Everything You Need To Know About The First Democratic Primary Debate

By Ella Cerón and Christianna Silva


While it can seem like we’ve been on the road to the 2020 election for, oh, just about forever, we must take a moment to remind you that we’re only just getting began. Yes, really. Buckle in, everyone; November 3, 2020 is still months away.


Although the opening primary debate is coming up soon: June 26 and 27, nearly four months earlier than the opening primary debate contained while in the 2016 election. And it’s just the opening of a dozen Democratic National Committee debates, three more than in 2016. The stakes are high, the field is still exceptionally deep, and no matter whose policies and platforms you like right now, there’s still plenty of time for other candidates to surprise skeptics, disappoint followers, or drop out altogether.


So what do really you've got to know for the opening Democratic debate in Miami, Florida? Here’s a breakdown of participants, how they made it in, and what people expect them to say.


Who made it on stage?


Well, basically every one of the 23 major contenders — so perhaps it’s better to talk about who didn’t make the cut and work backwards from there: Montana Governor Steve Bullock; former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel; Mayor Wayne Messam of Miramar, Florida; and Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton.


Of the snub, Bullock told New York magazine, “I think elections oughta be determined by voters, not party leaders. And I also think that for all the noise to this point, you know, in my seven helps in avoiding in Iowa early this week, it was clear voters are going hope to create the correct decision, not necessarily just the fast decision.” He intends to continue his campaign, and is aiming to create the third DNC debate in September. (In May, the DNC announced that candidates must have at least 130,000 donors to qualify for that stage, which may hinder the smaller groups.)


Mayor Messam isn’t giving up, either. “Great ideas and policies will usually endure. Despite the steeper hill to climb, our message must be heard,” he mentioned on Twitter, quote-tweeting Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, who'd also been cut from a debate earlier into her campaign.


So, that leaves two groups of ten candidates: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet; former Vice President Joe Biden; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana; Julián Castro, who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development throughout President Obama’s second term; Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, New York; former Maryland Representative John Delaney; Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard; New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; California Senator Kamala Harris; former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper; Washington Governor Jay Inslee; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke; Ohio Representative Tim Ryan; Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders; California Representative Eric Swalwell; Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson, a motivational speaker; and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang.


How did they decide?


Candidates had to poll at 1% or more in at least three qualified polls or receive donations from at least 65,000 individual donors. Of these donors, at least 200 of those must be from at least 20 different states. Eight candidates soared past those expectations — former Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, O’Rourke, Booker and Klobuchar, all whom, in that sort, are regularly breaking that 1% polling threshold. Biden is still leading by an enormous margin in most national polls, generally followed by Sanders and Warren, who each take up the second place spot in some polls, although third in others.


Who are the moderators?


NBC is moderating this debate and have chosen Savannah Guthrie, the co-anchor of TODAY and a NBC News chief legal analyst; Lester Holt, the anchor of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Dateline NBC; Chuck Todd, the moderator of Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and a NBC News political director; Rachel Maddow, the host of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, and José Diaz-Balart, the anchor of Noticias Telemundo and NBC Nightly News Saturday.


The lineup is in keeping with the DNC’s moderator guidelines; as MTV News previously reported, each of the DNC’s debates this election season will feature at least one woman and at least one individual of color, and any intersections therein.


When and where is the debate and why can I watch it?


The debates will take place in Miami on June 26 and 27 and can be viewed online for free or live on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo, according to the DNC.


How did they split up the candidates?


The crowded gang of 20 candidates will be split up into two groups of 10, each debating on stage on a separate night. On June 26, we’ll visualize Booker, Castro, Gabbard, Inslee, Klobuchar, O'Rourke, and Warren. On June 27, candidates Biden, Buttigieg, Gillibrand, Harris, Sanders, Williamson, and Yang will take the stage.


Some critics are already wary of the split, particularly because Warren, an early frontrunner and policy heavyweight, has been paired against candidates who are all polling at significantly lower levels than she is. And while it definitely might engaging to be able to see her face off against Biden or Sanders, viewers will have to wait up until a later debate for that possible showdown. Still, the breakdown lends itself to a more even mix of people tuning in on both nights to be able to see what each candidate has to say.


The grab-bag approach also stands in stark contrast to the initial Republican primary debate contained in 2015 ahead of the 2016 election; the Republican National Committee had siloed candidates who didn’t make the best 10 in terms of polling into a pre-debate categorize. At the time, candidate Carly Fiorina made at dig at Trump’s expense before he took the stage a hour later at the official debate.


Why does this matter?


Primary debates probably won’t have the ability to win someone their party’s nomination — yet they can definitely cost someone their shot at winning, Five Thirty Eight reported. While general election debates don’t routinely have an enormous impact on how people pick to vote soon after all, then-Sen. Mitt Romney absolutely wrecked then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2012), primary debates can make or break a candidacy. Per statistics from the University of Missouri, nearly 60% of people shift their candidate choices immediately after watching a debate.