New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s advocacy group, The Progessive Agenda, has announced that they will hold a bipartisan presidential forum in Iowa on December 6. The topic will be income inequality and steps to address it.
The top five candidates on each side, as determined by an averaging of national polls, will be given the chance to speak. If a candidate chooses to not appear, the group will extend the invitation to the next highest ranking candidate. However, the group will only go to the top seven candidates.
The group will partner with a nonpartisan media outlet and have a moderator to pose questions to the candidates. Each candidate will have the stage to his or herself, plus the moderator.
Mayor de Blasio will attend the forum, but will not have a role in it. The New York Mayor, who previously worked for the Clintons, has not endorsed any presidential candidate.
Prelimiary invitations have been sent to all of the announced Democratic candidates, minus Professor Lawrence Lessig. Thirteen Republicans have been sent the Prelimiary invitations as well.
The campaigns have until October 20 to reply with their response.