Democratic Presidential Debate, Tuesday, Jan. 14

The next Democratic debate will be held on Tuesday, January 14 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, starting at 9 pm ET. CNN and the Des Moines Register will host the debate, which will be the seventh showdown the party’s primary candidates have had this election cycle. After that, you can expect at least three more debates before the year even enters its third month: one in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Friday, February 7, the next in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, February 19, and another in Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday, February 25.

(The pattern here: The debates are all just days ahead of the caucuses and primaries in the respective dates they’re being held.)

The Democratic National Committee has gradually increased the qualifications throughout this cycle, and the threshold for January will be the highest yet: Candidates will have to get at least 5 percent support in four DNC-approved national polls or 7 percent support in two early primary voting state polls, and they must have at least 225,000 donors. For the December debate, candidates had to get at least 4 percent support in at least four national polls or 6 percent support in two single-state polls in early voting states. On top of that, they had to have received donations from at least 200,000.