Twelve candidates will take the stage on Oct. 15 for the first Democratic presidential debate this cycle to have more than 10 candidates on the same night.
The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday that a dozen presidential hopefuls had met the required polling and donor thresholds to make the cut.
Who has qualified for each debate
First
debate
Fourth
Second
Third
Biden
Booker
Buttigieg
Castro
Gabbard
Harris
Klobuchar
O’Rourke
Sanders
Warren
Yang
Steyer
Bennet
de Blasio
Dropped out
Delaney
Dropped out
Gillibrand
Dropped out
Hickenlooper
Inslee
Dropped out
Ryan
Williamson
Swalwell
Dropped out
Bullock
Messam
Dropped out
Moulton
Sestak
Requirements to qualify
First and second
debates
Third and fourth
debates
1% in 3 polls
or
65,000 donors
2% in 4 polls
and
130,000 donors
First
debate
Fourth
Second
Third
Biden
Booker
Buttigieg
Castro
Gabbard
Harris
Klobuchar
O’Rourke
Sanders
Warren
Yang
Steyer
Bennet
Dropped out
de Blasio
Delaney
Dropped out
Gillibrand
Dropped out
Hickenlooper
Inslee
Dropped out
Ryan
Williamson
Swalwell
Dropped out
Bullock
Messam
Dropped out
Moulton
Sestak
Requirements to qualify
First and second
debates
Third and fourth
debates
1% in 3 polls
or
65,000 donors
2% in 4 polls
and
130,000 donors
First
debate
Fourth
Second
Third
Biden
Booker
Buttigieg
Castro
Gabbard
Harris
Klobuchar
O’Rourke
Sanders
Warren
Yang
Steyer
Bennet
de Blasio
Dropped out
Delaney
Gillibrand
Dropped out
Hickenlooper
Dropped out
Inslee
Dropped out
Ryan
Williamson
Swalwell
Dropped out
Bullock
Messam
Moulton
Dropped out
Sestak
Requirements to qualify
First and second
debates
Third and fourth
debates
1% in 3 polls
or
65,000 donors
2% in 4 polls
and
130,000 donors
[Who has qualified for the November debate]
The DNC raised the bar for debate qualification for the third and fourth debates in an attempt to narrow the field. But because they had more time to get donors and qualifying polls, more candidates are in the October debate than September’s.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and billionaire activist Tom Steyer qualified after falling short of the polls needed for the September debate. Steyer, who announced his candidacy in July, will debate for the first time.
Read more about each candidate who qualified
| Joe Biden | Cory Booker | Pete Buttigieg |
| Julián Castro | Tulsi Gabbard | Kamala D. Harris |
| Amy Klobuchar | Beto O’Rourke | Bernie Sanders |
| Tom Steyer | Elizabeth Warren | Andrew Yang |
The next debate is set for Tuesday, Oct. 15, and will be in Westerville, Ohio, in the Columbus suburbs. It will be hosted by CNN and the New York Times.
The qualification rules again get stricter for the November debate, with campaigns having to show more donors and meet higher polling criteria.
According to the DNC’s rules, candidates had to register at least 2 percent in four DNC-approved polls and earn donations from at least 130,000 individuals by Oct. 1 to qualify for the fourth debate. That gave candidates an additional five weeks to reach the same goals as the previous debate.
The tougher qualification rules did have some impact. Six candidates dropped out of the race between July and September: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. But 19 Democrats remain.
[We’re asking 2020 Democrats where they stand on key issues]
One other candidate had registered at least 2 percent in any qualifying poll: Author Marianne Williamson. She said she had also met the individual donor threshold.
Candidates who were on the bubble
Candidates who have polled at or above 2% since June 28 but not frequently enough to qualify
Polled at least 2%
CANDIDATE
QUALIFYING POLLS
Marianne Williamson
Needs 3 more
Candidates who have polled at or above 2% since June 28 but not frequently enough to qualify
Polled at least 2%
CANDIDATE
QUALIFYING POLLS
Marianne Williamson
Needs 3 more
Candidates who have polled at or above 2% since June 28 but not frequently enough to qualify
Polled at least 2%
Candidate
Qualifying polls
Marianne Williamson
Needs 3 more
A less publicized DNC rule required each of a candidate’s four polls to come from different pollsters, or from different geographic areas. Gabbard earned 2 percent in a CNN-SSRS national poll, but it didn’t count toward her total because she had already earned 2 percent in the August version of the same poll. She later received enough support in a Des Moines Register/Medicacom/CNN poll in Iowa and the Monmouth University poll in New Hampshire.
Qualifying polls by candidate
Polled at least 2%
Polled less than 2%
At least 2%,
but poll is duplicate
Deadline for
September debate
(Aug. 28)
Biden
IA
SC
NH
NH
SC
IA
SC
IA
IA
NV
NH
SC
IA
NV
NH
June 28
Sept. 30
Buttigieg
Harris
Sanders
Warren
Booker
O’Rourke
Yang
Klobuchar
Castro
Steyer
Not included
in polls
Gabbard
Not yet qualified
Williamson
At least 2%, but poll is duplicate
Polled at least 2%
Polled less than 2%
Deadline for
September debate
(Aug. 28)
June 28
Sept. 30
IA
SC
NH
NH
SC
IA
SC
IA
IA
NV
NH
SC
IA
NV
NH
SC
NV
SC
Biden
Buttigieg
Harris
Sanders
Warren
Booker
O’Rourke
Yang
Klobuchar
Castro
Not included
in polls
Steyer
Gabbard
Not yet qualified
Williamson
Polled at least 2%
At least 2%, but poll is duplicate
Polled less than 2%
Deadline for
September debate
(Aug. 28)
June 28
Sept. 30
IA
SC
NH
NH
SC
IA
SC
IA
IA
NV
NH
SC
IA
NV
NH
SC
NV
SC
Biden
Buttigieg
Harris
Sanders
Warren
Booker
O’Rourke
Yang
Klobuchar
Castro
Not included
in polls
Steyer
Gabbard
Not yet qualified
Williamson
Ashlyn Still and Kevin Uhrmacher contributed to this report.
About this report
This analysis is based on rules set by the DNC. Individual donor numbers are reported by the campaigns. Polling totals are based on numbers compiled by Politico.
