Vice Presidential Candidates, 2020 - Ballotpedia

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2020 Presidential ElectionDate: November 3, 2020

Presidential candidates Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen

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

This page provides an overview of the 2020 vice presidential nominees. It also includes a list of Democratic and Republican officials and public figures discussed as potential candidates for vice president in the 2020 presidential election.

The following candidates have been announced for vice president:

• Kamala Harris (D), U.S. senator from California
• Mike Pence (R), vice president of the United States and former governor
• Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (L), entrepreneur and podcaster
• Angela Nicole Walker (G), veteran and labor activist

In the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green presidential candidates had all chosen their running mates by August 1, 2016.

Contents

• 1 Potential Democratic vice presidential candidates
• 2 Potential Republican vice presidential candidates
• 3 How vice presidential candidates are selected
• 4 2016 vice presidential nominees
• 5 Vice presidential nominees, 1900-2016
• 6 See also
• 7 Footnotes

Potential Democratic vice presidential candidates

The following 29 elected officials and public figures were discussed as potential candidates for the 2020 Democratic vice presidential nomination.

• Stacey Abrams, 2018 gubernatorial candidate from Georgia[2]
• Tammy Baldwin, U.S. senator from Wisconsin[3]
• Karen Bass, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus[4]
• Cory Booker, former 2020 presidential candidate and U.S. senator from New Jersey[5]
• Sherrod Brown, U.S. senator from Ohio[2]
• Pete Buttigieg, former 2020 presidential candidate[6]
• Bob Casey, U.S. senator from Pennsylvania[2]
• Julián Castro, former 2020 presidential candidate and secretary of housing and urban development[7]
• Catherine Cortez Mastro, U.S. senator from Nevada[2]
• Val Demings, a U.S. representative from Florida[8]
• Tammy Duckworth, U.S. senator from Illinois[2]
• Maggie Hassan, U.S. senator from New Hampshire[9]
• Jahana Hayes, a U.S. representative from Connecticut
• Doug Jones, U.S. senator from Alabama[2]
• Laura Kelly, governor of Kansas[3]
• Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta[10]
• Brenda Lawrence, a U.S. representative from Michigan
• Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of New Mexico[3]
• Gavin Newsom, governor of California[2]
• Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States[11]
• Gina Raimondo, governor of Rhode Island[12]
• Condoleezza Rice (R), former secretary of state[13]
• Susan Rice, former ambassador to the United Nations[3]
• Terri Sewell, a U.S. representative from Alabama
• Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. senator from New Hampshire[9]
• Elizabeth Warren, former 2020 presidential candidate and U.S. senator from Massachusetts[14]
• Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan[3]
• Andrew Yang, former 2020 presidential candidate[15]
• Sally Yates, former U.S. deputy attorney general[9]

Potential Republican vice presidential candidates

The following seven elected officials and public figures were discussed as potential candidates for the 2020 Republican vice presidential nomination.

If you are aware of any potential candidates that should be included, please email us.

• Kelly Ayotte, former U.S. senator from New Hampshire[16]
• Marsha Blackburn, U.S. senator from Tennessee[16]
• Liz Cheney, U.S. representative from Wyoming[16]
• Lindsey Graham, U.S. senator from South Carolina[16]
• Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations[16]
• Mia Love, former U.S. representative from Utah[16]

How vice presidential candidates are selected

Prior to the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804, the runner-up in the presidential election became vice president of the United States. The Twelfth Amendment required ballots to be cast separately for the offices of president and vice president.[17]

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, vice presidential candidates were typically chosen by the party to balance a ticket either geographically or ideologically. In 1960, for example, John F. Kennedy (D), a northerner, chose Lyndon B. Johnson (D) from Texas to be his running mate. Elaine Kamarck, the founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management, said this framework began to shift in 1992 for a partnership model. Recent presidents "have chosen running mates for their ability to help them be partners in the ever more complex governing process," Kamarck said.[18]

Changes to the primary process in the 20th century also adjusted the purpose of the national convention, with most presidential nominees securing the nomination prior to the event. The last multi-ballot Democratic national convention took place in 1952.[18] Conventions were no longer a forum for debate and negotiation around the selection of the vice presidential candidate. For this reason, nearly every Democratic and Republican vice presidential nominee since 1984 has been announced prior to the national convention.[19]

Democratic and Republican delegates still vote to approve the vice presidential nominee at their conventions, but do so through acclamation rather than a roll call vote.[20][21][22] Green and Libertarian delegates vote on a vice presidential candidate at their conventions. At the 2020 Libertarian National Convention, for example, the vice presidential vote went to a third ballot.

