Beto O’Rourke among 20 Democratic presidential candidates who qualify for 1st debate
The Democratic National Committee has announced the 20 candidates who have qualified for the party’s first presidential primary debates later this month.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock was the most high-profile candidate left off the list. He failed to reach the party’s polling or grassroots fundraising thresholds.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam were among the others who missed the threshold for the debate.
Bullock’s campaign has argued that he should have qualified but that the DNC changed its rules midstream, a charge that DNC Chairman Tom Perez rejects.
The debates will take place June 26-27 in Miami. NBC News plans Friday to hold a random drawing assigning 10 candidates to each night.
Below are the 20 contenders who made the cut:
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado Former Vice President Joe Biden* Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey* South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg* Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii* Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York* Sen. Kamala Harris of California* Former Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington* Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota* Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas* Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont* Rep. Eric Swalwell of California Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts* Author Marianne Williamson* Entrepreneur Andrew Yang*
The candidates marked with an asterisk qualified through both polling and grassroots fundraising thresholds, the DNC said. The others qualified through polling only.
