Klobuchar's polling uptick lands her spot in next debate
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar cleared a threshold Thursday that will keep her on the Democratic presidential debate stage.
With the release of a new Quinnipiac University poll showing her at 3 percent support, Klobuchar met the minimum requirement set by the Democratic National Committee.
The DNC has been gradually increasing the standards for candidates to qualify for debates by showing viability in polling and fundraising. For a Nov. 20 debate in Georgia, candidates had to have at least three percent support in four established polls and 165,000 unique donors during their campaigns.
Klobuchar long ago met the fundraising benchmark but only satisfied the other requirement in polls released this week.
Both the new Quinnipiac poll and a fresh survey from CNN showed her with 3 percent backing in the crowded field, meaning she still trails the front-running candidates by a significant margin.
Nine Democrats have now qualified for the fifth debate in the race.
Exposure from debate participation has been critical for hopefuls beneath the top tier of candidates. Other White House seekers have had to end their campaigns after being left off stage.
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