Biden at his presidential kick-off rally in Philadelphia, May 2019
This article is part of
a series about
Joe Biden
U.S. Senator from Delaware

Elections:

47th Vice President of the United States
Incumbent
Tenure
Presidential campaigns
Vice presidential campaigns
Published works

Joe Biden's signature

Seal of the President of the United States

The electoral history of Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, began in 1970.[1] Biden served as the 47th vice president (2009–2017), and as a United States senator from Delaware (1973–2009). Biden is the oldest elected and serving president, the second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy, and the first president from Delaware.

A member of the Democratic Party, Biden was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970, and became the seventh-youngest senator in American history when he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972, at the age of 29. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, and was the fourth-most senior senator. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in both 1988 and 2008.

In January 2009, Biden resigned from the Senate, to serve as Barack Obama's vice president, after they won the 2008 presidential election. They were re-elected to a second term in 2012.

Biden announced his candidacy in the 2020 presidential election on April 25, 2019.[2] A total of 29 major candidates declared their candidacies for the primaries, the largest field of presidential candidates for any American political party since 1972;[3] but over time, the field narrowed down to Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont.[4] Eventually, Sanders withdrew from the race, and Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee in April 2020.[5] Biden reached the delegate threshold needed to secure the nomination in June 2020.[6] He defeated incumbent president Donald Trump in the general election, with 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. Biden received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election.[7]

County council election (1970)

1970 New Castle County Council District 4 election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 10,573 55.41
Republican Lawrence T. Messick (incumbent) 8,192 42.93
American Kenneth A. Horner 317 1.66
Total votes 19,082 100.00
Democratic gain from Republican

U.S. Senate elections (1972–2008)

1972

1972 U.S. Senate map
1972 United States Senate election in Delaware[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden 116,006 50.48
Republican J. Caleb Boggs (incumbent) 112,844 49.10
American Henry Majka 803 0.35
Prohibition Herbert B. Wood 175 0.08
Total votes 229,828 100.00
Democratic gain from Republican

1978

1978 U.S. Senate map
1978 United States Senate election in Delaware[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 93,930 57.96
Republican James H. Baxter Jr. 66,479 41.02
American Donald G. Gies 1,663 1.03
Total votes 162,072 100.00
Democratic hold

1984

1984 U.S. Senate map
1984 United States Senate election in Delaware[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 147,831 60.11
Republican John M. Burris 98,101 39.89
Total votes 245,932 100.00
Democratic hold

1990

1990 U.S. Senate map
1990 United States Senate election in Delaware[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 112,918 62.68
Republican M. Jane Brady 64,554 35.83
Libertarian Lee Rosenbaum 2,680 1.49
Write-in 5 0.00
Total votes 180,157 100.00
Democratic hold

1996

1996 U.S. Senate map
1996 United States Senate election in Delaware[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 165,465 60.04
Republican Ray Clatworthy 105,088 38.13
Libertarian Lee Rosenbaum 3,340 1.21
Natural Law Jacqueline Kossoff 1,698 0.62
Total votes 275,591 100.00
Democratic hold

2002

2002 U.S. Senate map
2002 United States Senate election in Delaware[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 135,253 58.22
Republican Ray Clatworthy 94,793 40.80
Independent Bud Barros 996 0.43
Libertarian Raymond Buranello 922 0.40
Natural Law Robert E. Mattson 350 0.15
Total votes 232,314 100.00
Democratic hold

2008

2008 U.S. Senate map
2008 United States Senate election in Delaware[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 257,539 64.69
Republican Christine O'Donnell 140,595 35.31
Total votes 398,134 100.00
Democratic hold

Presidential primaries (1984–1988)

1984

1984 Democratic National Convention, presidential tally[16]
Candidate Votes %
Walter Mondale 2,191 56.41
Gary Hart 1,201 30.90
Jesse Jackson 466 12.00
Thomas Eagleton 18 0.46
George McGovern 4 0.10
John Glenn 2 0.05
Joe Biden 1 0.03
Martha Kirkland 1 0.03
Total votes 3,884 100.00

