Presidential candidates, 2020

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2020 Presidential Election
Date: November 3, 2020

Presidential candidates
Republican Party Donald Trump
Democratic Party Joe Biden
Green Party Howie Hawkins
Libertarian Party Jo Jorgensen

Overviews
Candidates on the issues • Battleground states • Electoral CollegePivot Counties

Debates
September 29 debateOctober 7 debateOctober 15 debateOctober 22 debateDemocratic debates

Primaries
DemocraticRepublican LibertarianGreenConstitution

Presidential election changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic

Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage
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Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) won the presidential election on November 3, 2020. Biden received 306 electoral votes and President Donald Trump (R) received 232 electoral votes. In the national popular vote, Biden received 81.2 million votes and Trump received 74.2 million votes.[1]

Biden was the oldest president to take office on January 20, 2021, at 78 years old. His running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), was the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Four candidates qualified to appear on enough state ballots to win a majority—at least 270 electoral votes—in the Electoral College:

Seven other candidates qualified to appear on the ballot in five states or more.

Trump filed for re-election on January 20, 2017, the day of his inauguration. He crossed the delegate threshold necessary to win the Republican nomination—1,276 delegates—on March 17, 2020. He accepted the nomination in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 27, 2020, at the Republican National Convention.

With the plurality of pledged delegates, Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee on April 8, 2020, after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suspended his presidential campaign.[2] Biden crossed the delegate threshold necessary to win the nomination on June 5, 2020, and was formally nominated at the 2020 Democratic National Convention on August 18, 2020.[3]

The Libertarian Party selected Jo Jorgensen as its presidential nominee on May 23, 2020, the second day of the Libertarian National Convention.[4]

The Green Party selected Howie Hawkins as its presidential nominee at the 2020 Green Party National Convention on July 11, 2020.

Sixteen U.S. presidents—approximately one-third—have won two consecutive elections. George H.W. Bush (R) was the last president to lose his re-election campaign in 1992.

Ballotpedia compiled the following resources on candidates running for president in 2020:

Notable candidates

See also: Timeline of announcements in the presidential election, 2020

The following four notable candidates ran for president. Notable candidates include individuals who have qualified to appear on enough state ballots to win a majority—at least 270 electoral votes—in the Electoral College.[5] A complete list of candidates registered with the Federal Election Commission can be found here.


Donald Trump (R)

Joe Biden (D)

Howie Hawkins (G)

Jo Jorgensen (L)

General election candidates on five or more ballots

In addition to Biden, Hawkins, Jorgensen, and Trump, the following candidates have qualified to appear on five or more ballots:

Presidential election results

See also: Electoral College in the 2020 presidential election

Results by state

National results


Presidential election results, 2020
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
Image of
Image of
Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D)
 
51.3
 
81,282,632 306
Image of
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Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R)
 
46.9
 
74,223,234 232
Image of
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Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L)
 
1.2
 
1,864,873 0
Image of
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Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (G)
 
0.3
 
402,795 0
Image of
Roque De La Fuente (multiple running mates) (Alliance Party)
 
0.1
 
88,214 0
Image of
Gloria La Riva (multiple running mates) (Party for Socialism and Liberation)
 
0.1
 
84,905 0
Image of
Image of
Ye/Michelle Tidball (Independent)
 
0.0
 
67,906 0
Image of
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Don Blankenship/William Mohr (Constitution Party)
 
0.0
 
59,924 0
Image of
Image of
Brock Pierce/Karla Ballard (Independent)
 
0.0
 
49,764 0
Image of
Image of
Brian T. Carroll/Amar Patel (American Solidarity Party)
 
0.0
 
35,260 0
Image of
Image of
Alyson Kennedy/Malcolm Jarrett (Socialist Workers Party)
 
0.0
 
6,791 0
Image of
Image of
Bill Hammons/Eric Bodenstab (Unity Party)
 
0.0
 
6,647 0
Image of
Jade Simmons (multiple running mates) (Independent)
 
0.0
 
6,534 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Jerry Segal/John de Graaf (Bread and Roses)
 
0.0
 
5,949 0
Image of
Image of
Dario David Hunter/Dawn Neptune Adams (Progressive Party)
 
0.0
 
5,394 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Phil Collins/Billy Joe Parker (Prohibition Party)
 
0.0
 
4,844 0
Image of
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Jesse Ventura/Cynthia McKinney (Green Party of Alaska)
 
0.0
 
3,284 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
President Boddie/Eric Stoneham (C.U.P.)
 
