--- title: Who Qualified for September Democratic Primary Debate? description: Who made it? Who came close? Here's which 2020 Democratic candidates qualified for the third Democratic presidential primary debate. canonical: https://time.com/5661886/who-qualified-september-democratic-debate/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-08-28T20:09:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T21:53:51.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Who Has Qualified for the September Democratic Presidential Primary Debate — And Who Hasn't og:description: Who made it? Who came close? Here's what to know about the third Democratic presidential primary debate. og:url: https://time.com/5661886/who-qualified-september-democratic-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f90e6404dc3eac9/698a020a09208f284941575b/democratic-presidential-primary-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Democratic-Presidential-Primary-Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Who Has Qualified for the September Democratic Presidential Primary Debate — And Who Hasn't twitter:description: Who made it? Who came close? Here's what to know about the third Democratic presidential primary debate. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f90e6404dc3eac9/698a020a09208f284941575b/democratic-presidential-primary-debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Who Has Qualified for the September Democratic Presidential Primary Debate — And Who Hasn't > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=295e9364-7242-493e-b237-9d7fd3411ce6&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020 [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EcGVhn6h.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2019-01-18. Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020_  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:53 PM UTCPublished: Aug 28, 2019 8:09 PM UTC  South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Former Vice President Joe Biden; Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren; Calif. Sen. Kamala Harris South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Former Vice President Joe Biden; Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren; Calif. Sen. Kamala Harris Getty Images (4)  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:53 PM UTCPublished: Aug 28, 2019 8:09 PM UTC For the first time, all the [Democratic presidential primary candidates](https://time.com/5634769/future-of-the-democratic-party/) who qualified for the next debate will be on the same stage, on the same night. Only 10 candidates hit the Democratic National Committee’s polling and fundraising threshold by the Aug. 28 deadline. On Wednesday, billionaire hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer [failed to reach](https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/28/politics/tom-steyer-september-debates/index.html) a minimum of 2% in [two](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/08/28/2020-biden-leads-democrats-voters-dread-election/2120726001/) [polls](https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3638), which would have put him over the edge to qualify for the third primary debate. Steyer has invested millions of dollars into ads to meet the Democratic National Committee’s polling requirement, and had hit the threshold in three of four required polls. The third Democratic presidential primary debate will take place on Thursday, Sept. 12, in Houston, Texas. ABC News and Univision [will host](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abc-news-announces-details-democratic-primary-debate/story?id=65077321) the debate, which will be moderated by George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Linsey Davis and Jorge Ramos. The DNC has [said](https://democrats.org/news/third-debate/) that if more than 10 candidates qualified, it would hold a second debate on Sept. 13\. Effectively cutting out half of the field, the third debate will feature many of the primary’s front runners facing each other on national television for the first time: Former Vice President [Biden](https://time.com/5634771/joe-biden-problems/), Vermont Sen. [Bernie Sanders](https://time.com/longform/bernie-sanders-2020/), Massachusetts Sen.[ Elizabeth Warren](https://time.com/longform/elizabeth-warren-2020/), California Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Ind. Mayor [Pete Buttigieg](https://time.com/longform/pete-buttigieg-2020/) will all appear on the stage together. Facing the likelihood that she didn’t qualify for the September debates, New York Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand announced Wednesday afternoon that she was ending her campaign for President. ## How candidates had to qualify for the September Democratic debate The DNC raised the polling and fundraising thresholds from the [first two debates](https://time.com/5605427/2020-democratic-debate-qualified-candidates/) in an attempt to narrow its still sizable field of candidates. To [qualify for the September debate stage](https://democrats.org/news/third-debate/), each candidate needed to have received 2% or more support in at least four DNC approved polls released between June 28 and Aug. 28\. The candidates also needed at least 130,000 unique donors, with 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. The donations must have been received by 11:59 p.m. Aug. 28. Ten candidates qualified. Here’s who’ll grace the Houston stage: ## **Candidates who met both requirements and qualified** 1. Former Vice President Joe Biden 2. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker 3. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg 4. Former HUD Sec. Julián Castro 5. California Sen. Kamala Harris 6. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar 7. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke 8. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 9. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren 10. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang ## **Candidates who didn’t qualify because they only met donor requirements** 1. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard 2. Billionaire executive Tom Steyer 3. Self-help author Marianne Williamson ## **Candidates who met no requirements** 1. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet 2. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock 3. New York, N.Y., Mayor Bill de Blasio 4. Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney 5. Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam 6. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan 7. Former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak ## **Candidates who have dropped out of the race** 1. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand 2. Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel 3. Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper 4. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee 5. Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton 6. California Rep. Eric Swalwell **Correction, Aug. 28** _The original version of this story misstated the state Sen. Bernie Sanders represents. It is Vermont, not Virginia._ ## Transcript [00:01] Democrats are lining up to run against Donald Trump. [00:03] [ MUSIC ] [00:08] With the 2020 election still a ways away, an unusually [00:11] large number of candidates have announced they are [00:12] running or hinted strongly that they will. Here's a look [00:15] at some of the major names who have joined the race [00:17] so far. [ MUSIC ] [00:20] As a law professor, Warren helped create the [00:22] Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Before joining [00:25] the Senate in 2012. She's long advocated for tougher [00:28] rules on banks and corporations and pocketbook [00:31] issues like student loan reform. A [00:35] former member of the House from upstate New York, [00:37] Gillibrand has moved to the left since taking Hillary [00:39] Clinton's old Senate seat in 2009. In announcing her [00:42] run, she cited her experience as a young mom. A [00:48] former state legislator and US representative, Brown [00:50] has represented Ohio in the Senate since 2006. He will [00:54] be pushing a brand of Midwestern liberalism that [00:56] mixes Trump's skepticism of trade agreements with [00:59] Warren's concerns about Wall Street. An [01:03] Iraq veteran and former state lawmaker, Gabbard was [01:05] the first Hindu elected to Congress. But her past [01:08] opposition to gay marriage and interactions with Syrian [01:10] dictator Bashar al- Assad make her a long shot in the [01:13] Democratic primary. [ MUSIC ] [01:16] The former mayor of San Antonio and Housing and [01:19] Urban Development secretary, Castro has an unusual [01:21] resume for a presidential candidate. But he believes [01:23] his arguments on hot- button issues like immigration [01:26] can help him break out. 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