2020 United States presidential election in California
← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
Turnout80.67% (of registered voters) Increase 5.40 pp
70.88% (of eligible voters) Increase 12.14 pp[1]
 
Nominee Joe Biden Donald Trump
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Delaware Florida
Running mate Kamala Harris Mike Pence
Electoral vote 55 0
Popular vote 11,110,250 6,006,429
Percentage 63.48% 34.32%
President before election

Donald Trump
Republican

Elected President

Joe Biden
Democratic

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Mayoral elections:

The 2020 United States presidential election in California was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated.[2] California voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California. California had, in the 2020 election 55 electoral votes in the Electoral College, the most of any state. California was one of six states where Trump received more percentage of the two-party vote than he did in 2016.[a] This election also marked the first time since 2004 that the Republican candidate won more than one million votes in Los Angeles County, due to increased turnout statewide.

California is considered a safe blue state in presidential elections, due to significant concentrations of Democratic voters in large urban regions such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

As predicted, Biden easily carried California on election day, earning 63.5% of the vote and a margin of 29.2% over Trump. Biden earned the highest percentage of the vote in the state for any candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, although Biden's margin of victory was slightly smaller than Hillary Clinton's 30.1% in 2016, making it one of just six states in which Trump improved on his 2016 margin. Biden became the first candidate in any race for any office in U.S. history to win more than 10 million votes in a single state, while Trump also received the most votes a Republican has ever received in any state in any race since the country's founding, even narrowly besting his vote total in Texas, a state that he won.[3] Biden's vote margin was the largest vote margin for a presidential candidate in a singular state.

Per exit polls by Edison Research, Biden dominated key Democratic constituencies in the state including Latinos with 75%, African Americans with 82%, Asian Americans with 76%, and union households with 63%.[4] Post-election analysis by Cook Political Report showed Trump made inroads with some Asian American constituencies, particularly Vietnamese American and Filipino American voters.[5]

Biden flipped Butte County and Inyo County into the Democratic column, which had not voted Democratic since 2008 and 1964, respectively. Biden's victory in Orange County was only the second time a Democrat carried the county since 1936, as well as only the fourth time in the county's history. In contrast, while he improved his total vote share by nearly three percentage points, Trump did not flip any counties and his main regions of strength came from Republican strongholds in Gold Country, Shasta Cascade, and parts of the Central Valley. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified the results on December 4, and took Harris's seat in the Senate upon her resignation to become Vice President, having been appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom.[6]

California was one of five states in the nation in which Biden's victory margin was larger than 1 million raw votes, the others being New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois. Over 5 million votes of Biden's 7 million vote lead nationwide were Californian votes.

Primary elections

In a departure from previous election cycles, California held its primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020.[7] Early voting began several weeks earlier.

Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination on March 17, 2020, defeating several longshot candidates, most notably former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Kamala Harris, the state's junior U.S. senator, was among the Democratic candidates declared until she dropped out on December 3, 2019. Representative Eric Swalwell from the 15th district was also a Democratic candidate but dropped out of the race on July 8, 2019. Other prominent state figures, including former Governor Jerry Brown, current Governor Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti declined to run.[8][9][10]

Republican primary

Main article: 2020 California Republican presidential primary

The Republican Party's primary campaign was dominated by a lawsuit over the President's taxes.[11] The suit alleges that the new requirement for several years of a candidate's taxes was unconstitutional and onerous. The law was blocked in September 2019 while State Supreme court heard testimony and made a ruling.[12]

As a contingency, the Republican state committee changed its delegate selection process, turning the primary into a mere "beauty contest" and setting up an emergency state convention to Trump's delegate choices.[13] If Trump were allowed on the ballot, the convention would be canceled and the so-called "winner-take-most" rules, which require a challenger to get 20% of the vote, would apply.

Incumbent Trump was allowed on the ballot, and the contingency convention was canceled.

2020 California Republican presidential primary[14]
Candidate Votes % Estimated
delegates
Donald Trump 2,279,120 92.2% 172
Bill Weld 66,904 2.7% 0
Joe Walsh (withdrawn) 64,749 2.6% 0
Rocky De La Fuente 24,351 1.0% 0
Matthew John Matern 15,469 0.6% 0
Robert Ardini 12,857 0.5% 0
Zoltan Istvan 8,141 0.3% 0
Total 2,471,591 100%

Democratic primary

Main article: 2020 California Democratic presidential primary

Candidates began filing their paperwork on November 4, 2019, and the final list was announced on December 9.

Leading California Democrats complained that Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were snubbing the state by refusing to attend a forum at the State's "endorsement convention".[15] Early voting began on February 11 and ended the day before primary day.

