As many as 20 Democratic presidential candidates will be invited to the party’s first sanctioned debates this summer if they can meet new polling or grass-roots fundraising thresholds to qualify, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday. The only way to qualify for early Democratic debates in 2015 was to register at least 1 percent in three national polls. The first set of debates will be broadcast in June by NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, followed by CNN-sponsored debates in July. If more than 20 candidates qualify for the June or July events, preference will be given to candidates that meet both the polling and fundraising thresholds. Democrats have announced plans for at least 12 primary debates in the 2020 cycle, including six this year.

Source: Washington Post February 14, 2019 21:00 UTC