1988

See also: Joe Biden 1988 presidential campaign
1988 Democratic National Convention, presidential tally[17]
Candidate Votes %
Michael Dukakis 2,877 70.09
Jesse Jackson 1,219 29.70
Richard Stallings 3 0.07
Joe Biden 2 0.05
Dick Gephardt 2 0.05
Lloyd Bentsen 1 0.02
Gary Hart 1 0.02
Total votes 4,162 100.00

Presidential elections

2008

See also: Joe Biden 2008 presidential campaign

New Hampshire primary

2008 New Hampshire Democratic Party vice presidential primaries[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Raymond Stebbins 50,485 46.93
Democratic William Bryk 22,965 21.35
Democratic John Edwards 10,553 9.81
Democratic Barack Obama 6,402 5.95
Democratic Bill Richardson 5,525 5.14
Democratic Hillary Clinton 3,419 3.18
Democratic Joe Biden 1,512 1.41
Democratic Al Gore 966 0.90
Democratic Dennis Kucinich 762 0.71
Democratic Bill Clinton 388 0.36
Republican John McCain 293 0.27
Democratic Christopher Dodd 224 0.21
Republican Ron Paul 176 0.16
Republican John Barnes Jr. 95 0.09
Democratic Mike Gravel 91 0.09
Democratic Joe Lieberman 67 0.06
Republican Mitt Romney 66 0.06
Republican Mike Huckabee 63 0.06
Republican Rudy Giuliani 46 0.04
Democratic Darrel Hunter 20 0.02
Total votes 104,118 100.00

Primaries

Excluding penalized contests,[19] only primary and caucuses votes:

2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries[20]
Candidate Votes %
Barack Obama 16,706,853 49.04
Hillary Clinton 16,239,821 47.67
John Edwards 742,010 2.18
Bill Richardson 89,054 0.26
Uncommitted 82,660 0.24
Dennis Kucinich 68,482 0.20
Joe Biden 64,041 0.19
Mike Gravel 27,662 0.08
Christopher Dodd 25,300 0.07
Others 22,556 0.07
Total votes 34,068,439 100.00

Including penalized contests:

2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries[20]
Candidate Votes %
Hillary Clinton 18,225,175 48.03
Barack Obama 17,988,182 47.41
John Edwards 1,006,275 2.65
Uncommitted 299,610 2.79
Bill Richardson 106,073 0.28
Dennis Kucinich 103,994 0.27
Joe Biden 81,641 0.22
Scattering 44,348 0.12
Mike Gravel 40,251 0.11
Christopher Dodd 35,281 0.09
Total votes 37,980,830 100.00

Nomination

2008 Democratic National Convention, vice presidential tally[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden –[a] 100.00%
Total votes – 100.00%

General election

Electoral College map of the 2008 presidential election
2008 United States presidential election
CandidateRunning matePartyPopular voteElectoral vote
Votes%Votes%
Barack ObamaJoe BidenDemocratic69,498,51652.9136567.84
John McCainSarah PalinRepublican59,948,32345.6417332.16
Ralph NaderMatt GonzalezIndependent739,0340.56
Bob BarrWayne Allyn RootLibertarian523,7150.40
Chuck BaldwinDarrell CastleConstitution199,7500.15
Cynthia McKinneyRosa ClementeGreen161,7970.12
Others290,6260.22
Total131,361,761100.00538100.00
Source: [22]

2012

Nomination

2012 Democratic National Convention, vice presidential tally[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Biden –[a] 100.00
Total votes – 100.00

General election

Electoral College map of the 2012 presidential election
2012 United States presidential election
CandidateRunning matePartyPopular voteElectoral vote
Votes%Votes%
Barack Obama (inc.)Joe Biden (inc.)Democratic65,915,79551.0633261.71
Mitt RomneyPaul RyanRepublican60,933,50447.2020638.29
Gary JohnsonJim GrayLibertarian1,275,9710.99
Jill SteinCheri HonkalaGreen469,6270.36
Others490,5130.38
Total129,085,410100.00538100.00
Source: [22]

