2020 United States presidential election in Mississippi

The 2020 United States presidential election in Mississippi 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.[1] Mississippi 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 California Senator Kamala Harris. Mississippi has six electoral votes in the Electoral College.[2]

2020 United States presidential election in Mississippi

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
Turnout60.4% Increase
 
Nominee Donald Trump Joe Biden
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Florida Delaware
Running mate Mike Pence Kamala Harris
Electoral vote 6 0
Popular vote 756,764 539,398
Percentage 57.60% 41.06%


President before election

Donald Trump
Republican

Elected President

Joe Biden
Democratic

Trump scored a convincing victory in Mississippi, a socially conservative Bible Belt state. Biden's main support was in the western Delta counties next to the Mississippi River, and in Hinds County, home to the state capital and largest city of Jackson. In contrast, Trump's margins came from the regions bordering the Gulf Coast, the northeast Appalachian area, and the Jackson and Memphis suburbs. Trump's strength also came from winning 81% of the White vote, which constituted 69% of the electorate.

As is the case in many Southern states, there was a stark racial divide in voting for this election: 82% of White Mississippi voters supported Trump, while 93% of Black Mississippi voters supported Biden.[3] 57% of voters believed abortion should be illegal in all or most cases and they backed the president 82%-17%. Trump also received 89% of the white Evangelical vote, which made up 54% of the electorate.[4] Biden flipped Warren County, with 49.6% of the vote to Trump's 49.2%.

Primary elections

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The primary elections were held on March 10, 2020.

Republican primary

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Incumbent President Donald Trump was challenged by two candidates: businessman and perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente of California, and former governor Bill Weld of Massachusetts.[5]

2020 Mississippi Republican primary[6]
Candidate Votes % Estimated
delegates
Donald Trump (incumbent) 240,125 98.6% 40
Bill Weld 2,292 0.9% 0
Rocky De La Fuente 1,078 0.4% 0
Total 243,495 100% 40

Democratic primary

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Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joe Biden were the major declared candidates still active in the race.[7]

2020 Mississippi Democratic presidential primary[8]
Candidate Votes % Delegates[9]
Joe Biden 222,160 80.96 34
Bernie Sanders 40,657 14.82 2
Michael Bloomberg (withdrawn) 6,933 2.53
Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn) 1,550 0.56
Tulsi Gabbard 1,003 0.37
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn) 562 0.20
Andrew Yang (withdrawn) 450 0.16
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn) 440 0.16
Tom Steyer (withdrawn) 378 0.14
Deval Patrick (withdrawn) 258 0.09
Total 274,391 100% 36

General election

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Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[10] Safe R September 10, 2020
Inside Elections[11] Safe R September 4, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] Safe R July 14, 2020
Politico[13] Safe R September 8, 2020
RCP[14] Likely R August 3, 2020
Niskanen[15] Safe R July 26, 2020
CNN[16] Safe R August 3, 2020
The Economist[17] Likely R September 2, 2020
CBS News[18] Likely R August 16, 2020
270towin[19] Safe R August 2, 2020
ABC News[20] Safe R July 31, 2020
NPR[21] Likely R August 3, 2020
NBC News[22] Safe R August 6, 2020
538[23] Likely R November 2, 2020

Polling

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Graphical summary

Aggregate polls

Source of poll
aggregation
Dates
administered
Dates
updated
Joe
Biden

Democratic
Donald
Trump

Republican
Other/
Undecided
[a]
Margin
270 to Win[24] October 17–27, 2020 November 3, 2020 40.0% 57.0% 3.0% Trump +17.0
FiveThirtyEight[25] until November 2, 2020 November 3, 2020 39.6% 55.5% 4.9% Trump +15.9
Average 39.8% 56.3% 3.9% Trump +16.5

