4th Democratic presidential debate set for Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio _ The fourth debate among Democratic presidential candidates will be held at Otterbein University in Westerville.
The Democratic National Committee made the announcement Friday afternoon.
The debate is set for Oct. 15 and presumably Oct. 16, since 11 candidates have now qualified. The 10 who debated Thursday night in Houston automatically qualify, since the criteria for the Ohio matchup is the same. In additional, impeachment advocate Tom Steyer also has qualified, which apparently would mean the Ohio debate would take two nights unless they put 11 at once on the stage.
In theory, the number could be lowered if any who took part in the Texas debate drops out.
Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper hailed the locale as appropriate, since many suburbs such as Westerville are growing more Democratic.
"What we've seen in the suburbs of Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and other cities mirrors what has happened in places like Harris County, Texas, and Orange County, California _ suburban voters, particularly women, are backing Democratic candidates in response to the broken promises and toxic agenda of Donald Trump," Pepper said in a release.
"In 2018, Ohio House Democrats flipped six seats from red to blue, and those pickups came in suburban communities like Westerville. Sen. Sherrod Brown's 7-point victory was powered not just by traditional Democratic voters, but by historic gains in our suburbs."
Previous debates were held in Miami and Detroit.
_The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
