Tulsi Gabbard Qualifies for Upcoming Democratic Primary Debate | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

The author of this post is Molly Prince.

    Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has officially met the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) threshold to qualify for the upcoming Democratic presidential primary debate in November.

    "We wanted you to be the first to hear the news," Gabbard's campaign wrote in a statement. "Today's Quinnipiac poll out of Iowa means Tulsi will be invited back on the debate stage in Atlanta in just two weeks - continuing to speak truth to power, holding the DNC and corporate media accountable to the people and representing all of us in our fight for a more perfect union."

    "Polls should never supplant the democratic process embodied in our primary and caucus system, but they can show trends over time and our 100% grassroots momentum is growing stronger every day - especially in the critical early states where Tulsi is on the ground, speaking directly to voters," the statement continued. "We just closed on our strongest fundraising month to date, and as of right now we're only 8,897 donations away from hitting the unique donor threshold required to qualify for the December debate."

    A certified poll conducted by Quinnipiac University shows that the Hawaii lawmaker received 3% support in the the early primary state of Iowa. The poll, released on Wednesday, marked the final benchmark that she needed to overcome in order to receive an invitation onto the stage.

    Gabbard is now the tenth Democratic presidential hopeful to meet the qualifying threshold and subsequently accept an invitation onto the debate stage: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), billionaire financier Tom Steyer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and entrepreneur Andrew Yang will also be participating.

    In order to nab a podium on the next debate stage, presidential candidates must raise campaign donations from no fewer than 165,000 individual donors. In addition, they must also receive at least 3% of the vote in four national DNC-approved polls and 5% in two early state polls - such as those in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina.

    Candidates still have until November 13 to reach the required thresholds, however, Gabbard seems likely to be the final presidential hopeful to qualify. To date, former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro is the only other Democratic contender to have met any of the benchmarks - while he has hit the fundraising threshold, he has not received enough support in any qualifying polls.

    Gabbard's campaign enjoyed a surge of attention and fundraising in the wake of a heated exchange with twice-failed Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    Accordingly, Clinton seemed to suggest that Gabbard is a "Russian asset" who is being "groom[ed]" to run as a third-party candidate in the 2020 election. The remarks provoked a fiery response from the Hawaii congresswoman who went after Clinton as the "queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party." The fierce rebuke provided renewed attention to her previously lagging presidential campaign.

    Gabbard announced in late October that she was going all-in on her bid for the presidency and would therefore not be seeking re-election to her congressional seat. She was first elected to serve as the representative to Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District in 2012 after winning more than 80% of the vote. She was the first Samoan-American and first Hindu member of Congress, and has since held the seat for three more terms.

    As of publication, Gabbard sits at just under 2% support among Democratic primary voters, according to the Real Clear Politics national polling average.

    November's debate will be presented jointly by MSNBC and The Washington Post on November 20. MSNBC revealed earlier in the week that the debate moderators will consist of an all-female panel: Rachel Maddow from MSNBC, Ashley Parker from The Washington Post, and both Andrea Mitchell and Kristen Welker from NBC News.