0.0
 
3,171 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Joe McHugh/Elizabeth Storm (Independent)
 
0.0
 
2,843 0
Image of
Image of
Mark Charles/Adrian Wallace (Independent)
 
0.0
 
2,662 0
Image of
Sheila Tittle (multiple running mates) (Independent)
 
0.0
 
1,806 0
Image of
Image of
Connie Gammon/Phil Collins (Independent)
 
0.0
 
1,475 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
J.R. Myers/Tiara Lusk (Life and Liberty)
 
0.0
 
1,372 0
Image of
Image of
Tom Hoefling/Andy Prior (Independent)
 
0.0
 
1,241 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
H. Brooke Paige/Thomas Witman (Grumpy Old Patriots)
 
0.0
 
1,175 0
Image of
Image of
Christopher Lafontaine/Michael Speed (Independent)
 
0.0
 
856 0
Image of
Kyle Kenley Kopitke (multiple running mates) (Independent)
 
0.0
 
815 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Ricki Sue King/Dayna Chandler (Genealogy Know Your Family History Party)
 
0.0
 
546 0
Image of
Image of
Princess Khadijah Maryam Jacob-Fambro/Khadijah Maryam Jacob Sr. (Independent)
 
0.0
 
497 0
Image of
Image of
Blake Huber/Frank Atwood (Approval Voting Party)
 
0.0
 
409 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Joseph Kishore/Norissa Santa Cruz (Socialist Equality Party)
 
0.0
 
317 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Richard Duncan/Mitch Bupp (Independent)
 
0.0
 
213 0
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Jordan Marc Scott/Jennifer Tepool (Independent)
 
0.0
 
175 0
Image of
Image of
Gary Swing/David Olszta (Boiling Frog)
 
0.0
 
141 0
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Keith McCormic/Sam Blasiak (Bull Moose)
 
0.0
 
126 0
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Zachary Scalf/Matthew Lyda (Independent)
 
0.0
 
29 0
  Other write-in votes
 
0.1
 
183,120 0

Total votes: 158,401,939

0 states have not been called.


Votes by state for Biden and Trump

The following table shows the number of votes Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) received in each state.

Votes by state for Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) in the 2020 presidential eleection
State Democratic Party Votes for Biden Republican Party Votes for Trump
Alabama 849,624 1,441,170
Alaska 153,778 189,951
Arizona 1,672,143 1,661,686
Arkansas 423,932 760,647
California 11,110,250 6,006,429
Colorado 1,804,352 1,364,607
Connecticut 1,080,831 714,717
Delaware 296,268 200,603
District of Columbia 317,323 18,586
Florida 5,297,045 5,668,731
Georgia 2,473,633 2,461,854
Hawaii 366,130 196,864
Idaho 287,021 554,119
Illinois 3,471,915 2,446,891
Indiana 1,242,416 1,729,519
Iowa 759,061 897,672
Kansas 570,323 771,406
Kentucky 772,474 1,326,646
Louisiana 856,034 1,255,776
Maine 435,072 360,737
Maryland 1,985,023 976,414
Massachusetts 2,382,202 1,167,202
Michigan 2,804,040 2,649,852
Minnesota 1,717,077 1,484,065
Mississippi 539,398 756,764
Missouri 1,253,014 1,718,736
Montana 244,786 343,602
Nebraska 374,583 556,846
Nevada 703,486 669,890
New Hampshire 424,937 365,660
New Jersey 2,608,335 1,883,274
New Mexico 501,614 401,894
New York 5,230,985 3,244,798
North Carolina 2,684,292 2,758,775
North Dakota 114,902 235,595
Ohio 2,679,165 3,154,834
Oklahoma 503,890 1,020,280
Oregon 1,340,383 958,448
Pennsylvania 3,458,229 3,377,674
Rhode Island 307,486 199,922
South Carolina 1,091,541 1,385,103
South Dakota 150,471 261,043
Tennessee 1,143,711 1,852,475
Texas 5,259,126 5,890,347
Utah 560,282 865,140
Vermont 242,820 112,704
Virginia 2,413,568 1,962,430
Washington 2,369,612 1,584,651
West Virginia 235,984 545,382
Wisconsin 1630673 1,610,065
Wyoming 73,491 193,559

Presidential candidates on the ballot by state

See also: Presidential election by state, 2020

There were 21 candidates on the ballot each in Vermont and Colorado. The next largest presidential ballots were Arkansas and Louisiana with 13 candidates each. Twelve states had only three candidates on the ballot.

