Democratic National Committee announces rules for October primary debates
The Democratic National Committee will hold its fourth primary debate on October 15 in Ohio. If more than 10 candidates qualify for the debate, there will be a second night on October 16.
Campaigns will have until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 1 to meet donor and polling thresholds to qualify. The thresholds to qualify are the same as the thresholds for the September 12 debate, meaning that a candidate who did not qualify for the September debate could reach the polling and donor thresholds to qualify for the October debate.
Candidates must receive 2% or more support in at least four polls, which may be national polls or polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Candidates also must receive donations from at least 130,000 unique donors, with 400 donors per state in at least 20 states. Several candidates who did not qualify for the September debate have complained that the qualifications were too stringent.
Ten candidates have qualified for the September 12 debate. The debate will be hosted by ABC News in partnership with Univision, and moderated by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, ABC News "World News Tonight" Anchor and Managing Editor David Muir, ABC News Correspondent Linsey Davis and Univision Anchor Jorge Ramos.
Here are the candidates who qualified for the third debate, in the order they will appear on the debate stage:
At least two candidates were on the brink of qualifying for the third debate and have a good chance of meeting the thresholds for the fourth. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard and billionaire Tom Steyer have met the donor threshold but not the polling threshold.