Popular vote share by county
  Sanders—<30%
  Sanders—30–40%
  Sanders—40–50%
  Sanders—50–60%
  Biden—<30%
  Biden—30–40%
2020 California Democratic presidential primary[16]
Candidate Votes % Delegates[17]
Bernie Sanders 2,080,846 35.97 225
Joe Biden 1,613,854 27.90 172
Elizabeth Warren 762,555 13.18 11
Michael Bloomberg 701,803 12.13 7
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn)[b] 249,256 4.31
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn)[b] 126,961 2.19
Tom Steyer (withdrawn)[b] 113,092 1.96
Andrew Yang (withdrawn)[c] 43,571 0.75
Tulsi Gabbard 33,769 0.58
Julian Castro (withdrawn) 13,892 0.24
Michael Bennet (withdrawn)[c] 7,377 0.13
Marianne Williamson (withdrawn) 7,052 0.12
Cory Booker (withdrawn) 6,000 0.10
John Delaney (withdrawn) 4,606 0.08
Joe Sestak (withdrawn) 3,270 0.06
Deval Patrick (withdrawn)[c] 2,022 0.03
Other candidates / Write-in [d]14,438 0.25
Total 5,784,364 100% 415
Bernie Sanders rally at the Los Angeles Convention Center
Senator Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in San Jose on March 1, 2020
Joe Biden's presidential campaign in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on March 5, 2020
Votes (percentage) and delegates by district[17][18][19]
District Bernie Sanders Joe Biden Michael Bloomberg Elizabeth Warren Total delegates District region Largest city
1st 34% 2 23.7% 2 10.3% 0 12.9% 0 4 Shasta Cascade Chico, Redding
2nd 33.3% 3 25.3% 2 13.5% 0 15.9% 1 6 North Coast Eureka
3rd 34.3% 3 29.3% 2 12% 0 12% 0 5 Sacramento Valley Fairfield
4th 26.1% 2 29.6% 3 14.7% 0 11.4% 0 5 Sierras Roseville
5th 32.7% 3 27.2% 3 14.9% 0 12.6% 0 6 Wine Country Santa Rosa
6th 35.8% 3 28.1% 2 10.7% 0 14.3% 0 5 Sacramento Valley Sacramento
7th 30.9% 2 31.4% 3 13% 0 11.2% 0 5 Sacramento Valley Elk Grove
8th 35.7% 2 31.2% 2 11.8% 0 8.8% 0 4 Eastern Desert Victorville
9th 32.9% 2 32.5% 2 15.9% 1 7% 0 5 San Joaquin Valley Stockton
10th 35.5% 2 29.1% 1 15.3% 1 7.2% 0 4 San Joaquin Valley Modesto
11th 29% 2 30.7% 3 15.3% 1 14.7% 0 6 Bay Area Concord
12th 33.8% 3 23.9% 2 11% 0 23.4% 2 7 San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco
13th 38.7% 3 22.4% 2 8.1% 0 24.7% 2 7 Bay Area Oakland
14th 31.9% 3 26.4% 2 15.6% 1 14.8% 0 6 Bay Area Daly City
15th 34.1% 3 29.5% 3 14.4% 0 11.5% 0 6 Bay Area Hayward
16th 40.9% 3 26.2% 1 12.6% 0 7.2% 0 4 San Joaquin Valley Fresno, Merced
17th 36.1% 3 25.9% 2 14.3% 0 12.5% 0 5 Bay Area Fremont, Santa Clara
18th 26.6% 2 29% 2 15.4% 1 17.1% 1 6 Bay Area Sunnyvale
19th 38.9% 4 25.9% 2 13.6% 0 10.7% 0 6 Bay Area San Jose
20th 39.8% 3 25.5% 2 10.9% 0 13% 0 5 Central Coast Salinas
21st 43.2% 3 25.3% 1 13.7% 0 5.1% 0 4 San Joaquin Valley Kings, Kern, SW Fresno
22nd 34.4% 2 29.1% 2 13% 0 8.8% 0 4 San Joaquin Valley Visalia
23rd 34.9% 2 30.2% 2 12.2% 0 9% 0 4 South Central California Bakersfield
24th 35.3% 3 26.8% 2 10.5% 0 14.7% 0 5 Central Coast Santa Maria
25th 35.6% 3 33.6% 2 10% 0 10% 0 5 LA County Santa Clarita
26th 34.4% 3 31.1% 2 12.1% 0 11.5% 0 5 Central Coast Oxnard
27th 35.9% 2 29.2% 2 10.2% 0 15.7% 1 5 LA County San Gabriel Valley
28th 40% 3 22.7% 2 7.5% 0 21.7% 1 6 LA County Glendale
29th 49.8% 3 21.5% 2 7.7% 0 11.2% 0 5 LA County San Fernando Valley
30th 32.6% 3 31.2% 2 11.2% 0 15.4% 1 6 LA County San Fernando Valley
31st 39.1% 3 32.3% 2 11% 0 8.3% 0 5 Southern California San Bernardino
32nd 44.7% 3 28.2% 2 10.5% 0 7.5% 0 5 LA County El Monte
33rd 26.2% 2 34.2% 3 14.3% 0 16.1% 1 6 LA County Santa Monica, Coastal LA
34th 53.7% 4 16.8% 1 8.1% 0 14.7% 0 5 LA County Downtown Los Angeles
35th 46.6% 2 28.2% 2 10.9% 0 6.2% 0 4 Southern California Fontana
36th 27.5% 1 29.8% 2 15.4% 1 8.1% 0 4 Eastern Desert Indio
37th 35.6% 3 31.3% 2 10.1% 0 16.2% 1 6 LA County West LA
38th 41.7% 3 30.8% 2 10.5% 0 7.6% 0 5 LA County Norwalk
39th 36.7% 3 30.5% 2 12.6% 0 9.6% 0 5 Southern California Fullerton
40th 56.4% 4 20.9% 1 8.9% 0 5.4% 0 5 LA County East Los Angeles
41st 45% 3 27.9% 2 10.7% 0 7.5% 0 5 Southern California Riverside
42nd 37% 3 31.6% 2 12.4% 0 7.9% 0 5 Southern California Corona
43rd 36.5% 3 34.3% 2 10% 0 10.3% 0 5 LA County Inglewood
44th 44% 3 29.6% 2 6.2% 0 9.6% 0 5 Los Angeles County Compton
45th 34% 3 29.1% 2 13.5% 0 12% 0 5 Southern California Irvine
46th 53.7% 2 20% 2 10.5% 0 7.7% 0 4 Southern California Anaheim
47th 38.5% 3 27.3% 2 10.6% 0 12.2% 0 5 Southern California Long Beach
48th 30.4% 2 30.3% 2 16.3% 1 11% 0 5 Southern California Huntington Beach
49th 30.6% 3 30.5% 2 14.6% 0 12.2% 0 5 Southern California Oceanside
50th 34.9% 2 27.6% 2 13% 0 11.3% 0 4 Southern California Escondido
51st 49.2% 3 23.7% 2 11.3% 0 6.8% 0 5 Southern California Downtown San Diego and Border Communities
52nd 30.6% 3 30% 3 13.4% 0 14.6% 0 6 Southern California North San Diego
53rd 37.8% 3 27.3% 3 10.1% 0 14.5% 0 6 Southern California Eastern San Diego and suburbs
Total 36.0% 144 27.9% 109 12.1% 7 13.2% 11 271
Pledged delegates[18]
Delegate type Bernie Sanders Joe Biden Michael Bloomberg Elizabeth Warren
At-large 51 39 0 0
PLEO 30 24 0 0
District-level 144 109 7 11
Total 225 172 7 11

