The Democratic National Committee announced the candidates who qualified for the first debates of the 2020 presidential campaign Thursday, narrowing the historically large field of 23 contenders down to the 20 available slots.
Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mayor Wayne Messam of Miramar, Fla., did not qualify, and will be left out of the debates June 26-27 in Miami, according to a news release sent out Thursday night.
The candidates who made the cut did so by registering 1% support in three polls, receiving donations from 65,000 people, or both.
To determine the 10-candidate lineup for each debate, the committee has said it will evenly and randomly divide top-tier candidates across the two nights. NBC News, which is moderating the first debates, will select the lineups today.
The June debates will be the first time many Americans see the Democratic field. For candidates outside the top tier, the debates present a chance for a breakout moment.
Bullock, who kicked off his campaign May 14, has been outspoken about his displeasure with the party and the methods it used to pare down the field. In emails to donors, he complained vociferously after a poll that would have helped qualify him for the debates was excluded from consideration. And on Thursday, Bullock's campaign said it had lobbied the DNC for inclusion in the debates one more time, arguing again that the disqualified poll should be counted
Two other polls released this week gave Bullock a pair of additional chances to meet the threshold. Had he received 1% support in either of those polls, Bullock would have become the 21st candidate to qualify for the June debates, and that would have forced officials to employ tiebreakers to determine which candidate would be excluded.
"While 20 candidates are on the debate stage in Miami, I will be talking directly to voters about my record of passing progressive priorities in a state Trump won, the importance of winning the places we lost, and how we are going to beat Donald Trump once and for all," Bullock said Thursday.
Moulton has yet to garner 1% of support in any qualifying poll since he began his campaign to become the Democratic nominee in April.
"I knew that getting in so late that I'd probably miss the first debate," Moulton said Thursday. "The DNC debates are not going to determine the nominee. The American people are."
Messam has also struggled to gain attention, having reached the 1% threshold in only one poll. The campaign did not respond to requests for comment this week about its fundraising efforts and Messam's status in the debates.
About two weeks ago, the Democratic National Committee announced that it would toughen the requirements for participation in the fall debates. To qualify for the party's third debate, scheduled for mid-September, candidates will have to attract donations from 130,000 individuals and register at least 2% in four state or national polls from a list of approved surveys.
The 20 candidates who appear to have qualified, in alphabetical order, are: Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado; former Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.; former Housing Secretary Julian Castro; Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York; former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; Sen. Kamala Harris of California; former Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado; Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas; Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio; Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Rep. Eric Swalwell of California; Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; self-help author Marianne Williamson; and former tech executive Andrew Yang.
A Section on 06/14/2019