The Democratic National Committee on Thursday announced dates for the party’s first four presidential primary debates.
After weeks of speculation about the Democrats’ debate schedule, the DNC announced the first debate will take place Oct. 13 and will be hosted by CNN in Nevada.
The second debate will be hosted in Des Moines, Iowa, by CBS and the Des Moines Register on Nov. 14 ; the third on Dec. 19 by ABC and ABC affiliate WMUR in Manchester, N.H.; and the fourth will be hosted by NBC and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute on Jan. 17 in Charleston, S.C.
An additional two debates are tentatively scheduled for February or March with one hosted by Univision and the Washington Post in Miami, Fla., and the other hosted by PBS somewhere in Wisconsin.
The last time Democrats scheduled presidential primary debates was during the 2008 election, when there wasn’t a Democratic incumbent. Then, there were more than 20 debates schedule, the last six of which were only attended by then-candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
“These six debates will not only give caucus goers and primary voters ample opportunity to hear from our candidates about their vision for our country’s future, they will highlight the clear contrast between the values of the Democratic Party which is focused on strengthening the middle class versus Republicans who want to pursue out of touch and out of date policies,” said a statement from DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The DNC’s announcement comes on the same day that the top 10 Republican presidential candidates are set to have their first debate of the campaign season.
