Four 2020 Dems not yet qualified to participate in debates: report

by Chris Mills Rodrigo - 04/29/19 10:11 AM ET

Four 2020 Democratic candidates have not yet qualified for the party’s official debates as of Monday, according to The New York Times.

The Times reports that Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.); Miramar, Fla., Mayor Wayne Messam and writer Marianne Williamson have yet to meet the thresholds laid out by the Democratic National Committee to qualify.

{mosads}To be eligible for the 12 debates planned in the 2020 cycle, candidates must receive support from at least 1 percent of respondents in three separate polls between Jan. 1 and the two weeks before the debate or receive campaign contributions from at least 65,000 unique donors.

In addition, former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) also has yet to reach the threshold, with a spokesperson for the campaign telling The Hill they were “a third of the way” there on donors and have been seeing increased support in polls.

Gravel announced a presidential campaign earlier this month saying his sole intention is to appear on the debate stage to push the Democratic field more to the left, not to win the nomination.

According to the Times, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), former Vice President Joe Biden, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and entrepreneur Andrew Yang have all qualified under both requirements.

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) have all reportedly qualified via the polling requirement.

And Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is the only candidate that has qualified solely on the number of donors.

The first debate of the 2020 cycle will be held June 26 and 27 in Miami and the second will be a month later in Detroit.

The DNC has said that if more than 20 candidates qualify for the debates, those that meet both thresholds will be prioritized.