Who’s on stage for the first 2020 debate

Our live coverage has ended. You can read more about the upcoming debate

The lineup for the first 2020 debate is set.

NBC, the Democratic committee’s media partner for the first debate, announced today which candidates will appear each night of the two-night event later this month.

Here are the details:

Here’s your visual guide to the two nights:

Julián Castro tweeted a thank you to his supporters as he announced that he’ll appear on the first of two nights during the first 2020 debate.

“You got me on that stage. I’m going to make you proud,” the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary tweeted.

Beto O’Rourke will appear on the first night of the first 2020 debate, alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Corey Booker and others.

He just tweeted about the upcoming debate, saying he has “a big, bold, ambitious, forward-looking vision” that will help overcome the nation’s challenges.

Here’s his message:

A campaign aide for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock says the man in the video is Jock from Missoula, Montana.

“He doesn’t qualify, really,” Jock says. “What are you waiting for, go and donate.”

Sen. Kamala Harris, who will appear in the second night of the first debate, said she’s looking forward to discussing “how we can build a better America together.”

She’ll share the stage with former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and seven other Democrats.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who will appear on the first night of the Democratic debate later this month, said he’s looking forward to discussing her plans for “big, structural change” in the US.

Here’s her tweet:

Less than two weeks out from the debate, Warren has risen in a series of recent polls, breaking out of the single-digits.

She seems to be jockeying for second place to progressive rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Warren’s new standing next to Sanders marks a notable ascent for the senator, whose candidacy earlier in the year had at times raised questions about whether she would be able to gain enough traction or raise enough funds. 

Although they won’t literally be standing next to each other at the first debate: Sanders will appear on the second night of the debate.

There is a big debate going on whether Elizabeth Warren lucked out or was hurt by not being in a debate with the other Iowa poll leaders (Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders).

The lucked-out scenario revolves around the idea that Warren will stand above the field in her debate with those polling quite low. Additionally, she won’t have to go negative on Biden because others will do so when they debate him.

The hurt scenario revolves around the idea that Warren will look like a second-tier candidate by having to debate mostly lower-tier candidates. Further, she won’t be to distinguish herself from the others.

One potential tiebreaker on whether this is good or bad: ratings. I would think that fewer people would tune into a debate that looks mostly like an undercard.

Cory Booker’s campaign manager, Addisu Demissie, posted a video on Twitter of Booker seeing the debate group lineups for the first time.

Booker— who will appear in the first night of the debate along Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke and others — laughers and claps as he reads the names on a white board:

A Booker campaign adviser later released this statement about the announcement:

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign has been coy about who they wanted to debate in Miami, but the lineup unveiled today – which will have Sanders alongside Joe Biden and John Hickenlooper, a centrist who’s been critical of him – will provide Sanders a clear line of contrast on a crowded stage.

Sanders has repeatedly criticized Biden’s moderate message and record during his time in the Senate, and will relish an opportunity to discuss it all before a primetime audience, with Harris and Buttigieg also in their group, to draw a lot of eyeballs.

In an interview before the rosters were made public, Sanders’ senior adviser Jeff Weaver made the argument that his candidate was the most electable, but emphasized a second question the candidates must answer.

Biden v. Sanders: Biden’s name was unspoken, but it has long been the Sanders campaign’s argument that a so-called return to normalcy, much like Biden has promised, would effectively guarantee a subsequent right-wing populist challenge – and potentially give rise to another GOP candidate like Trump in the next cycle.

With Biden present, Sanders can continue to make those criticisms – arguments he is familiar with and has road-tested during recent speeches and interviews.

Hickenlooper v. Sanders: Despite his place on the lower end of the polls, Hickenlooper will also be a welcome opponent. On Thursday, Sanders called out the former Colorado governor directly via Twitter, posting a video of FDR as his “response” to his latest denunciation of Sanders’ “democratic socialism.”

Hickenlooper will happy to see Sanders, too, as he made clear in his reply to the FDR tweet.

“FDR is one of my heroes, a great Democrat, and a fellow governor with a record of accomplishment. See you at the debate, Senator!,” Hickenlooper wrote.

About 16 hours later, that wish was granted.