Libertarian primary

Main article: 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries
2020 California Libertarian presidential primary
← 2016 March 3, 2020 2024 →
← MN
MA →
 
Candidate Jacob Hornberger Jo Jorgensen Vermin Supreme
Home state Virginia South Carolina Massachusetts
Popular vote 5,530 3,534 3,469
Percentage 19.4% 12.4% 12.2%
 
Candidate Ken Armstrong Kim Ruff
(withdrawn) 		Adam Kokesh
Home state Oregon Arizona Indiana
Popular vote 3,011 2,330 2,161
Percentage 10.6% 8.2% 7.6%
 
Candidate Sam Robb Dan Behrman Max Abramson
Home state Pennsylvania Nevada New Hampshire
Popular vote 1,722 1,695 1,605
Percentage 6.0% 5.9% 5.6%
Election results by county
  Jacob Hornberger
  Vermin Supreme
  Ken Armstrong
  Kim Ruff
  Sam Robb
  Tie

The Libertarian Party of California permitted non-affiliated voters to vote in their presidential primary.[20]

Green primary

Main article: 2020 Green Party presidential primaries
2020 California Green primary[21]
Candidate Votes Percentage National delegates
Howie Hawkins 4,202 36.2% 16 estimated
Dario Hunter 2,558 22.0% 9 estimated
Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry 2,071 17.8% 8 estimated
Dennis Lambert 1,999 17.2% 7 estimated
David Rolde 774 6.7% 3 estimated
Total 9,656 100.00% 43

American Independent primary

The American Independent Party permitted non-affiliated voters to vote in their presidential primary.[20]

2020 California American Independent primary[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
American Independent Phil Collins 11,532 32.8
American Independent Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente 7,263 21.0
American Independent Don Blankenship 6,913 19.7
American Independent J. R. Myers 5,099 14.5
American Independent Charles Kraut 4,216 12.0
Total votes 35,723 100%

Peace and Freedom primary

2020 California Peace and Freedom primary[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Peace and Freedom Gloria La Riva 2,570 66.0
Peace and Freedom Howie Hawkins 1,325 34.0
Total votes 3,895 100%

General election

Final predictions

Source Ranking
The Cook Political Report[24] Solid D
Inside Elections[25] Solid D
Sabato's Crystal Ball[26] Safe D
Politico[27] Solid D
RCP[28] Solid D
Niskanen[29] Safe D
CNN[30] Solid D
The Economist[31] Safe D
CBS News[32] Likely D
270towin[33] Safe D
ABC News[34] Solid D
NPR[35] Likely D
NBC News[36] Solid D
538[37] Solid D

Polling

Graphical summary
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Aggregate polls

Source of poll
aggregation 		Dates
administered 		Dates
updated 		Joe
Biden
Democratic 		Donald
Trump
Republican 		Other/
Undecided
[e] 		Margin
270 to Win October 17–27, 2020 November 3, 2020 61.7% 32.3% 6.0% Biden +29.4
Real Clear Politics September 26 – October 21, 2020 October 27, 2020 60.7% 31.0% 8.3% Biden +29.7
FiveThirtyEight until November 2, 2020 November 3, 2020 61.6% 32.4% 6.0% Biden +29.2
Average 61.3% 31.9% 6.8% Biden +29.4

