Inslee says he needs 5,000 donors to qualify for 2020 Democratic debates

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) told supporters Monday he needs at most 5,000 more donors to qualify for the main stage at the Democratic debates.

“We are so close to the 65,000 goal,” Inslee says in a video posted to Twitter, referencing the minimum number of unique donors required to qualify for the debates. The Inslee campaign claims to have received contributions from more than 60,000 unique donors thus far.

We launched this campaign less than three months ago — and more than 60,000 people have donated. That’s some serious momentum. Help put us over the top: https://t.co/8ihmEp3NNo. #OurMoment pic.twitter.com/vE3pKss8Jv

— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) May 20, 2019

{mosads}Under the Democratic National Convention’s debate rules, a candidate must either be polling at 1 percent support or more in three national or early-primary state polls or receive donations from 65,000 unique donors with at least 200 donors in 20 different states. If more than 20 candidates qualify, qualification under both standards will be used as a tiebreaker.

Inslee, who is running with a focus on climate issues, has leveraged the issue in recent weeks to tout his candidacy. In a climate plan he released last week, Inslee called for $9 trillion worth of investment to create 8 million green jobs over 10 years. “Just as it did in the 20th century, America must rise to this 21st century challenge with a bold plan to: create jobs; protect workers’ rights; repower the economy; rebuild our infrastructure; and reinvest in innovation,” Inslee wrote.

Inslee has also called out his fellow candidates for perceived deficiencies in their approach to climate issues, saying last week that front-runner former Vice President Joe Biden must “step up his game” on the issue after Biden called for policymakers to find a “middle ground” on the issue.