Martin O'Malley secures a spot in the upcoming Democratic debate after all

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

After rumors that Martin O'Malley would not have enough support in the polls to appear onstage with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, NBC announced Thursday that Martin O'Malley has indeed made the cut.

NBC's criteria for the debate requires candidates to have a minimum polling average of 5 percent either nationally or in New Hampshire, Iowa, or South Carolina. While O'Malley is nowhere near that average nationally, he managed to hold on to his 5 percent average in Iowa with the release of new polls by NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist and The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics, cementing his spot in the fourth and final Democratic debate before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses.

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