Polls

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump
Republican 		Joe
Biden
Democratic 		Jo
Jorgensen
Libertarian 		Howie
Hawkins
Green 		Other Undecided
SurveyMonkey/Axios Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2020 12,370 (LV) ± 1.5% 36%[g] 62% – – – –
David Binder Research Oct 28 – Nov 1, 2020 800 (LV) – 31% 62% – – 3% 4%
USC Schwarzenegger Institute Oct 27–31, 2020 1,155 (RV) ± 3% 28% 65% – – 4%[h] 2%
SurveyMonkey/Tableau Sep 30 – Oct 28, 2020 22,450 (LV) – 37%[g] 61% – – – –
Swayable Oct 23–26, 2020 635 (LV) ± 5.2% 35% 62% 2% 1% – –
UC Berkeley/LA Times [1] Oct 16–21, 2020 5,352 (LV) ± 2% 29% 65% 1% 0% 0%[i][j] 3%
Public Policy Institute of California Oct 9–18, 2020 1,185 (LV) ± 4.3% 32% 58% 3% 2% 1%[k] 4%
SurveyMonkey/Tableau Sep 1–30, 2020 20,346 (LV) – 35% 63% – – – 2%
SurveyUSA Sep 26–28, 2020 588 (LV) ± 5.4% 34% 59% – – 3%[l] 6%
Redfield & Wilton Strategies Sep 19–21, 2020 1,775 (LV) – 28% 62% 1% 1% 1%[m] 8%
UC Berkeley/LA Times [2] Sep 9–15, 2020 5,942 (LV) ± 2% 28% 67% 1% 0% 0%[i][j] 3%
Public Policy Institute of California Sep 4–13, 2020 1,168 (LV) ± 4.3% 31% 60% 3% 2% 1%[k] 2%
Spry Strategies/Women's Liberation Front Archived September 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine [n] Aug 29 – Sep 1, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 39% 56% – – – 5%
SurveyMonkey/Tableau Aug 1–31, 2020 17,537 (LV) – 35% 63% – – – 2%
David Binder Research Aug 22–24, 2020 800 (LV) – 31% 61% – – 3%[o] 5%
Redfield and Wilton Strategies Aug 9, 2020 1,904 (LV) ± 2.3% 25% 61% 1% 1% 2%[p] 9%
SurveyMonkey/Tableau Jul 1–31, 2020 19,027 (LV) – 35% 63% – – – 2%
University of California Berkeley [3] Jul 21–27, 2020 6,756 (LV) ± 2.0% 28% 67% – – – 5%
SurveyMonkey/Tableau Jun 8–30, 2020 8,412 (LV) – 36% 62% – – – 2%
Public Policy Institute of California May 19–26, 2020 1,048 (LV) ± 4.6% 33% 57% – – 6%[q] 3%
SurveyUSA May 18–19, 2020 537 (LV) ± 5.4% 30% 58% – – 5% 7%
Emerson College May 8–10, 2020 800 (RV) ± 3.4% 35%[r] 65% – – – –
Public Policy Polling Mar 28–29, 2020 962 (RV) – 29% 67% – – – 3%
AtlasIntel Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2020 1,100 (RV) ± 3.0% 26% 62% – – 12% –
YouGov Feb 26–28, 2020 1,507 (RV) – 31% 59% – – 4% 4%
CNN/SSRS Feb 22–26, 2020 951 (RV) ± 3.3% 35% 60% – – 3%[s] 3%
University of California Berkeley Feb 20–25, 2020 5,526 (RV) – 31% 58% – – – 11%
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 37% 57% – – – 6%
YouGov/USC Price-Schwarzenegger Institute Feb 1–15, 2020 1,200 (RV) ± 3.1% 30% 60% – – – 4%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 35% 59% – – – 6%
CNN/SSRS Dec 4–8, 2019 1,011 (RV) ± 3.4% 36% 56% – – 3%[s] 5%
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 32% 59% – – – 9%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 32% 59% – – – 9%
Emerson College Sep 13–16, 2019 830 (RV) ± 3.3% 36% 64% – – – –
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 31% 57% – – – 11%
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.7% 27% 61% – – – 12%
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 33% 56% – – – 11%
Hypothetical polling

with Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Bernie
Sanders (D) 		Other Undecided
AtlasIntel Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2020 1,100 (RV) ± 3.0% 28% 60% 12% –
YouGov Feb 26–28, 2020 1,507 (RV) – 31% 59% 6%[t] 4%
CNN/SSRS Feb 22–26, 2020 951 (RV) ± 3.3% 36% 59% 3%[s] 2%
University of California Berkeley Feb 20–25, 2020 5,526 (RV) – 31% 59% – 10%
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 37% 58% – 6%
YouGov/USC Price-Schwarzenegger Institute Feb 1–15, 2020 1,200 (RV) ± 3.1% 31% 61% – 4%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.7% 36% 59% – 5%
CNN/SSRS Dec 4–8, 2019 1,011 (RV) ± 3.4% 38% 54% 4%[u] 4%
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 34% 60% – 7%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 33% 59% – 8%
Emerson College Sep 13–16, 2019 830 (RV) ± 3.3% 38% 63% – –
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 33% 57% – 10%
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.7% 29% 62% – 9%

with Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Tulsi
Gabbard (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 38% 43% 19%

with Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Elizabeth
Warren (D) 		Other Undecided
AtlasIntel Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2020 1,100 (RV) ± 3.0% 28% 60% 12% –
YouGov Feb 26–28, 2020 1,507 (RV) – 32% 57% 5%[v] 6%
CNN/SSRS Feb 22–26, 2020 951 (RV) ± 3.3% 37% 56% 3%[s] 4%
University of California Berkeley Feb 20–25, 2020 5,526 (RV) – 33% 58% – 10%
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 38% 54% – 8%
YouGov/USC Price-Schwarzenegger Institute Feb 1–15, 2020 1,200 (RV) ± 3.1% 32% 59% – 4%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 39% 55% – 7%
CNN/SSRS Dec 4–8, 2019 1,011 (RV) ± 3.4% 37% 53% 4%[u] 6%
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 35% 56% – 9%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 33% 55% – 12%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 56% – 8%
Emerson College Sep 13–16, 2019 830 (RV) ± 3.3% 39% 61% – –
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 35% 53% – 12%
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.7% 30% 58% – 12%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 32% 53% – 14%

with Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Michael
Bloomberg (D) 		Other Undecided
AtlasIntel Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2020 1,100 (RV) ± 3.0% 25% 51% 24% –
YouGov Feb 26–28, 2020 1,507 (RV) – 32% 51% 10%[w] 7%
CNN/SSRS Feb 22–26, 2020 951 (RV) ± 3.3% 35% 55% 4%[x] 5%
University of California Berkeley Feb 20–25, 2020 5,526 (RV) – 30% 54% – 16%
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 34% 59% – 7%
YouGov/USC Price-Schwarzenegger Institute Feb 1–15, 2020 1,200 (RV) ± 3.1% 31% 57% – 6%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 36% 56% – 8%
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 34% 50% – 16%

