Harris Among Democrats Participating In Presidential Debate

MIAMI, FL — This week's two-night political spectacle in Miami starting Wednesday is shaping up to look more like a football game than a Democratic presidential debate. A total of 20 presidential candidates, including California Sen. Kamala Harris, will take the stage at Miami's Adriene Arsht Center over two nights — 10 candidates on Wednesday and 10 on Thursday.

Harris, a Democrat, announced her run on Twitter at the same time she appeared on Good Morning America on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. She cited the civil rights leader as an inspiration in her own campaign. Before being elected to the Senate in 2016, the Oakland native served as the California Attorney General and the San Francisco District Attorney.

The debate will air at 6 p.m. on June 26 and 27 on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo. It will be streamed online for free on a variety of digital and social platforms.

Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Jose Diaz-Balart, Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd will be the NBC News personalities onstage in Miami. NBC has been skittish about revealing too much in advance.

The network wouldn't talk about topics on the agenda — that's typical — and until Tuesday, kept under wraps details about how it would run.

With less than 48 hours' notice, NBC announced the candidates would have 60 seconds to answer questions and 30 seconds for follow-ups. The candidates will be allowed closing statements but no openers.

Rashida Jones, the NBC news executive behind this inaugural Democratic presidential debate, will have to juggle all 20 candidates, five news personalities and quite possibly one tweeting president.

Watch the 2020 Democratic presidential debate.

"Primary debates are a big prestige event for every network," said Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of Hofstra University's school of communication, who had Jones' job four years ago. "It's why every network tries to get one and tries to get as many as they can. It's a branding opportunity."

The American voting public will have four hours to get to know the candidates and to decide who will get their donations.

"It's a sound bite competition," Lukasiewicz said.

NBC's decision to include five of its own people also crowds the stage. They won't be on at the same time: The teams of Guthrie and Diaz-Balart, and Todd and Maddow, will moderate an hour each night, with Holt and Guthrie a constant presence. Some debate experts wonder if this will hurt the event's flow and cost opportunities for conversational follow-ups.

The following candidates have been invited to participate in the Miami debate:

• Sen. Michael Bennet (Born in New Delhi, India; U.S. Sen. from Colorado)
• Former Vice President Joe Biden* (Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Served as U.S. Senator from Delaware)
• Sen. Cory Booker (Born in Washington, D.C.; U.S. Senator from New Jersey)
• Mayor Pete Buttigieg (Born in South Bend, Indiana; Mayor of South Bend).
• Sec. Julian Castro (Born in San Antonio, Texas; Former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas and Obama cabinet member.
• Mayor Bill de Blasio (Born in Manhattan and Mayor of New York)
• Rep. John Delaney (Born in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey; U.S. Representative from Maryland.
• Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Born in Leloaloa, American Samoa; U.S. Representative from Hawaii)
• Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (Born in Albany, New York; U.S. Senator from New York)
• Sen. Kamala Harris (Born in Oakland, California; U.S. Senator from California)
• ·Gov. John Hickenlooper (Born in Narberth, Pennsylvania; Served as Governor of Colorado)
• Gov. Jay Inslee (Born in Seattle, Washington; Governor of Washington)
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Born in Plymouth, Minnesota; U.S. Senator from Minnesota)
• Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Born in El Paso, Texas; Former U.S. Representative from Texas)
• Rep. Tim Ryan (Born in Niles, Ohio; U.S. Representative from Ohio)
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (Born in Brooklyn, New York; U.S. Senator from Vermont)
• Rep. Eric Swalwell (Born in Sac City, Iowa; U.S. Representative from California)
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; U.S. Senator from Massachusetts)
• Marianne Williamson (Born in Houston, Texas; Unsuccessful candidate for California’s 33rd congressional district)
• Andrew Yang (Born in Schenectady, New York; Founder of Venture for America in New York)

By Paul Scicchitano, Patch Staff

Autumn Johnson, Patch Staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.