Somehow there are still over a dozen Democrats in the race for 2020, and 13 of them will be in town in SF this weekend for the Democratic National Committee’s Summer Meeting.
This follows closely on the California Democratic Party's Organizing Convention that happened here in June, and even then 13 or 14 candidates came to town. Now, it sounds like almost everyone still in the race except Joe Biden is coming to San Francisco, according to KPIX, and they'll be at the Hilton San Francisco in Union Square all weekend. Those coming: Senators Kamala Harris, Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren; U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton and Tim Ryan; Julian Castro, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer and former Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak.
Attendees will reportedly "participate in caucus, council and committee meetings," and the candidates will likely be out stumping as well. We already known Marianne Williamson, who was just in town last week, is doing an event Friday at the First Unitarian Universalist Church on Franklin Street.
Per NBC Bay Area, candidates who can't attend this weekend's meeting may appear via video conference.
To be clear, not all of these people have even qualified for the September debate because their poll and fundraising numbers are too low — and a couple candidates who are close will not be in attendance, because they've got some serious work to do. As the New York Times reports, Steyer still needs one more qualifying poll in which he gets 2 percent or more; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard needs two more polls; and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand needs three more polls and 20,000 more donors. The ten who have already qualified are Biden, Booker, Castro, Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders, Warren, Yang, Pete Buttigieg, and Beto O'Rourke. To qualify, candidates must show they have 130,000 donors and have ranked at 2 percent or above in four qualifying polls.
If just one more candidate qualifies, the debate will have to be split over two nights like the last debate, because the Dems have decided 10 is the maximum for a single debate.
The DNC's Summer Meeting kicks off today, and attendees can still register here.
Photo courtesy of Hilton San Francisco