MSNBC and Washington Post Will Host November Debate

The 2020 Democratic primary will head to the deep south in November for the fifth debate of the cycle set for a venue in Georgia. With a much tighter set of rules for the November round, the stage may be limited to just eight candidates for the event which is set to be hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post. The DNC finally released more details on the November debate so here is what we know so far.

MSNBC/Washington Post Democratic Debate

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019
Location: Georgia
Sponsors: MSNBC, The Washington Post

The debate will air live on MSNBC and Radio One. It will also stream on MSNBC.com and the Post’s website, as well as across mobile devices on NBC News and the Post’s mobile apps as well as Urban One’s digital platforms.

The specific list of moderators and a specific venue in Georgia will be released at a later time.

November Debate Candidates

So far, eight candidates have made the cut for November with Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, and Tom Steyer all joining the stage within the past few days.

Candidates will have until Nov. 13 to fulfill the stringent requirements of fundraising and polling thresholds.

NumCandidatePolls AND DonorsDonors Only
1Joe Biden
2Pete Buttigieg
3Kamala Harris
4Bernie Sanders
5Elizabeth Warren
6Cory Booker
7Tom Steyer
8Andrew Yang
9Amy Klobuchar
10Tulsi Gabbard
Not Qualified
11Julian Castro
12Michael Bennet
13Steve Bullock
14John Delaney
15Tim Ryan
16Joe Sestak
17Marianne Williamson

The polling threshold for the November debate says candidates must hit at least 3 percent in four qualifying state or national polls or 5 percent in two qualifying state polls. The fundraising threshold requires candidates to have received contributions from 165,000 unique donors, including 600 unique donors in 20 states.

Among the list of candidates not qualifying for November, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Amy Klobuchar have both met the fundraising threshold, but they each only have one qualifying poll.

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro have both met the donor threshold, but neither candidate has any qualifying polls hitting the November debate threshold.

For Gabbard, at least, there is a chance she could stay alive for the November debate since she will be appearing in the October debate set for the 15th. If she can work some magic and keep herself relevant, she might – might – have a small chance of getting some good polls between now and the deadline on Nov. 13, but that push remains an uphill climb.

More details to follow once they have been released.


Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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