The Democratic debate in Houston is tonight. But even though it’s the third debate, tonight’s debate is just the beginning for the candidates hoping to win the Democratic primary nomination. In fact, candidates are in for a long haul with many debates left to come. Here’s a look at what we know so far about the next debates and how many are left.
Tonight marks the third debate, hosted by ABC and Univision. The July debates were hosted by CNN and the first debates in June were hosted by NBC. But what happens after tonight? The schedule will be packed for a while.
The next debate – the fourth round of debates – will take place in Ohio on October 15 and 16. Yes, so far it’s looking like we’re going to return to two nights of debates in October. The same candidates in tonight’s debate will return in October, plus Tom Steyer who has already qualified. More candidates could still qualify (including Tulsi Gabbard, who only needs two more qualifying polls.) The DNC has previously said that it won’t have more than 10 candidates on a debate stage at a time. If only Steyer qualifies and none of the 10 from tonight drop out by October, it’s not clear how the nights will be divided or how many will debate per night.
The requirements to qualify for the October debates are the same as tonight’s. Candidates need donations from 130,000 different donors, which must include 400 from 20 different states. They must also hit 2 percent in four different qualifying polls. Candidates have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on October 1 to qualify for the donor and polling requirements in order to be in the October debates.
After October, there will be one debate every month until April 2020. Yes, that means you’ll get to watch a debate in November 2019, December 2019, January 2020, February 2020, March 2020, and April 2020.
It’s likely that the DNC will raise the qualifying threshold in November, Yahoo News reported. Multiple sources told Yahoo that the polling requirement will likely go up, but they didn’t share how high it might be next time. A former Democratic official told Yahoo that the donor requirement might not be in play for November. “The candidates left standing would have proved their chops on the donor front… (And) it has come under the most criticism.” One Democratic aide said the donor requirement was making some candidates spend “ungodly amounts” on social media ads. However, others believe the donor requirements are good as they keep the focus on grassroots efforts and reaching out to as many as possible rather than focusing on bigger-money donors.
We don’t know who is hosting the future debates from November on, where they’ll take place, or who will be in them yet. But it’s going to be a packed and busy schedule for the remaining Democratic primary candidates. At this point in time, anyone could end up coming out on top by the time the Democratic debates are over and the primary elections have taken place.
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