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Long before candidates such as Donald Trump (R) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) won elections, they bested their opponents in pageviews on Ballotpedia.
Like other websites, Ballotpedia's servers count how many times each page is visited. These pageview statistics indicate readers' relative interest in the page's subject. This page serves as a hub for publication and analysis of pageview statistics for 2020 presidential campaign pages.
Our objective in publishing these figures is to provide readers with the same information that we have on the levels of interest that 2020 presidential candidates are drawing. We hope that you will enjoy exploring and finding trends in the data.
Visiting a page is not an endorsement of a candidate, so pageviews should not be equated with support. Readers come to a campaign page because they think the candidate is worth knowing more about, whether the reader believes the candidate has a strong chance of winning or is an unknown who warrants a closer look. The following statistics reflect the time investments of our community of thousands of readers.
Pageview statistics are only collected in the aggregate; in other words, we count the number of visitors a given page receives but not information such as what other pages a particular reader visits.
Visits to a page are tracked on a weekly basis from Sunday to Saturday. This page is updated with the previous week's pageview totals every Monday.
First published: June 12, 2019.
Last update: March 16, 2020.
On this page, you will find:
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The pageview information presented here covers the pages for each notable presidential candidate's campaign page on Ballotpedia. Links to each of the pages included in these figures are below.
Pageview jumps might indicate that a candidate is about to break out in their race. For instance, during the 2016 presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders' Ballotpedia page climbed in pageviews ahead of Sanders' gaining in the polls. Sanders' pageviews on Ballotpedia tended to increase as Google searches for Sanders increased, with Ballotpedia pageviews rising and falling a few weeks after Google searches did. The chart below shows Sanders' relative performance in Google trends and Ballotpedia pageviews between the end of March 2015 and the end of July 2016. Both figures are normalized, with 100 indicating Sanders' relative peak in pageviews and in searches during the period.
We have observed a similar trend in some congressional races. In the Democratic primary for Texas' 7th congressional district in 2018, activist Laura Moser's (D) candidate page notched an increase in pageviews before Moser, who had been third in fundraising and lagged in polling, became the target of a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee opposition research release. Following the release, Moser spiked in Google searches and performed well enough on election day to make her way into a runoff. For more examples of pageview spikes in past elections, click here.
The following charts (for both Democratic and Republican candidates) contain information on the total number of pageviews each presidential campaign's Ballotpedia page has received since launch, in the past eight weeks, and in the past week. They also contain the dates on which Ballotpedia first published each article and the pageviews each received during their first four full weeks on site. An additional chart for each party shows cumulative pageviews during the election.
Hover your cursor over a particular line to see which candidate it represents and to view more detailed pageview information.
These are the five largest jumps in pageviews for each month, calculated as a week-over-week percentage increase. Also included is a summary of the candidate's campaign activity that week, adapted from Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing.
Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) campaign pageviews increased from 3,411 on the week of February 1 to 7,284 on the week of February 8.
Michael Bloomberg's (D) campaign pageviews increased from 2,917 on the week of February 1 to 6,202 on the week of February 8.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) campaign pageviews increased from 1,733 on the week of February 1 to 3,603 on the week of February 8.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) campaign pageviews increased from 1,751 on the week of February 1 to 3,466 on the week of February 8.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's (D-Hawaii) campaign pageviews increased from 1,282 on the week of February 1 to 2,395 on the week of February 8.
It's important to remember the audience that might drive pageviews in different stages of an election. Pageview statistics 17 months out from a presidential election (this was originally published in June 2019) are not necessarily capturing traffic from the average voter. Voters who are particularly interested in politics and following events closely are likely overrepresented in early statistics relative to pageview statistics for September 2020.
Another caveat are the limitations that come from measuring pageviews from a single source. Most of the traffic on our campaign pages comes from Google searches for a particular candidate, meaning that Ballotpedia's placement in search rankings can impact the traffic a candidate receives. Campaign pages for candidates that receive more coverage outside of Ballotpedia, such as Joe Biden and Donald Trump, may receive fewer pageviews compared to candidates who receive less coverage.
