The Democratic National Committee’s attempts to winnow the presidential primary debate stage did not succeed in shrinking the number of candidates for the next debate. On Wednesday, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard became the 12th candidate to qualify for the October debate after missing the qualifying threshold for the September round.
Candidates must secure 130,000 individual donors and at least 2% support in four our more DNC-approved polls by Oct. 1 to make the debates scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16, the same standards as the September debate. A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday found Gabbard with 2% support, her fourth qualifying poll.
The September and October debates standard is much higher than that for debates in June and July, which required either 65,000 donors or 1% support in at least three DNC-approved polls, not both. The increase meant that the September debate stage was cut in half to 10 candidates, down from 20 in the June and July rounds, and one debate night rather than two.
All 10 candidates from the September debate automatically qualified for the October round. But candidates who already passed the donor threshold and were close to meeting the standard, such as billionaire businessman Tom Steyer and Gabbard, could still count their September qualifying polls toward October.
Steyer earned his fourth qualifying poll for the October debate on Sept. 8. The addition of him and Gabbard brings the October lineup to 12, meaning that the debates could again take place over two nights rather than one.
The rise in debate standards prompted condemnation from candidates.
“It’s the polling requirements that have really been kind of arbitrary,” Gabbard said on Fox News Wednesday morning, adding that it is not clear why the DNC recognizes certain polls but not others thought to be credible by outside experts. “Really, the problem is for voters who are seeing a lack of transparency, therefore a lack of trust in the process.”
Candidates who have not met the donor threshold argue that the rules prioritize spending on digital ads to secure more individual donors rather than on talking to voters and building a grassroots operation.
“I question the effectiveness of that polling when you have 24 candidates when you’re getting within the margin of error, well within the margin of error, to try and measure a qualification point,” former Housing Secretary Julián Castro told reporters in August before he had qualified for the September debate.
The debate threshold has, however, prompted some candidates to drop out of the race. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ended her campaign after it was clear she would not make the September debate. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in early September he would drop out if he could not make the October debate, and he ended his campaign last week.
The 12 candidates who have qualified for the October debate in Ohio, hosted by CNN and the New York Times, are:
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
- South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
- Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
- California Sen. Kamala Harris
- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Businessman Tom Steyer
- Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
- Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang
The DNC again raised standards for the November debate, but not as drastically as it did for the September and October rounds. Candidates must have 165,000 individual donors and meet a polling threshold, which can be 3% support in at least four approved polls or 5% support in two early voting states.
