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Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has sailed past the 130,000 unique donor threshold needed to qualify for the Democratic presidential primary debates in the fall. Read more

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has sailed past the 130,000 unique donor threshold needed to qualify for the Democratic presidential primary debates in the fall, boosted by her recent debate performance in Detroit in which she attacked California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris’ record on criminal justice and her proposed health care plan.

However, it’s not clear whether the debate and spike in media attention is helping Gabbard with her polling numbers. Presidential contenders must achieve at least 2% in four polls approved by the Democratic National Committee in order to make the debate stage in September and October.

So far, Gabbard has announced only one poll, conducted in New Hampshire, in which she met the threshold. Polls used to qualify for the Sept. 12-13 debate in Houston must be publicly released by Aug. 28.

Two polls released Friday, which aren’t among those used to qualify candidates for the upcoming debates, paint a mixed picture of whether Gabbard is gaining traction.

A Morning Consult poll conducted after the debates had Gabbard polling at just 1 percent — where she has remained on average throughout the race. However, a ScottRasmussen.com/HarrisX poll conducted between Wednesday and Friday has Gabbard at 3%.

Gabbard became the most searched candidate on Google after her Wednesday debate performance in which she attacked Harris’ record as a prosecutor and attorney general of California, going so far as to tell Harris that she should apologize to “the people who suffered under your reign.” Following the debate, Gabbard also gained the second most new Twitter followers — 21,629 — just behind businessman Andrew Yang, according to an analysis done by FiveThirtyEight.

In announcing that Gabbard had crossed the 130,000 donor threshold, Gabbard’s campaign said in a press release that it showed her “underdog campaign is building momentum and attracting supporters across the country.”