Tom Steyer qualified for the January Democratic presidential primary debate with two Fox News polls in South Carolina and Nevada that showed a surge in support and put him ahead of other top-tier contenders.
The billionaire former hedge fund manager-turned-philanthropic activist, 62, joins former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in qualifying for the Jan. 14 debate in Iowa.
To qualify for the debate, the Democratic National Committee requires candidates secure at least 225,000 individual donors and meet a polling threshold of at least 5% support in four DNC-approved state or national primary polls, or 7% support in two single-state polls from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Nevada. Candidates must meet the threshold by midnight Friday and can count polls publicly released as far back as Nov. 14.
Steyer had already met the donor threshold but appeared unlikely to meet the polling threshold until the release of two Fox News state polls on Thursday.
The Fox News South Carolina poll found Steyer in second place with 15% support, behind Biden’s 36% support. Sanders had 14%, Warren had 10% and Buttigieg had 4%. That showed 11% increase in support for Steyer since the last Fox News South Carolina poll in October, when he had 4% in the state.
In Nevada, Steyer received 12% support, in third place behind Biden at 23% and Sanders at 17% while Warren was in fourth place at 12%. Steyer improved his standing by 7 points since the last Fox News Nevada poll in November.
A large chunk of Steyer’s support does appear to come from spending his own money on targeted ads. He gave nearly $47.6 million to his own campaign from his July launch through the end of September and has spent nearly $18 million on Facebook ads and an estimated $78 million on TV ads this year, more than any other Democratic candidate.
Despite criticism from primary rivals over his self-funded campaign, many of Steyer’s supporters say that their support for him is genuine and can not be bought.
“Voters are tired of business as usual and are responding to Tom’s fight to create real economic prosperity, tackle the climate crisis, and get Washington working for American families, not big corporations,” Steyer campaign manager Heather Hargreaves said in a statement Thursday. “We experience this momentum on the ground every day in the early states, and look forward to connecting with more Americans and growing this campaign in the weeks and months ahead. We are built to win, and have the candidate best prepared to take Donald Trump on over the economy and expose him.”
Outside his surprise polling success in the Fox News polls, Steyer lags behind much of the Democratic presidential field. He sits at 2.2% support in the RealClearPolitics average of national primary polls, behind two candidates who have not yet qualified for the January debate: entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who is at 3.5%, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is at 2.3%.
