After garnering 19 percent support in a national poll, the billionaire will be on the debate stage, where he is certain to be a target of onstage criticism.
WASHINGTON — Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York has qualified for Wednesday’s debate in Las Vegas, the first time the billionaire will appear onstage alongside his Democratic presidential rivals.
A national poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist released on Tuesday showed Mr. Bloomberg with 19 percent support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, putting him in second place behind Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who had 31 percent. That was a substantial surge since the group’s poll in December, when Mr. Bloomberg received only 4 percent support.
The survey was the fourth national qualifying poll since mid-January that showed Mr. Bloomberg with at least 10 percent support, enough to earn him an invitation to the debate stage before the deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday.
Mr. Bloomberg will face off against Mr. Sanders; Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind.
The debate, which will air on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time, will be hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, Telemundo and The Nevada Independent.
Mr. Bloomberg’s 19 percent mark was his highest level of support in any debate-qualifying national poll to date. The latest national polling average calculated by The New York Times, which was released late last week, put him at 10 percent nationally, behind Mr. Sanders, Mr. Biden and Ms. Warren.
Mr. Sanders’s support has also increased since the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll in December, when he had 22 percent. The new poll is the first debate-qualifying national poll released this year showing Mr. Sanders with more than 30 percent support.
In the new poll, Mr. Biden had 15 percent, Ms. Warren 12 percent, Ms. Klobuchar 9 percent and Mr. Buttigieg 8 percent. The poll surveyed 527 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents by phone Feb. 13-16 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus five percentage points.
Mr. Bloomberg formally entered the race in November, nearly a year after most of the other candidates. He failed to make the cut for the past several debates in part because he is not accepting outside contributions for his campaign. But new rules announced by the Democratic National Committee opened the door to his participation, as they enabled candidates to qualify for the Las Vegas debate, as well as the one that will take place on Feb. 25 in Charleston, S.C., without meeting a donor threshold.
Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that Mr. Bloomberg would take part in the next debate.
“Mike is looking forward to joining the other Democratic candidates onstage and making the case for why he’s the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and unite the country,” Mr. Sheekey said. “The opportunity to discuss his workable and achievable plans for the challenges facing this country is an important part of the campaign process.”
Also on Tuesday, Monmouth University released a poll of Virginia voters showing Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Sanders tied at 22 percent each and leading the field. With 99 delegates at stake, Virginia is the fourth-largest prize on the Super Tuesday calendar, and Monmouth’s is the first poll to have been taken there since the summer. It is one of the first polls of any state in which Mr. Bloomberg has broken 20 percent, reflecting the intense focus that he has put on the states that vote March 3. (The Virginia poll has no effect on qualifications for this week’s debate.)