The following map shows the number of presidential candidates on the ballot in each state.

2020 presidential race ratings

The following map reflects the average presidential race rating for each state as forecast by the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball.

Latest updates

Sabato's Crystal Ball also updated its race ratings on November 2, 2020:[6]

  • Florida, Iowa, Maine's 2nd Congressional District, and Ohio moved from Toss Up to Leans Republican.
  • Georgia and North Carolina moved from Toss Up to Leans Democratic.

Inside Elections updated its race ratings on October 28, 2020:[7]

  • Texas moved from Tilt Republican to Toss Up.
  • Georgia and North Carolina moved from Toss Up to Tilt Democratic.

The Cook Political Report updated its race ratings on October 28, 2020:[8]

  • Texas moved from Leans Republican to Toss Up.

PredictIt markets

See also: PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election

What is a PredictIt market?

PredictIt is an online political futures market in which users purchase shares relating to the outcome of political events using real money. Each event, such as an election, has a number of contracts associated with it, each correlating to a different outcome. For instance, an election contested between four candidates would be represented by eight separate contracts, with each contract correlating to a particular candidate winning or losing the election.

The price of a share in each individual contract rises and falls based on market demand. Once the event's outcome is decided, holders of shares that correlate with the correct outcome receive a $1 payout for each share they held.

For example, a user buys 10 shares at 20 cents each in a presidential primary saying Candidate A will win. If Candidate A wins the election, the user earns $10. If the candidate loses, the user earns no money and loses his original $2 investment.

Why do PredictIt markets matter?

Services such as PredictIt are being used to gain insight into the likely outcome of elections. Microsoft Research economist David Rothschild argues that they are better suited to the task than polls: "I can create a poll that can mimic everything about a prediction market...except markets have a way of incentivizing you to come back at 2 a.m. and update your answer."[9][10][11]

Battleground states

Arizona

Florida

Georgia

Iowa

Michigan

Minnesota

Nevada

New Hampshire

North Carolina

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Texas

Wisconsin

Policy positions

Click on any of the following links to read statements from the 2020 presidential candidates on a range of domestic, economic, and foreign policy issues. These statements were primarily compiled from each candidate's official campaign website.

Abortion

Criminal justice

Economy

Education

Energy and environmental issues

Foreign policy

Gun regulation

Healthcare

Immigration

Impeachment

Labor

Trade

Declared presidential candidates

See also: List of registered 2020 presidential candidates

There were 1,212 candidates who filed to run, including:[12]

  • 323 Democratic candidates
  • 164 Republican candidates
  • 65 Libertarian candidates
  • 23 Green candidates

Click here for a complete list of presidential candidates registered with the FEC.

Declared presidential candidates by party

The following chart shows the party affiliation of presidential candidates who have registered with the Federal Election Commission.


Presidential candidates over time, 2016 vs. 2020

This chart compares the number of notable presidential candidates who entered the races in 2016 and 2020 by weeks out from the election.

Presidential primary candidates

Democratic primary candidates

Democratic primary candidates on five or more primary ballots

In addition to Joe Biden, the following candidates appeared on five or more Democratic primary ballots:

Notable Democratic primary candidates by withdrawal date

Republican primary candidates

Republican primary candidates on five or more primary ballots

In addition to President Donald Trump, the following candidates appeared on five or more Republican primary ballots:

Notable Republican primary candidates by withdrawal date

  • Bill Weld (R), a former governor of Massachusetts, withdrew on March 18, 2020.[41]
  • Joe Walsh (R), a former U.S. representative from Illinois, withdrew February 7, 2020.[42]
  • Mark Sanford (R), former governor of South Carolina, withdrew on November 12, 2019.[43]

Potential presidential candidates

See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020

Potential Democratic presidential candidates

The Democratic presidential primary field was expected to be large in 2020.[44] The New York Times reported in September 2017 that, "In interviews, more than three dozen leading Democratic donors, fund-raisers and operatives agreed that it was the earliest start they had ever seen to the jockeying that typically precedes the official kickoff to the campaign for the party’s presidential nomination. It is a reflection of the deep antipathy toward President Trump among Democrats, and the widespread belief that the right candidate could defeat him, but also of the likelihood that the contest for the nomination could be the longest, most crowded and most expensive in history."[45]

The following 18 politicians and public figures were discussed as potential candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Politicians

Business executives and public figures

  • Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase[54][55]
  • Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation[56]
  • Bob Iger, CEO of Disney[46]
  • Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, actor and professional wrestler[57]
  • Michelle Obama, former first lady of the United States[58]
  • Oprah Winfrey, mass media owner and philanthropist[46][59]
  • Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder[46]

Potential Republican presidential candidates

See also: Republican presidential nomination, 2020

The following 12 politicians and public figures were discussed as potential candidates for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination.

