CNN to host Iowa presidential town halls with Joe Biden, Tom Steyer

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Tom Steyer will take questions from voters in Iowa next week at separate CNN town halls held on back-to-back nights.

Biden, a former vice president, will take the stage Monday, November 11, at 9 p.m. ET with CNN’s Erin Burnett serving as moderator. Steyer, a billionaire businessman, will appear the night before on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET with CNN’s Brianna Keilar moderating the event. The town halls will take place at Grinnell College and air live across CNN platforms.

The town halls will occur less than 100 days before the Iowa caucuses, traditionally the first test for candidates seeking the presidential nominations. A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College shows a close race in Iowa with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 22% support, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 19%, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 18% and Biden rounding out the top tier with 17%. The same poll showed Steyer garnered 2% of support.

The New York Times and Siena College poll showed similar results to a September CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll, in which Warren challenged Biden’s dominance in the race.

So far, CNN has held 22 separate, hour-long town halls with Democratic presidential candidates this year. In addition, CNN has held individual candidate town halls on specific issues such as climate change, LGBTQ matters and young voters. At the conclusion of the Biden town hall on Monday, CNN will have held 48 town halls in 2019 featuring the Democratic contenders for president.

The audiences for the pair of town halls will be comprised of invited Iowa Democrats and no public tickets will be available for the events.