Reuters
- As we get closer and closer to the first primary contests, the Democratic National Committee has unveiled new, stricter requirements for candidates to make the fifth Democratic debate in November.
- Candidates need both 165,000 individual donors and to earn either 3% in four DNC-approved national polls or 5% in three approved early-state polls from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.
- Just five candidates have already met both requirements, but more are on track to make the cut in the next few weeks, according to Politico's Democratic primary poll tracker.
- So far, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg are confirmed to be on stage.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
As we get closer and closer to the first primary contests, the Democratic National Committee has unveiled new, stricter requirements for candidates to make the fifth Democratic debate in November.
In order to qualify for the November debate, candidates need both 165,000 individual donors and to earn either 3% in four DNC-approved national polls or 5% in two approved early-state polls from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.
Polls released between September 13 and the day of the debate - which hasn't been announced yet - will count towards qualification.
So far, just five candidates have met both requirements, but more are on track to make the cut in the next few weeks, according to Politico's Democratic primary poll tracker.
Out of the candidates who have met the 165,000 donor requirement, businessmen Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer have three qualifying polls each, and Sen. Cory Booker has two.
But the stricter requirements leave some mid-tier candidates who easily qualified for the September and October debates at risk of being left off the stage.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke have met the donor requirement but have just one poll each, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro have zero qualifying polls.