with Donald Trump and Amy Klobuchar

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Amy
Klobuchar (D) 		Other Undecided
YouGov Feb 26–28, 2020 1,507 (RV) – 31% 59% 7%[y] 7%
CNN/SSRS Feb 22–26, 2020 951 (RV) ± 3.3% 35% 55% 4%[x] 6%
University of California Berkeley Feb 20–25, 2020 5,526 (RV) – 30% 57% – 13%
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 37% 52% – 11%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 38% 50% – 11%

with Donald Trump and Pete Buttigieg

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Pete
Buttigieg (D) 		Other Undecided
YouGov Feb 26–28, 2020 1,507 (RV) – 33% 54% 8%[z] 6%
CNN/SSRS Feb 22–26, 2020 951 (RV) ± 3.3% 35% 56% 4%[x] 4%
University of California Berkeley Feb 20–25, 2020 5,526 (RV) – 30% 58% – 12%
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 36% 56% – 8%
YouGov/USC Price-Schwarzenegger Institute Feb 1–15, 2020 1,200 (RV) ± 3.1% 31% 57% – 6%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 37% 53% – 10%
CNN/SSRS Dec 4–8, 2019 1,011 (RV) ± 3.4% 36% 53% 4%[u] 7%
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 34% 52% – 14%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 32% 54% – 13%
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.8% 30% 53% – 17%

with Donald Trump and Tom Steyer

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Tom
Steyer (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Feb 13–16, 2020 1,196 (RV) ± 3.1% 38% 54% 9%
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 37% 53% 10%

with Donald Trump and Deval Patrick

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Deval
Patrick (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 34% 34% 32%

with Donald Trump and Andrew Yang

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Andrew
Yang (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Jan 14–16, 2020 1,967 (RV) ± 2.8% 37% 53% 10%

with Donald Trump and Cory Booker

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Cory
Booker (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 39% 26%

with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Kamala
Harris (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 35% 56% 8%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 57% 8%
Emerson College Sep 13–16, 2019 830 (RV) ± 3.3% 39% 61% –
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 35% 53% 12%
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.7% 30% 59% 12%
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 54% 12%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 33% 53% 13%

with Donald Trump and Beto O'Rourke

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Beto
O'Rourke (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 34% 51% 15%

with Donald Trump and Kirsten Gillibrand

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Kirsten
Gillibrand (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 33% 47% 19%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 32% 46% 22%

with Donald Trump and Jerry Brown

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Jerry
Brown (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 54% 11%

with Donald Trump and Sherrod Brown

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Sherrod
Brown (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 36% 29%

with Donald Trump and Eric Garcetti

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Eric
Garcetti (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 34% 49% 17%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 32% 46% 21%

with Donald Trump and Tom Hanks

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Tom
Hanks (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 34% 51% 15%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 31% 56% 14%

with Donald Trump and Eric Holder

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Eric
Holder (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 38% 26%

with Donald Trump and Mitch Landrieu

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Mitch
Landrieu (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 36% 29%

with Donald Trump and Michelle Obama

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Michelle
Obama (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.7% 28% 64% 8%
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 36% 57% 8%

with Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Oprah
Winfrey (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Aug 1–5, 2019 2,184 (RV) ± 2.7% 28% 57% 14%
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 35% 52% 13%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 32% 56% 12%

with Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Donald
Trump (R) 		Mark
Zuckerberg (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Mar 22–25, 2018 882 (RV) ± 3.8% 36% 42% 22%
SurveyUSA Jan 7–9, 2018 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 31% 50% 19%

with Mike Pence and Joe Biden

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Joe
Biden (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 29% 59% 12%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 30% 58% 13%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 27% 58% 15%

with Mike Pence and Michael Bloomberg

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Michael
Bloomberg (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 32% 48% 20%

with Mike Pence and Pete Buttigieg

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Pete
Buttigieg (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 34% 48% 17%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 34% 45% 21%

with Mike Pence and Bernie Sanders

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Bernie
Sanders (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 31% 59% 9%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 31% 58% 10%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 31% 57% 13%

with Mike Pence and Elizabeth Warren

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Elizabeth
Warren (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 34% 53% 13%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 33% 55% 12%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 ± 3.2% 33% 50% 16%

with Nikki Haley and Joe Biden

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Nikki
Haley (R) 		Joe
Biden (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 21% 56% 23%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 21% 56% 24%

with Nikki Haley and Pete Buttigieg

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Nikki
Haley (R) 		Pete
Buttigieg (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 24% 44% 32%

with Nikki Haley and Bernie Sanders

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Nikki
Haley (R) 		Bernie
Sanders (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.8% 23% 58% 19%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 24% 56% 19%

with Nikki Haley and Elizabeth Warren

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Nikki
Haley (R) 		Elizabeth
Warren (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 23% 52% 24%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 25% 49% 26%

with Mike Pence and Kamala Harris

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Kamala
Harris (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Nov 20–22, 2019 2,039 (RV) ± 2.4% 34% 54% 12%
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 33% 55% 12%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 34% 51% 15%

with Mike Pence and Beto O'Rourke

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Mike
Pence (R) 		Beto
O'Rourke (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 34% 47% 20%

with Nikki Haley and Kamala Harris

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Nikki
Haley (R) 		Kamala
Harris (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Oct 15–16, 2019 1,242 (RV) ± 3.9% 23% 52% 25%
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 24% 51% 25%

with Nikki Haley and Beto O'Rourke

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Nikki
Haley (R) 		Beto
O'Rourke (D) 		Undecided
SurveyUSA Sep 13–15, 2019 1,785 (RV) ± 3.2% 25% 44% 30%


Results

Biden won California with a smaller margin of victory than Hillary Clinton in 2016. Nevertheless, he performed well in most urban areas of the state. Biden is also the first candidate for any statewide race in American history to receive over ten million votes.

