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Here’s Your Guide To The Fourth Democratic Primary Debate

The top 12 Democratic White House hopefuls will square off Tuesday night in the fourth primary debate this election cycle. Here’s how to tune in.

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The top 12 Democratic White House hopefuls will square off Tuesday night in the fourth primary debate this election cycle in what The New York Times has reported as the largest debate in American history.

The top Democratic contenders will face each other at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, a growing northeast suburb of Columbus that has been a presidential hotspot attracting candidates in each election cycle since Bob Dole in 1996.

The primetime event will be hosted and moderated by CNN and The New York Times and will air on the network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Viewers can also stream the event online at CNN.com or NYTimes.com in addition to each organization’s mobile apps. SiriusXM channels 116, 454, 795, the Westwood One Radio Network, and National Public Radio will also air the debate.

The three-hour debate will be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett with New York Times national editor Marc Lacey.

Candidates who qualified for the third debate held in September automatically earned a spot on the October stage joined now by two additional candidates, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and billionaire Tom Steyer, who have since met the thresholds to participate. Candidates must have scored at least 2 percent in four Democratic National Committee pre-approved polls in addition to identifying more than 130,000 unique donors by the beginning of the month.

Here is the lineup for the Otterbein showdown as they will appear on stage from left to right:

  • U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
  • Billionaire Tom Steyer
  • Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
  • Senator Kamala Harris of California
  • Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
  • Former vice president Joe Biden
  • Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
  • South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg
  • Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang
  • Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke
  • Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
  • Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro

Candidates who failed to make the cut include Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former U.S. representative John Delaney of Maryland, Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, former U.S. representative Joe Sestak, and self-help author Marianne Williamson.

The Democratic Party’s fourth primary debate comes at a pivotal point in American politics, as President Donald Trump faces an impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats centering on the president’s phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart.

The most recent political scandal plaguing the White House has also put Biden and his family’s business interests in the Eastern European country under closer scrutiny, threatening to derail the former vice president’s campaign as Warren continues her steady rise in the polls to claim frontrunner status. Sanders continues to fade with the rest of the pack as more questions surrounding the Vermont senator’s health heighten concerns over Sanders’ age and stamina to take on Trump next fall following a recent heart attack.

Gabbard formally announced Monday that she will participate in the Tuesday night debate after threatening to boycott the event in protest of the criteria required.

The debates have been critical to keeping Gabbard’s campaign afloat garnering the Hawaii congressman much-needed attention and making Gabbard the highest-searched candidate on Google following the first two primary debates, in which she participated. In July, Gabbard made headlines for eviscerating Kamala Harris’s record on aggressive prosecutorial conduct leading to further mass incarceration as California’s attorney general.