Here Are The 9 Candidates Who Stand A Chance At Winning The Democratic Nomination For President
Time is starting to run out for the Democratic presidential candidates to qualify for the next round of debates.
So far, only nine of the Democratic candidates have met the prerequisites to qualify for the third round of debates in September. Those candidates are Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Andrew Yang.
According to NPR,
Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro remains next closest to qualifying — he has hit the donor marks but still needs one more poll before Aug. 28 to register the required 2%, and in the Monmouth Iowa survey he received less than 1%.
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who announced just last month he was running for president after first passing on a run, hit 3% in the Monmouth poll, which means he also now has three qualifying polls where he has registered at least 2% support. But because of his late start, he still hasn’t hit the fundraising marks. However, the wealthy executive — who has already spent millions on a campaign designed to pressure House Democrats to back impeaching President Trump — is spending heavily to try to get there, asking for just $1 donations to help him qualify for the debates, given that he intends to self-fund otherwise.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also hit 2% in the poll, marking her first qualifying survey. Both Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have qualified in one poll as well, but only Gabbard has hit the required donor benchmark.
While there are only nine Democrats so far who have hit both requirements in the polls and donors, it is possible that three others could qualify before the deadline.
So what about the rest of the candidates?
Just because they don’t qualify for the debates doesn’t mean that they can no longer run for president. It just means that they likely don’t stand a chance of winning.
If they’re not at 2% in the polls already, then it’s highly unlikely that they stand a chance at beating President Trump.