PBS NewsHour and POLITICO to Host Democratic Primary Debate December 19 in Los Angeles

ARLINGTON, VA (October 25, 2019) – PBS NewsHour and POLITICO today announced that they will host the sixth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 cycle on Thursday, December 19, 2019. The Democratic National Committee (DNC)-sanctioned debate will be held at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. The PBS NewsHour & Politico Democratic Debate will be broadcast on PBS stations nationwide as well as stream on PBS NewsHour’s and POLITICO’s digital and social platforms.

Information as it pertains to media credentials will be issued the week of November 11, 2019.

The threshold for participation in the sixth debate were also released. To qualify for the December debate stage, candidates must demonstrate broad-based support by meeting both a grassroots fundraising requirement and one of two polling requirements. The deadline for qualifying polls and donations is December 12 at 11:59pm.

The official threshold rules are below:

QUALIFICATION CRITERIA FOR THE DECEMBER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE

To qualify for the Organization Debate, candidates must meet one of two polling requirements (“Polling Threshold”) and the unique donor requirement (“Grassroots Fundraising Threshold”) as detailed below.

Polling Threshold: To meet the Polling Threshold for the Organization Debate, candidates must meet either the “Four-Poll Threshold” or the “Early State Polling Threshold” as described below:

Four-Poll Threshold. Receive 4% or more support in at least four polls (which may be national polls, or single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada) meeting the Qualifying Poll Criteria described below. To meet the Four-Poll Threshold, each one of a candidate’s four qualifying polls must be sponsored by different Qualifying Poll Sponsors, or if by the same Qualifying Poll Sponsor, must be in different geographical areas

Early State Polling Threshold. Receive 6% or more support in two single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada that meet the Qualifying Poll Criteria described below. To meet the Early State Polling Threshold, any candidate’s two qualifying polls may be in the same or different geographical areas and from the same or different Qualifying Poll Sponsors.

For a poll to be counted towards the Four-Poll Threshold or Early State Polling Threshold, it must meet each of the four requirements described below (“Qualifying Poll Criteria”):

• Each poll must be sponsored by one of the following 16 entities or pairs of entities (“Qualifying Poll Sponsors”): Associated Press; ABC News/Washington Post; CBS News/YouGov; CNN; Des Moines Register; Fox News; Monmouth University; National Public Radio; NBC News/Wall Street Journal; NBC News/Marist; The Nevada Independent, New York Times; Quinnipiac University; University of New Hampshire; USA Today/Suffolk University; Winthrop University. For individual entities that are included only in Qualifying Poll Sponsor pairs but are not listed individually, independent polling by such individual entities or polling conducted in new partnerships with such individual entities shall not meet the Qualifying Poll Criteria.
• Each poll must be publicly released between October 16, 2019 and 11:59 P.M. on December 12, 2019.
• Each poll’s candidate support question must have been conducted by reading or presenting a list of Democratic presidential primary candidates to respondents. Poll questions using an open-ended or un-aided question to gauge presidential primary support will not count.
• Each polling result must be the top-line number listed in the original public release from the approved Qualifying Poll Sponsor, whether or not it is a rounded or weighted number.

Grassroots Fundraising Threshold: To meet the Grassroots Fundraising Threshold, candidates must submit a certification, executed by the candidate’s campaign Treasurer, by 11 A.M. on December 13, 2019, demonstrating that the campaign has received donations from at least (1) 200,00 unique donors; and (2) a minimum of 800 unique donors per state in at least 20 U.S. states, U.S. territories, or the District of Columbia. Qualifying donations must be received by 11:59 P.M. on December 12, 2019. An acceptable certification must provide or attach adequate verifiable evidence to show that the fundraising threshold has been reached and may include verification from ActBlue or NGP VAN regarding the campaign’s fundraising.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

PBS NewsHour: Nick Massella, nmassella@newshour.org

POLITICO: Brad Dayspring, bdayspring@politico.com