CNN is hosting the second round of Democratic debates on Tuesday, July 30 and Wednesday, July 31 in Detroit.
In order to increase transparency in the debate process, CNN drew names for which night each candidate would speak on air.
The formula of drawing names was designed so that the top four and middle 10 candidates would be divided equally among the two nights.
The candidates debating on Tuesday, July 30 are:
- Bernie Sanders (15 percent)
- Elizabeth Warren (14.6 percent)
- Pete Buttigieg (4.8 percent)
- Beto O’Rourke (2.8 percent)
- Amy Klobuchar (1 percent)
- Marianne Williamson (>0.4 percent)
- John Delaney (0.6 percent)
- John Hickenlooper (0.4 percent)
- Tim Ryan (0.4 percent)
- Steve Bullock (0.8 percent)
The candidates debating on Wednesday, July 31 are:
- Joe Biden (28.4 percent)
- Kamala Harris (12.6 percent)
- Cory Booker (1.8 percent)
- Andrew Yang (1.4 percent)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (0.6 percent)
- Julian Castro (0.6 percent)
- Bill de Blasio (0.6 percent)
- Tulsi Gabbard (1 percent)
- Michael Bennet (0.8 percent)
- Jay Inslee (0.4 percent)
The Tuesday lineup will be pitting the two most progressive candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, against each other. Warren and Sanders are nearly tied in the polls at approximately 15 percent.
Tuesday’s debate will be an opportunity for Warren and Sanders to differentiate each of their progressive platforms.
Also on the Tuesday night stage are Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke, both of which are progressive-leaning but polling much lower than Warren and Sanders. Tuesday night may be the opportunity for Buttigieg and O’Rourke to prove to the progressive voter base that they are viable candidates.
The Wednesday lineup puts Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back on the stage to duke it out again. In the first round of debates, Harris attacked Biden over his voting record on race issues, such as bussing.
Wednesday night also includes Cory Booker, who has attacked Biden for his voting record on race. Specifically, the 1994 Crime bill which he calls “one of the worst laws in [his] lifetime.”
READ: Cory Booker Says To White Moderates, ‘It’s Not Enough To Say You’re Not Racist”
It is expected that Harris and Booker will attack Biden on the subject of race. We expect Biden will be prepared for these attacks this time around.
In order to qualify for this second round of debates, candidates had to prove by Wednesday, July 17 at 11:00 AM EST that they had achieved either one percent in at least three polls from an approved list of pollsters or receive campaign contributions from 65,000 unique donors, including 200 donors from 20 different states.
In order to qualify for the third and fourth rounds of debates, candidates will have to achieve two percent in at least four polls from a different approved list of pollsters and receive 130,000 unique donors, including 400 unique voters from at least 20 different states. The third and fourth debates will take place in September and October respectively.
