Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday all but secured a spot on the Democratic presidential debate stage next month, after collecting the 65,000th individual donor of his campaign.
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The Democratic National Committee has given candidates two paths to get into its first primary debates in June and July: hitting the 65,000 donor mark or getting at least 1 percent support in three or more qualifying polls. Inslee, who launched his presidential campaign in March, has already passed the polling mark.
The DNC has capped participation in the first debates at 20 candidates, meaning some declared Democratic contenders will be left out. But candidates who hit both thresholds will get priority over those who only meet one, and it is extremely unlikely that more than 20 Democrats will meet both the polling and the fundraising criteria.
Nineteen candidates have met at least one threshold. Inslee is the thirteenth person to "double qualify," joining Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang.
Inslee campaign manager Aisling Kerins said the campaign enjoyed a big hit the threshold in part because of the momentum it has received by focusing on climate change, Inslee’s signature issue. The campaign’s donation rate was up 30 percent over its average on the day Inslee released his first climate-focused policy proposal, and donations spiked "nearly 45 percent" on the day Inslee announced his green jobs plan.
"The governor started rolling out his climate plan a few weeks ago and since then we’ve seen a huge uptick in support," Kerins said in an interview. "I think there really seems to be a direct correlation about someone having a real roadmap about how to defeat climate change and the support that he’s receiving."
The first debates will be on June 26 and June 27 in Miami. The qualifying candidates will be split into two fields of 10 appearing on back-to-back nights.