Democratic Party Unveils January and February 2020 Presidential Debates

CNN, ABC News, NBC News and CBS News will be co-hosting the early primary state debates. Apple News will be a partner for the first time.

The Democratic National Committee on Thursday announced plans for four presidential candidate debates in January and February that will occur in key battleground states before they hold their primary and caucus elections.

Ahead of the Feb. 3 Democratic primary caucus in Iowa, CNN will partner with a newspaper in the state on a Jan. 14 primary debate, the seventh of the 2020 cycle, in Des Moines. The debate will be CNN's third of the primary process, following events in July and October.

On Feb. 7, ahead of the Feb. 11 Democratic primary in New Hampshire, ABC will partner with WMUR-TV and Apple News on the eighth debate of the cycle, at St. Anselm College in Manchester.

On Feb. 19, ahead of the Feb. 22 caucus in Nevada, NBC News and MSNBC will host the ninth Democratic debate in Las Vegas, in partnership with a local newspaper. (The event will also be the network's third debate of the cycle.)

And, on Feb. 25, CBS News will host its first debate of the 2020 primary process, in partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. The debate will be head in Charleston, South Carolina, ahead of the state's Feb. 29 primary election.

"Qualification criteria, format and moderators will be announced at a future date," the party said in the announcement.

The sixth Democratic debate of the cycle, co-hosted by Politico and PBS, will be held Dec. 19 in Los Angeles.

A spokesperson for the DNC told ABC News, host of the Feb. 7 debate, that debates could be moved if they conflict with the Senate's impeachment trial. "If a conflict with an impeachment trial is unavoidable, the DNC will evaluate its options and work with all the candidates to accommodate them," she said.