What you need to know for the third Democratic debate

With three weeks until the third Democratic debate, it’s never too early to familiarize yourself with the upcoming event.

Held at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, the debate will begin September 12. If more than ten candidates qualify, the debate will stretch into a second night on September 13.

For the first time during the 2020 Democratic debates, ABC will host the event after CNN televised the first two debates. Viewers can tune into ABC, Univision, and ABC News Live for live coverage throughout both nights. The debate is also available to stream on the ABC News website and app.

In order to qualify for the third debate, Democratic candidates must reach 130,000 unique donations and earn 2% support in four DNC-approved polls before the August 28 deadline.

The most recent Democrat to qualify for the debate was former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro (+5000 to win the Democratic nomination) earlier this week.

Castro joins nine other Democrats vying for the party nomination:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren +225
Former Vice President Joe Biden +250
Sen. Kamala Harris +550
Sen. Bernie Sanders +650
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg +900
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang +1400
Sen. Cory Booker +3000
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke +5000
Sen. Amy Klobuchar +8000

It’s likely that these will be the only ten candidates to qualify for the debate, but there are a few other hopefuls on the verge of making the cut.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (+3000) is well over the donor requirement, although she only has two qualifying polls under her belt. If Gabbard, the first Samoan to ever run for President of the United States, does not get two more polls, her campaign could effectively be over.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (+15000) is another candidate close to nabbing a spot. Unfortunately for the New York Senator, she is short in donations and has not met the poll requirement. Gillibrand is keeping it positive, however, saying that she is open to running as the Vice President on the successful Democrat’s ticket.

Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer (+10000) is in better shape than Gabbard and Gillibrand. Despite only starting his campaign in July, Steyer has met the 130,000-donor threshold and is only one poll away from reaching 2% in the four required by the DNC.

Not qualifying for the third debate does not officially end any candidate’s bid for the nomination; polls and donations used for the third debate can also be used to meet the threshold for the fourth debate according to an email from the DNC to each campaign.

As the field shrinks, each candidate’s odds will become more important. An updated list is below featuring both Democrats that have and have not qualified for the third debate.