Polls

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Donald
Trump

Republican
Joe
Biden

Democratic
Jo
Jorgensen

Libertarian
Howie
Hawkins

Green
Other Undecided
SurveyMonkey/Axios[26] Oct 20 – Nov 2, 2020 1,461 (LV) ± 4% 61%[c] 37% - -
Data For Progress[27] Oct 27 – Nov 1, 2020 562 (LV) ± 4.1% 55% 41% 2% 1% 1%[d]
Civiqs/Daily Kos[28] Oct 23–26, 2020 507 (LV) ± 5.3% 55% 41% - - 3%[e] 1%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[26] Oct 1–28, 2020 2,116 (LV) 62% 37% - -
SurveyMonkey/Axios[26] Sep 1–30, 2020 782 (LV) 55% 44% - - 1%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[26] Aug 1–31, 2020 607 (LV) 61% 36% - - 3%
Tyson Group/Consumer Energy Alliance[29][A] Aug 28–30, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 50% 40% No voters - No voters[f] 6%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group/Mike Espy[30][B] Jul 30 – Aug 9, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4.1% 53%[g] 43% - -
SurveyMonkey/Axios[26] Jul 1–31, 2020 733 (LV) 59% 39% - - 2%
SurveyMonkey/Axios[26] Jun 8–30, 2020 425 (LV) 63% 35% - - 2%
Chism Strategies (D)[31] Jun 2–4, 2020 568 (LV) ± 4.1% 50% 41% - - 6%[h] 3%
Chism Strategies/Millsaps College[32] Apr 8–9, 2020 508 (RV) ± 4.4% 49% 38% - - 7% 7%
Mason-Dixon[33] Feb 26–28, 2020 625 (RV) ± 4.0% 56% 41% - - 3%
Former candidates

Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Donald
Trump (R)
Bernie
Sanders (D)
Undecided
Mason-Dixon[33] Feb 26–28, 2020 625 (RV) ± 4.0% 59% 36% 5%

Results

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2020 United States presidential election in Mississippi[34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Donald Trump
Mike Pence
756,764 57.60% −0.26%
Democratic Joe Biden
Kamala Harris
539,398 41.06% +1.00%
Libertarian Jo Jorgensen
Spike Cohen
8,026 0.61% −0.58%
Independent Kanye West
Michelle Tidball
3,657 0.28% N/A
Green Howie Hawkins
Angela Walker
1,498 0.11% −0.20%
Prohibition Phil Collins
Billy Joe Parker
1,317 0.10% +0.04%
American Constitution Don Blankenship
William Mohr
1,279 0.10% −0.23%
American Solidarity Brian T. Carroll
Amar Patel
1,161 0.09% N/A
Independent Brock Pierce
Karla Ballard
659 0.05% N/A
Total votes 1,313,759 100.00% N/A

