With tonight’s deadline fast approaching, presidential hopefuls Tom Steyer and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) look unlikely to qualify for next month’s third Democratic debate. Both candidates have crossed the donor threshold but fell short of the polling requirement.
Candidates were required to accrue 130,000 individual donors and register at least 2 percent support in four Democratic National Committee-approved national polls. Steyer needed one more poll, and Gabbard needed two.
The two candidates pinned their hopes to two polls released this morning from USA Today and Quinnipiac, but neither received 2 percent in either poll. Barring a surprise, no more DNC-approved polls will be released before the Wednesday night deadline.
Gabbard joins other struggling candidates like former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) who qualified for the first two debates but missed out on the third. Steyer, as a late entrant to the race, has not participated in any debates. – READ MORE