--- title: Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Fail to Qualify for First Debate description: Third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein failed to qualify for the first presidential debate canonical: https://time.com/4497564/gary-johnson-jill-stein-fail-qualify-first-debate/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-16T19:46:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:36.612Z article:section: Politics og:title: Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Fail to Qualify for First Presidential Debate og:description: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the only candidates on stage on Sept. 26 og:url: https://time.com/4497564/gary-johnson-jill-stein-fail-qualify-first-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32a3780281449e8f/6988a6790b72e32dc26eb084/johnson-stein.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Holds News Conf. In Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Fail to Qualify for First Presidential Debate twitter:description: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the only candidates on stage on Sept. 26 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32a3780281449e8f/6988a6790b72e32dc26eb084/johnson-stein.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Fail to Qualify for First Presidential Debate > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 16, 2016 7:46 PM UTC  Gary Johnson, left, during a campaign event at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sept. 13, 2016; Jill Stein, right, prior to a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23, 2016 Gary Johnson, left, during a campaign event at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sept. 13, 2016; Jill Stein, right, prior to a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23, 2016 Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg/Getty Images;Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 16, 2016 7:46 PM UTC Third-party candidates [Gary Johnson](http://time.com/4454724/gary-johnson-august-fundraising/?iid=sr-link4) and [Jill Stein](http://time.com/4425748/jill-stein-green-party-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link1) failed to qualify for the first [presidential debate](http://time.com/4477608/presidential-debate-moderators-2016/?iid=sr-link2), the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday. “The Board determined that the polling averages called for in the third criterion are as follows: Hillary Clinton (43%), Donald Trump (40.4%), Gary Johnson (8.4%) and Jill Stein (3.2%). Accordingly, Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, and Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, qualify to participate in the September 26 presidential debate and the October 4 vice-presidential debate, respectively. No other candidates satisfied the criteria for inclusion in the September 26 and October 4 debates. The criteria will be reapplied to all candidates in advance of the second and third presidential debates,” the Commission said in a statement. Johnson and Stein need to achieve a 15% polling average in order to be included. They both meet the Commission’s other two criteria: they are constitutionally eligible and are on the ballots in enough states to win a theoretical Electoral College majority. **_Read next:_** [**_How to Watch Tonight’s Presidential Debate without Cable_**](http://time.com/money/4506220/presidential-election-debates-how-to-watch/) “Bill Weld and I will continue to fight to provide a voice and an alternative for independents, disenfranchised Republicans and Democrats, Millennials and others who aren’t satisfied with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as their options,” Libertarian candidate Johnson said in a statement after the Commission’s announcement. “It is unfortunate that the CPD doesn’t believe such a voice should be heard. There are more polls and more debates, and we plan to be on the debate stage in October.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4497564/gary-johnson-jill-stein-fail-qualify-first-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4497564/gary-johnson-jill-stein-fail-qualify-first-debate/"},"headline":"Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Fail to Qualify for First Presidential Debate","datePublished":"2016-09-16T19:46:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:36.612Z","description":"Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the only candidates on stage on Sept. 26","url":"https://time.com/4497564/gary-johnson-jill-stein-fail-qualify-first-debate/","keywords":["2016 Election","Gary Johnson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32a3780281449e8f/6988a6790b72e32dc26eb084/johnson-stein.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/blt32a3780281449e8f/6988a6790b72e32dc26eb084/johnson-stein.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Holds News Conf. 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