By county

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County Donald Trump
Republican
Joe Biden
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total
# % # % # % # %
Adams 5,696 41.40% 7,917 57.54% 146 1.06% -2,221 -16.14% 13,759
Alcorn 12,818 81.16% 2,782 17.62% 193 1.22% 10,036 63.54% 15,793
Amite 4,503 62.58% 2,620 36.41% 73 1.01% 1,863 26.17% 7,196
Attala 5,178 58.69% 3,542 40.15% 103 1.16% 1,636 18.54% 8,823
Benton 2,570 59.92% 1,679 39.15% 40 0.93% 891 20.77% 4,289
Bolivar 4,671 33.99% 8,904 64.78% 169 1.23% -4,233 -30.79% 13,744
Calhoun 4,625 70.18% 1,902 28.86% 63 0.96% 2,723 41.32% 6,590
Carroll 3,924 68.83% 1,729 30.33% 48 0.84% 2,195 38.50% 5,701
Chickasaw 4,175 51.28% 3,810 46.80% 156 1.92% 365 4.48% 8,141
Choctaw 3,001 71.06% 1,185 28.06% 37 0.88% 1,816 43.00% 4,223
Claiborne 603 13.55% 3,772 84.78% 74 1.67% -3,169 -71.23% 4,449
Clarke 5,417 64.97% 2,838 34.04% 83 0.99% 2,579 30.93% 8,338
Clay 4,181 41.03% 5,844 57.36% 164 1.61% -1,663 -16.33% 10,189
Coahoma 2,375 27.94% 6,020 70.82% 106 1.24% -3,645 -42.88% 8,501
Copiah 6,250 48.51% 6,470 50.22% 163 1.27% -220 -1.71% 12,883
Covington 5,854 62.54% 3,416 36.50% 90 0.96% 2,438 26.04% 9,360
DeSoto 46,462 61.03% 28,265 37.13% 1,397 1.84% 18,197 23.90% 76,124
Forrest 17,290 54.62% 13,755 43.45% 609 1.93% 3,535 11.17% 31,654
Franklin 2,923 65.52% 1,480 33.18% 58 1.30% 1,443 32.34% 4,461
George 9,713 87.91% 1,218 11.02% 118 1.07% 8,495 76.89% 11,049
Greene 4,794 82.48% 966 16.62% 52 0.90% 3,828 65.86% 5,812
Grenada 6,081 55.73% 4,734 43.39% 96 0.88% 1,347 12.34% 10,911
Hancock 16,132 76.98% 4,504 21.49% 321 1.53% 11,628 55.49% 20,957
Harrison 46,822 61.70% 27,728 36.54% 1,335 1.76% 19,094 25.16% 75,885
Hinds 25,141 25.09% 73,550 73.40% 1,517 1.51% -48,409 -48.31% 100,208
Holmes 1,369 16.87% 6,588 81.18% 158 1.95% -5,219 -64.31% 8,115
Humphreys 1,118 26.69% 3,016 72.00% 55 1.31% -1,898 -45.31% 4,189
Issaquena 308 45.56% 355 52.51% 13 1.93% -47 -6.95% 676
Itawamba 9,438 87.24% 1,249 11.54% 132 1.22% 8,189 75.70% 10,819
Jackson 36,295 66.54% 17,375 31.86% 873 1.60% 18,920 34.68% 54,543
Jasper 4,302 49.24% 4,341 49.69% 93 1.07% -39 -0.45% 8,736
Jefferson 531 13.59% 3,327 85.13% 50 1.28% -2,796 -71.54% 3,908
Jefferson Davis 2,534 40.79% 3,599 57.93% 80 1.28% -1,065 -17.14% 6,213
Jones 21,226 70.54% 8,517 28.30% 348 1.16% 12,709 42.24% 30,091
Kemper 1,787 37.77% 2,887 61.02% 57 1.21% -1,100 -23.25% 4,731
Lafayette 12,949 55.28% 10,070 42.99% 404 1.73% 2,879 12.29% 23,423
Lamar 20,704 72.57% 7,340 25.73% 486 1.70% 13,364 46.84% 28,530
Lauderdale 17,967 57.50% 12,960 41.48% 320 1.02% 5,007 16.02% 31,247
Lawrence 4,285 64.80% 2,260 34.18% 68 1.02% 2,025 30.62% 6,613
Leake 5,228 56.83% 3,897 42.36% 75 0.81% 1,331 14.47% 9,200