Swing by census block group
  Biden
  •   >50%
  •   40–50%
  •   30–40%
  •   20–30%
  •   15–20%
  •   10–15%
  •   5–10%
  •   1–5%
  Trump
  •   1–5%
  •   5–10%
  •   10–15%
  •   15–20%
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   >50%
2020 United States presidential election in California[38][39]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Biden
Kamala Harris 		11,110,250 63.48% +1.75%
Republican Donald Trump
Mike Pence 		6,006,429 34.32% +2.70%
Libertarian Jo Jorgensen
Spike Cohen 		187,895 1.07% −2.30%
Green Howie Hawkins
Angela Walker 		81,029 0.46% −1.51%
American Independent Rocky De La Fuente
Kanye West 		60,160 0.34% N/A
Peace and Freedom Gloria La Riva
Sunil Freeman 		51,037 0.29% −0.18%
American Solidarity Brian T. Carroll
Amar Patel (write-in) 		2,605 0.0 -
Independent Jesse Ventura (write-in) 611 0.0 N/A
Independent Mark Charles
Adrian Wallace (write-in) 		559 0.0 N/A
Independent Brock Pierce
Karla Ballard (write-in) 		185 0.0 N/A
Socialist Equality Joseph Kishore
Norissa Santa Cruz (write-in) 		121 0.0 N/A
Total votes 17,500,881 100%

By county

County Joe Biden
Democratic 		Donald Trump
Republican 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Alameda 617,659 79.83% 136,309 17.62% 19,785 2.55% 481,350 62.21% 773,753
Alpine 476 63.81% 244 32.71% 26 3.48% 232 31.10% 746
Amador 8,153 36.40% 13,585 60.66% 659 2.94% −5,432 −24.26% 22,397
Butte 50,815 49.54% 48,819 47.60% 2,931 2.86% 1,996 1.94% 102,565
Calaveras 10,046 36.84% 16,518 60.57% 708 2.59% −6,472 −23.73% 27,272
Colusa 3,239 40.69% 4,559 57.27% 163 2.04% −1,320 −16.58% 7,961
Contra Costa 416,386 71.63% 152,877 26.30% 12,053 2.07% 263,509 45.33% 581,316
Del Norte 4,677 40.84% 6,461 56.41% 315 2.75% −1,784 −15.57% 11,453
El Dorado 51,621 44.44% 61,838 53.24% 2,700 2.32% −10,217 −8.80% 116,159
Fresno 193,025 52.90% 164,464 45.07% 7,428 2.03% 28,561 7.83% 364,917
Glenn 3,995 35.36% 7,063 62.52% 239 2.12% −3,068 −27.16% 11,297
Humboldt 44,768 64.48% 21,770 31.36% 2,886 4.16% 22,998 33.12% 69,424
Imperial 34,678 61.11% 20,847 36.74% 1,218 2.15% 13,831 24.37% 56,743
Inyo 4,634 48.86% 4,620 48.71% 230 2.43% 14 0.15% 9,484
Kern 133,366 43.68% 164,484 53.88% 7,442 2.44% −31,118 −10.20% 305,292
Kings 18,699 42.63% 24,072 54.88% 1,090 2.49% −5,373 −12.25% 43,861
Lake 14,941 51.55% 13,123 45.27% 922 3.18% 1,818 6.28% 28,986
Lassen 2,799 23.24% 8,970 74.47% 276 2.29% −6,171 −51.23% 12,045
Los Angeles 3,028,885 71.03% 1,145,530 26.86% 89,950 2.11% 1,883,355 44.17% 4,264,365
Madera 23,168 43.12% 29,378 54.68% 1,186 2.20% −6,210 −11.56% 53,732
Marin 128,288 82.33% 24,612 15.79% 2,930 1.88% 103,676 66.54% 155,830
Mariposa 4,088 39.77% 5,950 57.88% 242 2.35% −1,862 −18.11% 10,280
Mendocino 28,782 66.41% 13,267 30.61% 1,291 2.98% 15,515 35.80% 43,340
Merced 48,991 53.84% 39,397 43.30% 2,605 2.86% 9,594 10.54% 90,993
Modoc 1,150 26.33% 3,109 71.19% 108 2.48% −1,959 −44.86% 4,367
Mono 4,013 59.56% 2,513 37.30% 212 3.14% 1,500 22.26% 6,738
Monterey 113,953 69.52% 46,299 28.24% 3,671 2.24% 67,654 41.28% 163,923
Napa 49,817 69.05% 20,676 28.66% 1,657 2.29% 29,141 40.39% 72,150
Nevada 36,359 55.76% 26,779 41.07% 2,064 3.17% 9,580 14.69% 65,202
Orange 814,009 53.48% 676,498 44.44% 31,606 2.08% 137,511 9.04% 1,522,113
Placer 106,869 45.46% 122,488 52.10% 5,727 2.44% −15,619 −6.64% 235,084
Plumas 4,561 40.51% 6,445 57.24% 254 2.25% −1,884 −16.73% 11,260
Riverside 528,340 52.98% 449,144 45.04% 19,672 1.98% 79,196 7.94% 997,156
Sacramento 440,808 61.36% 259,405 36.11% 18,227 2.53% 181,403 25.25% 718,440
San Benito 17,628 61.14% 10,590 36.73% 612 2.13% 7,038 24.41% 28,830
San Bernardino 455,859 54.20% 366,257 43.54% 19,014 2.26% 89,602 10.66% 841,130
San Diego 964,650 60.21% 600,094 37.46% 37,399 2.33% 364,556 22.75% 1,602,143
San Francisco 378,156 85.26% 56,417 12.72% 8,980 2.02% 321,739 72.54% 443,553
San Joaquin 161,137 55.61% 121,098 41.79% 7,546 2.60% 40,039 13.82% 289,781
San Luis Obispo 88,310 55.29% 67,436 42.22% 3,968 2.49% 20,874 13.07% 159,714
San Mateo 291,496 77.89% 75,584 20.20% 7,171 1.91% 215,912 57.69% 374,251
Santa Barbara 129,963 64.52% 65,736 32.63% 5,733 2.85% 64,227 31.89% 201,432
Santa Clara 617,967 72.64% 214,612 25.23% 18,162 2.13% 403,355 47.41% 850,741
Santa Cruz 114,246 78.44% 26,937 18.49% 4,466 3.07% 87,309 59.95% 145,649
Shasta 30,000 32.28% 60,789 65.41% 2,141 2.31% −30,789 −33.13% 92,930
Sierra 730 37.49% 1,142 58.65% 75 3.86% −412 −21.16% 1,947
Siskiyou 9,593 40.87% 13,290 56.62% 589 2.51% −3,697 −15.75% 23,472
Solano 131,639 63.65% 69,306 33.51% 5,886 2.84% 62,333 30.14% 206,831
Sonoma 199,938 74.52% 61,825 23.04% 6,554 2.44% 138,113 51.48% 268,317
Stanislaus 105,841 49.00% 104,145 48.22% 6,001 2.78% 1,696 0.78% 215,987
Sutter 17,367 40.73% 24,375 57.16% 902 2.11% −7,008 −16.43% 42,644
Tehama 8,911 31.02% 19,141 66.62% 679 2.36% −10,230 −35.60% 28,731
Trinity 2,851 45.04% 3,188 50.36% 291 4.60% −337 −5.32% 6,330
Tulare 66,105 45.00% 77,579 52.82% 3,201 2.18% −11,474 −7.82% 146,885
Tuolumne 11,978 39.39% 17,689 58.17% 741 2.44% −5,711 −18.78% 30,408
Ventura 251,388 59.45% 162,207 38.36% 9,230 2.19% 89,181 21.09% 422,825
Yolo 67,598 69.48% 27,292 28.05% 2,404 2.47% 40,306 41.43% 97,294
Yuba 11,230 37.69% 17,676 59.32% 890 2.99% −6,446 −21.63% 29,796
Total 11,110,639 63.44% 6,006,518 34.30% 395,108 2.26% 5,104,121 29.14% 17,512,265

