The sixth and final Democratic debate of 2019 is scheduled for tonight (Dec. 19) at 8 p.m. ET. Seven candidates will appear at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, for the debate hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico.
People can watch a stream of the debate on YouTube, or at Politico.com.
The debate nearly didn't happen thanks to a labor dispute between Sodexo, the food service provider for Loyola Marymount University, and the university. All seven candidates said they wouldn't cross the picket line if the dispute wasn't cleared up. Unite Here Local 11, the union that represents the workers, announced a deal on a contract early Tuesday morning, allowing the debate to continue.
With the impeachment of President Donald Trump fresh in everyone's minds, the topic of who can best defeat him in 2020 and bring the country back together will likely become a centerpiece for the night.
In order to qualify for tonight's debate, candidates needed to certify they had at least 200,000 unique donors and a minimum of 800 donors in 20 different states, U.S. territories or the District of Columbia. The threshold for polls was also raised, with candidates needing to reach at least 4% in four national or early-state polls, or reach 6% in two early-state polls to qualify.
The seven candidates qualified for tonight's debate in Los Angeles. They include:
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Senator Bernie Sanders
- Andrew Yang
- Senator Amy Klobuchar
- Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Tom Steyer
The two newcomers who recently announced their intention to run for president on the Democratic ticket, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and former Massachusetts Gov. Patrick Duval, were not able to qualify in time. Below, you can find a primer on each candidate:
Former Vice President Joe Biden
Widely considered to be one of the top contenders in the Democratic primary, Biden has run for president twice before - once in 1988 and again in 2008. After he to President Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary, he went on to serve two terms as Obama's Vice President.
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden grew up in Delaware where he would eventually run for the Senate in 1972 - becoming one of the youngest people elected to the chamber in history.
Biden announced his candidacy on April 25, 2019, running as a centrist Democrat who says he has a proven history of working with people on both sides of the aisle. One of Biden's signature issues is to restore America's standing on the global stage, as well as strengthening economic protections for low-income workers.
The 2020 primary is considered to be the 76-year-old's last chance to run for president.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren
Senator Elizabeth Warren was elected Senator on Jan. 3, 2013 after she defeated the incumbent, Sen. Scott Brown. Over the years, Warren has served as the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and was a big part in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in which she served as its first Special Adviser under President Barack Obama.
A longtime critic of President Donald Trump, Warren announced her candidacy for the 2020 presidential election at a rally in Lawrence, Massachusetts in February, and has offered a series of policy-focused plans including ways to reduce student loan debt and offer free tuition to public colleges. She's also voiced support for plans to make large corporations pay more in taxes and better regulate large technology companies, and plans to address opioid addiction. She has introduced an “Economic Patriotism” plan, intended to create opportunities for American workers, and proposals targeted at Donald Trump, including one that would make it permissible to indict a sitting president.
Warren has seen her support steadily increase after an aggressive campaign strategy that has largely seen the Massachusetts senator avoid any major conflict with her fellow Democrats running for the 2020 presidential nomination.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
The firebrand independent senator from Vermont (who caucuses with Democrats) is taking a second swing at the Democratic nomination for president after unsuccessfully running against Hillary Clinton in 2016. His career in politics began when he was first elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont in 1981 by a margin of only ten votes. In 1990, Sanders ran for Vermont's house seat and won, representing the state until he ran for Senate in 2006.
Sanders announced his presidential campaign on February 19 on Vermont Public Radio. The self-described Democratic Socialist has a range of progressive policy positions that include things like bold action on Climate Change, Medicare-for-all, and a tax system that is fair, progressive and transparent.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
Yang began his career working over the years in startups and early-growth companies as a founder or executive. In 2009, Yang founded Venture for America, a program that caught the attention of then-President Barack Obama, who selected him as a "Champion of Change" in 2012 and in 2015 as a "Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship."
Yang announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in November 2017, with his campaign focusing on what he called a "Freedom Dividend," a form of Universal Basic Income for every American over the age of 18. The Freedom Dividend is something Yang believes will be needed to combat the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and automation that threatens to put people out of work over the next several decades.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Amy Klobuchar is the senior Senator representing Minnesota who won her seat in 2006, becoming the state's first elected female senator. Before that, Klobuchar worked as a partner at two Minneapolis law firms until she was elected county attorney for Hennepin County in 1998.
Klobuchar has been rated as one of the more moderate Democrats running for president. She is pro-choice on abortion, supports LGBTQ rights and Obamacare and was highly critical of the Iraq war. She's also one of the more prolific Senators in office, passing more legislation than any other senator by the end of the 114th Congress. According to Congress.gov, she's sponsored, or co-sponsored 111 pieces of legislation that's become law. During President Donald Trump's tenure in office, she's voted with him 31.1 percent of the time. Her signature issue is legislation to combat the opioid crisis and drug addiction as well as lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Klobuchar has struggled to connect with voters, joking in a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher that she needed a 'viral moment'.
Billionaire Tom Steyer
Billionaire investor and businessman Tom Steyer launched his campaign earlier this year after initially saying he would not run for the 2020 nomination.
Steyer has publicly called for Trump’s impeachment, at one point running several TV commercials urging Democrats to get the process started. Steyer says he’s grown frustrated with the pace Democrats have taken in the impeachment process.
Steyer’s campaign is also focused on reducing the influence of corporations in politics and plans to make climate change a central issue of his campaign.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan in 2014 as an intelligence officer in the Navy reserve, was first elected mayor of South Bend in 2011. Buttigieg caught the attention of Democrats nationwide after writing an essay chronicling why Democrats lost in 2016 and how the party could recover in time for 2020.
One of the most progressive politicians running, Buttigieg announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination on April 14. Buttigieg is campaigning on his youthful appeal to voters, as well as his support for universal healthcare, reducing income inequality, and universal background checks for firearms purchases.
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