2016 vice presidential nominees

See also: Vice presidential candidates, 2016

2016 vice presidential nominees
Party	Name	Previous office	Announcement date
Democratic Party	Tim Kaine	U.S. senator from Virginia	July 22, 2016
Republican Party	Mike Pence	Governor of Indiana	July 15, 2016
Green Party	Ajamu Baraka	Human rights advocate	August 1, 2016
Libertarian Party	Bill Weld	Former governor of Massachusetts	May 29, 2016

Vice presidential nominees, 1900-2016

Vice presidential nominees, 1900-2016
Year	Democratic vice presidential nominee	Republican vice presidential nominee	Winner
1900	Adlai Stevenson	Theodore Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1904	Henry Davis	Charles Fairbanks	Fairbanks
1908	John Kern	James Sherman	Sherman
1912	Thomas Marshall	James Sherman	Marshall
1916	Thomas Marshall	Charles Fairbanks	Marshall
1920	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Calvin Coolidge	Coolidge
1924	Charles Bryan	Charles Dawes	Dawes
1928	Joseph Robinson	Charles Curtis	Curtis
1932	John Garner	Charles Curtis	Garner
1936	John Garner	Frank Knox	Garner
1940	Henry Wallace	Charles McNary	Wallace
1944	Harry Truman	John Bricker	Truman
1948	Alben Barkley	Earl Warren	Barkley
1952	John Sparkman	Richard Nixon	Nixon
1956	Estes Kefauver	Richard Nixon	Nixon
1960	Lyndon B. Johnson	Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.	Johnson
1964	Hubert Humphrey	William Miller	Humphrey
1968	Edmund Muskie	Spiro Agnew	Agnew
1972	Sargent Shriver	Spiro Agnew	Agnew
1976	Walter Mondale	Bob Dole	Mondale
1980	Walter Mondale	George H.W. Bush	Bush
1984	Geraldine Ferraro	George H.W. Bush	Bush
1988	Lloyd Bentsen	Dan Quayle	Quayle
1992	Al Gore	Dan Quayle	Gore
1996	Al Gore	Jack Kemp	Gore
2000	Joe Lieberman	Dick Cheney	Cheney
2004	John Edwards	Dick Cheney	Cheney
2008	Joe Biden	Sarah Palin	Biden
2012	Joe Biden	Paul Ryan	Biden
2016	Tim Kaine	Mike Pence	Pence

See also

• Presidential candidates, 2020
• Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
• Republican presidential nomination, 2020
• Presidential election, 2020
• Vice presidential candidates, 2016
• Possible vice presidential picks, 2016

Footnotes

1. ↑ The New York Times, "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins," December 14, 2020
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 FiveThirtyEight, "Our Very First 2020 Vice Presidential Draft," February 13, 2019
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Politico, "Biden’s Top 12 Running Mates, Ranked," March 17, 2020
4. ↑ CBS News, "Congressional Black Caucus chair Karen Bass being vetted to be Biden running mate," June 23, 2020
5. ↑ NJ.com, "Cory Booker for VP? He’s on everybody’s short list, Dem consultant says," January 19, 2020
6. ↑ CNN, "What's Pete Buttigieg going to do next?" March 2, 2020
7. ↑ CBS Austin, "Political expert: Castro may be VP pick after dropping out of presidential race," January 2, 2020
8. ↑ Florida Politics, "Val Demings for Vice President? Idea being pushed," January 16, 2020
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Concord Monitor, "Biden lists New Hampshire's two senators as potential running mates," November 25, 2019
10. ↑ Atlantia Journal Constitution, "Clyburn mentions Atlanta Mayor Bottoms as possible VP pick," April 3, 2020
11. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Obvious vice presidential pick for Joe Biden: Michelle Obama," March 26, 2020
12. ↑ CNN, "The Top 10 women Joe Biden might pick as vice president," June 11, 2020
13. ↑ The Hill, "Joe Biden's ideal VP is Condoleezza Rice," June 8, 2020
14. ↑ The Detroit News, "Michigan Democrats press for woman veep as race narrows to two men," March 15, 2020
15. ↑ Politico, "Andrew Yang says he's looking at other political races," February 12, 2020
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Roll Call, "Seven VP Candidates if Trump Dumps Pence for 2020 Re-Election Fight," November 26, 2018
17. ↑ Constitution Center, "The Twelfth Amendment," accessed July 22, 2020
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Brookings Institution, "Picking the vice president," July 7, 2020
19. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Why Biden Probably Won’t Announce His Running Mate For Months," April 29, 2020
20. ↑ Boston Globe, "Democrats quickly nominate Tim Kaine for vice president," July 27, 2016
21. ↑ CBS News, "Biden Hails Obama, Slams McCain," August 27, 2008
22. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Republicans Have Nominated Mike Pence For Vice President," July 19, 2016

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