- The Washington Times - Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Sen. Michael Bennet on Tuesday hit the polling requirement the Democratic National Committee is requiring from 2020 presidential candidates to qualify for the opening debate later this month in Florida.

Mr. Bennet was at 1 percent support in a CNN/SSRS poll released Tuesday morning, and he is now at least the 20th candidate to meet requirements the DNC set for candidates to make the first debate.

Candidates have to register at least 1 percent support in at least three qualifying polls or secure campaign contributions from at least 65,000 donors, including at least 200 from at least 20 states.

The DNC is limiting the first debate to 20 candidates. If more than 20 candidates hit the polling or contribution requirements, the party will move to a tie-breaking formula to determine who makes the cut, meaning Mr. Bennet is not yet guaranteed a spot on the stage.

Overall, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden led the poll with 32 percent support, though that was down from 39 percent support in a survey taken last month immediately after Mr. Biden entered the presidential race.

Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont was next at 18 percent, followed by Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California at 8 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 7 percent, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Rep Beto O’Rourke of Texas at 5 percent apiece.

Sen. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey was at 3 percent, and former Obama administration official Julián Castro of Texas and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota were at 2 percent apiece.

Mr. Bennet, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio were all at 1 percent.

The survey of 1,006 adults was taken from May 28-31 and includes a subsample of 412 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents registered to vote.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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