Ohio Democrat Debate

The Democratic Party's fourth presidential debate was held on Tuesday October 15, 2019 in Westerville, Ohio,[112] from 8 to 11 p.m. EDT.[113] On September 27, the DNC announced that the debate would include all 12 candidates on one night, although some had assumed it would take place on two nights since it had more than 10 participants. From left to right, the candidates were: Gabbard (who missed the previous debate), Steyer (in his first debate), Booker, Harris, Sanders, Biden and Warren (who shared center stage), Buttigieg, Yang, O'Rourke, Klobuchar, and Castro. Podium order for the debate was determined based on an average of the 10 most recently released qualifying polls. CNN anchors Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper and New York Times national editor Marc Lacey served as the debate moderators.

The debate aired exclusively on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español, and was streamed on CNN.com's homepage and NYTimes.com's homepage. The debate also streamed live on the following Facebook Pages: CNN, CNN International, CNN Politics, CNN Replay, AC360 and Erin Burnett OutFront.

In addition, the debate was available across mobile devices via CNN's and New York Times' apps for iOS and Android, via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and Android TV, SiriusXM Channels 116, 454 and 795, the Westwood One Radio Network and National Public Radio.[115]

In December 2018, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the preliminary schedule for 12 official DNC-sanctioned debates, set to begin in June 2019, with six debates in 2019 and the remaining six during the first four months of 2020. Candidates are allowed to participate in forums featuring multiple other candidates as long as only one candidate appears on stage at a time; if candidates participate in any unsanctioned debate with other presidential candidates, they will lose their invitation to the next DNC-sanctioned debate.[1][2]

If any debates will be scheduled to take place with a location in the first four primary/caucus states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina), the DNC has decided such debates, at the earliest, will be held in 2020.[1] The DNC also announced that it would not partner with Fox News as a media sponsor for any debates.[3][4] Fox News had last held a Democratic debate in 2003.[5] All media sponsors selected to host a debate will as a new rule be required to appoint at least one female moderator for each debate, to ensure there will not be a gender skewed treatment of the candidates and debate topics.

The Democratic Party's second presidential debates ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election were held on July 30, 2019 and July 31, 2019, in Detroit, Michigan.

Starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, they aired on CNN and were broadcast on radio by Westwood One. Jake Tapper was the lead moderator of the debates, joined by Dana Bash and Don Lemon.

The drawing of lots among the 20 invited candidates to determine when they will debate was televised in prime time on July 18.[70] There were three tiers of candidates that were split between two nights, as opposed to the two tiers used in the first debates.[71]

In total, 21 candidates qualified for the second debate. The 14 candidates who met both criteria (Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, O'Rourke, Booker, Klobuchar, Castro, Yang, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Inslee, and Williamson) and the six candidates who met the polling criterion only (Ryan, Hickenlooper, Delaney, de Blasio, Bennet, and Bullock) were invited to participate in the debate. Gravel, the one candidate to qualify by the donor criterion only, was not invited because of the 20-candidate limit and the polling criterion's precedence over the donor criterion as mandated by the DNC. The set of participants for the second debate was identical to the first debates with one exception: Bullock replaced Swalwell, who suspended his campaign between the first and second debates.[65]

The debate on July 30 featured Bullock, Buttigieg, Delaney, Hickenlooper, Klobuchar, O'Rourke, Ryan, Sanders, Warren and Williamson, while the debate on July 31 featured Bennet, Biden, Booker, Castro, de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Harris, Inslee and Yang.[25][72] Both debates took place at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.

The overarching theme on the first night was a clash between moderates and progressives on a variety of issues, ranging from Medicare for All to electability. CNN received criticism for allegedly inciting conflicts between candidates and making questions from Republican talking points, as well as enforcing the time limits too strictly.[74] The second night saw significant discussion centered on candidates' differing health care plans. Additionally, Gabbard went on the offensive against Harris.