Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:31 am
Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer announced that he has reached the donor threshold to qualify for the September Democratic debate.
Tom Steyer tweeted:
I'm thrilled to announce that today we've reached the required 130,000 individual donors to appear in September's debate. Just one more qualifying poll stands between us and that stage!
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Thanks to all who've contributed even $1 to this movement. We can't do this without you.
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) August 13, 2019
It is great news for the Steyer campaign that they have reached the increased donor threshold in order to qualify for the next debate. Steyer would be the tenth Democrat to qualify one he reaches 2% support in one more poll.
The issue is whether or not Democratic voters are going to be forced to sit through two more nights of debates where the top candidates don’t share the same stage. Voters appear to have no problem with many candidates being at the debate. Primary voters do want to Elizabeth Warren finally on the same stage with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. The idea of keeping the top Democrats apart is a construct by the television networks to boost debate ratings over two nights.
Ideally, there would only be one Democratic debate featuring the qualified candidates.
I am certain that the Steyer campaign would love nothing more than to share the debate stage with Biden, Warren, Harris, and Sanders, but if candidates keep qualifying for the debate, Democratic primary voters may be stuck with two nights of debate where the top candidates aren’t on the same stage.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
