Here’s The Official Candidate Lineup For The First Democratic Debate

As promised this week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) finalized the list of 20 candidates who have met the threshold set forth in the rules to appear at the first Democratic debate being held June 26 and 27 in Miami.

Official debate candidate list

Without further ado, here is the official list of candidates that will appear, over the course of two nights, at the first Democratic debate:

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Candidate	Polls	Fundraising
1. Sen. Michael Bennet (Colorado)
2. Former Vice President Joe Biden
3.Sen. Cory Booker (New Jersey)
4. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, Ind)
5. Former HUD Sec. Julián Castro
6. Mayor Bill de Blasio (New York City)
7. Former Rep. John Delaney (Maryland)
8. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii)
9. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York)
10. Sen. Kamala Harris (California)
11. Former Gov. John Hickenlooper (Colorado)
12. Gov. Jay Inslee (Washington)
13. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)
14. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (Texas)
15. Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio)
16. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
17. Rep. Eric Swalwell (California)
18. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)
19. Author Marianne Williamson
20. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Twenty candidates for twenty spots

Despite some fear that more than 20 candidates would qualify, leading to some messy tie-breaking procedures, fate intervened and only 20 candidates ended up making the cut.

To qualify for a spot in the first debate, candidates needed to have either at least one percent support in three qualifying polls, or provide evidence of at least 65,000 unique donors, with a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states.

When does the debate air?

The first Democratic debate will take place over 2 nights, on June 26 and 27, starting at 9 pm ET (6 pm PT) on both nights.

The debate can be seen on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo.

The candidates will be assigned to one of the nights by NBC during a lottery on Friday to determine the nightly lineups.

Which candidates are left out?

The list of candidates falling short of the threshold and failing to make the cut includes Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam, and Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts.

Reports indicated earlier today that Gov. Bullock, a prominent figure in Democratic politics, put up somewhat of a fight today by submitting what he claimed was proof of his qualifications for the debate, though the DNC disagreed with his assessment:

And in a Hail Mary effort late Wednesday night, just hours before the DNC began certifying each candidate for the stage, Bullock’s campaign manager Jennifer Ridder wrote to DNC Chairman Tom Perez and told him they had submitted documents to join the debate, despite the change in DNC rules.

Bullock “has met the threshold for qualification for the first debate,” Ridder argued.

The confusion over Bullock’s place on the stage began after a recent rule change by the DNC left the candidate one poll shy of the debate qualifications.

The one poll the Bullock campaign had been relying on was ruled out by the DNC on the basis that the methodology of the poll included an open-ended question asking which candidate the poll participant preferred rather than letting them choose from a pre-defined list. In the poll touted by Bullock, he had received 1% of the vote.

Follow the debate schedule

Follow the 2020 Democratic debate schedule at Election Central as we chronicle all of the action over the next few days leading up to the first debate later this month. Bookmark the debate schedule page for reference and be sure to check out all our resources following the 2020 presidential election:

2020 Primary Schedule | 2020 Election App

More to come!