The 2020 Election Results

A total of 137,125,484 Americans voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election, giving President Holland the highest share of the popular vote ever recorded within the United States.

Sharing Holland's ticket, Democratic candidates triumphed in 9 of the 12 gubernatorial races, 18 of the 31 Senate contests, and 313 of the 435 elections for seats in the U.S. House. This section provides a more detailed analysis of the information provided at this article, United States presidential election, 2020 (Holland Version), including the official results of each race and the comparative strengths of the various candidates within each state and district.

National presidential vote
This was the total vote breakdown for the presidential election, held in all fifty states and the District of Columbia:

President Holland's total of 90,571,382 votes far exceeds the previous record of 57,357,135 votes received by President Bill Clinton in 1996. His percentage of the total popular vote-66.1 percent-was the largest any candidate received since the popular vote first came into widespread use in 1824. (He exceeded Lyndon Johnson, with 61.1 percent (1964), Franklin D. Roosevelt with 60.8 percent (1936), Richard Nixon with 60.7 percent (1972), Warren G. Harding with 60.3 percent (1920), and Clinton, with 60.2 percent (1996), in terms of the popular vote). Holland's percentage of the two-party popular vote also set a record. He received 66.3 percent of the two-party popular vote, compared to 65.2 percent for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, 63.9 percent for Harding in 1920, and 62.5 percent for Roosevelt in 1936.

Holland's popular vote margin over Dickenson-46,069,352 votes-is an all-time record, easily exceeding the 21,437,467 vote margin by which Clinton defeated Bob Dole in 1996, and the 17,995,488 plurality of Richard Nixon over George McGovern in 1972. The 2020 results contrasted vividly with those of the 2016 election, when Holland defeated the Republican ticket of Romney and Ryan by a narrow 4,982,291 popular vote margin. The 2020 Holland-Holtzman ticket received 24,655,587 more votes than in 2016.

Holland set another record by carrying nineteen states by more than a million votes: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. In ten states and the District of Columbia, Holland defeated Dickenson by a margin of forty percentage points or more: D.C. (92.5 percent), Hawaii (80.9 percent), Vermont (78.2 percent), California (76.7 percent), Maryland (73.7 percent), New York (73.1 percent), Massachusetts (72.4 percent), Rhode Island (70.6 percent), Illinois (70.5 percent), Texas (69.5 percent), and Colorado (68.6 percent). Holland's narrowest margin was in Wyoming, where he won by 4,708 votes (50.9 percent). In all, Holland was victorious in 49 states and the District of Columbia, winning 531 of the 538 electoral votes.

Dickenson, on the other hand, won only one state and one congressional district with 7 electoral votes. His total popular vote, 44,502,030, was 16,431,474 less than the vote of 60,933,504 which Romney received in 2012. Dickenson won 32.5 percent of the total vote and 32.7 percent of the two-party vote. His biggest victory was in Nebraska's 3rd congressional district, where he won 51.1 percent of the vote. His narrowest victory was his only state win, his home state of Mississippi, where he edged Holland by 22,110 votes (50.5 percent).

Total Vote
The total Presidential vote of 137,125,484 was the largest in American history. The previous record was set in 2012, when 129,085,410 Americans voted for President. The percentage of eligible (voting age) persons voting in 2020 also increased slightly. In 2016, 58.1 percent of the 222,000,000 eligible voters voted for President; in 2020, 58.2 percent of the 235,248,000 eligible voters.

Presidential Vote by District
A measure of Dickenson's sweeping defeat was reflected in the fact that he won a majority of the vote in only 13 of the 435 congressional districts in the country. Holland, on the other hand, was victorious in 422 districts. The breakdowns:



The lone non-southern district carried by Dickenson was NE-03, Nebraska's largest congressional district by territorial size, encompassing the western half of the state. He won 40 of the district's 72 counties, which, together with getting more than forty percent in the more populated counties won by Holland (Logan, Buffalo, Hall, and Adams), was enough to carry this traditionally heavily Republican stronghold. The Southern districts he carried were two in Oklahoma (OK-01 and OK-03), two in Louisiana (LA-01 and LA-03), two in Mississippi (MS-03 and MS-04), two in Alabama (AL-01 and AL-06), two in Tennessee (TN-02 and TN-03), one in Kentucky (KY-05), and one in South Carolina (SC-02). Dickenson did not win any congressional districts in the remaining forty-two states, being shut out of the entire Northeast and West. He lost all seven at-large districts (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Delaware, and Vermont). Dickenson's best district was AL-06, where he received 61 percent of the votes cast; his narrowest victory was in KY-05, where he carried 15 counties to Holland's 14, and edged Holland out by a few thousand votes (50.1 percent). Holland's best district was NY-15, one of the most heavily Democratic, urban, and smallest districts in the country; he received 97 percent of the votes cast there. His narrowest victory was in TN-01, which he carried with a plurality of the votes cast (49.0 percent).