Lee 24,207 65.51% 12,189 32.98% 558 1.51% 12,018 32.53% 36,954
Leflore 3,129 28.72% 7,648 70.21% 116 1.07% -4,519 -41.49% 10,893
Lincoln 11,596 69.02% 5,040 30.00% 165 0.98% 6,556 39.02% 16,801
Lowndes 13,800 50.66% 13,087 48.04% 354 1.30% 713 2.62% 27,241
Madison 31,091 55.16% 24,440 43.36% 830 1.48% 6,651 11.80% 56,361
Marion 8,273 67.94% 3,787 31.10% 117 0.96% 4,486 36.84% 12,177
Marshall 7,566 47.83% 8,057 50.94% 194 1.23% -491 -3.11% 15,817
Monroe 11,177 64.76% 5,874 34.03% 208 1.21% 5,303 30.73% 17,259
Montgomery 2,917 57.48% 2,121 41.79% 37 0.73% 796 15.69% 5,075
Neshoba 8,320 71.09% 3,260 27.86% 123 1.05% 5,060 43.23% 11,703
Newton 6,997 68.71% 3,075 30.20% 111 1.09% 3,922 38.51% 10,183
Noxubee 1,240 23.23% 4,040 75.67% 59 1.10% -2,800 -52.44% 5,339
Oktibbeha 9,004 45.57% 10,299 52.13% 454 2.30% -1,295 -6.56% 19,757
Panola 8,060 51.58% 7,403 47.37% 164 1.05% 657 4.21% 15,627
Pearl River 19,595 81.53% 4,148 17.26% 290 1.21% 15,447 64.27% 24,033
Perry 4,500 76.06% 1,362 23.02% 54 0.92% 3,138 53.04% 5,916
Pike 8,479 48.84% 8,646 49.80% 236 1.36% -167 -0.96% 17,361
Pontotoc 11,550 80.43% 2,614 18.20% 197 1.37% 8,936 62.23% 14,361
Prentiss 8,370 78.64% 2,153 20.23% 121 1.13% 6,217 58.41% 10,644
Quitman 1,026 31.80% 2,150 66.65% 50 1.55% -1,124 -34.85% 3,226
Rankin 50,895 71.89% 18,847 26.62% 1,057 1.49% 32,048 45.27% 70,799
Scott 6,285 58.56% 4,330 40.34% 118 1.10% 1,955 18.22% 10,733
Sharkey 688 31.52% 1,465 67.11% 30 1.37% -777 -35.59% 2,183
Simpson 7,635 64.62% 4,037 34.17% 143 1.21% 3,598 30.45% 11,815
Smith 6,458 77.55% 1,791 21.51% 78 0.94% 4,667 56.04% 8,327
Stone 5,964 75.70% 1,802 22.87% 112 1.43% 4,162 52.83% 7,878
Sunflower 2,799 28.91% 6,781 70.04% 101 1.05% -3,982 -41.13% 9,681
Tallahatchie 2,488 43.76% 3,105 54.62% 92 1.62% -617 -10.86% 5,685
Tate 8,707 66.50% 4,183 31.95% 203 1.55% 4,524 34.55% 13,093
Tippah 8,054 79.73% 1,937 19.17% 111 1.10% 6,117 60.56% 10,102
Tishomingo 7,933 86.81% 1,059 11.59% 146 1.60% 6,874 75.22% 9,138
Tunica 926 25.97% 2,580 72.37% 59 1.66% -1,654 -46.40% 3,565
Union 10,373 81.79% 2,160 17.03% 150 1.18% 8,213 64.76% 12,683
Walthall 4,220 59.28% 2,835 39.82% 64 0.90% 1,385 19.46% 7,119
Warren 10,365 49.23% 10,442 49.60% 246 1.17% -77 -0.37% 21,053
Washington 5,300 29.39% 12,503 69.33% 231 1.28% -7,203 -39.94% 18,034
Wayne 6,307 62.72% 3,624 36.04% 125 1.24% 2,683 26.68% 10,056
Webster 4,291 79.54% 1,043 19.33% 61 1.13% 3,248 60.21% 5,395
Wilkinson 1,324 32.08% 2,749 66.61% 56 1.31% -1,425 -34.53% 4,127
Winston 5,112 55.35% 4,040 43.74% 84 0.91% 1,072 11.61% 9,236
Yalobusha 3,671 56.17% 2,785 42.62% 79 1.21% 886 13.55% 6,535
Yazoo 4,832 46.30% 5,496 52.66% 108 1.04% -664 -6.36% 10,436
Totals 756,764 57.57% 539,398 41.04% 18,313 1.39% 217,366 16.53% 1,314,475
 
