DNC rejects Andrew Yang's request to commission polls to increase diversity at January debate

Jeanine Santucci | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Democratic debate closes out 2019 in Los Angeles, California Seven Democratic hopefuls took the stage for the final primary debate of 2019, at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

The Democratic National Committee on Monday rejected a request by presidential candidate Andrew Yang to commission additional polls that would help candidates qualify for the January debate stage in an effort to increase diversity at the event.

In a letter written earlier this month and reported by The Daily Beast on Monday, Yang said requirements for the Des Moines, Iowa, debate in January should include four commissioned early state polls before the Jan. 10 deadline.

"With the upcoming holidays and meager number of polls currently out in the field, a diverse set of candidates might be absent from the stage in Des Moines for reasons out of anyone's control," Yang wrote to DNC Chairman Tom Perez in the letter dated Dec. 21.

A DNC spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY that it has been "more than inclusive throughout this entire process," and cited 26 qualifying polls for the December debate.

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"The DNC will not sponsor its own debate-qualifying polls of presidential candidates during a primary," the spokesperson said. "This would break with a long standing practice of both parties using independent polling for debate qualification, and it would be an inappropriate use of DNC resources that should be directed at beating Donald Trump."

The DNC has been steadily raising the bar to qualify for the debate stages as the primary has progressed. For the Jan. 14 debate, candidates must meet an individual donor threshold as well as a polling threshold to appear. They must receive at least 5% in four different national or early voting state polls, or at least 7% in two early-state polls. They must also receive donations from at least 225,000 individual donors, with at least 1,000 in each of at least 20 states.

Yang said in the letter that it has been over a month since polls in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina have been released.

"As you know, big shifts can happen within short periods in this race, as we’ve already witnessed multiple times,” Yang said.

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The DNC said that it had extended its time frame for candidates to qualify for the January debate in light of the holiday season.

Yang followed 2020 rival New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker in penning a letter to the DNC to advocate for more diversity on stage. Booker's letter, which was co-signed by all seven candidates who appeared in the December debate, including Yang, asked the DNC to change its restrictions for candidates to qualify for the upcoming January and February debates.

Booker argued the more stringent qualifying standards pushed out the field’s diverse candidates. Yang was the only person of color on the stage in December. Booker did not qualify. Former Obama cabinet official Julián Castro, who did not qualify, also signed Booker's letter.

Candidates lamented the lack of diversity on the December debate stage, particularly with the departure of California Sen. Kamala Harris from the race.

“It is both an honor and disappointment to be the lone candidate of color on the stage tonight,” Yang said at the debate. "I miss Kamala and I miss Cory, although I think Cory will be back."

Yang has not yet qualified for the January debate, as he has received just one qualifying poll so far, but he has met the donor threshold. The five candidates who have qualified so far according to a tracker managed by Politico — former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — are all white.

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