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  • Democratic Presidential Debate Update

    The number of Democratic presidential candidates remains in flux. Back in July there were two dozen plus contenders. In a fourteen day period – November 14 to December 3 – four individuals withdrew from the race. Two, however, joined the race: former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on November 14 followed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on November 24. The current cast is down to fifteen.

    Note: On January 2, Julián Castro suspended his campaign and Marianne Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff while remaining in the race. The cast of participants thins.

    The sixth Democratic debate is scheduled for Thursday, December 19 to be held in Los Angeles. It will be sponsored by PBS NewsHour and POLITICO.

    The active Democratic contenders are (in alphabetical order):
    Michael Bennet, Senator from Colorado
    Joe Biden, former Vice President of the United States
    Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City
    Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey
    Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana
    John Delaney, former Congressman from Maryland
    Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii
    Amy Klobuchar, Senator from Minnesota
    Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts
    Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont
    Tom Steyer, former hedge fund executive
    Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts
    Marianne Williamson, author
    Andrew Yang, tech company executive

    There are thirteen candidates who have withdrawn or suspended their campaign. They are:
    Julián Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, suspended January 2, 2020
    Kamala Harris, Senator from California, withdrew December 3, 2019
    Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana, withdrew December 2, 2019
    Joe Sestak, former Congressman from Pennsylvania, withdrew December 1, 2019
    Wayne Messam, Mayor of Miramar, Florida, withdrew November 20, 2019
    Beto O’Rourke, former Congressman from Texas, withdrew November 1, 2019
    Tim Ryan, Congressman from Ohio; withdrew October 24, 2019
    Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City; withdrew September 20, 2019
    Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator from New York; withdrew August 28, 2019
    Seth Moulton, Congressman from Massachusetts; withdrew August 23, 2019
    Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State; withdrew August 21, 2019
    John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado; withdrew August 15, 2019
    Eric Swalwell, Congressman from California; withdrew July 8, 2019

    POLITICO reports six candidates have already qualified, as of December 3, for the December 19th debate. They are: Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer and Warren. Candidates Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang may still qualify as they have already matched the donor threshold requirement. The official list of candidates who will appear on stage in Los Angeles will be announced by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after the December 12 qualification deadline.

    The requirements to participate in the December debate were released in October by the DNC.

    Be a voter.

    Updated January 3, 2020

  • More Democratic Presidential Debates

    The Democratic Presidential debate series continue but with a smaller cast of candidates. Back in July there were twenty-four Democratic presidential candidates. The crowd has slimmed down so perhaps it is appropriate to refresh the list of who is in and who is out. Listed below are the candidates who qualified for the October 15th debate. These debates are conducted using criteria adopted by the Democratic National Committee. The qualification criteria for the upcoming November 20th debate was recently announced.

    The current Democratic contenders are (in alphabetical order):
    Joe Biden, former Vice President of the United States
    Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey
    Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana
    Julian Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
    Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii
    Kamala Harris, Senator from California
    Amy Klobuchar, Senator from Minnesota
    Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont
    Tom Steyer, former hedge fund executive
    Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts
    Andrew Yang, tech company executive

    According to an October 24 story in Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com three, Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro and Tulsi Gabbard, have yet to qualify for the November debate. (Beto withdrew November 1.)

    The contenders who did not meet the requirements for the October debate were:
    Michael Bennet, Senator from Colorado
    Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana
    John Delaney, former Congressman from Maryland
    Wayne Messam, Mayor of Miramar, Florida
    Joe Sestak, former Congressman from Pennsylvania
    Marianne Williamson, author

    The candidates who have withdrawn are:
    Beto O’Rourke, former Congressman from Texas, withdrew November 1, 2019
    Tim Ryan, Congressman from Ohio; withdrew October 24, 2019
    Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City; withdrew September 20, 2019
    Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator from New York; withdrew August 28, 2019
    Seth Moulton, Congressman from Massachusetts; withdrew August 23, 2019
    Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State; withdrew August 21, 2019
    John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado; withdrew August 15, 2019
    Eric Swalwell, Congressman from California; withdrew July 8, 2019

    Want to make a campaign contribution to your preferred Democratic candidate? The best place to make a secure donation is with ActBlue.

    Be a voter.

  • LIHEAP Deadline For New Jersey: August 31

    This is a quick reminder that New Jersey energy consumers have until August 31 to submit an application under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). New Jersey has a very late deadline because of a few factors: declining SNAP enrollment, fear among our immigrant families to apply for social benefits and perhaps a low selection rate of families receiving public assistance. To see if you qualify visit the NJ energy assistance programs income guidelines chart.

    Since the deadline falls on a Saturday, the best option is to complete an application by mail and make sure it has an August 31, 2019 postmark on it. Go to the state website to download an application.