2020 Alternate Elections, USA

Background
The 2020 United States elections were held on November 3, 2020. Democrat former vice president Joe Biden defeated incumbent president Donald Trump in a blowout election. Alongside the presidential victory were a blowout victory in the House and the Senate. As a result, the Democrats have gained unified control of Congress and the presidency for the first time since 2008.

With Trump losing re-election, he became the first one-term President since George H.W. Bush lost re-election in 1992. This would also become the first election where both party leaders in the House of Representatives would lose re-election simultaneously, along with a Senate leader, with the defeats of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to Shahid Buttar, Kim Mangone, and Amy McGrath respectively.

Significant issues for voters included the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare, racial unrest, the economy, and climate change. Social distancing guidelines have resulted in unprecedented amounts of mail-in and early voting, and as such voting turnout has increased significantly. After losing the election, Donald Trump and various Republicans who lost made claims of voter fraud, which have been proven to be false. As a result, numerous attempts to overturn the landslides were made, ultimately ending in a deadly riot on the Capitol and Trump becoming the first President to be successfully impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Vice President Mike Pence became the 46th President on January 13th, and Joe Biden the 47th President a week later. Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth made history by becoming the 49th Vice President, as well as the first Asian and female Vice President.

President
The presidential election is largely considered a blowout election, with the largest electoral victory seen in history. Joe Biden has won 534 out of a maximum possible 538 electors. On the path to the general election, Biden became the presumptive nominee in April when Bernie Sanders, who was in a close second place in regard to delegate count, withdrew from the primaries and endorsed Biden. Trump, however, faced a more contentious primary election cycle. Democratic Party primaries Joe Biden easily won the Democratic Party primaries once senator Bernie Sanders, congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and businessman Andrew Yang withdrew in April. After that, it was relatively smooth sailing as Biden had become the clear frontrunner after Super Tuesday. Republican presidential primaries The Republican primaries were a lot more contentious than anyone was anticipating. At the end, incumbent Donald Trump came out with the minimum needed for a majority to win the nomination. As a result of Vice President Mike Pence's resignation, effective on January 7, 2021, Trump had to choose a new running mate. For this, he chose South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. General election

Closest races One state totaling 5 electors had a margin under 1%
 * West Virginia (5 electoral votes) - Biden + 0.44% (3,556 votes)

Two states totaling 10 electors had a margin between 1% and 5%
 * North Dakota (3 electoral votes) - Biden + 3.57% (12,536 votes)
 * Oklahoma (7 electoral votes) - Biden + 4.64% (73,004 votes)

Six states totaling 25 electors had a margin between 5% and 15%
 * Wyoming (3 electoral votes) - Trump + 6.17% (17,555 votes)
 * Arkansas (6 electoral votes) - Biden + 8.79% (109,834 votes)
 * Nebraska's 1st congressional district (1 electoral vote) - Biden + 9.05% (27,430 votes)
 * South Dakota (3 electoral votes) - Biden + 10.98% (47,381 votes)
 * Idaho (4 electoral votes) - Biden + 14.31% (123,923 votes)
 * Kentucky (8 electoral votes) - Biden + 14.85% (318,833 votes)

Tipping point: Pennsylvania (20 electors, 40.95% margin)

House of Representatives
The 2020 House of Representatives elections took place alongside the presidential and Senate elections, along with various state and local elections. The Democrats made significant gains, largely sweeping many parts of the country thought to be unwinnable. Both the Speaker and Minority Leader, however, have lost re-election. Majority leader Steny Hoyer and majority whip Jim Clyburn have retired from their respective leadership positions. In their places, Hakeem Jeffries became the next Speaker and the first non-white Speaker, while David Ciciline became majority leader, and the first gay floor leader in the House. Florida representative Charlie Crist became the Majority Whip. Libertarian Justin Amash became the de-facto floor leader for his party after the election of additional members. For the Republicans, minority whip Steve Scalise will become their leader, while Wyoming representative Liz Cheney will become the minority whip. Representative-elect Randy Luallin of South Dakota will be the Libertarian whip.

Special elections since the last regular election Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana

Nebraska

Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah

Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Non-voting delegates In addition, all six non-voting House delegates were up for re-election.

Senate
The 2020 Senate elections took place alongside the presidential and House elections. The Democrats attained a filibuster-proof supermajority, however it is one seat short of a 2/3 supermajority. History was also made here in various ways. Kansas elected their first Democrat senator in 90 years, while the first Libertarian senator was also elected. The Democrats also swept the traditional "red wall", only leaving Nebraska, Wyoming, and West Virginia untouched.

Governors
Alongside the House, Senate, and presidential races, various governors' races were up too.