Nevada will host Democratic 2020 debate, DNC says
WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee confirmed there will be a presidential primary debate in Nevada next year.
“Yes, we will have a debate in Nevada in 2020 but no details as of now,” said John Santos, DNC Western Regional Press Secretary. Santos had no details on where the debate would be held or a specific date.
The first DNC debate will be held in Miami on June 26 and 27. The two-night format was chosen to accommodate the large field of Democrats who have thrown their hat in the ring. But with the decision to limit the first debate to 20 candidates, or 1o each night, three of the 23 declared Democrats will not make it onto the coveted stage.
The DNC released a tie-breaking formula that combines polling and fundraising data to determine which candidates will qualify for the stage and which will not. Rather than divide hopefuls into a top-tier and bottom-tier group, the DNC will assign hopefuls to one of the two debates randomly.
NBC and MSNBC will host the Miami event.
The second debate, hosted by CNN, will be held in Detroit on July 30 and 31. After a break in August, there will be one debate per month for the rest of 2019.
The final six debates out of a total of a dozen will occur in 2020, with the last happening in April.
The Nevada debate is likely to be scheduled right before the Silver State’s Feb. 22 caucus. Nevada is expected to play a pivotal role in the national Democratic primary with the first-in-the-west, third-in-the-nation contest after the Feb. 3 Iowa caucus and Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary.
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s April visit to Las Vegas, DNC Chairman Tom Perez essentially staked a flag in Nevada, noting that the state’s voters “elected Democrat Steve Sisolak as governor and replaced Dean Heller with Jacky Rosen. They rejected Trump in 2016 and will make sure he loses Nevada again next year.”
Four years ago, Las Vegas played host to two primary debates. Democrats debated in October 2015 at the Wynn Las Vegas, and Republicans met at The Venetian in December 2015. In addition, the third and final presidential debate took place on the UNLV campus in October 2016.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.
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