General Election Candidate Criteria

A candidate for federal office will be invited to participate in an Iowa PBS debate or forum produced and broadcast by Iowa PBS for the 2024 general election if the candidate can demonstrate that:

1. Candidate is qualified by the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office for a place on the general election ballot and remains qualified as of the date of the debate or forum; and
2. Candidate meets at least four (4) of the following five (5) criteria:
   • The candidate is the nominee of a political party recognized under state law, as determined by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office;
   • The candidate has a publicly accessible website or social media account relating to the campaign that contains at least 3 statements on public policy issues;
   • The candidate has accepted at least $50,000 in Net Contributions for the current election cycle, as filed with the Federal Election Commission on FEC Form 3 (Line 6(c), Column B, Election Cycle-to-Date) or FEC Form 3Z (Part 2, Line 6(c)).
   • The candidate has received more than incidental press coverage, in at least five (5) bona fide print, online, radio, television, or cable TV news stories that identify him/her as a candidate for the current election); and/or,
   • The candidate has been named in a public opinion survey professionally conducted after the primary for the current election by an independent pollster the candidate has received a minimum of ten percent (10%) support, not including any margin of error. For the purposes of these criteria, “independent” shall mean the poll has not been commissioned or paid for by a candidate, campaign, political party, political action committee or any person or entity that financially supports the candidate’s campaign.

The deadline for candidates to demonstrate they meet Iowa PBS’s criteria for a debate or forum is 4 p.m. CT on that day that is twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the day of the scheduled debate or forum. Iowa PBS has sole discretion in determining the political races for which it will produce and broadcast a debate or forum. Iowa PBS reserves the right to cancel any scheduled program. For more information about Iowa PBS’s candidate criteria, please contact candidatecriteria@iowapbs.org.