Mike Gravel Qualifies for July DNC Debate with 65,000 Unique Donors

Mike Gravel: “We Made It.”
Announcement Follows the Gravel Campaign Hitting DNC Debate Threshold for 65,000 Donors

New York, NY: The Gravel campaign announced today that it has received contributions from 65,000 unique donors, meeting the DNC threshold to qualify for the July Democratic debates. Since launching in April, the campaign has raised over $300,000 with a just over $4 average donation, and its grassroots support continues to grow.

Senator Mike Gravel has the most progressive platform of any Democrat candidate, and is looking forward to sharing his views on the July debate stage in Michigan. “I’m grateful to every one of the 65,000 who donated to our campaign, and the thousands more that have followed and supported us,” Gravel said. “I will do all I can to ensure their voices not be silenced in this primary.”

On the debate stage, Gravel will demand that America withdraw troops from its bases abroad; end (and prevent future) forever wars; ban foreign arms sales; normalize relations with the Koreas; join the International Criminal Court; and send Henry Kissinger to the Hague. Audiences can also expect him to speak on decriminalizing drugs, giving amnesty to whistleblowers, and supporting sex workers.

STATEMENT FROM CAMPAIGN MANAGER ON DEBATE QUALIFICATION

“Now that we have reached the requisite number of donors, it is up to the DNC to show their commitment to a fair and open nominating process and include Sen. Gravel in the July debate. The campaign has retained counsel and is currently in talks with the DNC over the validity of the polling method of qualification, given that well over half of DNC’s approved polls methodically and consistently excluded Sen. Gravel despite the campaign’s documented, repeated outreach to both pollsters and the DNC for inclusion.

“It would be absurd if the Gravel campaign, standing at more than 65,000 donors with significant grassroots enthusiasm, is excluded based on polls that categorically refused to engage with us in good faith, while candidates like John Hickenloopers - at 13,000 donors, with no real support, and losing most of its staff - are taken ‘seriously’ and invited to the debate.

“If the DNC were to exclude us, the campaign is also developing contingency plans that would allow us to spread our vital message. We kept our receipts, we have retained legal counsel. Our goal in this campaign has always been to shift the conversation, and we will persist in doing so.

“We’re running to win. Not only to win the debate, not simply to win the presidency, but more importantly, to win a just - and peaceful - America for everyone.”