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494 delegates (415 pledged, 79 unpledged) to the Democratic National Convention The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in California |
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The 2020 California Democratic presidential primary took place on March 3, 2020, as one of 15 contests scheduled on Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election, following the South Carolina primary the weekend before. The California primary formed an unusual part of Super Tuesday as it had historically departed from its typical June date. It was a semi-closed primary, with the state awarding 494 delegates towards the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 415 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.
Senator Bernie Sanders won the highly desired primary, which bore the most delegates of the entire primary cycle by far, improving on his polling average by 3% and winning 36% of the vote and 225 delegates.[1] Former vice president Joe Biden, however, aided by among others the endorsements of Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, also had a much stronger second-place finish than expected and took 28% of the vote and 172 delegates, matching his successful Super Tuesday momentum and minimizing his delegate deficit, which was also leveled by his other wins on that day.[2] Ultimately, his California loss did not hinder Biden from becoming the new frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg did not surpass the 15% threshold and only got 11 and 7 delegates in a few districts, respectively.