Who Will Be On Stage For Next Democratic Presidential Debate? 12 Candidates Qualify

Twelve candidates have qualified for the scheduled Oct. 15 Democratic presidential debate amid tightened criteria for a spot on the stage as a University of Mary Washington poll indicated Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris would beat President Trump in one-on-one matchups by double digits.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii became the most recent Democrat to quality for the one-night debate to be held in Westerville, Ohio. She earned 2% support in the most recent New Hampshire poll and procured donations from at least 130,000 people.

The deadline for qualifying is Oct. 1.

Also qualifying so far for the contest, which will air on CNN, are former Vice President Biden; Sens. Sanders of Vermont, Warren of Massachusetts, Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

Qualifying for the November debate will be even harder, requiring at least 3% support and donations from at least 165,000 people.

The University of Mary Washington poll, which was taken before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry, queried 1,009 adults in Virginia Sept. 3-15. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with only 29% saying they trust the government to do the right thing most or all of the time.

In head-to-head match-ups with the leading three Democratic contenders, Biden would beat Trump 55% to 37%, and Warren and Sanders each would beat Trump 53% to 38%. A contest between Harris and Trump has the former California attorney general leading 50% to 38%. No other candidates were tested.

The margin of error for the poll, conducted by Research America Inc., was 3.1 points.

Two other polls released Friday indicate voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing. The NPR/PBS/Marist poll gives Trump a 51% disapproval rating and the Rasmussen Reports poll indicates 50% of voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance.

The Real Clear Politics average of recent polls has Biden leading his nearest rival for the nomination by 7.3 percentage points with 28.4% support, followed by Warren at 21.1% and Sanders at 17.1%. The rest if the field is in single digits.