2020 United States presidential election in Arizona

2020 United States presidential election in Arizona

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
Turnout79.9% (of registered voters) Increase
 
Nominee Joe Biden Donald Trump
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Delaware Florida
Running mate Kamala Harris Mike Pence
Electoral vote 11 0
Popular vote 1,672,143 1,661,686
Percentage 49.36% 49.06%


President before election

Donald Trump
Republican

Elected President

Joe Biden
Democratic

The 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election, in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated.[1] Arizona voters chose 11 electors[2] to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Republican President Donald Trump of Florida and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana, against Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware and his running mate, United States Senator Kamala Harris of California. The Libertarian nominees were also on the ballot.

Trump carried Arizona in 2016 by 3.5%, and it was considered a vital battleground in this election. The state's bitterly competitive nature was attributed to diversification of Maricopa County, a traditionally Republican stronghold that holds 61.6% of the state's population.[3][4] Maricopa County was seen as vital to either candidate's chances in the state–only one presidential candidate has ever won the state without carrying it.[5] Biden became the first Democrat to win Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996, and only the second since Harry S. Truman in 1948. He is also the first Democrat to win Maricopa County since Truman,[6] with a margin of 2.2%, or 45,109 votes.[7] High turnout among Hispanic/Latino and Native American voters was also seen as vital. Polls of the state throughout the campaign generally showed a Biden lead, albeit by a slender margin. Prior to election day, 11 of the 16 news organizations considered that Arizona was leaning towards Biden; the other five considered it a toss-up.

Biden ultimately won the state by some 10,000 votes over Trump, a 0.3% margin, marking the first time a Democratic presidential nominee carried Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996, and only the second time since Harry S. Truman's 1948 victory. Arizona was the second-closest state in 2020, the only closer state being Georgia, marking the first time since 1948 that the Democratic nominee won both Sun Belt states in the same presidential election (Clinton won each state in separate elections). This was also the first time since 1932 that a non-incumbent Democrat carried Arizona in a presidential election, or that an incumbent Republican lost the state. Arizona weighed in as 4.15 percentage points more Republican than the nation in 2020.

After the election, the Republican-majority Arizona Senate launched a Maricopa County-based publicly-funded investigation into the election fraud alleged by Trump and his supporters. The controversial audit, completed in September 2021, found no evidence to support claims of significant election irregularities. Additionally, the count taken in audit gave Biden a greater lead of 360 votes over Trump than what the earlier, certified results had given.[8]

On April 24, 2024, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that a grand jury has indicited eleven fake electors and seven Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, for their roles in attempting to overturn the results for Trump.[9]

  1. ^ Kelly, Ben (August 13, 2018). "US elections key dates: When are the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential campaign?". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  3. ^ "County Population Totals: 2010-2019". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Collins, Keith; Fessenden, Ford; Gamio, Lazaro; Harris, Rich; Keefe, John; Lu, Denise; Lutz, Eleanor; Walker, Schoenfeld, Amy; Watkins, Derek (November 10, 2020). "Phoenix's Blue Wave Pushes Arizona Toward Biden". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 1, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "The Political Graveyard: Maricopa County, Ariz". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Cole, Brendan (November 13, 2020). "Joe Biden becomes first Democrat to win Arizona's Maricopa County since Truman". Newsweek.
  7. ^ "State of Arizona Official Canvass" (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. November 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Schwartz, David; Layne, Nathan (September 27, 2021). "'Truth is truth': Trump dealt blow as Republican-led Arizona audit reaffirms Biden win". Reuters. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  9. ^ Billeaud, Jacques; Kelety, Josh; Cooper, Jonathan J. (April 24, 2024). "Arizona indicts 18 in case over 2020 election in Arizona, including Giuliani and Meadows". Associated Press.

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