Only seven Democratic candidates made the cut for the sixth Democratic debate.
Stricter rules from the Democratic National Committee kept the list of qualifiers shorter for this one. Ten candidates made the stage for the November debate, but both the polling and donor requirements have tightened from the last round.
Who qualified for each debate
| June debate | July | Aug. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Biden |  | | | | |  |
 Buttigieg | | | | | | |
 Klobuchar | | | | | | |
 Sanders | | | | | | |
 Steyer | | | | |||
 Warren | | | | | | |
 Yang | | | | | | |
 Booker | | | | | | |
 Gabbard | | | | | ||
 Harris | | | | | | Dropped out |
 Castro | | | | | ||
 O’Rourke | | | | | Dropped out | |
 Bennet | | | ||||
 de Blasio | | | Dropped out | |||
 Delaney | | | ||||
 Gillibrand | | | Dropped out | |||
 Hickenlooper | | | Dropped out | |||
 Inslee | | | Dropped out | |||
 Ryan | | | Dropped out | |||
 Williamson | | | ||||
 Swalwell | | Dropped out | ||||
 Bullock | | Dropped out | ||||
 Bloomberg | ||||||
 Patrick | ||||||
Under the new rules, candidates needed to register at least 4 percent in four polls approved by the party between Oct. 16 and Dec. 12., or at least 6 percent in two early state polls (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada).
Candidates also needed to earn donations from at least 200,000 unique donors overall, and a minimum of 800 unique donors in at least 20 states.
Three of November’s debaters are not on the list for December. Two fell short in the polls and a third, Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.), dropped out of the race on Dec. 3.
November debaters who were on the bubble
| 4% in four national or early state polls | or | 6% in two early state polls | and | Met donor threshold | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 5% 4% 6% | 6% | | ||
| Gabbard | Needed 1 more | or | Needed 1 more | and | |
| | | | | ||
| Booker | Needed 4 more | or | Needed 2 more | and |
Both candidates met the donor threshold. A surge of donations following Sen. Cory Booker’s (N.J.) performance in the last debate helped him to reach the donor threshold, but he had no qualifying polls and has not polled at 4% since August.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) only needed one more qualifying poll to make the cut, but announced via Twitter on Dec. 9 that she would not participate in the debate, regardless of her qualification status.
Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg had two qualifying polls, but his campaign said he won’t accept political donations, which prevents him from qualifying for the December debate.
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The debate rules may not be narrowing the field to the extent the party had hoped. Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), former congressman Beto O’Rourke (Texas), Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and Harris all dropped out during this debate’s qualifying window. But former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick joined the field on Nov. 14, and Bloomberg entered the race on Nov. 24.
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.