2020

See also: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

Primaries

First-instance vote by state and territory
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries[24]
Candidate Votes %
Joe Biden 19,076,052 51.79
Bernie Sanders 9,679,213 26.28
Elizabeth Warren 2,831,472 7.69
Michael Bloomberg 2,488,734 6.76
Pete Buttigieg 924,237 2.51
Amy Klobuchar 529,713 1.44
Tulsi Gabbard 273,940 0.74
Tom Steyer 259,792 0.71
Andrew Yang 170,517 0.46
Uncommitted 130,081 0.35
Michael Bennet 63,124 0.17
Julian Castro 37,037 0.10
Others 370,044 1.01
Total votes 36,833,956 100.00

Nomination

2020 Democratic National Convention, presidential tally[25]
Candidate Votes %
Joe Biden 3,558 75.48
Bernie Sanders 1,151 24.42
Abstention 5 0.11
Total votes 4,714 100.00

General election

Electoral College map of the 2020 presidential election
2020 United States presidential election
CandidateRunning matePartyPopular voteElectoral vote
Votes%Votes%
Joe BidenKamala HarrisDemocratic81,268,92451.3130656.88
Donald Trump (inc.)Mike Pence (inc.)Republican74,216,15446.8623243.12
Jo JorgensenSpike CohenLibertarian1,865,7241.18
Howie HawkinsAngela WalkerGreen405,0350.26
Others628,5840.40
Total158,384,421100.00538100.00
Source: [26]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Chosen by acclamation.

References

  1. ^ "Biden and Harris inauguration live: Joe Biden becomes the 46th US president". BBC News. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  2. ^ Saenz, Arlette (April 25, 2019). "Joe Biden announces he is running for president in 2020". CNN. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  3. ^ Burns, Alexander; Flegenheimer, Matt; Lee, Jasmine C.; Lerer, Lisa; Martin, Jonathan (January 10, 2020). "Who's Running for President in 2020?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  4. ^ Korecki, Natasha (March 2, 2020). "How Biden engineered his astonishing comeback". Politico. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  5. ^ Ember, Sydney (April 8, 2020). "Bernie Sanders Is Dropping Out of 2020 Democratic Race for President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  6. ^ Detrow, Scott (June 5, 2020). "Biden Formally Clinches Democratic Nomination, While Gaining Steam Against Trump". NPR. Retrieved June 5, 2020. The AP delegate estimate reached the magic number of 1,991 delegates for Biden as seven states and the District of Columbia continue counting votes from Tuesday's primaries
  7. ^ Lewis, Sophie (November 7, 2020). "Joe Biden breaks Obama's record for most votes ever cast for a U.S presidential candidate". CBS.
  8. ^ "State of Delaware Official Results of General Election (Excluding Write-in Votes) 1970" (PDF). Office of the Delaware State Election Commissioner. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  9. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1973). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  10. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1979). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1978" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  11. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1985). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1984" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  12. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1991). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  13. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1997). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  14. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (2003). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  15. ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (2009). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
  16. ^ Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jul 16, 1984
  17. ^ "Democrats Acclaim Dukakis and Assert Unity". partners.nytimes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  18. ^ "Presidential Primary Election January 8". Sos.nh.gov. 2008-01-08. Archived from the original on 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  19. ^ Florida and Michigan violated Democratic National Committee rules by moving their primaries before February 5, 2008, resulting in a nullification of their primaries, until the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to restore half their delegates.
  20. ^ a b "2008 Democratic Popular Vote". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  21. ^ "CNN.com Video". CNN. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  22. ^ a b "Federal Elections 2012" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Washington, D.C. 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  23. ^ "Beau Biden Speech Kicks Of Motion To Nominate Father Joe Biden For Vice President". The Huffington Post. September 6, 2012.
  24. ^ "Democratic Convention - Nationwide Popular Vote". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  25. ^ "The Math Behind the Democratic Delegate Allocation - 2020". The Green Papers. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  26. ^ "Official 2020 presidential general election results" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
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