The first four Democratic debates of the 2020 presidential election are in the bag and the fifth will take place on Nov. 20.
When and How to Watch the 2020 Democratic Presidential Debates
The Democratic National Committee has approved up to 12 debates, with six scheduled for 2019 and six more set for 2020.
MSNBC and The Washington Post will co-host the fifth Democratic presidential primary debate in Georgia on Nov. 20. All four debate moderators will be women, MSNBC announced. The debate, which is expected to be held in the Atlanta area, will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. live on MSNBC and Radio One. It will also stream on MSNBC.com and the Post’s website, as well as across mobile devices via NBC News and the Post’s mobile apps and Urban One’s digital platforms.
The New York Times and CNN co-hosted the fourth presidential debatein Westerville, Ohio, at Otterbein University on Oct. 15, with 12 candidates sharing the stage over three hours. It was the second primary debate of the cycle hosted by CNN and the first for the Times in more than a decade, the newspaper reported.
ABC News’ hosted the third debate on Sept. 12 at Texas Southern University in Houston. The debate was harder to qualify for than the first two (more on that below), and that higher threshold combined with a winnowing candidate pool meant this was the first of the 2020 Democratic debates to feature all the highest polling candidates on stage at the same time.
CNN hosted its debate on July 30 and 31 from Detroit, Michigan. Qualifying rules were the same as for the first debate.
The first debate, sponsored by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo, took place on June 26 and June 27 at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, Florida. Watch everything each candidate said on night one and night two.
The Democrats Who Appear to Have Qualified for MSNBC’s November Debate Are
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
- Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont
- Sen. Kamala Harris of California
- South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
- Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
- Billionaire activist Tom Steyer
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
The 12 Democrats Who Qualified for the Fourth Presidential Primary Debate in Ohio Were
- Sen. Klobuchar
- Sen. Booker
- Mayor Buttigieg
- Sen. Sanders
- Former Vice President Biden
- Sen. Warren
- Sen. Harris
- Entrepreneur Yang
- Former Rep. O’Rourke
- Former housing secretary Castro
- Billionaire activist Steyer
- Rep. Gabbard
The 10 Democrats Who Made the Third Presidential Primary Debate Lineup in Detroit Were
ABC News said the following podium order (left to right) was set by polling averages, with the highest polling candidates closest to the center of the debate stage:
- Sen. Klobuchar
- Sen. Booker
- South Bend Mayor Buttigieg
- Sen. Sanders
- Former Vice President Biden
- Sen. Warren
- Sen. Harris
- Entrepreneur Yang
- Former Rep. O’Rourke
- Former HUD Secretary Castro
Here is a look at top moments from the debate, where the top leaders in the polls all shared the stage for the first time.
The 20 Democrats Who Made the Second Presidential Primary Debate Lineup in Detroit Were
CNN held a live drawing on July 18 to determine the debate order for each night.
The first group of 10 on Tuesday, July 30, were:
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Mayor Buttigieg, Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen. Klobuchar, former Rep. O’Rourke, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, Sen. Sanders, Sen. Warren and Williamson, the author.
The second group of 10 on Wednesday, July 31, were:
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, former Vice President Biden, Sen. Booker, former HUD Secretary Castro, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Gabbard, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Harris, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Yang.
Here are a few more things to know about the CNN debate.
- Night one included Sanders and Warren, who have each staked out aggressive, progressive policy positions. They did not go after each other as some predicted they might.
- Night two featured a rematch of Harris and Biden. During the first debate, Harris went after Biden over his record on race, in a moment that led the news in the days afterward.
- Montana Gov. Steve Bullock made the debate stage for the first time, having secured his spot after Rep. Eric Swalwell of California exited the race.
The 20 Democrats Who Appeared in the First Presidential Primary Debate in Miami Were
The first group of 10 who appeared on Wednesday, June 26: Sen.Booker, Sen. Warren, former Rep. O’Rourke, Sen. Klobuchar, former Rep. Delaney, Rep. Gabbard, former HUD Secretary Castro, Rep. Ryan, New York City Mayor de Blasio and Washington Gov. Inslee.
NBC News has a full transcript here.
More coverage from night one:
The second group of 10 who appeared on Thursday, June 27: Sen. Harris, former Vice President Biden, South Bend Mayor Buttigieg, Sen. Sanders, Sen. Gillibrand, Sen. Bennet, Williamson, Rep. Swalwell, Yang and Gov. Hickenlooper of Colorado.