Well-known candidates might also receive fewer pageviews due to name recognition. Our comparison of pageview stats and polling data shows that candidates who perform better in the polls receive fewer pageviews relative to their poll performance. In other words, as a candidate grows more popular, their pageviews tend to not increase at the same rate.
These statistics also do not account for one-off jumps in pageviews. For instance, a media source might include a link to a Ballotpedia presidential campaign page in their coverage of that candidate. A campaign might even encourage supporters to read up on Ballotpedia and win their candidate more pageviews. We provide these statistics exactly as they are, meaning that these week-to-week spikes could be impactful.
All of this is to say that this is a new concept. The jury remains out as to just how significant polls or endorsements are in assessing a presidential race, and that's with the benefit of decades of historical data to inform the debate. It could be the case that pageviews are not a useful indicator of which candidate might win an election, but at the very least they seem to provide a glimpse at the relative level of interest a given candidate can generate.
It may be tempting to compare pageview statistics with polling -- after all, both are numerical measures of interest in a candidate. There are notable differences between the two, however. Polls offer an imperfect snapshot in time that evaluates support for a given candidate based on extrapolation from conversations with a random and representative sample of the voting public. In contrast, pageview statistics provide a complete sample (not an extrapolation) of how many readers are interested in a given candidate based on a non-random, non-representative sample of voters. A reader who visits a candidate's page is not necessarily a supporter of that candidate; pageviews might instead be thought of as a measure of how curious voters are about a given candidate.
The chart below compares average weekly polling results to overall share of presidential pageviews for Democratic candidates between the week ending March 30 and the week ending May 25. The ten selected candidates each averaged at least 1% support across all nine weeks. For instance, during the week ending in April 6, Julián Castro received a 4.69% share of pageviews for each 1% in polls—in other words, his pageview performance was nearly five times his performance in the polls.
If a correlation existed between a candidate's standing in the polls and their presidential pageviews, we would expect a flat horizontal line. While candidates who performed well in these polls (such as Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders) do have more consistent performance, they tend to stay below 1% of pageviews for each 1% of polling—in other words, they underperform in Ballotpedia pageviews relative to their performance in the polls. Candidates who did not perform as well in polling (such as Julián Castro and Amy Klobuchar) tend to perform far better in pageviews but also experience greater variance from week-to-week.
A candidate who demonstrated both trends is Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg's lowest performance in the polls was during the week ending in March 30, when he averaged 2.25% in polling and led all Democratic candidates in pageviews, outperforming his polling by a factor of 4.7x. As Buttigieg climbed in the polls, his relative stance in pageviews did not increase at the same rate. From the week ending in April 27 on, Buttigieg was among the top five Democratic candidates in polling, averaging between 8.5% and 5.75%. He outperformed pageviews by a lower margin, staying between 1.19x and 1.66x for the entire duration.
During the Republican presidential primary in the 2016 cycle, Ballotpedia's page on President Donald Trump's (R) campaign outperformed polling data ahead of his taking first place in the polls. Trump launched his campaign on June 16, 2015. According to the below RealClearPolitics overview of polls, Trump (represented by the blue line) was polling at approximately 4% at the start of his campaign, putting him in ninth place among Republican presidential candidates. He surpassed Gov. Jeb Bush (R) (represented by the green line) in polling to take first place on July 19, 2015.

The following graph shows Ballotpedia pageviews for Republican presidential candidates over the same period. President Trump is represented by the dotted line, while Gov. Bush is represented by the dashed line. Trump surpassed Bush in pageviews during the week ending July 18, 2015, which is broadly in line with polls showing him taking the lead on July 19. However, President Trump's campaign page, which we launched June 16, was the second-most viewed campaign page for the week ending June 20 despite being launched partway through the week. President Trump continued to stay in second place until surpassing Bush, with neurosurgeon Ben Carson (R) placing third.
