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A majority of African-American Democratic voters support former Vice President Joe Biden according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Tuesday.

The survey found that found Biden was supported by 51% of black voters. Senator Bernie Sanders had 13% and Senator Elizabeth Warren had 12%. Michael Bloomberg received 4%, while Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang all received 2%. No other candidate obtained more than 1%. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

Biden has long been favored among African-American voters. In South Carolina, which has a majority black Democratic electorate, Biden had 33% support of all voters, followed by Warren with 13% and Sanders with 11% in a November Quinnipiac poll of the state.

Among all Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, Biden led with 29% followed by Sanders with 17%, Warren with 15%, Buttigieg with 9%, Bloomberg with 5% and Yang with 4%. Klobuchar was supported by 3% of voters and Tulsi Gabbard 2%, all other candidates received 1% or less.

The poll conducted Dec. 4-9 had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

Andrew Yang Qualifies for Los Angeles Debate (4:27 p.m.)

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang on Tuesday became the seventh candidate to qualify for the Democratic debate in Los Angeles on Dec. 19.

Yang will join Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer. Tulsi Gabbard has met the donor threshold but lacks one national or state poll to qualify. She said Tuesday she would skip the debate even if she qualifies.

Yang made the cut thanks to a 4% score in a Quinnipiac University national poll released Tuesday. To qualify for the sixth Democratic debate, candidates must receive 4% in four national polls approved by the Democratic National Committee or 6% in two polls from early voting states and have received donations from 200,000 individuals. Candidates have until Thursday night to qualify.

The presence on stage of Yang, who is Asian-American, means the debate will no longer have an all white slate of candidates. Cory Booker, who is African American, and Julian Castro, who is Hispanic, have both met the donor threshold but haven’t met the polling criteria, have complained about the lack of diversity among candidates on the stage. -- Emma Kinery

Bloomberg’s Ad Spending Climbs to $100 Million (3:41 p.m.)

Michael Bloomberg has spent $100 million on television and digital ads since launching his presidential campaign on Nov. 24.

The former New York City mayor has bought more political commercials than the four top-polling candidates combined. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have collectively spent $60.3 million on advertising.

The billionaire Tom Steyer is the second biggest spender at $66 million. President Donald Trump, who doesn’t face a serious primary opponent, has spent about $34 million so far.

Bloomberg’s latest television ad buy, which totals $36.1 million, is for a 13-day period ending Dec. 22, according to data from Advertising Analytics. He set a record in buying $33 million worth spots to air in a single week, eclipsing the previous mark of $24.9 million that former President Barack Obama’s campaign set in the last week of the 2012 campaign.

Bloomberg is running ads nationally and in 100 local markets across more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, with the most spending so far in the Los Angeles, New York City and Houston markets, data show. He’s trying the untested strategy of skipping the first four voting states and focusing on California, Texas and the other delegate-rich states that vote in March.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. -- Bill Allison

Gabbard to Sit Out Debate Even If She Qualifies (11:46 a.m.)

Tulsi Gabbard, who is one poll short of qualifying for the Dec. 19 Democratic debate, said she’ll skip it even if she makes the cut at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.

“For a number of reasons, I have decided not to attend the December 19th ‘debate’ — regardless of whether or not there are qualifying polls,” the Hawaii congresswoman tweeted late Monday. “I instead choose to spend that precious time directly meeting with and hearing from the people of New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

Gabbard also threatened to boycott a debate in October, accusing the Democratic National Committee of “rigging” the primaries, but showed up anyway.

Two other candidates who haven’t qualified have also complained. Senator Cory Booker slammed the rules for allowing “elites” and “money” to decide who gets on stage, while former HUD Secretary Julián Castro argued the party shouldn’t raise the threshold this close to the Iowa caucuses.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ended her campaign after failing to qualify for the September debate, saying that “being able to have a voice on the debate stage” is “really important” but declined to criticize the rules. -- Ryan Teague Beckwith

Trump’s Support Mostly Unmoved by Impeachment (11:00 AM)

The impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump haven’t significantly changed the number of voters who think he should be re-elected, a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows.

The poll, conducted from Dec. 4-8, found that 43% of registered voters support Trump’s re-election, while 54% want someone else in the White House. Those numbers were essentially unchanged from a survey in November, when 42% backed re-election and 55% wanted a new president, according to the poll.

In the 2020 race, the poll showed Joe Biden leading the field at 26% support among Democrats or those who lean Democratic, followed by Bernie Sanders at 21%, Elizabeth Warren at 17% and Pete Buttigieg at 8%. Michael Bloomberg, who announced his candidacy Nov. 24, came next at 5%, ahead of Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and others in the race.

But Bloomberg had an unfavorable rating of 54% among all registered voters compared with 26% favorable. Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters were split in their views of the former New York mayor at 40% favorable and 39% unfavorable, with a majority negative rating among Republicans and independents, the poll found.

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. The poll of 838 registered voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. -- Mark Niquette

Warren Offers ‘Blue New Deal’ for Oceans (9:00 AM)

Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday rolled out her environmental policy for oceans on Tuesday, proposing to fast-track offshore renewable energy permits and produce all offshore wind energy with U.S. infrastructure.

She said she would eliminate aesthetic impacts as a justification to block wind energy permits, calling climate change “too urgent to let the ultra-wealthy complain about wind turbines getting in the way of their ocean views.” Warren’s plan calls for long-term extensions of the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy.

The Democratic candidate, who’s polling in the top three of the presidential field, calls it a “Blue New Deal.” Her plan uses the resources of the federal government to limit activity that would negatively impact oceans and fisheries, while calling for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to simplify the process for fishermen to sell their seafood directly to American consumers. -- Sahil Kapur

Bloomberg Says Trump Is a Climate Change Denier (6:02 a.m.)

Michael Bloomberg called President Donald Trump a climate change denier and pledged, as president, to harness investment in climate change solutions.

Speaking at the COP25 global climate summit in Madrid on Tuesday, Bloomberg criticized Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris accord and said the next U.S. president must stop subsidizing fossil fuel-producing companies and instead invest in clean energy.

“I do want the world to know that Americans continue to work on climate change, even with a climate denier in the White House,” he said.

Bloomberg, who, like his rivals for the 2020 Democratic nomination, has said he’d rejoin the Paris pact as president, stressed the importance of promoting investment in green technology. “The capital is out there, we just need to unlock the capital,” he said.

Later Tuesday, Bloomberg and actor Harrison Ford will present a report analyzing progress made by cities, states and businesses in tackling climate change, a topic that’s the focus of Bloomberg’s campaign this week.

Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, has committed $500 million to launch Beyond Carbon, a campaign aimed at closing the remaining coal-powered plants in the U.S. by 2030 and slowing the construction of new gas plants. -- Charlie Devereux

COMING UP

Sanders and Biden are scheduled to take part in town hall meetings hosted by Unite Here Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas Tuesday and Wednesday.

At least a half-dozen Democratic presidential candidates hold the final debate of 2019 in Los Angeles on Dec. 19.

(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

— With assistance by Charlie Devereux, Sahil Kapur, Mark Niquette, Ryan Teague Beckwith, and Bill Allison