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Biden won 46 of the 53 congressional districts in California, including four that were flipped or held by Republicans in Congress.[40]

District Trump Biden Representative
1st 56.4% 41.1% Doug LaMalfa
2nd 23.9% 73.6% Jared Huffman
3rd 42.7% 54.9% John Garamendi
4th 53.7% 43.9% Tom McClintock
5th 25.3% 72.5% Mike Thompson
6th 27.2% 70.3% Doris Matsui
7th 41.9% 55.7% Ami Bera
8th 54.1% 43.6% Paul Cook
Jay Obernolte
9th 39.9% 57.9% Jerry McNerney
10th 47.4% 50.3% Josh Harder
11th 23.6% 74.3% Mark DeSaulnier
12th 11.9% 86.1% Nancy Pelosi
13th 9% 89% Barbara Lee
14th 20.5% 77.7% Jackie Speier
15th 26.4% 71.5% Eric Swalwell
16th 38.9% 58.8% Jim Costa
17th 25.6% 72.5% Ro Khanna
18th 21.5% 76.2% Anna Eshoo
19th 27.9% 70% Zoe Lofgren
20th 25% 72.7% Jimmy Panetta
21st 43.5% 54.4% TJ Cox
David Valadao
22nd 51.7% 46.2% Devin Nunes
23rd 57.2% 40.5% Kevin McCarthy
24th 36.9% 60.7% Salud Carbajal
25th 43.9% 54% Mike Garcia
26th 36.5% 61.4% Julia Brownley
27th 30.8% 67.2% Judy Chu
28th 27.2% 70.9% Adam Schiff
29th 23.7% 74.1% Tony Cárdenas
30th 29.4% 68.7% Brad Sherman
31st 38.9% 58.8% Pete Aguilar
32nd 32.8% 65.2% Grace Napolitano
33rd 29% 69% Ted Lieu
34th 16.9% 80.8% Jimmy Gomez
35th 32.6% 65.1% Norma Torres
36th 42.3% 55.9% Raul Ruiz
37th 13.8% 84.3% Karen Bass
38th 32.3% 65.6% Linda Sánchez
39th 44% 54.1% Gil Cisneros
Young Kim
40th 20.6% 77.1% Lucille Roybal-Allard
41st 36.1% 61.7% Mark Takano
42nd 52.7% 45.4% Ken Calvert
43rd 20.9% 76.9% Maxine Waters
44th 19.2% 78.4% Nanette Barragán
45th 43.3% 54.6% Katie Porter
46th 33.8% 64.1% Lou Correa
47th 35.3% 62.5% Alan Lowenthal
48th 48.3% 49.7% Harley Rouda
Michelle Steel
49th 42.6% 55.2% Mike Levin
50th 52.7% 45% Darrell Issa
51st 30.9% 66.9% Juan Vargas
52nd 34.2% 63.7% Scott Peters
53rd 30.9% 67% Susan Davis
Sara Jacobs

