Candidates Who Qualify for December Democratic Debate

This post was last updated on December 11, 2019.

The qualifications have been raised again for candidates in a still-congested Democratic presidential field looking to take the stage during the sixth debate in December.

With November’s rumble behind them, candidates will only qualify for the next debate on December 19 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles if they meet the following criteria:

Each candidate will need to have at least 200,000 individual donors
Candidates also must either receive 4% support in four national or early-state approved polls conducted by qualifying pollsters between October 16 and December 12, or at least 6% support in two polls in the four states where early primaries will be held: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

“The requirements get harder as we get closer to the primaries,” Dan Sena, former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Wednesday. “The candidates must remain vigorous with campaigning, fundraising, and keeping their name out there, especially as the nation is fascinated with the (presidential) impeachment hearings.”

These are the Democratic candidates who have qualified for the December debate so far:

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
Former Vice President Joe Biden
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer
(Senator Kamala Harris of California dropped out of the presidential race on December 3)

However, Gabbard said she wouldn’t participate in the debate even if she does meet the requirements.

“For a number of reasons, I have decided not to attend the December 19th ‘debate’ — regardless of whether or not there are qualifying polls,” Gabbard tweeted. “I instead choose to spend that precious time directly meeting with and hearing from the people of New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

The December Democratic debate will be co-hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico and will air live on PBS. It will also be live-streamed on PBS NewsHour’s digital and mobile platforms, as well as on Politico’s website and social media accounts. The debate’s moderators and its format have yet to be announced.

December’s debate was previously announced to be held at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but was relocated to Loyola Marymount’s Gersten Pavilion two weeks ago due to ongoing labor disputes between a local branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union workers and the university, the DNC told the presidential campaigns earlier this month.