What's next for the Democratic hopefuls after Houston?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The debate is only the latest hurdle in the long road to the Democratic primaries. The candidates' debate performance can shake things up, but there are a few things we already know that will happen next in the race.

Democratic debate number 4 is set to happen in Ohio.

Both Oct. 15 and 16 are the DNC's designated nights, although it's unclear whether both nights will be needed.

Houston's debate whittled down the pack to the top 10 and only required one night. There's no guarantee the Ohio debate will be the same.

It's likely that 11 candidates will take the stage, possibly requiring a second night.

Billionaire Tom Steyer didn't qualify for the Houston debate, but has qualified for the fourth debate.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, at one point, signaled she also may qualify for the next debate, although the DNC disagreed, saying there was a different set of polls deciding the fourth debate's participants.

Candidates have until the end of the month to meet the DNC bar of donors and polling scores to make it onto the stage.

There's a fifth debate set for November and a sixth set for December. There's also at least one town hall-style conversation scheduled before the end of the year.

All this leads up to the primaries in 2020.

The first votes in the Democratic primary will be cast on Feb. 3, 2020 at the Iowa Caucus. Texas won't vote until Super Tuesday on March 3, 2020.

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