Debates took place among candidates in the campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for the president of the United States in the 2020 presidential election.
There were a total of 29 major Democratic candidates. Of these, 23 candidates participated in at least one debate. Only Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders participated in all the debates; Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren participated in all but the final debate.
Overview
Schedule In December 2018, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the schedule for 12 official DNC-sanctioned debates, set to begin in June 2019, with six debates in 2019 and the remaining six during the first four months of 2020. Candidates were allowed to participate in forums featuring multiple other candidates as long as only one candidate appeared on stage at a time. Any presidential candidates who participated in unsanctioned debates with each other would have lost their invitations to the next DNC-sanctioned debate. No unsanctioned debates took place during the 2019–2020 debate season.
The DNC also announced that it would not partner with Fox News as a media sponsor for any debates. Fox News last held a Democratic debate in 2003. All media sponsors selected to host a debate were as a new rule required to appoint at least one female moderator for each debate, to ensure there would not be a gender-skewed treatment of the candidates and debate topics.
+Debate schedule Debate Date Time Viewers Location Sponsor(s) Moderator(s)1A June 26, 20199–11 p.m. ~24.3 million (15.3m live TV; 9m streaming)Arsht Center,Miami, FloridaNBC NewsMSNBCTelemundoJosé Díaz-BalartSavannah GuthrieLester HoltRachel MaddowChuck Todd 1B June 27, 2019 9–11 p.m. ~27.1 million (18.1m live TV; 9m streaming)2A July 30, 2019 8–10:30 p.m.~11.5 million (8.7m live TV; 2.8m streaming)Fox Theatre,Detroit, MichiganCNNDana BashDon LemonJake Tapper 2B July 31, 2019 8–10:30 p.m. ~13.8 million (10.7m live TV; 3.1m streaming)3 September 12, 20198–11 p.m. 14.04 million live TVHealth and Physical Education Arena,Texas Southern University,Houston, TexasABC NewsUnivisionLinsey DavisDavid MuirJorge RamosGeorge Stephanopoulos4 October 15, 20198–11 p.m. ~8.8 million (8.34m live TV; 0.45m streaming)Rike Physical Education Center,Otterbein University,Westerville, OhioCNNThe New York TimesErin BurnettAnderson CooperMarc Lacey5 November 20, 20199–11 p.m. ~7.9 million (6.6m live TV; 1.3m streaming)Oprah Winfrey sound stage,Tyler Perry Studios,Atlanta, GeorgiaMSNBCThe Washington PostRachel MaddowAndrea MitchellAshley ParkerKristen Welker6 December 19, 20198–11 p.m. ~14.6 million (6.17m live TV; 8.4m streaming)Gersten Pavilion,Loyola Marymount University,Los Angeles, CaliforniaPBSPoliticoTim AlbertaYamiche AlcindorAmna NawazJudy Woodruff 7 January 14, 20209–11:15 p.m. ~11.3 million (7.3m live TV; 4.0m streaming) Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa CNNThe Des Moines Register Wolf BlitzerBrianne PfannenstielAbby Phillip 8 February 7, 20208–10:30 p.m. ~11.0 million(7.8m live TV; 3.2m streaming) Thomas F. Sullivan Arena, Saint Anselm College,Manchester, New HampshireABC NewsWMUR-TVApple News Linsey DavisMonica HernandezDavid MuirAdam SextonGeorge Stephanopoulos 9 February 19, 20209–11 p.m. ~33.16 million(19.66m live TV; 13.5m streaming) Le Théâtre des Arts, Paris Las Vegas,Paradise, NevadaNBC NewsMSNBCTelemundoThe Nevada Independent Vanessa HaucLester HoltHallie JacksonJon RalstonChuck Todd 10 February 25, 20208–10 p.m. ~30.4 million(15.3m live TV; 15.1m streaming) Gaillard Center,Charleston, South Carolina CBS NewsBETTwitterCongressional Black Caucus Institute Margaret BrennanMajor GarrettGayle KingNorah O'DonnellBill Whitaker 11 March 15, 20208–10 p.m. ~11.4 million(10.8m live TV; 0.6m streaming) CNN studioWashington, D.C. CNNUnivisionCongressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD Dana BashIlia CalderónJake Tapper
Participation The following is a table of participating candidates in each debate:
+Participating candidates in the DNC-sanctioned debatesCandidate 123 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 colspan=2 colspan=5 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=5 colspan=4 colspan=4 colspan=4 colspan=5 colspan=5 colspan=6 colspan=6 colspan=7 colspan=7 colspan=7 colspan=7 colspan=8 colspan=8 colspan=9 colspan=10 colspan=10 colspan=10 colspan=10 colspan=10 colspan=11 colspan=12
Debates in 2019
First debates (June 26–27, 2019)
Qualification To qualify for the first debates, entrants had to, at a minimum, achieve one of the two criteria listed. If this had resulted in more than 20 qualified candidates, the two criteria would have been evaluated in combination per an outlined set of tiebreaking rules, but since 20 candidates qualified, no tiebreaker was necessary. The deadline for candidates to meet either of the below criteria was June 12.