NBC News has a full transcript here.
More coverage from night two:
Three candidates who failed to make the cut for the first debate were Gov. Bullock, Rep. Moulton, and Miramar Mayor Messam.
Here is more information about all the candidates.
How Candidates Qualified for the First Two Democratic Presidential Primary Debates
In February, the DNC published specific debate guidelines spelling out what candidates have to do to participate.
Democratic candidates could qualify for the first and second debates by meeting one of the two following sets of criteria:
Criteria 1– Polling Method: Participants must register 1% or more support in three polls (which may be national polls, or polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada) publicly released between Jan. 1, 2019, and 14 days prior to the date of the debate. Qualifying polls will be limited to those sponsored by one or more of the following organizations/institutions: Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Des Moines Register, Fox News, Las Vegas Review Journal, Monmouth University, NBC News, New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), Quinnipiac University, Reuters, University of New Hampshire, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Winthrop University. Any candidate’s three qualifying polls must be conducted by different organizations, or if by the same organization, must be in different geographical areas.
Criteria 2 – Grassroots Fundraising Method: Candidates may qualify for the debate by demonstrating that the campaign has received donations from at least (1) 65,000 unique donors; and (2) a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 U.S. states.
If more than 20 candidates had qualified, here is how a tiebreaker would have worked, according to NBC News. Candidates who met both the polling and fundraising criteria would get preference. If that still didn’t winnow the field, then preference would go to candidates with the highest polling average.
How Candidates Were Selected for the Third and Fourth Debates
For the third and fourth debates, the DNC essentially doubled the polling and fundraising thresholds set for the first two debates — and required candidates to meet both standards, instead of just one or the other, NBC News reported.
Candidates needed to register at least 2 percent in four major polls conducted this summer and receive donations from at least 130,000 individual donors, including at least 400 in 20 states.
Since only 10 candidates qualified for ABC News’ debate under the new standards, they all appeared on stage together for one night. The fourth debate will feature 12 canidates, also on one night.
How Candidates Qualify for the Fifth Debate
The fifth Democratic presidential primary debate on Nov. 20, to be co-hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post in Georgia, will become a little tougher for candidates to qualify.
Candidates must have 165,000 unique donors, with at least 600 of those each coming from at least 20 states.
Poll requirements will inch up to 3% in at least four national or early state polls. Or, a candidate could hit 5% support in two early state polls. The change would reward a candidate’s momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire, The Associated Press reported.
Who Is Moderating the Democratic Debates?
The fifth debate on Nov. 20 will be moderated by Rachel Maddow, host of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC; Andrea Mitchell, host of “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on MSNBC and NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent; Kristen Welker, NBC News’ White House correspondent; and Ashley Parker, a White House reporter for The Washington Post.
CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett co-moderated the fourth debate with The New York Times’ national editor, Marc Lacey.
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Linsey Davis and Univision’s Jorge Ramos moderated the third debate.
CNN’s Dana Bash, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper moderated the second debate on July 30 and 31, the network reported.
There were five moderators for the first debate: “TODAY” co-anchor and NBC News chief legal analyst Savannah Guthrie, “NBC Nightly News” and “Dateline” anchor Lester Holt, “Meet the Press” moderator and NBC News political director Chuck Todd, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and “Noticias Telemundo” and “NBC Nightly News Saturday” anchor José Diaz-Balart.
Holt moderated for both hours. Guthrie and Diaz-Balart co-moderated for the first hour, while Todd and Maddow joined Holt for the second hour.
The DNC has said it will have at least one female and non-white moderator at each Democratic presidential debate.
“The DNC is committed to an inclusive and fair debate process,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill told Refinery29, which first reported the debates would have at least one female moderator. “That means that all 12 DNCsanctioned debates will feature a diverse group of moderators and panelists including women and people of color, ensuring that the conversations reflect the concerns of all Americans.”
HuffPost later reported that the debates will also include at least one person of color as a moderator, who could also be the same person as the female moderator.
Which 2020 Candidates Have Dropped Out of the Race So Far?
- Rep. Swalwell
- Former Sen. Mike Gravel
- Gov. Hickenlooper
- Gov. Inslee
- Rep. Moulton
- Sen. Gillibrand
- Mayor de Blasio
*Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz both considered running for president but decided against it.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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Source: NBC San Diego
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