2 moderators for debate in Miami have local roots

Two journalists from South Florida are part of NBC’s roster of moderators for the first Democratic presidential debate this month in Miami.

NBC announced that political anchor Chuck Todd, who grew up in Kendall, and José Diaz-Balart, who was born in Fort Lauderdale, will join NBC anchors Savannah Guthrie and Lester Holt and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow June 26-27 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.

The debate will air live from 9 to 11 p.m. each night on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo.

Holt, who anchors “NBC Nightly News,” will appear in both hours each night. Guthrie and Diaz-Balart will be there with him for the first hour; Todd and Maddow will appear with Holt in the second hour.

Todd, a graduate of Miami Killian Senior High, moderates “Meet the Press” Sunday mornings. Diaz Balart, a Cuban-American and the brother of Miami Congressman Mario DiazBalart, anchors “Noticias Telemundo” and “NBC Nightly News Saturday.”

The debate, which is being run by NBC, will feature 20 candidates over the Wednesday and Thursday nights (10 will take part in each debate).

To qualify, candidates will have to either meet thresholds of 1 percent in national polls or in early primary states or receive contributions from 65,000 different donors, with at least 200 of them in each of at least 20 states.

The Arsht Center said that people interested in getting information for tickets for the debate should visit https://my.democrats.org/First-Debate.

Three years ago, Miami Dade College hosted the Democratic and Republican debates at its Kendall campus.