Our new Marketplace Crash Course is here to help. Sign-up for free, learn at your own pace.
Democratic candidates told: Get the donations if you want to debate
Democratic candidates told: Get the donations if you want to debate
The last debates featured 20 candidates over two nights.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Midnight was the deadline for Democratic presidential candidates hoping to participate in next month’s Democratic debate in Houston to qualify. The party raised the threshold: Candidates needed 2% support in four separate polls and at least 130,000 individual donors. Ten candidates made it through. The requirement is supposed to show grassroots support from donors, but campaigns on the fringe of qualifying were spending big bucks to attract those contributions.
Click the audio player above to hear the full story.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.