Things could actually get interesting again, because getting one delegate in Iowa can change the lineup for the Democratic candidate debate in New Hampshire.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Democratic National Committee on Friday announced its criteria for the first debate to be held after voting begins in the 2020 presidential campaign, including a new pathway to the stage based off delegate pledges.
As they have before, qualifiers will need to meet polling and grassroots funding thresholds to participate in the Feb. 7 debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. But new for next month is a pathway centered around delegates: Based off the results of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, any candidate awarded at least one pledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention, as calculated by the Democratic Party, will be able to participate.
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There will be two ways for Democratic candidates to qualify for their party’s next presidential debate, scheduled for Feb. 7, the Democratic National Committee announced on Friday. All six candidates who qualified for this past week’s debate have qualified for the next.
The candidates can meet the same thresholds they had to last time: 225,000 unique donors and either 5 percent in four qualifying polls or 7 percent in two polls of New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina voters. Iowa polls will no longer count, because the Iowa caucuses take place on Feb. 3.
But the caucuses will open up the second path: Even if candidates don’t meet the D.N.C.’s polling and donor thresholds, they can qualify for the debate by winning any of the 41 pledged delegates at stake.
This could provide a window for candidates like Andrew Yang, who made the cut for every debate except for the most recent one, after falling short in qualifying polls.
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Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii should be able to cast a vote in the New Hampshire presidential primary.