Former New York mayor and Democratic presidential aspirant Micheal Bloomberg has qualified for Wednesday's debate in Las Vegas after garnering 19 percent support in a national poll.
The former Republican made a surprise late surge in national poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist. According to results released on Tuesday, the billionaire came second with 19 percent support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, behind Senator Bernie Sanders, who had 31 percent.
Former Vice President Joe Biden finished third winning 15 percent of the voters' support, while Senator Elizabeth Warren received 12 percent.
Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer, the other remaining contenders in the battle for a Democratic ticket to challenge President Donald Trump in November's election, polled in single digits.
Only six candidates - Bloomberg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Klobuchar and Buttigieg will make it to the debate stage Wednesday night.
This is going to be Bloomberg's first appearance in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates, and the 19 percent support marks his highest level of support in any debate-qualifying national poll so far.
The 78-year-old CEO and majority owner of Bloomberg L.P. served as Mayor of New York city for three consecutive terms beginning in 2002.
NBC News and MSNBC, in partnership with The Nevada Independent, will host the ninth debate in Paris Las Vegas on Wednesday, which will air at 9 p.m. ET.
Three candidates - Senator Michael Bennet, Andrew Yang and Deval Patrick - suspended their campaign after disappointing performance in the New Hampshire primary, reducing the strength of the Democratic battlefield to eight.
Meanwhile, prominent national Latino group Mijente endorsed Bernie Sanders ahead of the caucuses in Nevada, where there is a significant Hispanic electorate.
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