Hardy Li (right) with Andrew Yang (Photo by Hardy Li)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has qualified for the next presidential debates. The former technology executive earned 2 percent in a new Monmouth University poll of Iowa voters. That qualifies him for the September debate, which requires donations from at least 130,000 people and 2 percent support in four polls.
Hardy Li, an entrepreneur who travels back and forth between Seattle and Portland, was in Detroit for the second round of debates and said he was impressed with Yang’s performance, though he said the first 56 minutes was difficult as Yang didn’t get a chance to speak since the opening remarks.
Li was part of the planning committee that brought Yang to Seattle for the first time in May.
The two met last year at the 2018 United Chinese Americans Convention, where Yang was a speaker. Li said he has admired Yang from that time on.
Yang, whose campaign has been centered on the promise of a universal basic income, is the ninth candidate to qualify for the fall debates. Yang’s campaign manager Zach Graumann says the campaign has added more than 35,000 donors and raised more than $1 million since the last presidential debate in Detroit.