Overview of Joe Biden's electoral history
Biden at his presidential kickoff rally in
Philadelphia , May 2019
This is the electoral history of Joe Biden , the 46th and current President of the United States .[1] Biden served as the 47th Vice President of the United States (2009–2017) and as a United States Senator from Delaware (1973–2009). Biden is the oldest elected president , the first from Delaware, and the second Catholic .
A member of the Democratic Party , Biden was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and became the sixth-youngest senator in American history when he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972 , at the age of 29. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, and was the fourth-most senior senator . He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and again in 2008 .
In January 2009, Biden resigned from the Senate to serve as Barack Obama 's vice president after they won the 2008 presidential election and were re-elected to a second term in 2012 . As vice president, Biden oversaw infrastructure spending in 2009 to counteract the Great Recession .[2] His negotiations with congressional Republicans helped pass legislation including the 2010 Tax Relief Act , which resolved a taxation deadlock;[3] the Budget Control Act of 2011 , which resolved a debt ceiling crisis ;[4] and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 , which addressed the impending "fiscal cliff ".[5]
Biden announced his candidacy in the 2020 presidential election on April 25, 2019.[6] A total of 29 major candidates declared their candidacies for the primaries, the largest field of presidential candidates for any American political party since 1972;[7] but over time the field narrowed down to Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont .[8] Eventually, Sanders withdrew from the race and Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee in April 2020;[9] and reached the delegate threshold needed to secure the nomination in June 2020.[10] He defeated incumbent president Donald Trump in the general election , with 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. Biden received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election .[11]
County council elections [ edit ]
1970 New Castle County, Delaware Councilman for the 4th District[12]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
10,573
55.4
Republican
Lawrence T. Messick
8,192
42.9
American
Kenneth A. Horner
317
1.7
Total votes
19,082
100.0
Senatorial elections [ edit ]
Presidential primaries [ edit ]
Presidential elections [ edit ]
Excluding penalized contests,[23] only primary and caucuses votes:
2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries [24]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Barack Obama
16,706,853
49.04%
Democratic
Hillary Clinton
16,239,821
47.67%
Democratic
John Edwards
742,010
2.18%
Democratic
Bill Richardson
89,054
0.26%
Democratic
Uncommitted
82,660
0.24%
Democratic
Dennis Kucinich
68,482
0.20%
Democratic
Joe Biden
64,041
0.19%
Democratic
Mike Gravel
27,662
0.08%
Democratic
Christopher Dodd
25,300
0.07%
Democratic
Others
22,556
0.07%
Total votes
34,068,439
100.00%
Including penalized contests:
2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries [24]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Hillary Clinton
18,225,175
48.03%
Democratic
Barack Obama
17,988,182
47.41%
Democratic
John Edwards
1,006,275
2.65%
Democratic
Uncommitted
299,610
2.79%
Democratic
Bill Richardson
106,073
0.28%
Democratic
Dennis Kucinich
103,994
0.27%
Democratic
Joe Biden
81,641
0.22%
Democratic
Scattering
44,348
0.12%
Democratic
Mike Gravel
40,251
0.11%
Democratic
Christopher Dodd
35,281
0.09%
Total votes
37,980,830
100.00%
2008 United States presidential election [27]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Barack Obama / Joe Biden
69,498,516
52.93%
Republican
John McCain / Sarah Palin
59,948,323
45.65%
Independent
Ralph Nader / Matt Gonzalez
739,034
0.56%
Libertarian
Bob Barr / Wayne Allyn Root
523,715
0.40%
Constitution
Chuck Baldwin / Darrell Castle
199,750
0.15%
Green
Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente
161,797
0.12%
American Independent
Alan Keyes / Wiley Drake
47,941
0.04%
N/A
Other
242,685
0.18%
Total votes
131,313,820
100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican
2012 United States presidential election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Barack Obama / Joe Biden (inc. )
65,915,795
51.06%
Republican
Mitt Romney / Paul Ryan
60,933,504
47.20%
Libertarian
Gary Johnson / Jim Gray
1,275,971
0.99%
Green
Jill Stein / Cheri Honkala
469,627
0.36%
Constitution
Virgil Goode / James Clymer
122,389
0.09%
Peace and Freedom
Roseanne Barr / Cindy Sheehan
67,326
0.05%
Justice
Rocky Anderson / Luis J. Rodriguez
43,018
0.03%
American Independent
Tom Hoefling / J.D. Ellis
40,628
0.03%
Reform
Andre Barnett / Kenneth Cross
956
0.00%
N/A
Other
216,196
0.19%
Total votes
129,085,410
100.00%
Democratic hold
First-instance vote by state and territory
Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders
Pete Buttigieg
Michael Bloomberg
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries [30]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Joe Biden
19,058,036
51.9%
Democratic
Bernie Sanders
9,674,912
26.3%
Democratic
Elizabeth Warren
2,830,184
7.7%
Democratic
Michael Bloomberg
2,493,382
6.8%
Democratic
Pete Buttigieg
923,867
2.5%
Democratic
Amy Klobuchar
529,566
1.4%
Democratic
Tulsi Gabbard
273,840
0.8%
Democratic
Other
963,356
2.6%
Total votes
36,747,143
100.00%
2020 United States presidential election [32]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Joe Biden / Kamala Harris
81,268,924
51.31%
Republican
Donald Trump / Mike Pence (incumbents )
74,216,154
46.86%
Libertarian
Jo Jorgensen / Spike Cohen
1,865,724
1.18%
Green
Howie Hawkins / Angela Walker
405,035
0.26%
N/A
Other
628,584
0.40%
Total votes
158,383,403
100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
^ "Biden and Harris inauguration live: Joe Biden becomes the 46th US president" . BBC News . Retrieved 2021-01-20 .
