A Libertarian candidate is headed to the debate stage in Colorado this weekend.
Lily Tang Williams, a Chinese immigrant running as a Libertarian for a U.S. Senate seat in Colorado, will debate Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet and Republican Darryl Glenn on Saturday because of a recent bump in the number of registered Libertarians in the Centennial State, according to reports Tuesday.
New voter registration numbers show that the Libertarian Party reached 1.02 percent of total registered voters in Colorado, just above the 1 percent threshold set by Club 20, the group holding the debate. Club 20 confirmed to the Denver Post that Williams will be invited to the event in Grand Junction, Colo.
Party chairman Jay North said Williams qualifying for the debate would be the first time in recent memory that a third-party candidate participated in a U.S. Senate debate in Colorado, according to the Denver Post.
Polling not including Williams shows Bennet with a comfortable lead over Glenn.
Williams isn’t the only Libertarian candidate this election cycle looking for a way onto the debate stage.
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is vying to reach the 15 percent polling threshold to qualify for the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, alongside Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Though he has not reached that number yet, some recent polling has showed support for him as high as 12 percent. Two recent polls show Johnson receiving the support of 15 and 16 percent of voters from Colorado, a swing state.
