CNN and the Democratic National Committee will officially announce the list later today, but we already have a good lock on which candidates will make the cut for the next Democratic primary debate which takes place July 30 and 31.
As a reminder, candidates must either register one percent support in three qualified polls or have 65,000 unique donors to their campaign, with a minimum of 200 different donors per state in at least 20 states to qualify for the second debate.
Live candidate lottery
As noted previously, CNN will hold a live candidate lottery which will determine the lineup for each night of the debate as the field will be split just like the first debate back in June.
Watch Live on CNN: Thursday, July 18 at 8 pm ET (5 pm PT)
Who qualifies for the second debate?
Here’s the list so far of who should qualify for the debate stage:
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| Num | Candidate | Polls | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Biden |  | |
| 2 | Cory Booker | | |
| 3 | Pete Buttigieg | | |
| 4 | Julian Castro | | |
| 5 | Tulsi Gabbard | | |
| 6 | Kirsten Gillibrand | | |
| 7 | Kamala Harris | | |
| 8 | Jay Inslee | | |
| 9 | Amy Klobuchar | | |
| 10 | Beto O’Rourke | | |
| 11 | Bernie Sanders | | |
| 12 | Elizabeth Warren | | |
| 13 | Marianne Williamson | | |
| 14 | Andrew Yang | | |
| 15 | Michael Bennet | | |
| 16 | Steve Bullock | | |
| 17 | Bill de Blasio | | |
| 18 | John Delaney | | |
| 19 | John Hickenlooper | | |
| 20 | Tim Ryan | | |
| 21 | Mike Gravel | | |
| 22 | Seth Moulton | ||
| 23 | Tom Steyer | ||
| 24 | Joe Sestak |
Gravel misses the cut due to tie-breaker
With the decision by Rep. Eric Swalwell to exit the race, and billionaire investor Tom Steyer entering the race, the field has stayed roughly the same size. However, we now have 21 candidates who appear to qualify for 20 open debate spots.
Unfortunately for former senator Mike Gravel, of Alaska, the tie-breaking procedure will likely leave him off the debate stage even though he met his stated campaign goal of participating in at least one debate.
Avoiding two-tier debate nights
NBC News took some heat over the way their lottery fell which put a very heavy emphasis on the second night of the debate with most of the top candidates all on stage together. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the only candidate cracking double-digits to appear on the first night, June 26. Can CNN avoid the same type of issue with their lottery?
We don’t yet have explicit details on how the CNN lineup lottery will take place and how the field will be divided. One can assume that the top tier candidates will be divided up somehow based on polling and fundraising, and then filtered in with the lower-tier candidates. Would CNN be disappointed if Sen. Kamala Harris and former vice president Joe Biden don’t appear on the same night after their scuffle at the last debate? You can bet they would, but can they put their finger on the scale and make sure that lineup happens again? We will find out Thursday night.
How can I watch the second Democratic debate?
Once the candidate lineup is set on Thursday, all eyes will be looking to the last 2 days of July when the second debate will take place.
Airing On: CNN, CNN.com, and CNN International
Date: July 30 and 31, 2019
Location: Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan
Moderators: Dana Bash, Don Lemon, and Jake Tapper
Follow the latest information at the 2020 Democratic Debate schedule page.
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