By contrast, Romney in 2016 had carried 160 congressional districts to Holland's 275. That year's totals:

As seen above, Romney had won the majority of congressional districts in the South that year, and had managed to win at least one congressional district in forty-two of the fifty states.

In contrast to recent presidential elections, in which the Republican presidential candidate had consistently run ahead of their party's candidate for House seats, Dickenson won a greater percentage of the popular vote than the Republican House candidate in only twelve districts throughout the country: MT-AL, OK-01, OK-04, OK-05, WV-03, AR-02, AL-06, GA-06, SC-02, SC-01, and PA-06. The only Western Republican he outperformed was Greg Gianforte in Montana; he outperformed none in the Midwest; and in the Northeast, he outperformed only Ryan Costello (PA-06), who lost reelection by an even wider margin to his Democratic challenger than Dickenson lost the district. Of these districts, however, he won only three (OK-01, AL-06, and SC-02). He ran behind downballot Republican candidates in the remaining 423 congressional districts. Holland, by contrast, ran ahead of the down ballot Democratic ticket in 311 congressional districts. This included thirty-six of the thirty-seven districts gained by Democrats in the House (bar OK-05, the only pickup district where the Democratic candidate outperformed Holland), all four districts gained by Republicans (which split their votes, each of them going to Holland at the presidential level), 107 districts held by Republican incumbents (of which he won all but one, MS-03), and 163 districts held by Democratic incumbents. Only 113 Democratic incumbents, mostly those who were unopposed, faced token opposition, or were heavily entrenched in their districts, outperformed Holland.

In 2016, Romney ran ahead of GOP house candidates in 205 districts while Holland did so in 230 districts.

The 2020 election was unique in that Holland won all of the districts held by his party (276), 106 of the opposing party's 119 districts, and all districts which changed hands between the parties that year.

Presidential Vote by County
Another measure of Dickenson's loss can be explored through counties. He won a majority of the vote in only 419 of the nation's 3,144 counties, independent cities, and county-equivalents. Holland, on the other hand, carried 2,725 counties. The breakdowns:



As indicated by the results above, the Northeast was Dickenson's worst region. He won only four counties in that region, all of them in Pennsylvania: Wayne, Union, Snyder, and Lebanon. Holland won every county in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Holland was the first presidential candidate from either party, since Calvin Coolidge in 1924, to win every single county in New England. He cemented his status from 2016 as being the only Democrat to ever win all of New Hampshire's counties, and became only the second, following Lyndon Johnson in 1964, to win every county in New York and New Jersey. Holland dominated in most of these counties, though his victories in some traditional Republican strongholds, such as Juniata and Somerset Counties in Pennsylvania, were very narrow. The best Dickenson did in any northeastern county was the 55.2 percent vote share which he received in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. Holland won every northeastern state with more than sixty percent of the vote, breaking seventy percent in Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York.

By contrast, the South was Dickenson's best region, where he carried 223 of the region's 1,422 counties. Of the region's sixteen states, Holland won every county in just one: Delaware. He came close in Maryland, winning all but one county. Dickenson did best in Kentucky, where he carried 41 of the state's 120 counties. His next-best state was Mississippi, the only state in the entire country that he won, where he carried 37. He carried 29 counties in Oklahoma, 25 parishes (county-equivalents) in Louisiana, 20 counties in West Virginia, 19 in Tennessee, and 17 in Alabama, with all but Louisiana being decided by single digits. However, Dickenson did terribly in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and Holland's home state of Texas, winning four counties each in North Carolina and Florida, five in Virginia, and twelve in Texas. Texas, in particular, weighed in as the most Democratic state in the region, due to Holland's extensive popularity there, deriving from his years as senator and governor there. Dickenson also did poorly in Georgia, winning just nine counties, though he did manage to hold Holland under 60%, due to a stronger-than-expected performance in the Atlanta suburbs. Holland broke sixty percent in six Southern states, exceeding 70 percent in Maryland and falling relatively short of it in Texas.

