DNC selects California for sixth Democratic presidential debate
The Democratic National Committee announced on Friday that California will host the sixth Democratic presidential debate on Dec. 19.
The debate, which will be held on a Thursday at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and co-hosted by PBS NewsHour and POLITICO, could prove to be the most consequential one to date.
The current field of 18 candidates will likely be winnowed in the coming months, with fewer expected to make the debate stages for Nov. 20 in Georgia and Dec. 19 in California.
It will also carry particular importance for the Californians who will begin voting early on Feb. 3, 2020 — the same day as the Iowa caucuses and a month before California’s primary election date.
With an early primary date and more delegates up for grabs than any other state, California voters will have an outsized role in selecting the Democratic nominee. All 18 candidates still in the race have already visited, hosting a few hundred events and fundraisers. On Nov. 16, at least eight Democrats will attend the state party’s convention in Long Beach.
The DNC announced on Friday it is raising its polling and donation thresholds for candidates trying to get on the California debate stage in December.
Candidates must have at least 200,000 individual donors, up from the 165,000 required for the November debate. They also need to earn 4 percent or more in at least four qualifying national or early-state polls — an increase from the 3 percent mark required for the fifth debate.
Candidates could also meet the party’s polling requirements if they secure at least 6 percent support in two qualifying polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada, which is up from the 5 percent threshold for the November debate.
Each qualifying poll would need to be publicly released between Oct. 16 and Dec. 12.
As of Friday, four eligible polls have been released. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have all qualified for the sixth presidential debate at UCLA. California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg need just one more poll to secure their spot on stage — a feat that is essentially guaranteed.
Tom Steyer, the San Francisco billionaire liberal activist who has spent more than $47 million of his personal money on his campaign, has one qualifying poll and needs three more. He’ll likely have little problem meeting the DNC’s donor threshold, as his campaign reported this month it got 166,119 individual contributions by Sept. 30. Heather Hargreaves, Steyer’s campaign manager, said Steyer has not yet crossed the 200,000 donor threshold but is “confident” he’ll reach the mark without any issues.
At this point in the 2016 election cycle, six candidates announced their presidential bids, with five of them making it onto the first debate. This year, a whopping 26 Democrats announced their run for president. Eight have since dropped out, and a total of 12 candidates appeared on the debate stage in October.
Nine candidates have already qualified for the November debate, leaving Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and six low-polling candidates at risk of missing out on an appearance.