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60 delegates (54 pledged, 6 unpledged) to theDemocratic National Convention The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results
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| Pledgednational convention delegates | |
|---|---|
| Type | Del. |
| CD1 | 4 |
| CD2 | 5 |
| CD3 | 10 |
| CD4 | 6 |
| CD5 | 3 |
| CD6 | 8 |
| PLEO | 6 |
| At-large | 12 |
| Total pledged delegates | 54 |
The2020 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary took place on June 23, 2020, alongside theNew York primary, as part of theDemocratic Party primaries for the2020 presidential election. It was originally planned for May 19, 2020, but was moved due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. TheKentucky primary was aclosed primary, with the state awarding 60delegates to the2020 Democratic National Convention, of whom 54 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.
Presumptive nominee and former vice presidentJoe Biden handily won the primary with almost 68% of the vote but not all of the 54 delegates.[1] While senatorBernie Sanders, despite receiving 12% of the vote, failed to win any delegates, the option for uncommitted delegates caught up almost 11%, which were enough votes to allocate 2 uncommitted delegates from the district-level.
Kentucky was previously scheduled to vote on May 19, 2020, alongsideOregon,[2] in the Democratic primaries, but on March 16, 2020, GovernorAndy Beshear and Secretary of StateMichael Adams announced that the primary would be postponed to June 23 amid concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The date was later also shared by New York, when moving its primary. The delay would normally have resulted in Kentucky losing half of its delegates, as the primary date was "past a June 9 deadline set by theDemocratic National Committee",[4] but there was no penalty in the pandemic as the2020 Democratic National Convention was also delayed until August and theDemocratic National Committee granted a waiver in May.[5]
The polls were originally scheduled to be open from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. local time. In the closed primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 54 pledged delegates to the2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, between 3 and 10 were allocated to each of thestate's 6 congressional districts and another 6 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 12 at-large delegates. These delegate totals do not account for pledged delegate bonuses or penalties from timing or clustering. Originally planned with 24 delegates, the final number included a 20% bonus of 4 additional delegates on the original number of 16 district and 5 at-large delegates by theDemocratic National Committee due to the original May date, which belonged to Stage III on the primary timetable.[6][7]
Due to the pandemic, instead of county, district and state conventions selecting delegates, all district and statewide delegates for the Democratic National Convention were elected at the state executive meeting on June 27. The delegation also included 6 unpledged PLEO delegates: 4 members of theDemocratic National Committee, one representative from Congress, and the governorAndy Beshear.[8]
Kentucky state elections officials cut the number of in-person polling places just under 3,700 to 170, including one each in Kentucky's two most populous counties, Jefferson and Fayette, the homes of Louisville and Lexington. These changes reflect a dramatic expansion of voting by mail and early voting, as well as a reduction of risks related to COVID-19.[9] This led to accusations ofvoter suppression targeting especially African-Americans, mostly but not totally from Democrats.[10]
The following candidates qualified for the ballot in Kentucky:[11]
Running
Withdrawn
| Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates[13] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden | 365,284 | 67.91 | 52 |
| Uncommitted | 58,364 | 10.85 | 2 |
| Bernie Sanders(withdrawn) | 65,055 | 12.09 | |
| Elizabeth Warren(withdrawn) | 15,300 | 2.84 | |
| Pete Buttigieg(withdrawn) | 9,127 | 1.70 | |
| Andrew Yang(withdrawn) | 7,267 | 1.35 | |
| Tulsi Gabbard(withdrawn) | 5,859 | 1.09 | |
| Amy Klobuchar(withdrawn) | 5,296 | 0.98 | |
| Tom Steyer(withdrawn) | 2,656 | 0.49 | |
| Michael Bennet(withdrawn) | 2,514 | 0.47 | |
| Deval Patrick(withdrawn) | 1,183 | 0.22 | |
| Total | 537,905 | 100% | 54 |
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See also:Political party strength in Kentucky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