^ Biden, Joe (February 5, 2017). "Assessing the Recovery Act: 'The best is yet to come' " . The White House. Archived from the original on January 24, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2013 .
^ Hulse, Carl; Calmes, Jackie (December 7, 2010). "Biden and G.O.P. Leader Helped Hammer Out Bipartisan Tax Accord" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2010 .
^ Scherer, Michael (July 1, 2009). "What Happened to the Stimulus?" . Time . Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2009 .
^ Demirjian, Karoun (January 1, 2013). "It's over: House passes 'fiscal cliff' deal" . Las Vegas Sun . Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021 .
^ Saenz, Arlette (April 25, 2019). "Joe Biden announces he is running for president in 2020" . CNN . Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019 .
^ Burns, Alexander; Flegenheimer, Matt; Lee, Jasmine C.; Lerer, Lisa; Martin, Jonathan (January 10, 2020). "Who's Running for President in 2020?" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved January 22, 2020 .
^ Korecki, Natasha (March 2, 2020). "How Biden engineered his astonishing comeback" . Politico. Retrieved October 22, 2020 .
^ Ember, Sydney (April 8, 2020). "Bernie Sanders Is Dropping Out of 2020 Democratic Race for President" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
^ Detrow, Scott (June 5, 2020). "Biden Formally Clinches Democratic Nomination, While Gaining Steam Against Trump" . NPR . Retrieved June 5, 2020 . The AP delegate estimate reached the magic number of 1,991 delegates for Biden as seven states and the District of Columbia continue counting votes from Tuesday's primaries
^ Lewis, Sophie (November 7, 2020). "Joe Biden breaks Obama's record for most votes ever cast for a U.S presidential candidate" . CBS .
^ "State of Delaware Official Results of General Election (Excluding Write-in Votes) 1970" (PDF) . Office of the Delaware State Election Commissioner. Retrieved 2020-04-28 .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1973). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1979). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1978" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1985). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1984" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1991). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1997). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (2003). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (2009). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office .
^ Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jul 16, 1984
^ http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/880621convention-dem-ra.html Accessed: April 4, 2013
^ "Presidential Primary Election January 8" . Sos.nh.gov. 2008-01-08. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2012-01-04 .
^ Florida and Michigan violated Democratic National Committee rules by moving their primaries before February 5, 2008, resulting in a nullification of their primaries, until the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to restore half their delegates.
^ a b "2008 Democratic Popular Vote" . RealClearPolitics . Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
^ "CNN.com Video" . CNN . Retrieved May 1, 2010 .
^ chosen by acclamation.
^ "Federal Elections 2012" (PDF) . Federal Election Commission . Washington, D.C.: Federal Election Commission. 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2021 .
^ "Beau Biden Speech Kicks Of Motion To Nominate Father Joe Biden For Vice President" . The Huffington Post . September 6, 2012.
^ chosen by acclamation.
^ "Democratic Convention - Nationwide Popular Vote" . The Green Papers. Retrieved March 19, 2020 .
^ "The Math Behind the Democratic Delegate Allocation - 2020" . The Green Papers . Retrieved January 4, 2020 .
^ "Official 2020 presidential general election results" (PDF) . Federal Election Commission . 1 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021 .