Steyer qualifies for November debate, campaign says

Presidential candidate Tom Steyer has qualified for the November Democratic primary debate, his campaign announced Sunday.

Steyer received 4 percent support in South Carolina in a Fox News poll released Sunday, which counts as his fourth qualifying poll needed to take on the debate stage next month.

{mosads} “Tom’s support is accelerating faster than any other candidate in the field in the early states where voters have had a chance to hear his message,” Steyer’s Campaign Manager Heather Hargreaves said in the press release. “Tom is surging because he’s not part of the establishment and his message of ending the corporate takeover of our government is resonating.”

The billionaire philanthropist is the seventh candidate to qualify for the November debate, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

Steyer will also appear on the stage in October in Ohio with 11 other candidates.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) intensified the qualifications to receive a place on stage for the fifth Democratic presidential debate.

Candidates need 165,000 unique donors, including 600 per state in at least 20 states. They also need to reach at least 3 percent in four or more polls or 5 percent in two single-state polls in early primary states.