Ten Democratic contenders for the 2020 US presidency took the stage here on Wednesday night for the party's first primary debate, a two-night event scheduled to be attended by 10 others on Thursday.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey are among the first group of participants who have garnered the most support in polls.
They are joined by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, San Antonio ex-mayor Julian Castro, former Maryland congressman John Delaney, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and Ohio congressman Tim Ryan.
Topics that the Democratic hopefuls touched upon included economy, equality, healthcare, education, immigration, gun control, and climate change. Some of them also took a shot at the White House over its handling of issues with Iran.
Wednesday's debate will be followed by another showdown on Thursday night.
In that event, former US Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Senator Kamala Harris of California, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang will take the stage, along with five other contenders, for their match-up.
Together, 20 candidates qualified for the first primary debate, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, after either scoring at least 1 percent support in three qualifying polls or receiving donations from at least 65,000 unique donors.
US President Donald Trump, who reportedly watched Wednesday's debate on his trip to Japan, formally kicked off his 2020 re-election campaign at a rally in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month.
Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States in 2016, after defeating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
He took office on Jan. 20, 2017 and filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for his re-election campaign the same day.
The 2020 US presidential election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2020.
