, the DNC plans to revoke voting rights for superdelegates on the first ballot. They will be able to affect the selection of the presidential and vice presidential nominees only if voting continues to another ballot,[26] which has not happened since 1952 for the presidential nomination and 1956 for the vice-presidential nomination.[27]

Politico reported on January 31, 2020, that a small group of DNC members has been discussing plans to weaken Bernie Sanders's campaign by changing the rules to allow superdelegates to vote on the first ballot, in what would be a reversal of the reforms made following the 2016 election. However, prominent former DNC members, including Donna Brazile and Don Fowler, have argued against changing the rules again, while DNC chair Perez has denied the possibility of a rule change.[28]

Selection of pledged delegates[edit]

The number of delegates allocated to each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., are based on, among others, the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections. A fixed number of pledged delegates are allocated to each of the five U.S. territories and Democrats Abroad.[29]

Pre-convention delegate count[edit]

The table below reflects the presumed delegate count as per the 2020 Democratic primaries.

As of January 2020, the following overall number of pledged delegates is subject to change, as possible penalty/bonus delegates (awarded for each states scheduled election date and potential regional clustering) may be altered.[30]

Candidates who have suspended their campaigns without having received any pledged or superdelegate endorsements, as well as those who've suspended their campaigns and subsequently lost their endorsements to other candidates, are not included in the table below.

Pre-convention delegate count
Candidate First ballot
pledged delegates[30][31] 		Presumed 2nd ballot
"soft" count,
including superdelegates[32]
Joe Biden 1,292 1,470
Michael Bennet 3
Michael Bloomberg 49 55
Cory Booker 9
Steve Bullock 3
Pete Buttigieg 26 32
Tulsi Gabbard 2 2
Kirsten Gillibrand 1
Kamala Harris 12
Jay Inslee 4
Amy Klobuchar 7 14
Bernie Sanders 946 973
Tom Steyer 2
Eric Swalwell 1
Elizabeth Warren 79 102
Available delegates 1,578[30] 2,067
Total delegate votes 3,979[30] 4,750

Presidential and vice presidential balloting[edit]

Since 1996, uncontested balloting has been done by a full roll call vote. In 2008, the balloting was stopped short by agreement of the two candidates (there was a "secret ballot" earlier in the day so delegates for the losing side, in this case, Hillary Clinton, could cast their votes). In 2016, there were attempts to do away with the roll call, but the Sanders campaign refused this idea.[33]

Neither the Democratic nor Republican national conventions have had a multi-ballot vote for president since 1952 [34] or vice president since 1956.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The overall number of pledged delegates is subject to change as possible penalty/bonus delegates (awarded for each states scheduled election date and potential regional clustering) are not yet included.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "How to Win the Democratic Nomination, and Why It Could Get Complicated". New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Exclusive: Democrats, anticipating heated primary, set earlier 2020 convention date". CNN. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Evans, Brad (April 2, 2020). "DNC Convention delayed to August due to coronavirus". WISN.
  4. ^ Verhovek, John (March 11, 2019). "Milwaukee chosen as 2020 Democratic National Convention site". ABC News. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  5. ^ "Joe Biden raises idea of holding virtual DNC convention". WISN. Associated Press. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. ^ Glauber, Bill (26 March 2019). "Joe Solmonese named chief executive of 2020 Milwaukee Democratic convention". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b Verhovek, John (July 20, 2018). "Charlotte to host the 2020 Republican National Convention". ABC News.
  8. ^ a b c d e "City of Milwaukee 1 of 3 finalists to host 2020 Democratic National Convention". FOX6Now.com. 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  9. ^ Barrow, Bill; Bauer, Scott; Moreno, Ivan (March 12, 2019). "Democrats: Milwaukee convention choice shows party values". Associated Press. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  10. ^ Korecki, Natasha; Thompson, Alex (11 March 2019). "Milwaukee to host Democrats' 2020 convention". Politico. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  11. ^ Lipaz, Jessica (24 February 2019). "2020 Democratic National Convention has eyes on Milwaukee". The Daily Cardinal. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  12. ^ Glauber, Bill (August 22, 2018). "Selection committee for 2020 Democratic Convention will visit Milwaukee next week". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  13. ^ Ketterer, Samantha (August 16, 2018). "Houstonians rally around 2020 Democratic National Convention bid". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  14. ^ Kyra Gurney, Joey Flechas, Chabeli Herrera (June 27, 2018). "Cruise ship hotels, zoo parties and an NBA arena: Miami's Democratic convention pitch". Miami Herald. Retrieved August 22, 2018.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Sands, Darren (March 23, 2018). "Atlanta Will Bid To Host The 2020 Democratic National Convention". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  16. ^ Poe, Kelly (August 1, 2016). "Mayor Bell: Birmingham will seek the DNC again in 2020". AL.com. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  17. ^ Poe, Kelly (April 20, 2018). "Yes, Birmingham is again vying for the Democratic national convention". AL.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  18. ^ Glauber, Bill; Beck, Molly. "2020 DNC: 31 delegations to stay in Wisconsin and 26 in Illinois". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  19. ^ Jannene, Jeramey (23 July 2019). "Transportation: No Streetcar Expansion in Time for DNC". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  20. ^ Sandler, Larry (13 December 2019). "Why The Hop's Expansion Plans Went Off the Rails". Milwaukee Magazine. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  21. ^ Hauer, Sarah. "5 things Milwaukeeans can expect to see in the year before the 2020 Democratic National Convention". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  22. ^ Washington Week. "What are superdelegates? (And, yes, Republicans have them, too)", PBS, July 12, 2016.
  23. ^ Gabriel Debenedetti, Kaine calls for eliminating superdelegates: Hillary Clinton’s VP sides with Bernie Sanders in a fight that’s divided Democrats, Politico (November 15, 2017).
  24. ^ Bowden, John (December 7, 2017). "DNC leaders call for 'significant' cut in Dem superdelegates". Thehill.com. The Hill. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  25. ^ O'Malley Dillon, Jen, and Cohen, Larry. "Report of the Unity Reform Commission", Dec. 8-9, 2017.
  26. ^ Herndon, Astead W. "Democrats Take Major Step to Reduce Role of Superdelegates", New York Times, July 11, 2018.
  27. ^ Levy, Adam. "A new, smaller role proposed for superdelegates", CNN, June 8, 2018.
  28. ^ David Siders (Jan 31, 2020). "DNC members discuss rules change to stop Sanders at convention". Politico. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  29. ^ "The Math Behind the Democratic Delegate Allocation 2020". thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  30. ^ a b c d "Democratic Convention 2020". thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  31. ^ See Results of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
  32. ^ See Superdelegate endorsements
  33. ^ Stein, Jeff (26 July 2016). "How the DNC roll call vote managed to avoid impending disaster". Vox.
  34. ^ Kamarck, Elaine (February 21, 2020). "What is a brokered convention? What is a contested convention?". Brookings Institution. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
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