# 2020 Nevada Democratic presidential caucuses
The 2020 Nevada Democratic presidential caucuses were party-run meetings held on February 22, 2020, preceded by four days of in-person early voting from February 15 to 18, that chose Nevada's delegates to the 2020 [Democratic National Convention](https://www.edgepedia.org/democratic-national-convention) and gave [Bernie Sanders](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernie-sanders) a solid win in the third contest of the Democratic primary calendar.[1](https://nvdems.com/2020-caucus/) • [2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) It was the first Nevada caucus to offer early voting, and it turned out to be the last time the state used a caucus for Democratic delegate selection.[3](https://abcnews.com/Politics/nevada-caucuses-offers-diverse-test-2020-primary-work/story?id=69106776) • [4](https://time.com/6691951/nevada-caucus-primary-trump-rigged/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | Early vote February 15–18, 2020; precinct caucuses February 22, 2020; county conventions April 18; state convention May 30[1](https://nvdems.com/2020-caucus/) |
| Turnout | 104,833 total participants, between the 2008 record of 117,599 and about 84,000 in 2016; roughly 75,000 voted early and about 30,000 caucused in person on Caucus Day[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) |
| Winner | Bernie Sanders, in what proved to be the high point of his campaign[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) |
| New features | First Nevada caucus with early voting; same-day registration; presidential preference cards printed in English, Spanish, and Tagalog[3](https://abcnews.com/Politics/nevada-caucuses-offers-diverse-test-2020-primary-work/story?id=69106776) • [5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) |
| Tabulation | Precinct leaders entered results into a Google spreadsheet calculator on party-provided iPads, after the state party rejected the mobile app that had failed in Iowa[6](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-21/when-are-the-nevada-caucuses-how-do-they-work) |
| Delegates | Nevada had 48 national delegates and 3 alternates, allocated proportionally under DNC rules[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) |
| Aftermath | Nevada replaced the caucus with a state-run presidential primary by a 2021 law, keeping its early calendar slot[4](https://time.com/6691951/nevada-caucus-primary-trump-rigged/) |
## Background
Nevada's first-in-the-West caucuses date to 2008, when the [Democratic National Committee](https://www.edgepedia.org/democratic-national-committee), seeking to diversify the start of its nominating process, voted on August 19, 2006 to add the state to the early window; Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid had pushed for the early caucus.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) Democrats and Republicans held early caucuses again in 2012 and 2016, and the 2020 contest was the third on the Democratic calendar after Iowa and [New Hampshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-hampshire).[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html)
The state party designed the 2020 process in response to DNC rule changes following the Unity Reform Commission, aiming to make the caucuses more open and accessible.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) An early draft of the delegate selection plan included two remote "virtual caucuses" on February 16 and 17, but the proposal was dropped due to security concerns.[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) • [2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) The final plan kept the four early voting days, same-day registration for in-person participants, and preference cards expanded to a third language, Tagalog, to serve the state's growing Asian American and [Pacific Islander](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-islander) community.[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf)
The [Iowa caucuses](https://www.edgepedia.org/iowa-caucuses) on February 3, 2020 had been plagued by a failed reporting app, and Nevada Democrats took visible steps to avoid a repeat, contracting software with a paper trail and ultimately having precinct leaders enter results on a Google spreadsheet calculator using iPads rather than a mobile app.[6](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-21/when-are-the-nevada-caucuses-how-do-they-work) • [7](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nevadas-new-caucus-rules-present-challenges-for-2020-democrats/) On the Republican side, the state central committee voted on September 7, 2019 to scrap its caucuses in favor of the incumbent president, though Donald Trump held a Las Vegas rally on February 21, the day before Democratic voting began.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html)
## How the caucus worked
Participants could take part in three ways: early voting at any site in their county on February 15 through 18, in-person precinct caucuses on February 22, or, in the abandoned plan, the virtual caucuses.[1](https://nvdems.com/2020-caucus/) • [5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) Early voters filled out presidential preference cards; their raw totals were combined with Caucus Day attendance to set each precinct's viability threshold, and no tabulation occurred before February 18.[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf)
