Democrats meet in sixth presidential debate – live updates

• Download the free free CBS News app for complete coverage of the 2020 presidential race.  
  

The sixth and final Democratic president debate of 2019 takes place at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles Thursday night, and it will be the first debate of the cycle to host fewer than 10 candidates. 

Joe Biden, who remains the closest thing the Democrats have to a clear front-runner, will be on stage. So will his top rivals: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg, who are all competitive, according to recent polls. 

Meanwhile, Amy Klobuchar will continue trying to leap to the top tier of Democratic contenders. And Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer, the only two Democratic candidates on stage who don’t hold elected office, will try to prove that they should be taken seriously as presidential contenders. 

The debate, hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico, was nearly scuttled by a labor dispute at the university. It comes with just weeks to go before the first votes are cast in the Democratic primaries and a day after President Trump became the third president to be impeached. 

The stakes are high for the candidates on stage, especially for the candidates still struggling to gain traction. If one Democratic hopeful has a standout performance tonight, there could be a new front-runner before the end of the year.