Inslee gathers enough donations to qualify for Democratic debate stage
May 24, 2019, 1:18 PM | Updated: 3:47 pm
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. (AP)
(AP)
According to a report from Politico, Gov. Jay Inslee has reached the donation threshold to qualify for the 2020 Democratic presidential debates.
Inslee inches closer to Democratic presidential debate stage
The Democratic Party allows candidates to qualify for the debates in one of two ways: Gathering 65,000 individual donors, 200 of whom must be from 20 different states, or polling at 1 percent or greater in three national polls. Inslee has struggled with the latter requirement since his campaign launched.
Having cleared the 65,000 donor threshold, the Washington state governor will now be allowed to join the rest of his Democratic peers on the debate stage as the party looks for its 2020 nominee.
Despite his poor polling numbers, Gov. Inslee’s fundraising efforts have proven successful in the early months of his run at the White House. In mid-April, he revealed that his campaign had raised over $2.25 million in a month-and-a-half, 95 percent of which came from individual donations under $100 each.
Inslee’s campaign credits his climate change agenda as the driving force behind that.
Inslee polling behind ‘someone else’ but raises $2.25 million
“The governor started rolling out his climate plan a few weeks ago and since then we’ve seen a huge uptick in support,” campaign manager Aisling Kerins told Politico. “I think there really seems to be a direct correlation about someone having a real roadmap about how to defeat climate change and the support that he’s receiving.”
To that end, Inslee noted that his presence in the debates would help highlight what’s become his primary talking point.
“Climate change will be at the debates in June,” he said.
Big news from the #ClimateStrike in Las Vegas: We've officially hit the 65,000 donor mark and secured a spot on the debate stage in June. Thank you to every single person who's brought us this far. Let's go get 'em and let's defeat climate change together. pic.twitter.com/LjbXvhpypx
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) May 24, 2019
