Senator Amy Klobuchar became the ninth candidate to qualify for November’s Democratic primary debate after a new national Quinnipiac poll released Thursday showed the Minnesota lawmaker at the three percent threshold.
Klobuchar, who made headlines after the fourth Democratic debate earlier this month for attacking Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) over Medicare for All, is the latest candidate to qualify for the debate stage in Atlanta.
Eight percent of Democrats named Klobuchar the winner of the fourth debate, a jump from her previous performances. Klobuchar also announced in the week after the debate that her campaign had raised $2 million
“We’ve had so much momentum since then,” Klobuchar told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on October 21. “We went on a major bus trip in Iowa, and before that every county in New Hampshire. I have the most endorsements of any of the candidates for electeds and former electeds in the state of Iowa. And, since then, from regular people just going into our website.”
The Democratic National Committee raised the polling and fundraising requirements to qualify for the November debate. Now, candidates must receive at least 165,000 individual donations from at least 600 unique donors in 20 or more states, as well as three percent or more support in at least four DNC-approved polls (national, or single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada) or five percent or more in two of the accepted early state polls.
The new Quinnipiac poll also shows Senator Warren of Massachusetts opening up a seven-point lead over former Vice President Joe Biden, who has fallen six percent since the last poll. A demographic breakdown of Warren’s support show she is buoyed by a “very” liberal, well-educated, young, white demographic, while Biden’s support comes largely from more moderate, working class, and black voters.