The sixth Democratic presidential debate will take place at Loyola Marymount University on Dec. 19, organizers announced Friday after scrapping plans to hold it at UCLA because of a labor dispute.

The event had originally been scheduled to take place at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. But on Tuesday, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees asked Democratic candidates to honor its three-year boycott on events at the University of California. The powerful union’s members include patient care workers who are in protracted negotiations with the UC system.

The following day, the Democratic National Committee announced the debate location would be moved.

The debate, hosted by “PBS NewsHour” and Politico, features heightened qualification requirements. So far, former Vice President Joe Biden; Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg have met the polling and fundraising thresholds.


To get on the debate stage at the private university north of Los Angeles International Airport, candidates must have at least 200,000 unique donors and at least 800 donors each in at least 20 states. They must also get 4% support in four national or early state polls or 6% in two single-state polls in states that hold early primary contests.