 
 

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

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Trump won 3 of 4 congressional districts.

District Trump Biden Representative
1st 64.8% 33.8% Trent Kelly
2nd 35.2% 63.7% Bennie Thompson
3rd 60.1% 38.6% Michael Guest
4th 68.3% 30.3% Steven Palazzo

Analysis

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Mississippi, a conservative state in the Deep South and greater Bible Belt, has not been won by a Democrat since the 1976 victory of fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter. Trump comfortably carried the state on election day by a 16.54% margin.

Despite Biden's loss statewide, he did manage to flip Warren County, home to Vicksburg, which had voted Democratic in 2012 but flipped back to the GOP column in 2016. In other elections, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated Democrat Mike Espy by almost 10 points in the simultaneous senatorial race. Although Hyde-Smith underperformed Trump, she still won by a somewhat comfortable margin.

In referendums, a statewide referendum to approve a new flag after their controversial previous one, which contained the Confederate battle ensign, was rejected. The new alternative passed with over 71% of the vote. Medical marijuana was approved in the state with more than 61% of voters supporting the legalization. The less restrictive of the medical marijuana bills, Initiative 65, passed with over 57% selecting the less restrictive of two options to legalize medical marijuana. The state also voted to get rid of the electoral college system that had been in place to elect statewide officials. Over 74% of Mississippians voted to remove the provision that a candidate must receive the support of a majority of Mississippi Legislature House districts.

This is the fourth consecutive election in which Mississippi voted more Democratic than each of its neighboring states, due to African Americans comprising 37.94% of its population. Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Trump's strength in Mississippi came from White born-again/Evangelical Christians, of whom 89% supported Trump. 59% of voters believed abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, and these voters backed Trump 83%–16%. As is the case in many Southern states, there was a stark racial divide in voting for this election: 82% of White Mississippians supported Trump, while 93% of Black Mississippians supported Biden.[3]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
  2. ^ a b Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  3. ^ Overlapping sample with the previous SurveyMonkey/Axios poll, but more information available regarding sample size
  4. ^ "Other candidate or write-in" with 1%
  5. ^ "Someone else" with 3%
  6. ^ "Refused" with no voters
  7. ^ Additional data sourced from FiveThirtyEight
  8. ^ "Someone else" with 6%

Partisan clients

  1. ^ The Consumer Energy Alliance is a pro-Keystone XL lobbying group
  2. ^ Poll sponsored by Espy's campaign

References

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  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 August 2, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Mississippi Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "Mississippi Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  5. ^ Harrison, Bobby (February 27, 2020). "Who's on the ballot for Mississippi's March 10 primary?". Mississippi Today. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  6. ^ "2020 Candidate Qualifying List" (PDF). Mississippi Secretary of State. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Taylor, Kate (February 9, 2019). "Elizabeth Warren Formally Announces 2020 Presidential Bid in Lawrence, Mass". The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  8. ^ "2020 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY". Mississippi Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Associated Press Election Services - Delegate Tracker". Associated Press. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  10. ^ "2020 POTUS Race ratings" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  11. ^ "POTUS Ratings | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  12. ^ "Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball » 2020 President". crystalball.centerforpolitics.org. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  13. ^ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
  14. ^ "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
  15. ^ 2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions Archived April 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.
  16. ^ David Chalian; Terence Burlij (June 11, 2020). "Road to 270: CNN's debut Electoral College map for 2020". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  17. ^ "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  18. ^ "2020 Election Battleground Tracker". CBS News. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  19. ^ "2020 Presidential Election Interactive Map". 270 to Win.
  20. ^ "ABC News Race Ratings". CBS News. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "2020 Electoral Map Ratings: Trump Slides, Biden Advantage Expands Over 270 Votes". NPR.org. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  22. ^ "Biden dominates the electoral map, but here's how the race could tighten". NBC News. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  23. ^ "2020 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  24. ^ 270 to Win
  25. ^ FiveThirtyEight
  26. ^ a b c d e f SurveyMonkey/Axios
  27. ^ Data For Progress
  28. ^ Civiqs/Daily Kos
  29. ^ Tyson Group/Consumer Energy Alliance
  30. ^ Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group/Mike Espy
  31. ^ Chism Strategies (D)
  32. ^ Chism Strategies/Millsaps College
  33. ^ a b Mason-Dixon
  34. ^ "2020 General Election". Mississippi Secretary of State. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.

Further reading

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