General Election Candidate Criteria

A candidate for statewide office will be invited to participate in a debate or forum produced and broadcast by VPM and its partners for the 2025 general election if the candidate can demonstrate that:

1) The candidate has met all qualifications set by state and local election laws to appear on the ballot as of the date of the debate or forum; and

2) Candidate meets the following criteria:
a. The candidate is the nominee of a political party recognized under state law, as determined by the Virginia Secretary of State’s office; and

b. The candidate has a publicly accessible website or social media account relating to the campaign that contains statements on public policy issues; and

c. The candidate has been named in an independent public opinion poll (the “Poll”) and has received a minimum of ten percent (10%) support, not including any margin of error, in the Poll. The Poll must be professionally conducted after the primary for the current election by an independent pollster, defined as a pollster not commissioned or paid for by a candidate, campaign, political party, political action committee or any financial supporter of the candidate’s campaign; and

d. The candidate has accepted at least $50,000.00 in Net Contributions for the current election cycle, as filed with the Virginia State Board of Elections; or

e. If the Net Contributions threshold stated above cannot be met within 30 days of the scheduled live debate or forum event, the candidate must demonstrate significant media coverage of their issue statements and candidacy including digital, print and broadcast reports. The producers will determine whether this criterion is met in their sole discretion.

The deadline for candidates to demonstrate they meet VPM’s criteria for a debate or forum is 4 p.m. ET on that day which is twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the day of the scheduled debate or forum. VPM and its producing partners have sole discretion in determining the political races for which it will produce and broadcast a debate or forum. VPM reserves the right to cancel any scheduled program. All candidates who qualify to participate in a debate will do so subject to debate guidelines issued by VPM.

For more information about VPM’s candidate criteria, please contact [email protected].