First Dem primary debate to be held June 26, 27 in Miami

The first Democratic presidential primary debate will be held in Miami on June 26 and 27, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Thursday.

The first round of debates will be hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo. While it was previously reported that the first debate would be held in June, the announcement on Thursday provides the first specific date for the highly anticipated event.

{mosads}It will be the first of 12 planned primary debates, pitting a sprawling field of Democratic hopefuls against one another on national television. 

To qualify for the debates, candidates will have to meet one of two tests of strength, either scoring at least 1 percent in three qualifying polls or receiving campaign contributions from a minimum of 65,000 individual donors. 

“Throughout every step of this process, we’ve focused on empowering the grass roots and ensuring that we hold the most transparent, inclusive and fair primary in our party’s history,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement.

“I’m thrilled that we’ll get the chance to showcase our terrific candidates to voters in Florida and across the nation,” he said.

That the first debate will be held in Miami is significant. The city was passed over to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention in favor of Milwaukee. 

But it also means that the field of Democratic candidates will flock to Florida in June, bringing them to the nation’s largest – and most volatile – battleground state. Trump carried the state in 2016 by roughly 100,000 votes.