The Democratic National Committee announced on Thursday the 20 presidential candidates who are qualified to participate in the first Democratic debates, which will be held in Miami, Florida.
Here are the participants in alphabetical order:
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet
Former Vice President Joe Biden
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
Former Maryland Representative John Delaney
Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
California Senator Kamala Harris
Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
Washington Governor Jay Inslee
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
Former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke
Ohio Representative Tim Ryan
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
California Representative Eric Swalwell
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren
Writer and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
Candidates who qualified for these debates received at least 1 percent in three polls, or received donations from 65,000 supporters, including at least 200 donors in each of 20 states.
The Democrats who will be omitted from the debates are Montana Governor Steve Bullock, Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam; and Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton.
Bullock has been the most vocal critic of the system. He was one of the final candidates to enter the race after formally launching his presidential campaign in May.
He waited until after Montana’s legislature completed its session. But that gave him less time to build support in the polls or raise money.
“I had a job to do, and if it ultimately ever came down to choosing between getting Medicare reauthorized, getting 100,000 Montanans healthcare versus getting in earlier just to try to bump up on yet another poll, I’d make that same choice time and time again,” Bullock said on MSNBC after the list was finalized.
The debates, which will be held over two nights on June 26 and June 27, offer an expansive Democratic vista in which Americans will get to hear each candidate and allow candidates who have trailed in opinion polls the opportunity to make an impact with voters.
The 20 candidates will be randomly divided between the two nights in a way that ensures top-qualifiers will be distributed evenly between both debates. The lineup for each night will be determined in New York.
In most election cycles, the list of candidates would not get much attention, but the large number of presidential hopefuls has the public’s attention. This historically large group of 23 candidates forced the Democratic Party to establish rules to limit participation and make the debates more manageable, forcing those trailing in the polls to make a last minute dash.
The debate will be broadcast prime time on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo and be streamed online for free on a variety of digital and social platforms.
