The Democratic Convention Is Usually Just a Formality

A large field of Democratic candidates are all licking their chops at the opportunity to run against President Trump in 2020. These candidates all see a vulnerable President in the White House, despite the fact that President Trump remains the clear favorite to win in 2020, largely thanks to a still-strong US economy.

As we've seen in past Presidential elections, if an incumbent President is running for re-election when the economy is strong, they are virtually unbeatable.

This isn't stopping a large field of Democratic candidates from attempting to secure the Democratic nomination to run against President Trump in 2020. While Trump gets to campaign, the Democratic hopefuls will figuratively be trying to kill each other in debates and on the campaign trail.

The question is - when will we know who is running against President Trump in 2020?

Well, the Democratic National Convention takes place from July 13th-July 16th of 2020. By the end of that event, the Democratic party's official choice to square off against President Trump in November of 2020 will be known.

A total of 3,769 delegates will cost their votes, and the nominee will be the person who gathers a minimum of 1,885 votes.

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Prior to the Democratic National Convention taking place, US states will hold their primaries and caucuses.

There is the Iowa Caucus, which is important for establishing early momentum for the candidates who hope to secure the nomination.

There is the New Hampshire Democratic primary, which is the second nominating contest for the Democratic party.

There is "Super Tuesday", which will be held on March 3rd, 2020. On this day, over a dozen states, including Alabama, Minnesota and North Carolina, will be holding their primaries or caucuses.

By the time that "Super Tuesday" is over, there should be a pretty clear sense of who the Democratic Party will end up nominating.

In 2008, for instance, Barack Obama won 13 states and regions on "Super Tuesday", while Hillary Clinton won 10. While the results were fairly close, "Super Tuesday" in 2008 clearly established Barack Obama's momentum, and he never looked back.

In 2016, both President Trump and Hillary Clinton won the majority of their states on "Super Tuesday", and both would go on to run for President.

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In short - the Democratic nominee will be officially named by July 16th of 2020, though the likely candidate to run against President Trump will likely be apparently after March 3rd, 2020.

Filed under: General Knowledge