How Long Is the Democratic Debate Tonight, September 12? When Does It End?

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Tonight marks the third of the Democratic debates, this time at Texas Southern University in Houston. It’s the first time that all the qualifying candidates will be on the same debate stage together. But just how much time do you need to put aside for the debates tonight? Here are the details you need to know.

Tonight we’re watching the third official debate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for President. The debate is supposed to be three hours long, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and ending at 11 p.m. Eastern. Of course, there’s a chance it might last a bit longer. Tonight’s debate is scheduled to last an hour longer than the previous Democratic debates, so if the debate feels like it’s lasting longer than normal, that’s why.

According to TV Guide, the debate is scheduled to end at 11 p.m. Eastern (10 p.m. Central) and ABC is then going to move on to regular local programming. However, the later programs could be pushed back if the debate goes long. ABC’s YouTube channel has post-debate coverage scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Eastern. It seems like the debate will end on time because one of the moderators said they were heading into the last question, just before the commercial break at 10:23 p.m. Eastern.

In July, CNN’s debates were supposed to only last for two hours and they were advertised as being just two hours long. But both debates ended up lasting a little longer than two hours. So it’s not unusual for debates to go longer than originally planned.

Any news station you turn to after the debate is over will have plenty of recaps and reviews of the debate. So if you’re planning to host a watch party for this debate, then you might want to budget some time for an after-show too, even if you don’t want to continue watching ABC. For example, Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah typically have live shows that air right after the debate, discussing just what happened.

The lineup for tonight’s debate includes former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Tulsi Gabbard and Marianne Williamson didn’t make the cut for tonight’s debate.

How are these candidates doing in the polls so far? According to 538, Biden led the HarrisX poll from September 8-11 with 35 percent. Sanders was second at 17 percent and Warren was third at 15 percent. Next were Harris (6 percent), Buttigieg (5 percent) and Yang (3 percent.)

For another HarrisX poll covering the same time period, Biden led at 30 percent. Sanders came in at 18 percent, Warren at 11, Harris at 5, Buttigieg at 4, and O’Rourke at 3.

A September 9-10 Ipsos poll showed Biden at 22 percent, Sanders at 16, Warren at 11, Buttigieg at 4, Harris at 4, and Yang and Booker at 3.

A YouGov poll from September 8-10 showed Biden and Warren tied at 24 percent, Sanders at 17, Harris at 6, Buttigieg at 5, and Booker and Castro and Williamson and Yang at 2.

Meanwhile, a New Hampshire RKM poll for September 4-10 showed Sanders leading at 29 percent, Biden at 21, Warren at 17, Harris at 6, Yang and Buttigieg at 5, and Gabbard at 3.

A CNN/SSRS poll for September 5-9 showed Biden at 24 percent, Warren at 18, Sanders at 17, Harris at 8, Buttigieg at 6, and O’Rourke at 5.

In general, Biden is still leading most of the polls, but Sanders and Warren are sometimes tying or taking the lead. The next highest is a toss-up, often changing among candidates.

After this, the next debates will be in October. Depending on how many qualify, we could have one or two nights of debates. So far, it looks like 11 have qualified, so we’re probably going to see two nights of debates. To be in the fourth debate in October, candidates must get donations from 130,000 people and get at least 2 percent in polls from four DNC-approved polls within a limited window. That’s the same requirement that was needed for the September debate.

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