While President Trump received substantial media attention in between his announcement and taking the lead in the polls, the same cannot be said for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), who defeated Rep. Joseph Crowley (D) (at the time the fourth-ranked House Democrat) in the 2018 primary in New York's 14th Congressional District. The New York Times characterized the result as "the most significant loss for a Democratic incumbent in more than a decade," and referred to earlier media coverage of the race which had not even mentioned Ocasio-Cortez's name.[1] However, Ocasio-Cortez generated more pageviews than Crowley throughout the course of the campaign. The following chart shows relative pageviews for Ocasio-Cortez and Crowley's Ballotpedia profile pages from the week of July 1, 2017 (when Ocasio-Cortez's page was published) through the week before the June 26, 2018, primary. It shows four distinct jumps in Ocasio-Cortez's pageviews in 2017 and early 2018 and none for Crowley. Ocasio-Cortez surpassed Crowley in pageviews around March 17 with the gap widening substantially by the week before the election.
In Hawaii's 2014 gubernatorial election, state Sen. David Ige (D) defeated incumbent Neil Abercrombie (D) in the Democratic primary. It was the first primary defeat of an incumbent governor in Hawaii history. As of the 2020 presidential election, it is also the most recent case where an elected governor was defeated in a primary. The following chart shows Ige and Abercrombie's pageviews for the twelve weeks preceding the election. While the two began the period with similar pageviews, Ige pulled ahead in the first week of July and, as in Ocasio-Cortez's case, continued to lead Abercrombie in the weeks immediately preceding the election.
On June 26-27, 2019, NBC and Telemundo hosted the first round of Democratic presidential primary debates. Of the 25 noteworthy Democrats who had entered the race, 10 debated on each night and the remaining five did not qualify. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews between the day before and the day after the debate. Candidates are sorted by the night on which they debated. Every candidate (except Kamala Harris) recorded the most pageviews on June 27, including those who did not qualify for the debate. The three largest day-over-day pageview jumps during this period all took place between June 25 and June 26, each involving candidates who participated in the June 26 round of the debate. The largest such jump was 435.12% for Tulsi Gabbard, followed by 378.78% for John Delaney and 293.60% for Tim Ryan. Marianne Williamson had the most pageviews in a single day out of any candidate, receiving 4,902 pageviews on June 27. No other candidate received more than 2,750 pageviews in a single day.
During the four-day period above, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, in the week before the debates, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On July 30-31, 2019, CNN hosted the second round of Democratic presidential primary debates. Of the 25 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time, 10 debated on each night and the remaining five did not qualify. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews between the day before and the day after the debate. Candidates are sorted by the night on which they debated. With the exception of Tulsi Gabbard and Cory Booker, every candidate recorded the most pageviews on July 31, including those who did not qualify for the debate. The three largest pageview jumps during this period took place between July 29 and July 30 and all involved candidates who participated in the July 30 round of the debate. The largest jump was 363.75% for Tim Ryan, followed by 354.20% for Marianne Williamson and 332.20% for John Delaney. As in the first debate, Marianne Williamson recorded the most pageviews in a single day for any candidate with 2,276 pageviews. The only other candidate whose Ballotpedia page received more than 2,000 views in a single day was Tulsi Gabbard with 2,067 pageviews.
During the four-day period above, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, in the week before the debates, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On September 12, 2019, ABC hosted the third round of Democratic presidential primary debates. Of the 20 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time, 10 qualified and 10 did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. Four candidates (Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Tom Steyer, and Andrew Yang) recorded the most pageviews the day after the debate, while the remaining 16 candidates each had the most pageviews the day of the debate. Each of the three largest pageview jumps occurred between the day before and the day of the debate. The largest jump was 233.21% for Amy Klobuchar, followed by 202.99% for Julian Castro and 199.09% for Cory Booker. The largest single-day pageview count was 1,091 pageviews for Andrew Yang the day after the debate. Yang recorded 1,070 pageviews the day of the debate and was the only Democratic candidate to receive more than 1,000 pageviews in a single day during this period.
During the three-day period above, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, in the week before the debates, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On October 15, 2019, Otterbein University hosted the fourth Democratic primary debate, which was sponsored by CNN and The New York Times. Of the 19 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, 12 qualified and seven did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate.
During these three days, 10 candidates had the most pageviews the day of the debate, while nine had the most pageviews the day after. Each of the three largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Amy Klobuchar's pageviews jumped by 212.00% during this time, followed by Bernie Sanders (141.81%) and Tulsi Gabbard (131.25%). The largest single-day pageview count was 850 for Andrew Yang on the day following the debate.