**Viability and realignment.** In each precinct, a preference group had to reach a threshold to win delegates: 25 percent of attendees where the precinct elected 2 delegates, one-sixth where it elected 3, and 15 percent where it elected 4 or more, with raw early vote counts added to the base.[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) Members of non-viable groups had up to 15 minutes to realign, and early vote preferences in non-viable groups were reallocated to their next viable choice in a second alignment; precinct delegates were then apportioned by a proportional formula rounded up at 0.5.[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) Presidential preference was locked in at the final expression of preference, the first or second vote, at the precinct caucuses.[8](https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/NV-D)
**Strip caucuses.** Because Clark County's casino workforce works 24-hour shifts, the party continued its tradition of at-large caucus sites on the [Las Vegas Strip](https://www.edgepedia.org/las-vegas-strip), open only to precincts with 4,000 or more shift workers who could not otherwise leave work to attend their home precincts; workers caucused on shift at properties such as Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and Wynn.[5](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf) • [9](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/smart-early-organizing-in-communities-of-color-helped-propel-sanders-to-victory-in-nevada)
## Campaign and result
Thirteen Democrats met the requirements to appear on the caucus ballot, but six were actively competing by Caucus Day.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, representing 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, stayed neutral but late in the campaign issued a scorecard that criticized Sanders, warning he would "end" their union health care.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) • [9](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/smart-early-organizing-in-communities-of-color-helped-propel-sanders-to-victory-in-nevada) Sanders' campaign nonetheless organized early: in the three weeks before the caucus, a team of about two dozen organizers canvassed casino workers across the Strip, and his campaign's outreach in communities of color is credited with helping propel his victory.[9](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/smart-early-organizing-in-communities-of-color-helped-propel-sanders-to-victory-in-nevada)
Early voting drew almost 75,000 participants, a majority of them first-time caucusgoers.[3](https://abcnews.com/Politics/nevada-caucuses-offers-diverse-test-2020-primary-work/story?id=69106776) Caucus Day participation was small, about 30,000 people, and total turnout of 104,833 fell short of the 2008 record but exceeded 2016; the Associated Press put the turnout at about 6 percent of registered voters.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) • [10](https://apnews.com/article/73caa68e1315fe79b82209e40f2a67cb) Sanders won, and the result proved to be the high point of his campaign.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html)
## Move to a primary
The caucuses accelerated a shift already underway. Immediately after the contest, former Senator Harry Reid and Nevada Democratic chair William McCurdy II advocated switching to a primary while keeping the state first in the West or first in the nation, and the state party said it would look to move away from the caucus system.[2](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html) • [11](https://www.axios.com/2020/02/24/nevada-caucuses-primaries-voting-democrats) A 2021 law passed by Nevada's Democratic legislature and signed by its Democratic governor required a state-run presidential primary on the first Tuesday of February, ending the caucus era for the Democratic Party in Nevada while preserving the state's early calendar position.[4](https://time.com/6691951/nevada-caucus-primary-trump-rigged/)
## References
1. [2020 Caucus, Nevada State Democratic Party](https://nvdems.com/2020-caucus/)
2. [Nevada Caucuses: 2020 Presidential Campaign, Democracy in Action](https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/chrn/neva20.html)
3. [Nevada caucuses offer first diverse test of the 2020 primary, ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Politics/nevada-caucuses-offers-diverse-test-2020-primary-work/story?id=69106776)
4. [Voters Should Be Angrier About Nevada's Rigged GOP Caucus, Time](https://time.com/6691951/nevada-caucus-primary-trump-rigged/)
5. [Nevada State Delegate Selection Plan for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Nevada State Democratic Party](https://nvdems.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2020-NSDP-Delegate-Selection-REVISED-FINAL-190626.pdf)
6. [Nevada caucus: How does the presidential voting work? Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-21/when-are-the-nevada-caucuses-how-do-they-work)
7. [Nevada's new caucus rules present challenges for 2020 Democrats, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nevadas-new-caucus-rules-present-challenges-for-2020-democrats/)
8. [Nevada Democratic Delegation 2020, The Green Papers](https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/NV-D)
9. [Smart, early organizing in communities of color helped propel Sanders to victory in Nevada, The Nevada Independent](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/smart-early-organizing-in-communities-of-color-helped-propel-sanders-to-victory-in-nevada)
10. [AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Nevada's presidential primary and caucuses, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/73caa68e1315fe79b82209e40f2a67cb)
11. [Nevada Democratic Party says it will look to move away from caucus system, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2020/02/24/nevada-caucuses-primaries-voting-democrats)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Political systems and ideas › Political parties and party families › US Democratic Party ecosystem › Primaries and caucuses › State caucuses and delegate selection › Nevada Democratic caucuses*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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