Des Moines Register, part of USA TODAY Network, and CNN to host January Democratic debate

Des Moines Register staff, Des Moines Register
Des Moines Register, part of USA TODAY Network, and CNN to host January Democratic debate

DES MOINES, Iowa – CNN will host a Democratic presidential debate in partnership with the Des Moines Register on Jan. 14, less than three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday.

The Iowa debate will be the seventh sanctioned by the DNC, which has set escalating debate criteria as the nomination calendar progresses.

The DNC could move the date if the Senate conducts an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Five U.S. senators are in the field of more than a dozen candidates seeking the Democratic nomination.

The debate will be held on the Drake University campus in Des Moines.

It will follow a debate Dec. 19 in Los Angeles, hosted by PBS and Politico. For that debate, each candidate will need at least 200,000 individual donors, with a minimum of 800 donors in 20 states. Candidates must receive at least 4% support in four national or early-state polls approved by the DNC, or 6% support in two polls in the four early-voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

“The Register is pleased to be a partner in hosting a presidential debate in Des Moines,” executive editor Carol Hunter said. “This continues the Register’s long tradition of staging debates as a way to help Iowans get the information they need to make their decisions on caucus night.”

The Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, has sponsored more than a dozen presidential debates since 1980. The Iowa caucuses, which kick off voting for the presidency, will be Feb. 3.

This caucus cycle, the Democratic presidential debates began in June when 20 candidates were split over two nights. In December 2018, DNC officials said they expected there would be 12 debates, six in 2019 and six in 2020.

In the 2016 caucus cycle, both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates attended debates in Des Moines. On Nov. 14, 2015, CBS News, KCCI, the Des Moines Register and Twitter hosted a Democratic debate. Fox News and Google hosted a Republican debate Jan. 28, 2016.

After the Iowa debate, according to the DNC, the next debates will be:

  • Feb. 7: ABC, in partnership with WMUR and Apple News, will host the eighth Democratic debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

  • Feb. 19: NBC News and MSNBC will host the ninth Democratic debate in Las Vegas in partnership with The Nevada Independent.

  • Feb. 25: CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute will co-host the 10th Democratic debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Twitter will be a debate partner.

In addition to airing live on television, each debate will be livestreamed on digital and social media platforms. Broadcast partners are fully committed to providing accessible communication for those with hearing impairments and disabilities, the DNC said.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Democratic debate: CNN, Des Moines Register to host January Iowa debate