2020 General Election Editorial Endorsements by Major Newspapers

Last Updated

Citations

Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, "2020 General Election Editorial Endorsements by Major Newspapers."
The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2021.

Data compiled by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley after reviewing original editorials of the listed newspapers.

(1) See footnotes on our 2012 endorsements page (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/323886)
(2) In a significant departure from past practice, in 2020 USA Today endorsed a specific candidate, choosing Joe Biden.  In 2016, the paper broke from its tradition of not endorsing candidates by encouraging voters not to vote for Donald Trump, but did not offer an endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
(3) On February 26, 2020, The Arizona Republic announced, "The Arizona Republic will no longer endorse candidates for public office."
(4) In an editorial on October 18, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote, after a lengthy review of President Trump's accomplishments, "A vote for Trump instead of Biden might be the best check on that [a Democratic controlled Congress] becoming a reality in America."  Although the editorial does not use the word "endorsement," The American Presidency Project judges this to be an editorial endorsement of Donald Trump.
(5) This newspaper is owned by The McClatchy Company.  In an internal memo, the company directed their 30 newspapers to only issue an endorsement for president in instances in which the newspaper's editorial board interviewed the candidates.  The American Presidency Project will continue to monitor these papers for an endorsement, although it is unlikely these papers will endorse.  See: "McClatchy’s 30 newspapers probably won’t be endorsing this year." New York Times, September 17, 2020.

• Top 100 Newspapers determined by circulation data as of March 2020 provided by Alliance for Audited Media (Arlington Heights, IL 60005).