Politicians

Business executives and public figures

  • Mark Cuban, investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks[65]
  • Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard[61]



Declined to run

The following individuals considered running for president or were mentioned by media outlets as possible presidential contenders but declined to run.

Democrats

Republicans

Libertarians

Independents

2016 presidential election results

See also: Presidential election, 2016

Americans elected Donald Trump (R) as the 45th president of the United States on November 8, 2016. Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D) were projected to receive 306 and 232 electoral votes, respectively, but seven electors cast votes for other candidates. Trump won 304 electoral votes and Clinton won 227. Trump won 2,626 counties nationwide, while Clinton won 487 counties.[80] President Barack Obama was ineligible for re-election due to term limits established by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Trump was sworn into office on January 20, 2017.

U.S. presidential election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes
     Democratic Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 48.3% 65,844,969 227
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngDonald Trump/Mike Pence 46.2% 62,979,984 304
     Libertarian Gary Johnson/Bill Weld 3.3% 4,492,919 0
     Green Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka 1.1% 1,449,370 0
     - Other 1.2% 1,684,908 7
Total Votes 136,452,150 538
Election results via: Ballotpedia

See also


Footnotes

  1. The New York Times, "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins," December 14, 2020
  2. Talking Points Memo, "Bernie Sanders Ends 2020 Bid, Making Biden Presumptive Dem Nominee," April 8, 2020
  3. AP, "Biden formally clinches Democratic presidential nomination," June 5, 2020
  4. YouTube, "LNC Convention Day 2," May 23, 2020
  5. This calculation does not include eligiblity for write-in votes.
  6. Sabato's Crystall Ball, "2020 Rating Changes," accessed November 2, 2020
  7. Inside Elections, "Presidential Ratings," October 28, 2020
  8. Cook Political Report, "Biden’s Path to 270 Widens, Trump’s Path Narrows, as Texas Moves to Toss Up," October 28, 2020
  9. Nature, "The power of prediction markets," October 18, 2016
  10. Politico, "Meet the 'stock market' for politics," October 31, 2014
  11. U.S. Presidential General Election Results, "2008 Electoral Map Based on the Intrade Prediction Market," accessed January 25, 2018
  12. FEC, "Candidates for President," accessed November 6, 2020
  13. Politico, "Bernie Sanders suspends his presidential campaign," April 8, 2020
  14. Axios, "Tulsi Gabbard suspends presidential campaign, endorses Biden," March 19, 2020
  15. The New York Times, "Elizabeth Warren, Once a Front-Runner, Will Drop Out of Presidential Race," March 5, 2020
  16. Axios, "Bloomberg suspends presidential campaign, endorses Biden," March 4, 2020
  17. USA Today, "With her 'Klomentum' gone, Amy Klobuchar ends her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination," March 2, 2020
  18. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ButtigiegEnd
  19. NBC News, "Billionaire Tom Steyer quits Democratic primary race," February 29, 2020
  20. NPR, "Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick Ends His Presidential Bid," February 12, 2020
  21. The New York Times, "Andrew Yang to End His Presidential Campaign," February 11, 2020
  22. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BennetEnd
  23. John Delaney 2020 campaign website, "Decision to Withdraw From 2020 Race," January 31, 2020
  24. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BookerEnd
  25. The New York Times, "Marianne Williamson Drops Out of 2020 Presidential Race," January 10, 2020
  26. CNBC, "Julian Castro drops out of 2020 Democratic primary race," January 2, 2020
  27. Politico, "Kamala Harris drops out of presidential race," December 3, 2019
  28. Medium, "Steve Bullock: Thank You," December 2, 2019
  29. CNN, "Joe Sestak ends long-shot 2020 Democratic presidential campaign," December 1, 2019
  30. Twitter, "Wayne Messam," November 20, 2019
  31. CNBC, "Beto O’Rourke is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race," November 1, 2019
  32. CNBC, "Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan drops out of the 2020 presidential race," October 24, 2019
  33. YouTube, "Bill De Blasio Announces An End To 2020 Campaign | Morning Joe | MSNBC," September 20, 2019