In the Midwest, Dickenson won 153 of the region's 1,055 counties. He managed to win at least one county in each state. Although Nebraska and Kansas voted decisively for Holland, Dickenson nevertheless did the best in those two traditionally Republican states. He carried 42 counties in Nebraska and 41 in Kansas. The counties in Nebraska were sufficient for him to eke out a narrow victory in NE-03, giving him his only electoral vote in the country outside of Mississippi. Dickenson won 31 counties in Missouri, most of them traditionally Republican strongholds in the southwest and northernmost portions of the state. He carried 11 in Indiana, 9 in Illinois, 7 in Iowa, 5 in Ohio, 4 in Wisconsin, and 3 in Michigan. Holland broke sixty percent in six states, exceeding seventy percent in Illinois.

In the West, Dickenson's second-worst region after the Northeast, he carried 60 of the region's 450 counties. He won 14 counties each in Idaho and Wyoming, and 12 in Montana. He carried 8 in Utah, 3 each in Colorado and Nevada, 2 each in Washington and New Mexico, and 1 each in Arizona and Oregon. Wyoming, ironically, was the only state where Dickenson won more counties than Holland, and it was the closest out of all 49 states that he lost. Holland won every county in California, Alaska, and Hawaii. He was the first presidential candidate from either party, since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936, to win every county in California, and the first since Johnson in 1964 to do so in Alaska.

The 2020 election was notable in that several county streaks were broken. In the West, the most prominent streaks broken were those of Josephine County, Oregon, Ada County, Idaho, Douglas County, Nevada, and Hughes County, South Dakota, all of which voted for a Democrat for the first time since 1936. In the Midwest, Holland was the first Democrat ever to win Ogle County, Illinois, and broke a Republican county streak in Lee County, Illinois extending back to 1852. Holland also broke a string of notable county streaks in Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Presidential Vote by Demographic
Dickenson suffered the worst loss of any presidential candidate from either party in the popular vote by demographic. Holland was the first candidate since Johnson in 1964 to win every racial demographic by double digits, and the first since Ronald Reagan in 1984 to win both genders by double digits as well. 72 percent of the electorate was white in 2020; 28 percent was nonwhite. Holland won the white vote (59 percent), defeating Dickenson among this group by a wide margin of eighteen percentage points. This was the same percentage which Johnson had earned fifty-six years earlier. Although whites still weighed in as the most Republican group in the country, Holland's victory nevertheless proved a major factor in molding the election results. He won white women (60 percent) and white men (58 percent). This marked the first time since Johnson that a Democrat carried both gender sets of whites by such margins. Holland's victory cut across educational lines, as he carried a commanding 61 percent of non-college educated whites and 58 percent of college-educated whites. And it also carried across age boundaries, as he won every white age group: 18-29 whites (65 percent), 30-39 whites (60 percent), 40-49 whites (58 percent), 50-64 whites (59 percent), and 65+ whites (56 percent).

On a state-by-state basis, Holland won whites in forty-six of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. He did best among them in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, West Coast, and his home state of Texas, but also performed very well in the Atlantic Seaboard States of the East Coast. His weakest performances were in the Deep South, where he lost the white vote in South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. However, he did earn more than forty percent among whites in Louisiana and South Carolina, enough to win those states by double-digit margins, got thirty-eight percent in Alabama, and twenty-four percent in Mississippi, just short of the percentage needed to carry that state. He won whites narrowly in Oklahoma and Georgia, and by more comfortable margins in the remaining Southern states. In Texas, he won 62 percent of the white vote.

Holland did exceptionally well among minority voters, carrying each demographic by huge margins. He did best with African Americans, a fiercely-Democratic voting bloc (95 percent), and posted record performances with Hispanics (76 percent), Asians (73 percent), and Other voters (60 percent). Overall, Holland won 83 percent of the nonwhite vote, the highest percentage won by a Democrat to date. He carried nonwhite voters in every state, and they provided the margin of victory in Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina.

Holland won by significant margins among both genders, carrying women (70 percent) and men (61 percent). The persistent gender gap, which had first developed in the 1980s, remained in this election. Dickenson was crushed among women, losing them by forty percentage points. He lost among men by a smaller margin-22 percentage points-but became the first Republican since Barry Goldwater to lose men by double digits. The President's dominance cut across religious barriers as well. His best group was agnostic and non-religious voters (90 percent), followed closely by Other voters (89 percent), Jews (85 percent), and Muslims (80 percent). He won Catholics by an overwhelming margin (75 percent), posting the best Democratic performance among them since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. He won Protestants (58 percent) and non-denominational Christians (61 percent) by smaller but still commanding margins. And he became the first Democrat since Johnson to win Mormons (54 percent), capitalizing on their unique distaste with Dickenson's social and foreign policy views. This was critical to his victory in Utah.

