Julián Castro Qualifies for the Next Democratic Debate

The new CNN poll also helped Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii inch closer to debate qualification. Like Mr. Castro, she earned 2 percent support in the poll, leaving her just two surveys short of meeting the D.N.C. standard. She has already surpassed the donor threshold. Ms. Gabbard left the trail last week in order to fulfill her obligations with the National Guard, and is scheduled to resume campaign activities on Aug. 25.

Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund investor and billionaire turned impeachment activist, needs only one more qualifying poll to make the cut for the debates, having already met the donor standard. When he entered the race in July, his team said he planned to spend at least $100 million on the race. In the weeks since, he has spent million of dollars on internet and television ads that have helped him attract donors. He received 1 percent support in Tuesday’s CNN poll.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who received less than 1 percent support in Tuesday’s poll, is the only other candidate who has earned 2 percent support in a qualifying poll. She has amassed more than 100,000 individual donations.

No other candidate in the 23-person field is particularly close to making the debate stage. Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington announced Monday that he had crossed the 130,000 donor threshold, but he needs to earn 2 percent support in four polls in the next week to qualify.

And early Tuesday, the self-help author Marianne Williamson announced that she had met the donor requirement, but like Mr. Inslee, she needs to earn 2 percent in four qualifying polls.

The CNN poll released Tuesday had Mr. Biden in the lead with 29 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters selecting him as their first choice for the nomination. Mr. Sanders finished next with 15 percent support, closely followed by Ms. Warren with 14 percent.

Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Harris finished in a distant tie for fourth, both with 5 percent support. Ms. Harris had earned 17 percent support when the CNN survey was last conducted in late June, immediately following a standout performance in the first debate.

The poll was conducted Aug. 15 to 18 and surveyed a total of 402 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who are registered to vote. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.

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