--- title: Democratic Debate: What They Said About the Minimum Wage description: The Democratic presidential candidates differed on the exact amount of a new federal minimum wage. canonical: https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-15T03:19:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:39:58.634Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Where the Democratic Candidates Want to Set the Minimum Wage og:description: What they said at the debate Saturday og:url: https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9cc64b00074df46/69887126428a9ecd36cd01c2/clinton-omalley-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4711 og:image:height: 2650 og:image:alt: Martin O'Malley, Hillary Rodham Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Where the Democratic Candidates Want to Set the Minimum Wage twitter:description: What they said at the debate Saturday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9cc64b00074df46/69887126428a9ecd36cd01c2/clinton-omalley-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Where the Democratic Candidates Want to Set the Minimum Wage > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=25f4fb2a-ac22-47a8-887f-cc88180def6a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: CBS Democratic Debate: Opening Statements [Watch (HLS stream): CBS Democratic Debate: Opening Statements](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8wrx3uj6.m3u8) (3:22)  _Published 2015-11-15. CBS Democratic Debate: Opening Statements_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 15, 2015 3:19 AM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 15, 2015 3:19 AM UTC The Democratic presidential candidates made their case for a new federal minimum wage [at a debate in Iowa Saturday night](http://time.com/4112831/democratic-debate-paris-attacks-hillary-clinton/?xid=homepage), but they differed on the exact amount. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley both supported a $15 minimum wage. “I believe that over the next few years, not tomorrow, over the next few years, we’ve got to move the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour. And I apologize to nobody for that,” Sanders said. O’Malley then touted his record as Maryland governor, when he raised the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. “This was not merely theory in Maryland, we actually did it,” he said. “$10.10 was all I could get the state to do by the time I left, but two of our counties actually went to $12.80,” he said. O’Malley now advocates a $15 minimum wage. Clinton was more restrained, pushing for a $12 minimum wage. “If we went to $15, there are no international comparisons, that is why I support a $12 national federal minimum wage,” she said. “That is what the Democrats in the Senate have put forward as a proposal, but I do believe that is a minimum, and places like Seattle, like Los Angeles, like New York City, they can go higher.” **Read Next:** [_Here’s Every City in America Getting a $15 Minimum Wage_](http://time.com/3969977/minimum-wage/) ## Transcript You will each have one minute for an opening statement to share your thoughts about the attacks in Paris and lay out your vision for America. First, Senator Sanders. Well, John, let me concur with you and with all Americans who were shocked and disgusted of what we saw in Paris yesterday. Together, leading the world This country will rid our planet of this barbarous organization called ISIS. I'm running for President because as I go around this nation and talk to a lot of people and what I hear is people's concern that the economy we have is a rigged economy. People are working longer hours for lower wages, and almost all of the new income and wealth goes to the top 1 %, and on top of that we have a corrupt campaign finance system, in which millionaires and billionaires are pouring huge sums of money into Super PACs, heavily influencing the political process What my campaign is about is a political revolution. Millions of people standing up and saying, Enough is enough. Our government belongs to all of us, and not just a handful of billionaires. All right, Senator Sanders. Secretary Clinton. Well, our prayers are with the people of France tonight, but that Is not enough. We need to have a resolve that will bring the world together to root out the kind of radical jihadist ideology that motivates organizations like ISIS, a barbaric, ruthless, violent jihadist. Terrorist group. This election is not only about electing a president, it's also about choosing our next commander in chief. And I will be laying out in detail what I think we need to do with our friends and allies. In Europe and elsewhere. To do a better job of coordinating efforts against the surge of terrorism. Our country deserves no less because of all the other issues we want to deal with depends on us being secure and strong. Governor O'Malley. My heart, like all of us in this room, John and all the people across the country, my hearts go out to the people of France in this moment of loss. Parents and sons and daughters and family members, and as our hearts go out to them and our prayers go out to them, we must remember this That this isn't a new face of conflict and warfare. Not in the 20th century, but the new face of conflict and warfare in the 21st century. And there is no nation on the planet better able to adapt to this change, than our nation. We must be able to work collaboratively with others. We must anticipate these threats before they happen. This is the new sort of challenge. The new sort of threat. That does in fact require new thinking, fresh approaches, and new leadership. As a former mayor and a former governor, there was never a single day, John, when I went to bed or woke up without realizing this could happen in our own country. We have a lot of work to do to better prepare our nation and to better lead this world into this new century. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/"},"headline":"Here's Where the Democratic Candidates Want to Set the Minimum Wage","datePublished":"2015-11-15T03:19:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:39:58.634Z","description":"The Democratic presidential candidates differed on the exact amount of a new federal minimum wage.","url":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/","keywords":["Debates","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Minimum Wage","Martin O'malley"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9cc64b00074df46/69887126428a9ecd36cd01c2/clinton-omalley-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9cc64b00074df46/69887126428a9ecd36cd01c2/clinton-omalley-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Martin O'Malley, Hillary Rodham Clinton","caption":"Martin O'Malley, Hillary Rodham Clinton","creditText":"Charlie Neibergall—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/","name":"Here's Where the Democratic Candidates Want to Set the Minimum Wage"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"CBS Democratic Debate: The Candidates on Minimum Wage","description":"CBS Democratic Debate: The Candidates on Minimum Wage","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8khC6Yos/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-15T04:18:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8khC6Yos.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/","duration":"PT4M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"CBS Democratic Debate: Opening Statements","description":"CBS Democratic Debate: Opening Statements","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8wrx3uj6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-15T02:27:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8wrx3uj6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/","duration":"PT3M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4113499/democratic-debate-minimum-wage/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```