Ten Democratic candidates are set to take the stage tonight (July 30) at the Fox Theater in Detroit, Michigan for a second round of debates so they can plead their case to the American people about why they deserve the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Because of the still-crowded Democratic field, CNN is hosting two nights of debates with ten candidates each. The network chose each night's participants at random during a draw held live more than two weeks ago.
The debates are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday night from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET. The format will include a 60-second opening statement for each candidate, followed by a 60-second response to questions posed by the debate's hosts, CNN's Dana Bash, Don Lemon, and Jake Tapper.
Tuesday night's lineup includes:
- Marianne Williamson
- Tim Ryan
- Amy Klobuchar
- Pete Buttigieg
- Bernie Sanders
- Elizabeth Warren
- Beto O'Rourke
- John Hickenlooper
- John Delaney
- Steve Bullock
Here are the candidates appearing on Wednesday night:
- Michael Bennet
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Julián Castro
- Cory Booker
- Joe Biden
- Kamala Harris
- Andrew Yang
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Jay Inslee
- Bill de Blasio
CNN is also changing up a few other things after the debates in Miami last month. Moderators will no longer ask questions that require one-word answers, or for the candidates to show their hands in response to a question.
This will likely be the last time we see this many candidates at one time. The Democratic National Committee has raised the qualifying threshold for the next round of debates scheduled in September. For many candidates, this is their last chance to make an impact on voters and pick up crucial fundraising momentum.
Below is a primer for each candidate.
Self-help author Marianne Williamson
While Williamson is best known for her seres of self-help novels, she's no stranger to politics, having run for Congress as an independent in 2014, an election she ultimately lost.
Williamson announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination on January 29. Among her signature issue is a proposal she made for $100 billion in reparations for slavery with $10 billion to be distributed annual over ten years for economic and education projects.
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan
At only 29, Tim Ryan joined Congress as one of the youngest members back in 2003. His career in politics began as an aide to Congressman Jim Traficant and his time in the Ohio Senate from 2001 to 2002 before winning election to Congress.
He announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president on April 4th, positioning himself as a Democrat who can appeal to blue-collar voters in the Midwest. His signature issues while in Congress have included renegotiating and enforcing existing trade deals as well as punishing China for manipulating their currency. Ryan is also a big proponent of unions rights.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Senator Amy Klobuchar is the senior Senator representing Minnesota after she assumed office in 2007. Before becoming elected Senator, Klobuchar worked as a partner at two Minneapolis law firms until she was elected county attorney for Hennepin County in 1998. She was first elected to Minnesota's Senate in 2006, becoming the state's first elected female Senator. She was re-elected handily in 2012 and 2018.
Klobuchar has been rated as one of the more moderate Democrats running for president. She is pro-choice on abortion, supports LGBTQ rights and Obamacare and was highly critical of the Iraq war. She's also one of the more prolific Senators in office, passing more legislation than any other senator by the end of the 114th Congress. According to Congress.gov, she's sponsored, or co-sponsored 111 pieces of legislation that's become law. During President Donald Trump's tenure in office, she's voted with him 31.1 percent of the time. Her signature issue is legislation to combat the opioid crisis and drug addiction as well as lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg
A long-shot campaigner, Buttigieg caught the attention of Democrats nationwide after he wrote an essay that chronicled why Democrats lost in 2016 and how they could recover. Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan in 2014 as an intelligence officer in the Navy reserve, was first elected mayor of South Bend in 2011.
One of the most progressive politicians running, Buttigieg announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination on April 14. As one of the more progressive politicians running, Buttigieg is campaigning on not only his youthful appeal to voters, but also his support for universal healthcare, reducing income inequality, and universal background checks for firearms purchases.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
A firebrand independent Senator from Vermont (who caucuses with Democrats), this is Sanders' second swing at the Democratic nomination for President after he unsuccessfully ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016. His career in politics began when he was first elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont in 1981 by a margin of only ten votes. In 1990, Sanders ran for Vermont's house seat and won, representing the state until he ran for Senate in 2006.
Sanders announced his presidential campaign on February 19 on Vermont Public Radio. The self-described Democratic Socialist has a range of progressive policy positions that include things like bold action on Climate Change, Medicare-for-all, and a tax system that is fair, progressive and transparent.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Senator Elizabeth Warren was elected Senator on Jan. 3, 2013 after defeating Sen. Scott Brown. Over the years, she's served as the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and was a big part in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in which she served as its first Special Adviser under President Barack Obama.
A longtime critic of President Donald Trump, she announced her candidacy for the 2020 presidential election at a rally in Lawrence, Massachusetts in February, and has offered a series of policy-focused plans including ways to reduce student loan debt and offer free tuition to public colleges. She's also voiced support for plans to make large corporations pay more in taxes and better regulate large technology companies, and plans to address opioid addiction. She has introduced an “Economic Patriotism” plan, intended to create opportunities for American workers, and proposals targeted at Donald Trump, including one that would make it permissible to indict a sitting president.
Rep. Beto O'Rourke
O'Rourke shot to national prominence after he nearly unseated Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) during the 2018 midterm elections. However, he failed to garner enough votes to flip the seat for Democrats and decided to turn his eye to national office with a run for President in 2020. The 46-year-old native of El Paso, Texas, was the representative for Texas' 16th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019. Before that, he worked on the El Paso city council as a councilmember and was the co-founder of a successful software startup that his wife now runs.
O'Rourke has shown support for a Medicare for All plan that would allow ordinary Americans to buy into Medicare, which is often dubbed the "Public Option." He's also called for the elimination of border walls in El Paso and has called for a broad policy proposal that would help combat climate change.
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
One of the most successful moderate Democrats in a purple state, Gov. Hickenlooper is a former geologist who struck it rich after opening Wynkoop Brewery Company in Denver. After serving as the mayor of Denver for several years, he ran for Governor of Colorado in 2010 winning handily. During his time as governor, Hickelooper oversaw the legalization of recreational weed in Colorado, guiding the program through its nascent stages.
On March 4, Hickenlooper announced he was running for the Democratic nomination, with his campaign promoting his strengths in reaching across the aisle to focus on the issues that matter to the American people the expansion of Medicaid, gay rights and gun control.
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney
Elected to Congress in 2012, Representative John Delaney has often been referred to as a 'moderate' in Democratic politics, a label he disputes. "People have a hard time labeling me. Some of the things they hear me talking about are on the total progressive or liberal end of the spectrum, and in other ways I'm kind of a solutions-oriented moderate who wants to get things done," Delaney said.
He was one of the first politicians to announce his run for president in anop-ed in the Washington Postpublished in 2017, writing that the government was "hamstrung by excessive partisanship."
Gov. Steve Bullock
The current Governor of Montana is one of the more recent additions to the crowded 2020 field after serving his state for the last six years. The Helena, Montana native also acted as the state's Attorney General between 2009 to 2013 before he was elected governor.
His positions include increasing access to publicly-funded healthcare, a policy he supported in Montana by signing a Medicaid expansion into law earlier this year. The bill also included measure that would lower the costs of premium drugs. Bullock has also come out in support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and supported re-settling Syrian refugees in Montana in 2015. He also refused to send his state's National Guard Troops to the border in protest of Trump's immigration policy.
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