During the three-day period above, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, in the week before the debates, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On November 20, 2019, MSNBC and The Washington Post held the fifth Democratic presidential primary debate at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Of the 17 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, 10 qualified and seven did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. During these three days, 13 candidates had the most pageviews the day of the debate, while four had the most pageviews the day after. Each of the three largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Tulsi Gabbard's pageviews jumped by 330.34% during this time, followed by Amy Klobuchar (261.74%) and Marianne Williamson (242.57%). The only two candidates to receive more than 1,000 pageviews in a single day were Pete Buttigieg on the day of the debate and the day after and Tulsi Gabbard on the day after the debate.
During this period, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, during the week before the debate, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On December 19, 2019, PBS NewsHour and Politico held the sixth Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. Of the 15 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, seven qualified and eight did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. During these three days, every candidate other than Julián Castro had the most pageviews the day of the debate. Castro had the most pageviews the day before the debate. Each of the three largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Amy Klobuchar's pageviews jumped by 230.49% during this time, followed by Tom Steyer (74.75%) and Pete Buttigieg (62.21%). The largest single-day pageview figure was 737 pageviews for Klobuchar on the day of the debate, followed by 588 pageviews for Yang and 519 for Steyer.
During this period, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, during the week before the debate, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On January 14, 2020, CNN and The Des Moines Register held the seventh Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Of the 12 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, six qualified and six did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. During these three days, every qualified candidate and Andrew Yang had the most pageviews the day of the debate. The remaining five unqualified candidates had the most pageviews the day before the debate. Each of the three largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Amy Klobuchar's pageviews jumped by 30.95% during this time, followed by Tom Steyer (24.78%) and Bernie Sanders (21.97%). The largest single-day pageview figure was 710 pageviews for Sanders on the day of the debate, followed by 497 pageviews for Elizabeth Warren and 482 for Joe Biden.
During this period, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, during the week before the debate, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On February 7, 2020, ABC, WMUR-TV, and Apple News held the eighth Democratic presidential primary debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Of the 11 noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, seven qualified and four did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. During these three days, four qualified candidates and three other candidates had the most pageviews the day before the debate. Michael Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer, and Andrew Yang each had the most pageviews the day of the debate. The two largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Klobuchar's pageviews jumped by 34.19% during this time, followed by Steyer (15.97%). The largest single-day pageview figure was 1,715 for Pete Buttigieg on the day before the debate, followed by 1,621 for Buttigieg the day of the debate, and 1,304 for Bernie Sanders the day before the debate.
During this period, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, during the week before the debate, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On February 19, 2020, NBC News and MSNBC held the ninth Democratic presidential primary debate at the Paris Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada. Of the eight noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, six qualified and two did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. During these three days, four qualified candidates and Tom Steyer had the most pageviews the day of the debate. Bernie Sanders had the most pageviews the day before the debate, while Elizabeth Warren and Tulsi Gabbard each had the most pageviews the day after the debate. Each of the three largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Amy Klobuchar's pageviews jumped by 27.56% during this time, followed by Pete Buttigieg (21.13%) and Joe Biden (20.98%). The largest single-day pageview figure was 1,234 for Sanders on the day before the debate, followed by 1,120 pageviews for Michael Bloomberg the day of the debate, and 1,114 pageviews for Bloomberg the day before the debate.
During this period, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, during the week before the debate, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
On February 25, 2020, CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute held the tenth Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Of the eight noteworthy Democrats in the race at the time of the debate, seven qualified and one did not. The following chart shows each candidate's pageviews on the day before the debate, the day of the debate, and the day following the debate. During these three days, every candidate had the most pageviews the day of the debate. Each of the three largest day-over-day pageview jumps occurred between the day before the debate and the day of the debate. Tom Steyer's pageviews jumped by 39.31% during this time, followed by Amy Klobuchar (32.14%) and Pete Buttigieg (20.51%). The three largest single-day pageview figures were all on the Sanders campaign page. It received 1,863 pageviews the day of the debate, 1,746 pageviews the day before the debate, and 1,384 pageviews the day after the debate.
During this period, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
For comparison, during the week before the debate, the top five Democratic candidates by pageviews were:
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