Here's Who Has Qualified for the September Democratic Presidential Primary Debate — And Who Hasn't
For the first time, all the Democratic presidential primary candidates who qualified for the next debate will be on the same stage, on the same night.
Only 10 candidates hit the Democratic National Committee’s polling and fundraising threshold by the Aug. 28 deadline. On Wednesday, billionaire hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer failed to reach a minimum of 2% in two polls, which would have put him over the edge to qualify for the third primary debate. Steyer has invested millions of dollars into ads to meet the Democratic National Committee’s polling requirement, and had hit the threshold in three of four required polls.
The third Democratic presidential primary debate will take place on Thursday, Sept. 12, in Houston, Texas. ABC News and Univision will host the debate, which will be moderated by George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Linsey Davis and Jorge Ramos. The DNC has said that if more than 10 candidates qualified, it would hold a second debate on Sept. 13.
Effectively cutting out half of the field, the third debate will feature many of the primary’s front runners facing each other on national television for the first time: Former Vice President Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg will all appear on the stage together.
Facing the likelihood that she didn’t qualify for the September debates, New York Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand announced Wednesday afternoon that she was ending her campaign for President.
How candidates had to qualify for the September Democratic debate
The DNC raised the polling and fundraising thresholds from the first two debates in an attempt to narrow its still sizable field of candidates.
To qualify for the September debate stage, each candidate needed to have received 2% or more support in at least four DNC approved polls released between June 28 and Aug. 28.
The candidates also needed at least 130,000 unique donors, with 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. The donations must have been received by 11:59 p.m. Aug. 28.
Ten candidates qualified. Here’s who’ll grace the Houston stage:
Candidates who met both requirements and qualified
Former Vice President Joe Biden
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Former HUD Sec. Julián Castro
California Sen. Kamala Harris
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
Candidates who didn’t qualify because they only met donor requirements
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
Billionaire executive Tom Steyer
Self-help author Marianne Williamson
Candidates who met no requirements
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock
New York, N.Y., Mayor Bill de Blasio
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney
Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan
Former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak
Candidates who have dropped out of the race
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton
California Rep. Eric Swalwell
Correction, Aug. 28 The original version of this story misstated the state Sen. Bernie Sanders represents. It is Vermont, not Virginia.