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20 Democratic candidates qualify for second primary debate

By Darryl Coote

July 17 (UPI) -- The Democratic National Committee announced on Wednesday the 20 candidates who will take to the stage over two nights this month in the second round of presidential primary debates.

A random draw on Thursday will decide who debates on which night of the primary debates that will be hosted by CNN on July 30 and 31.

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The only change from the previous debate is that Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has been added to the bill in place of California Rep. Eric Swalwell who dropped out of the running earlier this month, citing low polling and fundraising numbers.

Wayne Messam, mayor of Miramar, Fla., former Congressman Joe Sestak, billionaire Tom Steyer and Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton failed to make to qualify for the debate.

While Sestak and Steyer only recently joined in the horse race, Moulton's campaign argues its candidate did the meet the threshold having garnered the required 1 percent in polling while earning more in donations than five candidates who debated in June.

"Seth Moulton, a Marine Corps veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq, is running in the Democratic presidential primary on a platform of keeping our country safe and secure, taking back patriotism for our party and encouraging every American to serve our nation," his campaign said in a letter to the DNC. "These issues need to be discussed in our party's debates if we want to select the best candidate to take on [President] Donald Trump."

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According to CNN, candidates had until 11 a.m. ET Wednesday to qualify with 1 percent support in at least three approved polls or receive 65,000 unique campaign donations with a minimum of 200 donations from 20 states.

Candidates to appear in the second round of debates are:

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet

Former Vice President Joe Biden

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

California Sen. Kamala Harris

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar

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Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Author Marianne Williamson

Businessman Andrew Yang

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