--- title: Martin O'Malley Faces Poll Test To Qualify For Next Debate description: The underdog's hard road continues canonical: https://time.com/4172949/martin-omalley-democratic-debate-poll/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-08T16:29:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:35.440Z article:section: Politics og:title: Martin O'Malley Faces Poll Test To Qualify For Next Debate og:description: The underdog's hard road continues og:url: https://time.com/4172949/martin-omalley-democratic-debate-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c4184e2f7ec2bf4/69887832cd1bba64386fed8f/martin-omalley-debate1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: Martin OMalley og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Martin O'Malley Faces Poll Test To Qualify For Next Debate twitter:description: The underdog's hard road continues twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c4184e2f7ec2bf4/69887832cd1bba64386fed8f/martin-omalley-debate1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Martin O'Malley Faces Test To Qualify For Next Democratic Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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. ## Video: The Third Democratic Debate, In Under Two Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): The Third Democratic Debate, In Under Two Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lTPNqlFm.m3u8) (1:54)  _Published 2015-12-20. Here are the highlights from the final Democratic debate of 2015._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 8, 2016 4:29 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley pauses as he speaks at the West Des Moines Public Library in West Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016. Democratic presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley pauses as he speaks at the West Des Moines Public Library in West Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016.Andrew Harnik—AP by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 8, 2016 4:29 PM UTC **Correction appended, Jan. 8** Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley faces a polling test in the next week in order to make the next Democratic primary debate on Jan. 17, under qualifications announced Friday by NBC, the hosting network. NBC is requiring candidates to average at least 5% nationally, or in one of the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, in order to participate in the debate. O’Malley, who has participated in the first Democratic debates, is currently polling at 6.3% in the RealClearPolitics average of polls in Iowa. He doesn’t yet meet that threshold in New Hampshire, where he is polling at about 2.3%, South Carolina, where he sits at 2.5%, or nationally, where he averages about 3.5%. If he failed to meet the qualifications, it would be just the latest snub for O’Malley, who has complained that the Democratic National Committee limited the field to just six debates, a sum he believes was reached to shield front runner Hillary Clinton from additional contests. Clinton would now only face insurgent Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders on stage, in the final debate before the Iowa Caucuses. O’Malley’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an interview Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden appeared to leave O’Malley out when discussing the state of the Democratic race. “We’ve got two good candidates,” Biden said, before praising the “robust debate” within the party. **Correction**: The original version of this story incorrectly described Martin O’Malley’s standing in the polls. 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