Struggling Democratic presidential candidates are facing b news that y are t among 10 who have qualified for next debate, a predicament that is likely to spell doom for ir campaigns. 

Race for polls  

Hours ahe of a midnight Wednesday deline to qualify, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand anunced she was dropping out of race after spending at least $4 million on vertising in recent months to qualify. 

Billionaire climate change activist Tom Steyer, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and self-help guru Marianne Williamson were also among those missing September’s debate, as were Coloro Sen. Michael Bennet, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and a handful of ors. 

To appear on st in Houston next month, y h to hit 2% in at least four approved public opinion polls while securing 130,000 unique dors. Two new polls released Wednesday affirmed that y were all below threshold. question shifted from who would qualify for following debate to who would stay in race. 

“Our rules have ended up less inclusive ... than even Republicans,” Bullock said on MSNBC, referring to thresholds set by Democratic National Committee. “It is what it is.” 

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10 qualified candidates for September 

10 candidates who qualified for September’s debate are Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang. 

In a still-crowded Democratic field, t qualifying for debate was expected to severely cripple a candidate’s prospects. However, several have pledged to forge on in hopes of reaching requirements in time for next debate, in October. Although earlier debates h lower thresholds, DNC raised stakes for fall debates. 

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“We believe you need to show progress in your campaign,” said Democratic Party spokeswoman Xochitl Hijosa. “re hasn’t been one candidate in 40 years who has polled under 2% fall ahe of a primary and has gone on to be Democratic minee.”  DNC designed requirements to bring order to an unwieldy field of more than 20 White House hopefuls, while elevating role of online grassroots dors who are among party’s most fervent supporters. 

In some ways, party has succeeded. But process has drawn complaints from those unlikely to make cut. y argue that rules are arbitrary and have forced candidates to pour money into expensive online fundraising operations that can sometimes charge as much as $90 for every dollar raised. 

Bennet said threshold favored Steyer, and a memo by his campaign accused billionaire of trying to buy his way into debate. “Or candidates have h to spend millions to acquire dors on Facebook, inste (of) communicating with voters and laying groundwork to beat” President Donald Trump, Bennet campaign memo stated. 

“Won’t stop fighting”: Steyer  

Steyer, a late entry in race, was closest to qualifying but ackwledged Wednesday night that he too h fallen short. “While I’m disappointed that I won’t be on debate st in Houston this month, I’m excited by all support you’ve shown us,” he tweeted to supporters. “We started this campaign to get corporate influence out of politics, and I won’t stop fighting until government belongs to people again.” 

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In a separate letter to Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez, Bennet’s campaign asked how DNC decided which polls to allow and questioned why Democrats were trying to narrow field months before Iowa caucuses. Yet Hijosa, DNC spokeswoman, said those who are upset have h ample time to build support and reach thresholds. Inste, most have consistently polled at 1% or below. 

“We are asking Democratic candidates to hit 2% in four polls. That is t a high threshold,” said Hijosa, who ded that DNC is accepting results from 21 polls. 

Million-dollars poured in s 

Steyer and Gillibrand both poured millions of dollars into Facebook and TV s to boost ir standing in recent months. While Steyer met dor threshold, he was one poll shy. Gillibrand was three polls away and h yet to lock in eugh dors. 

Gabbard was two polls away from qualifying, and Williamson was three polls away. Several ors who struggled h alrey chosen to drop out. Washington Gov. Jay Inlsee, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton and former Coloro Gov. John Hickenlooper all recently ended ir campaigns. 

With more than 10 participants, September debate would be first of cycle held on a single night. Earlier debates featured 20 candidates split across two nights. Biden, race’s early front-runner, said he would like field to winw even furr. 

“I’m looking forward to getting to place, assuming I’m still around, that it gets down to a smaller number of people so we can have more of a discussion inste of one-minute assertions,” former vice president said Wednesday while campaigning in Spartanburg, South Carolina. 

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