When is the first Democratic presidential primary debate and how many debates will take place before the 2016 Democratic National Convention? Here’s everything you need to know, including the date, time and online viewing information for each of the six upcoming debates.
Unlike the last Republican presidential primary debate, there won’t be a stage full of candidates at the first Democratic debate scheduled for October 13. Five candidates are set to appear on stage at the Wynn Las Vegas on Tuesday night at the CNN-hosted event. If Vice President Joe Biden decides to join the race, he will also be included in the debate.
Democratic debate #1 OCTOBER 13, 9PM EST, @CNN #FeeltheBern pic.twitter.com/39EdIirja9
— Dana Corbin (@danahaswell) October 4, 2015
Salon predicts that it will not be a “GOP-style bloodbath” with the Democrats having “significantly less batshit-crazy personalities than the Republicans.” Without Donald Trump on stage hurling insults, the first debate may be a sleeper. Case in point: Candidate Bernie Sanders recently told reporters that he looks forward to “an exchange of ideas” with Clinton. That sounds civil.
Although it may not be as exciting as the first two GOP debates, front-runner Hillary Clinton will be the one to watch as she faces off against candidates Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee on Wednesday night. CNN reports that Vice President Joe Biden will be able to join the debate if he enters the 2016 presidential races as late as October 13, the day of the first debate.
According to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the six debates scheduled prior to the 2016 Democratic National Convention (July 25-28) should give voters enough time to evaluate the candidates. That’s almost half the number of Republican debates — two GOP debates have already been held, with at least nine more scheduled through March 2016.
Here’s a list of the six upcoming Democratic presidential primary debates scheduled by the DNC.
October 13, 2015 at 8:30 p.m. ET: Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Moderator Anderson Cooper will be joined by Dana Bash and Juan Carlos Lopez, who will ask additional questions. CNN’s Don Lemon will present questions that voters submitted via Facebook. The event will be broadcast on your local CNN cable station, live online on CNNgo , and on Westwood One radio.
November 14, 2015: Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The debate will be broadcast by CBS, KCCI and The Des Moines Register . Cynthia Fodor of KCCI News will moderate with with questions and participation by Alyx Sacks, also of KCCI. Start time to be announced.
December 19, 2015: Manchester, New Hampshire. Broadcast by ABC News and WMUR-TV. Start time, venue and moderators to be announced.
January 17, 2016: Congressional Black Caucus Institute in Charleston, South Carolina. Broadcast by NBC News. Start time and moderators to be announced.
February 11, 2016: Broadcast on Univision and The Washington Post, the fifth debate will be held in Wisconsin Start time, moderators and venue to be announced.
March 9, 2016: Hosted by PBS in Miami, Florida, the start time, moderators and venue will be announced at a later date.
The 2016 Democratic National Convention is scheduled for July 25—28, 2016. The Washington Post reports the convention will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, with some events to take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Philly beats Brooklyn, Columbus for 2016 Dem convention http://t.co/pjcMMiomyN pic.twitter.com/1fjAjNXazB — The Hill (@thehill) February 13, 2015
The most recent national poll done by Public Policy Polling adds Biden into the mix, although he has yet to announce he is joining the race. The October 6 poll shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads the Democratic race with 42 percent, followed by Bernie Sanders (24 percent) and Joe Biden (20 percent). Candidate Jim Webb trails way behind with two percent and both Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee are barely hanging on with one percent each.
“Among Biden voters, 44% say Clinton would be their second choice to only 21% who say Sanders would be. If Biden doesn’t get in and you reallocate his backers to their second choice, Clinton leads Sanders 51 to 28.”
Follow the Democratic National Committee on Twitter @TheDemocrats for the latest updates on the upcoming presidential debates. Use the hashtag #DemDebate when tweeting during the 2015-2016 Democratic presidential primary debates.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]