2020 District of Columbia elections

2020 District of Columbia elections
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Turnout66.90%[1]
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Ballot measures
1998:
2014:
  • Initiative 71
    • 2016:
  • Advisory Referendum B
    • 2018:
  • Initiative 77
    • 2022:
  • Initiative 82
    		•

    On November 3, 2020, the District of Columbia held elections for several local and federal government offices. Its primary elections were held on June 2, 2020.[2]

    In addition to the U.S. presidential race voters elected one of its two shadow senators, its nonvoting member of the House of Representatives and 6 of 13 seats on the council. There is also one ballot measure which was voted on.[3]

    Federal elections

    President of the United States

    Main article: 2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
    See also: 2020 District of Columbia Democratic presidential primary and 2020 District of Columbia Republican presidential primary

    Washington, D.C., has 3 electoral votes in the Electoral College. The district has leaned heavily Democratic in each presidential election since 1964, the first one in which its population was able to vote.

    2020 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Joe Biden 317,323 92.15
    Republican Donald Trump (incumbent) 18,586 5.40
    Libertarian Jo Jorgensen 2,036 0.59
    DC Statehood Green Howie Hawkins 1,726 0.50
    Independent Gloria La Riva 855 0.25
    Independent Brock Pierce 693 0.20
    Write-in 3,137 0.91
    Total votes 344,356 100.00

    United States House of Representatives

    Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives election in the District of Columbia

    Eleanor Holmes Norton ran for re-election as a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives.[4]

    2020 United States House of Representatives election in the District of Columbia[5]
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Eleanor Holmes Norton (incumbent) 281,831 86.30
    Libertarian Patrick Hynes 9,678 2.96
    Independent Barbara Washington Franklin 7,628 2.34
    Socialist Workers Omari Musa 6,702 2.05
    DC Statehood Green Natale Lino Stracuzzi 5,553 1.70
    Independent David Krucoff 5,017 1.54
    Independent Amir Lowery 5,001 1.53
    Independent John Cheeks 2,914 0.89
    Write-in 2,263 0.69
    Total votes 326,587 100.00
    Democratic hold

    Shadow Senator

    Main article: 2020 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia

    Incumbent Paul Strauss was re-elected to a sixth term as a shadow senator.

    2020 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia[5]
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Paul Strauss (incumbent) 251,991 81.17
    DC Statehood Green Eleanor Ory 31,151 10.03
    Republican Cornelia Weiss 24,168 7.78
    Write-in 3,154 1.02
    Total votes 310,464 100.00
    Democratic hold

    Shadow Representative

    Main article: 2020 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

    Incumbent Franklin Garcia declined to run for re-election. Democrat Oye Owolewa, independent Sohaer Syed, and Statehood Green Joyce Robinson-Paul competed for his open seat.

    2020 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia[5]
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Oye Owolewa 240,533 81.60
    DC Statehood Green Joyce Robinson-Paul 27,128 9.20
    Independent Sohaer Rizvi Syed 22,771 7.72
    Write-in 4,341 1.47
    Total votes 294,773 100.00
    Democratic hold

    District elections

    Council

    This section is an excerpt from 2020 Council of the District of Columbia election.[edit]

    In 2020, a general election for Council of the District of Columbia was held on November 3, and a special election was held on June 27. Elections were held in four of the districts and one at-large. The Democratic Party retained its control of the city council and the council became majority female for the first time since the 1998 election.[6]

    Jack Evans resigned from the city council, causing a special election. Evans unsuccessfully ran for his seat which was won by Brooke Pinto. Incumbent councilors Robert White, Pinto, Vincent C. Gray, and Trayon White won reelection. Janeese Lewis George won election to the city council after defeating incumbent councilor Brandon Todd while David Grosso retired and was succeeded by Christina Henderson.

    This was the first city council election to have public campaign financing with $3.4 million being given to candidates and George being given the most at $281,055 during the campaign.

    Ballot measure

    Initiative 81, titled the Entheogenic Plants and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, aims to decriminalize noncommercial cultivation, distribution and possession of psychedelic plants, including psilocybin mushrooms, iboga, cacti containing mescaline, and ayahuasca.[7]

    Polling

    Poll source Date(s)
    administered     		Sample
    size[a]     		Margin
    of error     		For Initiative 81 Against Initiative 81 Undecided
    FM3 Research/Campaign to Decriminalize Nature DC[8][A] August 16–24, 2020 620 (LV) ± 4% 60% 24% 16%
    FM3 Research/Campaign to Decriminalize Nature DC[8][A] March – April, 2020 – (V)[b] – 51% 27% 22%

    Result

    Initiative Measure No. 81
    Entheogenic Plants and Fungus Policy Act
    Choice Votes %
    Referendum passed Yes 214,685 76.18
    No 67,140 23.82
    Total votes 281,825 100.00
    Registered voters/turnout 517,890 54.42
    Source: [5]

    Notes

    1. ^ Key:
      A – all adults
      RV – registered voters
      LV – likely voters
      V – unclear
    2. ^ Not yet released

    Partisan clients

    1. ^ a b Poll sponsored by Campaign to Decrminalize Nature D.C., which had supported the initiative prior to the poll's sampling period

    References

    1. ^ "Election Statistics". District of Columbia Board of Elections. December 2, 2020.
    2. ^ "Municipal elections in Washington, D.C. (2020)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
    3. ^ Sakellaridis, Faye (September 18, 2020). "60 Percent of DC Voters Support Plant Medicine Decriminalization". Lucid. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
    4. ^ "Live: District of Columbia State Primary Election Results 2020". New York Times. June 3, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
    5. ^ a b c d "General Election 2020 - Certified Results". electionresults.dcboe.org. December 2, 2020.
    6. ^ "These Women Will Turn The D.C. Council Majority-Female For The First Time In Decades". WAMU. November 19, 2020. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
    7. ^ Moyer, Justin (August 5, 2020). "D.C. residents to vote on decriminalization of 'magic mushrooms' on November ballot". Washington Post. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
    8. ^ a b FM3 Research/Campaign to Decriminalize Nature DC

    Further reading