DNC Announces July Debate Lineup
July 17, 2019
The Democratic National Committee has named the 20 candidates that have qualified for the next debate. The only change is that Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will replace Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who left the race earlier this month.
As with the first debate in June, this one will be held over two nights, July 30 and 31. It will take place in Detroit and be hosted by CNN. That network will conduct a random drawing Thursday at 8:00 PM, to be broadcast live. No announcement has yet been made about whether the candidates will be divided into smaller groups, with a random drawing within each group. This was done in the June debate, with candidates first split into those polling over/under 2%.
Update: There will be 3 groups in the random drawing, divided by polling. The 10 polling the lowest will be split over two nights followed by splitting a group of 6 and then the top 4.
- The First Draw will include 10 candidates: Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and author Marianne Williamson.
- The Second Draw will include six candidates: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke and businessman Andrew Yang.
- The Final Draw will include four candidates: Former Vice President Joe Biden, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
