Campaign

Yang qualifies for third and fourth Democratic debates

by Chris Mills Rodrigo - 07/29/19 4:08 PM ET

White House hopeful Andrew Yang announced Monday that he has reached the thresholds to qualify for the third and fourth Democratic primary debates.

“We did it #YangGang! As of today, we are officially the 8th candidate to qualify for the fall debates,” the entrepreneur tweeted. “We are in this for the long haul. Thank you all for your support.”

We did it #YangGang! As of today, we are officially the 8th candidate to qualify for the fall debates. We are in this for the long haul. Thank you all for your support. pic.twitter.com/y4s1tdzlQv

— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) July 29, 2019

Yang’s announcement comes less than a month after he said he met the donor requirement for the third and fourth debates. It also comes a day ahead of the second round of primary debates, which will be held in Detroit.

{mosads}Twenty candidates are scheduled to participate in the two-night event this week, but the next rounds are expected to feature fewer contenders because of the higher thresholds.

White House hopefuls will have to amass 130,000 unique donors and receive the support of at least 2 percent of respondents in four qualifying polls to appear in the third debate on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13.

The third debate will be held in Houston at Texas Southern University, a historically black school.

Yang is the eighth candidate to qualify for the third debate, following Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro has met the donor threshold but not the polling requirement.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has met the polling threshold but not the donor requirement.

Yang, a political outsider, has seen his campaign powered by strong online support.

His signature issue, a promise of a dividend of $1,000 a month to all adults, has helped set him apart from the field.