12:45 p.m. June 14, 2019: The lineups for the two nights of debates have been released. See the lists below.
Original story:
The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday the 20 candidates who will take part in the party’s first presidential debate of the 2020 presidential race, set to take place over a two-night span in Miami at the end of the month.
To be on the stage for the debates, candidates had to qualify either by having received donations from 65,000 unique donors in at least 20 states or by getting 1 percent support in three polls sanctioned by the DNC.
Here is a look at who is in, who is out and what’s ahead.
Who is in?
These 20 candidates have qualified for the first debate.
- Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
- South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
- 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
- Author Marianne Williamson
- Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
What were the criteria for candidates to qualify?
There were two ways for candidates to qualify for the debate. To be included, candidates had to have gained at least 1 percent support in three of the polls chosen by the DNC, or they had to provide evidence of at least 65,000 unique donors, with at least 200 different donors in at least 20 states.
How did each one qualify?
Bennet, de Blasio, Delaney, Hickenlooper, Ryan and Swalwell made the cut for inclusion in the debate by having at least 1 percent support in polls approve by the DNC.
Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Harris, Inslee, Klobuchar, O’Rourke, Sanders, Warren, Williamson and Yang qualified by both polling and grassroots fundraising.
Who didn’t make it?
Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana
Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel
Wayne Messam, mayor of Miramar, Florida
Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts
When and where is the debate being held?
The debate will be broken up into two nights with 10 candidates on the stage to debate each night. The debates will take place on June 26 and 27. They will be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.
Who will be on the stage on which night?
Here is the lineup for both debate nights:
The first group of 10 appearing on Wednesday, June 26 are:
Booker
Warren
O’Rourke
Klobuchar
Delaney
Gabbard
Castro
Ryan
de Blasio
Inslee
The second group of 10 appearing on Thursday, June 27 are:
Sanders
Harris
Biden
Buttigieg
Bennet
Williamson
Swalwell
Gillibrand
Yang
Hickenlooper
Who will be asking the questions at the debate?
Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow and José Diaz-Balart will moderate the debate. According to NBC, Holt will moderate the first hour with Guthrie and Diaz-Balart.
In the second hour, Holt will appear with Todd and Maddow.
The format will be the same for both nights.
Is this the only debate?
This debate is the first of 12 the DNC says it will hold.
How can I watch the debate?
NBC is sponsoring the debate, but it will be shown on all three major networks and on cable news channels.
It will stream online free at NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, the NBC News Mobile App and OTT apps, and Telemundo's digital platforms.
What time is it on?
The debate will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26 and Thursday, June 27.
Will it be the top polling candidates on the first night and those with less poll support on the second night?
The DNC says the highest and lowest polling candidates will be divided up equally when it comes to who is on the first night and who will be on the debate stage the second night.
What about future debates?
The next debate will be held in July in Detroit and moderated by CNN. It will follow the same format and have the same criteria to qualify.
For the debates after July, the DNC has doubled the thresholds to qualify. Candidates must have 130,000 individual donations and poll at 2 percent in three sanctioned polls.
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