Qualification requirements for the first debatePolling criterionAttain at least 1% support in a minimum of 3 approved polls at a national level or in the first four primary/caucus states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). The polling threshold was determined using only the published top-line result (whether or not it was a rounded or weighted number) of polls published between January 1, 2019, and June 12, 2019, with each candidate only having been able to count one poll by the same pollster within each region towards the requirement. For a poll to be considered it must not have been based on open-ended questions, and also needed to have been commissioned or conducted by a limited set of organizations: the Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, The Des Moines Register, Fox News, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Monmouth University, National Public Radio, NBC News, The New York Times, Quinnipiac University, Reuters, the University of New Hampshire, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Winthrop University.Fundraising criterionMeet a fundraising threshold, in which a candidate must have received donations from a minimum of 65,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. Candidates who wished to qualify using the fundraising threshold must have presented evidence to the DNC of their eligibility using donor data collected by ActBlue or NGP VAN.
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%;line-height:16px;" | colspan="5" style="color:black; vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background-color:#B0E2FF;" class="table-no"| Qualified candidates for the first debate |- ! Candidate ! Met donor criterion ! Met polling criterion ! Met both criteria ! class="unsortable"| AdditionalRef(s) |- | Biden
| Sanders
| Warren
| Buttigieg
| Harris
| O'Rourke
| Booker
| Klobuchar
| Castro
| Yang
| Gabbard
| Gillibrand
| Inslee
| Williamson
| Ryan
| Hickenlooper
| Bennet
|de Blasio
| Delaney
| Swalwell
| Bullock
| Messam
| Gravel
| Moulton
|- style="background:#f0e68c;" | Ojeda
| colspan="5" class="table-no" style="text-align:left;" |
Summary
The Democratic Party's first presidential debates ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election were held in two groups on June 26 and 27, 2019, in Miami, Florida.
Starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, they aired on NBC and were broadcast on radio by Westwood One. Savannah Guthrie was the lead moderator of the debates, joined by Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, and José Díaz-Balart.
The DNC drew lots among the 20 qualified candidates for the first debate to determine whether they should debate on the first night (June 26) or second night (June 27) at the NBC News headquarters (30 Rockefeller Plaza) in New York City on June 14. The qualified candidates or their representatives were present and involved at the drawing event, which was not televised.
The debates took place at the Arsht Center in Miami, Florida. The first night of the debate was marked by a noted dust-up between O'Rourke and Castro on the subject of immigration, which Castro was widely perceived to have won, while Warren met expectations as a top-tier candidate. In addition, Booker and Klobuchar each had their moment in the spotlight, Klobuchar in particular being noted for her one-liners, one of which was about acknowledging that, for the first time in U.S. history, there were at least three women on stage at a presidential debate. Gabbard took on Ryan over continuing the US presence in Afghanistan. Booker, Castro, and O'Rourke all spoke Spanish at different times during the debate, which received mixed reception and was met with jokes from second-night competitors Williamson and Yang on Twitter. On night two, Harris and Biden clashed over Biden's past comments about working with segregationist senators and his stance on desegregation busing. The second night was also notable for the performance of Williamson, who received significant attention for comments she made during the debate perceived as strange, including a reference to the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern.
Before these debates, no major party had ever seen more than one female candidate on a presidential debate stage.
Night one candidates Candidates drawn for the June 26 debateDrawing tier Polling criterion resultAirtime (min.)Warren1 16.3% (10 polls)9.3O'Rourke1 10.3% (10 polls)10.3Booker1% (10 polls)10.9Klobuchar1% (10 polls)8.5Castro1% (8 polls)8.8Gabbard2% (8 polls)6.6Ryan2% ( polls)7.7Inslee2% ( polls)5.0de Blasio2% ( polls)5.6Delaney2% ( polls)6.6Average4.2%7.9 Night two candidates Candidates drawn for the June 27 debateDrawing tier Polling criterion resultAirtime (min.)Biden1 37.7% (10 polls)13.6Sanders1 26.7% (10 polls)11.0Buttigieg1 13% (10 polls)10.5Harris1 11% (10 polls)11.9Yang2% (10 polls)3.0Gillibrand2% (6 polls)7.5Hickenlooper2% ( polls)5.2Bennet2% ( polls)8.1Williamson2%, ( polls)5.0Swalwell2% ( polls)4.3Average9.6%8.0
Second debates (July 30–31, 2019)
Qualification The criteria for qualifying for the second debates were the same as for the first debates. To qualify for the second debates, debate entrants had to, at minimum, comply with one of the two below listed criteria. Mike Gravel was not invited to the debates since he only met the donor threshold, which was given a lesser weight than the polling threshold. The deadline for candidates to meet either of the below criteria was July 16.