Analysis

Despite Biden's overall victory closely mirroring Clinton's, under a point behind her margin, there were large swings underneath the statewide margins. Biden lost ground in large diverse counties while improving in mostly whiter and more suburban counties.[41] Trump improved his standing in Los Angeles County, thanks to growth in mainly Latino neighborhoods in the Gateway Cities and the San Fernando Valley, alongside improvements in mainly Asian communities in the San Gabriel Valley. Trump also managed to gain in white neighborhoods as well, with visible gains made in Beverly Hills and other Westside communities, Burbank and Glendale in the eastern San Fernando Valley, and the Valley's southern wealthy neighborhoods such as Encino and Tarzana.[42][43]

Biden also saw his margins fall in Santa Clara County, located in Silicon Valley, home to one of the largest concentrations of Asian Americans in the country. His margins slightly shrank in the more suburban communities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, even improving in very wealthy cities like Los Altos Hills and Saratoga, but his margins dramatically collapsed in the heavily Asian parts of San Jose, Daly City, and Milpitas, as Trump's comparison of Biden's proposed policies to socialism and communism drove Vietnamese American voters towards him. The issue over China in the South China Sea helped swing Vietnamese Americans, as well as Filipino American voters to the Republican Party.[44] Trump also gained in Alameda and San Francisco County, but his improvements were smaller than Santa Clara County and Los Angeles County.[41] Meanwhile, Biden gained in the more white and suburban San Diego County and Riverside County.[45] In the former, Biden's improvements in wealthy suburban areas, like Carlsbad and Encinitas, alongside gains in more working-class Escondido and Oceanside,[46] helped overcome Trump's growth in the more Hispanic neighborhoods in southern San Diego County. In Riverside County, Trump lost ground in whiter more Republican territory in the southern part of the county like Menifee and Temecula, and in very liberal communities like Palm Springs in the Coachella Valley, which overcame Biden's decline in Hispanic communities towards the county's northwest, including Moreno Valley and Perris.[43] Trump also gained grounds in certain areas like West Covina and Carson.[43]

Outside the large population centers and the Inland Empire, both parties largely ran in line with their 2016 performances. In the Central Valley, Biden's margin was roughly unchanged, though he lost some support in the northern counties like Merced and Stanislaus while gaining in the more Republican southern counties around Kern (Bakersfield).[47] Biden improved by a point in Sacramento County but saw visible growth in suburban Placer County. However, Trump overwhelmingly outperformed his 2016 performance in rural and heavily Hispanic Imperial County, gaining 17 points.[47]

Edison exit polls

2020 presidential election in California by demographic subgroup (Edison exit polling)[48][49]
Demographic subgroup Biden Trump % of

total vote

Total vote 63.48 34.32 100
Ideology
Liberals 90 9 29
Moderates 70 28 41
Conservatives 28 70 30
Party
Democrats 97 2 50
Republicans 10 89 30
Independents 57 35 20
Gender
Men 63 34 47
Women 63 35 53
Race/ethnicity
White 51 47 49
Black 82 15 9
Latino 75 23 31
Asian 76 22 6
Other 59 35 5
Age
18–24 years old 73 27 9
25–29 years old 78 21 5
30–39 years old 63 32 20
40–49 years old 58 41 17
50–64 years old 62 36 31
65 and older 61 37 19
Sexual orientation
LGBT – – 7
Not LGBT 62 37 93
Education
High school or less 54 45 14
Some college education 59 37 26
Associate's degree 63 36 16
Bachelor's degree 65 34 29
Postgraduate degree 74 24 15
Income
Under $50,000 61 37 36
$50,000–$99,999 61 37 36
Over $100,000 65 34 29
Issue regarded as most important
Racial inequality 93 6 18
Coronavirus 90 9 23
Economy 27 72 21
Crime and safety – – 17
Health care – – 17
Region
Coastal 65 34 10
Inland 52 45 30
Bay Area 75 23 18
Los Angeles County 71 27 24
Southern coast 58 39 18
Area type
Urban 68 30 43
Suburban 60 37 52
Rural – – 5
Family's financial situation today
Better than four years ago 43 55 37
Worse than four years ago 80 14 25
About the same 67 31 38

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The other five states were Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah, as well as Washington DC.
  2. ^ a b c Candidate withdrew shortly before the primary, when all-mail voting had already begun.
  3. ^ a b c Candidate withdrew following the New Hampshire primary, when all-mail voting had already begun.
  4. ^ Including 34 write-in votes
  5. ^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  7. ^ a b Overlapping sample with the previous SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, but more information available regarding sample size
  8. ^ "Someone else" with 4%
  9. ^ a b De La Fuente (A) and De La Riva (PSOL) with 0%
  10. ^ a b De La Fuente listed as Guerra
  11. ^ a b Would not vote with 1%; "Someone else" with no voters
  12. ^ "Another candidate" with 3%
  13. ^ "Another Third Party/Write-in" with 1%
  14. ^ Archived September 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Someone else" with 3%
  16. ^ "Another Third Party/Write-in" with 2%
  17. ^ "Someone else" with 4%; would not vote with 2%
  18. ^ Including voters who lean towards a given candidate
  19. ^ a b c d Other with 0%; neither with 3%
  20. ^ "Other" with 3%; would not vote with 3%
  21. ^ a b c Other with 1%; neither with 3%
  22. ^ "Other" with 3%; would not vote with 2%
  23. ^ "Other" with 6%; would not vote with 4%
  24. ^ a b c Other with 0%; neither with 4%
  25. ^ "Other" with 5%; would not vote with 2%
  26. ^ "Other" with 5%; would not vote with 3%

References

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  46. ^ Supplement to Statement of Vote
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Further reading

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