Overview 2017–18 speaking at his first campaign rally in Melbourne, Florida, on February 18, 2017 •
February 18, 2017: Donald Trump informally announces his candidacy for a second term and holds the first of a series of occasional reelection campaign rallies in
Melbourne, Florida, only one month after assuming office. •
June 23, 2018: Trump delivers remarks at the
Nevada Republican Convention in
Las Vegas. •
July 18, 2018: Charlotte, North Carolina is chosen as the site for the
2020 Republican National Convention.
2019 •
January 17: Former Massachusetts governor
Bill Weld changes his voter registration from Libertarian back to Republican, furthering speculation he will announce a primary challenge against Trump. •
January 23: The
Republican National Committee votes unanimously to express "undivided support" of Trump's "effective presidency". •
February 15: Weld announces the formation of an exploratory committee, becoming the president's first official notable challenger. •
April 15: Weld officially announces his candidacy. •
May 16: Businessman and perennial candidate
Rocky De La Fuente files to run. •
June 1: Speculative challenger Maryland governor
Larry Hogan announces that he will not run against Trump in the primary. •
June 18: Trump formally launches his 2020 re-election campaign at a rally in Orlando, Florida, with
Donald Trump Jr.,
Mike Pence,
Melania Trump,
Karen Pence,
Lara Trump, and
Sarah Sanders. •
July 30: Intending to force Trump to reveal his taxes, Democratic California governor
Gavin Newsom signs a bill into state law requiring that presidential candidates release the last five years of their tax returns in order to qualify for the
California primary ballot. Republican presidential candidate
Rocky De La Fuente files suit directly challenging the constitutionality of the law. •
August 5–6: Additional lawsuits are filed by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, the
California Republican Party, and the conservative activist group
Judicial Watch to challenge the California law requiring candidates to release their tax returns. •
August 25: Former Illinois congressman
Joe Walsh officially announces his candidacy, becoming the president's second official notable challenger. •
September 7: Three state committees vote to cancel their respective primaries/caucuses: Kansas, •
September 9: The Arizona Republican Party officially notifies Arizona secretary of state
Katie Hobbs that they will forego the Arizona Republican primary. •
September 23: Donald Trump qualifies for the Vermont primary. •
September 24: Business Insider hosted a debate between Weld and Walsh. •
October 26: Politicon debate between the main challengers. •
November 8: Filing deadline to appear on the Alabama Republican primary ballot. Mark Sanford and Joe Walsh failed to appear, while Donald Trump and Bill Weld both qualified. •
November 12: • Mark Sanford dropped out of the race. •
November 15: Filing deadline to appear on the
New Hampshire Republican primary ballot. Rocky De La Fuente, Donald Trump, Bill Weld, and Joe Walsh all qualify. •
November 21: The California Supreme Court declares that the state law requiring primary candidates to disclose their tax returns violates the state constitution and cannot be enforced. •
November 26: Rocky De La Fuente filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota alleging that its ballot access law for presidential primaries is unconstitutional. Minnesota had previously barred all other candidates from its Republican presidential primary other than Donald Trump on October 31. •
December 6: The California Secretary of State released the list of "Generally Recognized Presidential Candidates" for the upcoming March 3, 2020 election, including seven Republicans. •
December 11: • The Hawaii Republican state committee cancels the caucuses and appoints 19 national convention delegates and binds them to Trump, who receives his first official victory. •
December 18: The House of Representatives formally votes almost along party lines to
impeach Trump. •
December 20: North Carolina announces that Walsh and Weld will appear on the ballot for their GOP primaries. Jim Martin, a business-operator from
Lake Elmo, Minnesota, joins with
Rocky De La Fuente in suing
the state in
supreme court for empowering the
Republican Party of Minnesota to only print Trump's name on primary ballots.
2020 January •
January 9: Trump holds his first "
Keep America Great" Rally of the year at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. •
January 17: Early voting begins in Minnesota. •
January 18: First of a series of district conventions in North Dakota, which elect delegates to the state convention. The North Dakota Republican Party does not hold any presidential preference caucus or primary per se, but instead selects their national convention delegates directly at the state party convention. •
January 30: Trump holds a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, the largest event of the caucus campaign. •
January 31: The Kansas Republican convention assembles, where the second delegation to the national convention is chosen and officially bound to Trump.
February •
February 3: Trump wins the
Iowa caucuses, receiving 97% of the votes cast. Weld earns one delegate. •
February 4: Trump gives his final State of the Union address of this term. •
February 5: The United States Senate acquits Trump. •
February 7: Joe Walsh dropped out of the race. •
February 10: Trump holds a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. •
February 11: Trump wins the
New Hampshire primary with 84% of the vote. •
February 21: Trump holds a rally in Las Vegas prior to the Nevada state committee's "presidential preference poll." •
February 22: The Nevada state committee binds the state delegation to Trump.
March •
March 3: • Trump wins all 13 Super Tuesday primaries: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont. • New York cancels its Republican primary after Trump is the only candidate to submit the required number of names of his delegates. •
March 10: Trump wins all 6 races held on this date: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri; as well as Washington (where he was the only candidate on the ballot), and North Dakota (a non-binding
firehouse caucus where he was also unopposed). •
March 14: All nine delegates in the Guam convention are pledged to Donald Trump. •
March 15: Trump wins all nine delegates in the Northern Mariana Islands Republican caucuses. •
March 17: With wins in Florida and Illinois giving him a majority of delegates, President Donald Trump becomes the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. •
March 18: Bill Weld dropped out of the race. •
March 19: Connecticut rescheduled its primary from April 28 to June 2. •
March 20: Indiana rescheduled its expected state primary of May 5 to June 2.
April •
April 8: New Jersey rescheduled its primary election from June 2 to July 7. •
April 13: Trump won the
2020 Wisconsin Republican primary unopposed. •
April 14: Louisiana rescheduled its primary for the second time, moving the date from June 20 to July 11. •
April 17: Connecticut rescheduled its primary for a second time, from June 2 to August 11. •
April 25: The
Alliance Party nominates Rocky De La Fuente for President with Darcy Richardson as his running mate. •
April 28: Trump won the
2020 Ohio Republican primary unopposed.
May •
May 12: Trump won the Nebraska primary. •
May 19: Trump won the Oregon primary.
June •
June 2: Trump wins all 8 Super Tuesday primaries: Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and the District of Columbia primaries. •
June 5: The
Republican Party of Puerto Rico holds an online caucus vote of party leaders in lieu of an actual primary, binding its delegation to Trump. •
June 9: Trump won both Georgia and West Virginia primaries. •
June 20: The
Reform Party nominates Rocky De La Fuente for President with Darcy Richardson as his running mate. •
June 23: Trump won the Kentucky primary.
July •
July 7: Trump won the Delaware and New Jersey primaries. •
July 11: Trump won the Louisiana primary.
August •
August 11: Trump won the Connecticut primary. •
August 15: The
American Independent Party nominates Rocky De La Fuente for President with
Kanye West as his running mate. •
August 24–27: The
Republican National Convention was held. Delegates re-nominated Trump for
president and Pence for
vice president in the
2020 United States presidential election. ==Primary and caucus calendar==