The Democratic National Committee is drastically revising its criteria to participate in primary debates after New Hampshire, doubling the polling threshold and eliminating the individual donor requirement, which could pave the way for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to make the stage beginning in mid-February.

Candidates will need to earn at least 10 percent in four polls released from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, or 12 percent in two polls conducted in Nevada or South Carolina, in order to participate in the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Any candidate who earns at least one delegate to the national convention in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary will also qualify for the Nevada debate.


The new criteria eliminate the individual-donor threshold, which was used for the first eight debates, including next week's debate in New Hampshire. Bloomberg, the self-funding billionaire, has refused to take donations from other individuals, which has thus far precluded his participation in any of the debates since he joined the race late last year.

“Now that the grassroots support is actually captured in real voting, the criteria will no longer require a donor threshold,” said Adrienne Watson, a DNC spokeswoman. “The donor threshold was appropriate for the opening stages of the race, when candidates were building their organizations, and there were no metrics available outside of polling to distinguish those making progress from those who weren’t.”

As of Friday, the three candidates who have met the Nevada polling thresholds are Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, according to POLITICO's tracking of public polling. The other candidates, including Bloomberg, have not yet cleared the polling threshold.

Four candidates who are slated to participate in next week’s debate — Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer — have also not yet hit the new polling threshold.


The new rules do, however, open the door for Bloomberg to participate after New Hampshire. Previously, the donor threshold had proved an insurmountable barrier for Bloomberg, who did not want to alter his promise to never accept campaign contributions — which he touts in promoting what he says is his independence from special interests.

But Warren and other liberal supporters argued Bloomberg needs a proper vetting, particularly since his media company has been instructed not cover the Democratic primary. Some have urged the DNC to reconsider its rules to allow him to participate, and Warren has also been critical of a nondisclosure agreement women at his company signed that bar them from discussing legal claims they filed. She believes they should be released from the gag order.

“We are thrilled that voters could soon have the chance to see Mike Bloomberg on the debate stage, hear his vision for the country and see why he is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump and bring our country together,” Bloomberg’s campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement following the announcement.

The now-eliminated donor threshold was controversial when it was rolled out last year. Campaigns charged that the threshold forced them to divert resources into collecting donors instead of investing in field work.


But the donor threshold was rarely what determined whether candidates made the stage. The only candidate to hit a polling threshold for a debate but not qualify, due to not hitting the donor threshold, has been Bloomberg. In every other case, excluded candidates have either hit neither or just the donor threshold by the time qualification closes.

And some argue that requiring a donor threshold in the early stages of the primary was valuable. “I think it was really important for campaigns — but also for donors — for getting people active early on … and making sure they were involved earlier than in previous elections,” Erin Hill, the executive director of ActBlue, told POLITICO. “It made sure all sorts of candidates were building grassroots programs.”

Not everyone is thrilled that Bloomberg — who has hit 10 percent in only one of the requisite four polls released so far — could be on stage after the donor threshold was eliminated.

“To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong,” Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders, told POLITICO as the rules were being announced.

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Weaver pointed to other current and past candidates like Cory Booker, Yang and Julián Castro, who dropped off the stage because they couldn’t meet the minimum polling threshold.

“Now, suddenly because Mr. Bloomberg couldn’t satisfy one of the prongs, we see it get changed?” Weaver said. “That’s the definition of a rigged system where the rich can buy their way in.”

Steyer — like Bloomberg, a billionaire — has also been accused of buying his spot on the debate stage, having spent well over $150 million of his own money to fuel his bid, including spending eight figures to solicit donations from enough individuals to qualify. But Steyer and Bloomberg are taking two very different paths to trying to secure the nomination: Steyer is competing extensively in the four early states, while Bloomberg is skipping them entirely to focus on Super Tuesday and beyond.

Steyer, like Weaver, the Sanders' adviser, accused the DNC of changing the criteria to benefit Bloomberg. "Back in December, I called on the DNC to open up the debate requirements so that more candidates, including candidates of color, would be able to participate, he said. “Instead, they are changing the rules for a candidate who is ignoring early states voters and grassroots donors.”


Steyer was also critical of the polling window for the Nevada debate, noting it started later than previous debates.

Candidates past and present had, at times, lobbied the DNC to change debate requirement rules, which would have functionally expanded the stage even as the early voting states rapidly approached.

But the Feb. 19 debate will almost assuredly be smaller than next week’s debate, however, even without the donor threshold (and the much higher polling threshold). Some candidates are likely to drop out after Iowa and New Hampshire, and the high polling mark could keep candidates with minimal support off the stage.