2024 Elections

Which Candidates and Topics Got the Most Time During the Democratic Debate

How Long Each Candidate Spoke

Economy

Health care

Immigration

Gun control

Climate change

Foreign policy

How Long Each Candidate Spoke

Each bar segment represents the length of a candidate’s response to a question.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Beto O’Rourke, a former congressman from Texas, spoke the most during the first Democratic presidential debate. Ten candidates participated on Wednesday, and 10 more will be part of a second debate on Thursday.

Here are some key questions the candidates were asked, where they found common ground and where they disagreed.

How Would You Address Gun Violence?

The candidates mostly agreed on the need to tighten the country’s gun laws, though some highlighted different priorities.

ElizabethWarren
We need to treat it like a serious research problem which we have not done.
TimRyan
We need to start dealing with the trauma that our kids have. We need trauma-based care in every school.
Billde Blasio
If we’re going to stop these shootings we have to get these guns off the streets. We have to have a very different relationship between our police and our community.
CoryBooker
If you need a license to drive a car, you should need a license to buy and own a firearm.

Should Illegal Entry Be a Crime?

The two Texans, Julián Castro and Mr. O’Rourke, disagreed over whether to maintain a section of the law that criminalizes illegal entry into the United States. Mr. Castro’s plan would downgrade illegal entry to a civil offense.

Mr. Booker and Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio agreed with Mr. Castro.

JuliánCastro
They use that law, section 1325, to justify under the law, separating little children from their families. I want to challenge every candidate on this stage to support the repeal of section 1325.
CoryBooker
I agree with him on that issue, but folks should understand that the separation of children from families doesn’t just go on at our border. It happens in our communities as ICE are ripping away parents from their American children, spouses and the like.
TimRyan
There are other provisions in the law that will allow you to prosecute people for coming over if they are dealing in drugs and other things. That's already established in the law. There is no need to repeat it.

Mr. O’Rourke has said that he wants to ensure there is a legal mechanism to address criminals crossing the border illegally. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota did not commit to a position, but appeared to have the same concerns as Mr. O’Rourke.

BetoO’Rourke
If we apprehend a known smuggler or drug trafficker, we’re going to ensure that they are deported and criminally prosecuted.
AmyKlobuchar
I am happy to look at his proposal, but I do think you want to make sure that you have provisions in place that allow you to go after traffickers and allow you to go after people who are violating the law.

Bill DeBlasio, mayor of New York, interjected with a line that garnered applause from the audience.

Billde Blasio
We have to get under the skin of why we have this crisis in our system, because we’re not being honest about the division that’s been fomented in this country. The way that American citizens have been told that immigrants somehow created their misery and their pain and their challenges.

“Medicare for All” or “Public Option”?

Two candidates raised their hands when asked whether they supported abolishing private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan, often called “Medicare for all”: Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mr. de Blasio.

ElizabethWarren
Yes, I’m with Bernie on Medicare-for-all.
Billde Blasio
Private insurance is not working for tens of millions of Americans.

Other candidates expressed support for a public option, in which everyone would have the option to buy a government-run health care plan, while still giving people the option to buy private insurance, at least in the immediate future.

JohnDelaney
We should give everyone in this country health care as a basic human right for free — full stop. But we should also give them the option to buy private insurance.
BetoO’Rourke
We preserve choice by making sure that everyone has health care. No, I think that choice is fundamental to our ability to have everyone cared for.
TulsiGabbard
I also think if you look at other countries in the world who have universal health care, everyone of them has some form of a role of private insurance.
AmyKlobuchar
I think it is a beginning and the way you start and the way you move to universal health care.
CoryBooker
When I am president of the United States, I’m not going to wait. We have to do the things immediately that are going to provide better care.

What Is the Greatest Geopolitical Threat to the United States?

Here is how each candidate responded (some gave more than one answer).

Climate Change

Russia

Donald Trump

O’Rourke

Warren

de Blasio

Inslee

Castro

Booker

Iran

China

Nuclear Weapons

Klobuchar

Ryan

Delaney

Gabbard

Climate Change

Russia

Donald Trump

O’Rourke

Warren

de Blasio

Inslee

Castro

Booker

Iran

China

Nuclear Weapons

Klobuchar

Ryan

Delaney

Gabbard

Climate Change

Russia

Donald Trump

O’Rourke

Warren

de Blasio

Inslee

Castro

Booker

Iran

China

Nuclear Weapons

Klobuchar

Ryan

Delaney

Gabbard

Climate Change

O’Rourke

Warren

Castro

Booker

China

Nuclear Weapons

Ryan

Gabbard

Delaney

Klobuchar

Iran

Donald Trump

Inslee

Russia

de Blasio

Climate Change

O’Rourke

Warren

Castro

Booker

China

Nuclear

Weapons

Ryan

Delaney

Gabbard

Klobuchar

Iran

Donald Trump

Russia

Inslee

de Blasio

What Makes Them Different

This question wasn’t asked, but several candidates found ways to highlight their accomplishments and life experiences to try to stand out.

AmyKlobuchar
In fact, Donald Trump, one of the first bills that he signed of the 34 he signed where I was the lead Democrat – okay that’s a first up here – was one that was about that, making sure minority community members could share in those jobs.
JohnDelaney
You know, I’m very different than everyone else here on this stage. Prior to being in Congress, I was an entrepreneur. I started two businesses. I created thousands of jobs.
Billde Blasio
I also want to say there’s something that sets me apart from all my colleagues running in this race and that is, for the last 21 years, I’ve been raising a black son in America. And I have had to have very very serious talks with my son Dante about how to protect himself on the streets of our city and all over this country.
JayInslee
On climate change: “And I am the only candidate – frankly, I’m surprised – I’m the only candidate who’s made this commitment to make it the top priority.”
JuliánCastro
I’m proud that I’m the only candidate so far that has put forward legislation that would reform our policing system in America and make sure that no matter what the color of your skin is that you’re treated the same, including Latinos who are mistreated too often times by police.

Where They Are From

Many candidates talked about their identities — citing their home states, their upbringing and their families.

JuliánCastro
I grew up with a mother who raised my brother Joaquin and me as a single parent. And I know what it’s like to struggle.
ElizabethWarren
By the time I graduated from high school, my family, my family didn’t have the money for a college application, much less a chance for me to go to college.
AmyKlobuchar
My own dad and my sister got their first degrees with community college. There’s many paths to success as well as certifications. Secondly, I’ve used Pell grants.
JuliánCastro
Like many of you, I know the promise of America. My grandmother came here when she was 7 years old as an immigrant from Mexico.
TimRyan
I’ve had family members that had to unbolt a machine from the factory floor, put it in a box and ship it to China. My area where I come from in northeast Ohio, this issue we’re talking about here, it’s been going on forty years.
CoryBooker
I live in a low-income black and brown community. I see every single day that this economy is not working for average Americans.
JohnDelaney
My dad was a union electrician. Right, I actually grew up in a working class family. He loved the health care that the I.B.E.W. gave him.

Read the full transcript from the debate »

By WEIYI CAI, JASON KAO, JASMINE C. LEE, ALICIA PARLAPIANO and JUGAL K. PATEL