  34. Axios, "Kirsten Gillibrand drops out of the 2020 presidential race," August 28, 2019
  35. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Moultonout
  36. CNN, "Washington Gov. Jay Inslee drops out of presidential race," August 21, 2019
  37. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hickenlooperout
  38. Politico, "Gravel and his campaign teens end presidential run," August 6, 2019
  39. ABC7 News, "Rep. Swalwell to make announcement about presidential campaign," July 8, 2018
  40. WVAH, "Richard Ojeda suspends his campaign for U.S. president," January 25, 2019
  41. NBC News, "Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld ends long-shot primary challenge to Trump," March 18, 2020
  42. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named WalshEnd
  43. CNN, "Mark Sanford suspends 2020 presidential campaign," November 12, 2019
  44. Politico, "Dems' 2020 dilemma: Familiar 70-somethings vs. neophyte no-names," August 31, 2017
  45. The New York Times, "Long list of top Democrats have 2020, and money, on their minds," September 2, 2017
  46. 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 46.4 The Washington Post, "The top 15 possible 2020 Democratic nominees, ranked," September 18, 2017
  47. News & Observer, "Roy Cooper for president?" March 29, 2018
  48. 48.0 48.1 CNN, "#2020Vision: Surveying the 30-plus candidate 2020 field; a Sanders reunion in Michigan; Steyer to announce his plans," January 5, 2018
  49. 49.0 49.1 FiveThirtyEight, "Who’s Behaving Like A 2020 Presidential Candidate," October 11, 2018
  50. CNN, "#2020Vision: Kander and Buttigieg make moves; Holder takes on a more public role," June 23, 2017
  51. The Hill, "John Kerry considering presidential run in 2020: report," January 24, 2018
  52. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NR
  53. 53.0 53.1 The Hill, "36 people who could challenge Trump in 2020," February 13, 2018
  54. Vanity Fair, "'If Trump can win, anyone can': Why the Jamie Dimon 2020 madness isn't so crazy," January 18, 2018
  55. On January 29, 2018, Dimon announced his intention to remain in his role at JPMorgan Chase for about five years, through approximately 2023.
  56. Inc. "Mark my words: Bill Gates is running for president," February 19, 2018
  57. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nbcnews
  58. Haaretz, "Michelle Obama for president in 2020," January 16, 2018
  59. Winfrey ruled out a 2020 presidential bid in an interview with InStyle Magazine that was released in January 2018.
  60. AL.com, "Coulter: Mo Brooks a ‘terrific’ GOP challenger to Trump," February 2, 2019
  61. 61.0 61.1 61.2 Newsweek, "Trump challengers: 10 Republicans who could run for president in 2020," December 27, 2017
  62. ABC News, "Trump could face GOP challengers in the 2020 election," August 9, 2017
  63. 63.0 63.1 63.2 63.3 CNN, "5 Republicans who could challenge Donald Trump in 2020," August 1, 2017
  64. 64.0 64.1 The New York Times, "Republican shadow campaign for 2020 takes shape as Trump doubts grow," August 5, 2017
  65. Fox News, "Mark Cuban reveals possible presidential aspirations," October 22, 2017
  66. FiveThirtyEight, "How 17 Long-Shot Presidential Contenders Could Build A Winning Coalition," January 15, 2019
  67. Politico, "Stacey Abrams says she would be open to VP consideration 'by any nominee'," August 14, 2019
  68. 68.0 68.1 The Hill, "Would-be 2020 Dem candidates head for the exits," December 5, 2018
  69. Twitter, "Robert Costa," January 18, 2019
  70. Politico, "Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will not run for president," January 29, 2019
  71. ABC News, "Rep. Joe Kennedy III rules out 2020 bid, but encourages 'big, broad field,'" February 7, 2019
  72. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Terry
  73. Twitter, "Chris Murphy," January 23, 2019
  74. CNN, "Martin O'Malley rules out 2020 bid, urges Beto O'Rourke to run," January 3, 2019
  75. Los Angeles Times, "Rep. Adam Schiff is not running for president. In case you were wondering," February 4, 2019
  76. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Hogan
  77. CNN, "Mitt Romney says he's not running against Trump in 2020, but will 'see what the alternatives are' before endorsing," January 3, 2019
  78. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AmashEnds
  79. Politico, "Howard Schultz announces he will not run for president," September 6, 2019
  80. Associated Press, "Trending story that Clinton won just 57 counties is untrue," December 6, 2016