The Bullock campaign cried foul at the rule change, saying it unfairly penalized the governor for officially entering the race late. Montana members of the DNC also sent a letter to the committee demanding Bullock be allowed to participate.

In the Tuesday letter to the DNC, Bullock tried to set up a showdown over the qualifying polls.

"… The poll plainly meets the standards published by the DNC. The poll was conducted by a DNC-approved vendor and the governor met the 1% threshold," the letter reads. " … Since there is no sufficient warrant to exclude such a poll in either of the original rules or in the Polling Method Certification form promulgated by the DNC this week, the poll meets the DNC requirements and is valid. As such, Gov. Bullock has met the threshold to qualify for the first debates and he looks forward to joining his colleagues on the state for this important occasion."