Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang only gained 5 percent support in two out of the four DNC-approved qualifying polls needed to make the January debate next week, meaning he will not take the stage this month. The news could be a blow amid recent polls that show him on the rise.
Following Friday’s deadline for the debate, the campaign released a statement addressing the news, pointing to the latest survey from CNN and The Des Moines Register — the hosts of the debate — that put Yang at 5 percent support. The statement included two internal polls that the campaign commissioned from Patinkin Research Strategies and Myers Research in the early states of New Hampshire and Nevada, respectively, both of which put Yang at 5 percent support.
The campaign noted that the Democratic Party has worked with both pollsters for years. In addition, the pollsters have reportedly conducted surveys for party organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, and National Democratic County Officials.
“Both pollsters would have been considered by the DNC if they had commissioned any early state polls,” the statement reads.
“If the DNC had only done their due diligence and commissioned polls in the early states, Andrew Yang would certainly be on the debate stage next week,” said campaign chief Nick Ryan. “We are not going to allow the DNC to dictate who they wish to see as the nominee and deny the will of the people.”
Ryan continued to claim that the defining issues of the current election, as well as the “future of our country,” cannot be ignored in favor of “staged political bickering.”
“The DNC tried to run this same play in 2016 and they paid for it with a loss in the general.”
Driving around New Hampshire and seeing these signs everywhere! Nice work #YangGang ! ??? pic.twitter.com/KYrcn5ZyT7
— Andrew Yang????? (@AndrewYang) January 11, 2020
Yang previously called out the DNC for its lack of early state polls — a criticism that was supported by fellow candidates Cory Booker and Tom Steyer. The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur noted that early states like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina are where all of the candidates have invested much of their time, staff, and resources.
The Yang campaign’s senior adviser, Steve Marchand, also criticized the DNC, noting that the polling criteria were meant to gauge to results of candidates’ efforts to work early states. He suggested that with no early state polls between the debates, the concept “falls apart.”
RealClearPolitics puts Yang in sixth place in the primary with 3.5 percent support. His position is notable as other candidates polling lower than him — Tom Steyer and Amy Klobuchar — qualified for the debate.
