Andrew Yang Becomes 8th Candidate To Qualify For November Democratic Debate
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang just hit 3 percent in a new Quinnipiac University poll Thursday, which is his fourth DNC-approved poll with 3 percent or higher. That makes Yang the eighth candidate to qualify for the November debate, as CNN reported.
As of now, the candidates who have qualified along with Yang are former vice president Joe Biden; Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren; Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders; South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg; California Senator Kamala Harris; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker; and businessman Tom Steyer.
The November debate was the first to increase the requirements for qualification — candidates now need contributions from at least 165,000 people, with at least 600 unique in 20 or more states. As for polling, candidates need 3 percent or higher in four DNC-approved polls; alternatively, they can gain 5 percent or higher in two DNC-approved early state polls.
Remaining candidates have until the end of October to reach the polling and fundraising thresholds.
Per a Google Docs spreadsheet by Politico’s Zach Montellaro, Minnesota Senator Amy Blobuchar and former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke have both hit the donor requirements but just one polling requirement, meaning they need hit 3 percent or higher in three more DNC-approved polls by the end of the month.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard have hit the donor requirements but have not hit any polling requirements.
The remaining candidates have not hit any thresholds and do not appear on track to make the November debate.
.@AndrewYang's campaign manager Zach Graumann on qualifying for the Nov. debate: "We have the Candidate. We have the message. We have the momentum. Andrew Yang will keep being the story of the election as he brings his 21st century solutions to that debate stage." pic.twitter.com/5oeZrjiXBQ
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) October 8, 2019
Yang’s campaign has been gaining a steady stream of support from many notable figures. He recently made a surprise appearance at a concert from Indonesian rapper Rich Brian and has received public support from Tesla founder Elon Musk, former NFL player Antonio Bryant, and actor Nicolas Cage, among others.
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur’s platform is centered around a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 per month for every American adult. He believes this solution is necessary for the job losses that have begun hitting the U.S. economy — which he believes will continue to do so — due to automation. He points to the Big Tech companies that are poised to gain from this process at the expense of the average American unless the economy is restructured to funnel money from their gains to the average American.
Much of the foundation of Yang’s campaign was laid by his 2018 book, The War on Normal People.
“One could argue that it is essential for any democracy to do all it can to keep its population free of a mindset of scarcity in order to make better decisions,” he wrote in his defense of UBI.
