First CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate Will Take Place in Detroit on July 30 and 31

By A.J. Katz 

CNN is hosting the second Democratic presidential primary debate of the 2020 cycle on July 30 and 31 in Detroit.

CNN, the Democratic National Committee and a maximum of 20 qualifying candidates will head to the battleground state of Michigan, which President Trump won in 2016, for what will be the second of 12 planned debates during the 2020 election cycle.

The first Democratic primary debate will take place in Miami on June 26 and 27th, and is being co-hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo.

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The 2020 Democratic field is already large and pretty diverse, with more than a dozen contenders in the race and other high-profile candidates, including former vice president Joe Biden and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, still considering a run.

According to CNN, qualifying for the debates is based on a two-path system, determined by polling and grassroots fundraising. The selection methodology will use the two measures in combination if more than 20 candidates qualify and the field needs to be narrowed down.

According to the debate guidelines from the DNC, candidates “may qualify for the debate by registering at 1 percent or more support in three separate polls (either national polls or polls of the electorate in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada) publicly released between Jan. 1, 2019, and 14 days prior to the date of the debate,” with “qualifying polls” coming from a DNC-approved list. That list includes polls from the Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Des Moines Register, Fox News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Monmouth University, NBC News, New York Times, NPR, Quinnipiac University, Reuters, University of New Hampshire, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post and Winthrop University.

The three polls used by candidates to qualify for the debate must be from three different organizations, or the same organization but of different geographical areas.

In addition to the polling criteria, candidates may qualify if they have received campaign contributions from at least 65,000 donors, and a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.

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