By educational level, Holland also performed very well. His best group was voters with postgraduate degrees (70 percent), who had long been gravitating to the Democratic Party. He also dominated among voters with a high school education (66 percent) and those with some college education (64 percent). His weakest group was college-educated voters (62 percent), the most Republican leaning constituency, though even here, Holland did well. He won every income group as well, earning upwards of 70 percent among those making $30,000 or less per year; his most narrow win was among voters making over $250,000 (55 percent). Finally, the President's victory carried across region, as he annihilated Dickenson in urban areas (77 percent), won suburbs by a commanding margin (63 percent), and won a clear majority of the rural vote (57 percent).

Party Strength
The Holland sweep helped the Democrats achieve their greatest Congressional majorities in 83 years, since the convening of the 75th Congress in January 1937. They scored net gains of five seats in the Senate and 37 seats in the House of Representatives, making the new Senate party breakdown 66-34 in their favor and the new House breakdown 313-112 in their favor. The 2020 election brought Democratic gains and Republican losses in every region of the country, except for Republican gains in Minnesota, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida.

On the gubernatorial level, the Republicans scored a gain in New Hampshire but lost the governorships of Missouri and Indiana. The result: a net gain of one for the Democratic Party. Holland outperformed the Democratic gubernatorial candidates in every state except for North Carolina.

Marginal Seats
Of the eighteen Democratic senators elected in 2020, five were elected with less than 55 percent of the vote. The closest win was registered by Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who was elected by just 318 votes (49.5 percent). Other marginal winners included Sens. Crisanta Duran of Colorado (50.3 percent), Steve Bullock of Montana (51.8 percent), Joshua Stein of North Carolina (52.6 percent), and Jason Carter of Georgia (54.6 percent), all of whom were carried to victory on Holland's coattails. Four other Democratic senators, Chellie Pingree of Maine (55.8 percent), Beto O'Rourke of Texas (56.6 percent), Jeff Merkley of Oregon (59.9 percent), and Mark Warner of Virginia (61.1 percent), also underperformed Holland. The remaining Democratic senators outperformed Holland, most notably Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan (75.5 percent), and one, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ran completely unopposed.

Of the thirteen Republican senators elected in 2020, five were elected with less than 55 percent of the vote. The closest win on the Republican side was registered by Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina (50.2 percent). Other marginal winners included Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa (50.8 percent), Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (51.4 percent), Ben Sasse of Nebraska (52.5 percent), and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana (53.6 percent). Holland outperformed these five, carrying all but Kentucky by double-digit margins. One other Republican senator, Tom Cotton of Arkansas (55.7 percent), also underperformed Holland, who won the state with 56.1 percent. The remaining Republican senators ran ahead of Holland, including the sole Republican pickup, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia (58.8 percent), and Steven Palazzo of Missisippi (59.0 percent), the only senator elected from a state Holland lost. One Republican senator, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, ran completely unopposed, while Jim Risch of Idaho (61.5 percent), performed the best of those Republican senators with competition.

In the House, 61 Democrats and 49 Republicans were elected by less than 55 percent of the vote. Four Republicans had the closest calls, winning their races by a plurality of the votes cast. Each of their districts were carried by Holland by significant margins at the presidential level. These were Mike Bishop of Michigan (49.1 percent), Adam Kinzinger of Illinois (49.5 percent), Bruce Poliquin of Maine (49.8 percent), and Marc Amodei of Nevada (49.9 percent). Two others, Elise Stefanik of New York (50.0 percent) and Paul Cook of California (50.1 percent), won reelection with a narrow majority of the popular votes cast. Of the thirty-seven Republicans defeated for reelection, the one who lost by the largest margin was Steve Knight of California (35.4 percent); the one who suffered the most narrow defeat was Martha McSally of Arizona (49.2 percent). Of the four Democrats who lost reelection, the one who lost by the largest margin was Bob Wise (39.9 percent); the one who suffered the most narrow defeat was Timothy Walz of Minnesota (49.7 percent). Each of these Democrats lost due to personal scandals, with Wise and Walz having been accused of sexual misconduct and cronyism.

Of the 9 Democratic Governors elected, 2 were elected by less than 55 percent of the vote. The closest win was registered by Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia (50.1 percent), while the other marginal winner was Gov. John R. Gregg of Indiana (50.5 percent). The largest win was registered by Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina (69.1 percent), the only Governor to outperform Holland.

Of the 3 Republican Governors elected, 1, Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, won with less than 55 percent of the vote (51.1 percent), winning even as Holland carried the state by a landslide margin. The Republican Governors of North Dakota and Utah both outperformed Holland, with the largest margin being registered by Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota (77.1 percent), who outperformed Dickenson by a whopping 35.22 percentage points.