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Six Republican presidential candidates have met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) new criteria to participate in the first GOP debate on 23 August.
Former president Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina senator Tim Scott have all qualified.
All six candidates have had at least 40,000 unique donors from 20+ states and/or territories contribute to their campaigns and maintained at least one per cent in two national polls and two early state polls.
This past year, the RNC added a list of criteria that candidates must meet to qualify for the first debate, as the pool of GOP hopefuls grows larger each passing month.
In addition to the 40,000 unique donors and one per cent polling, candidates also must commit to supporting the RNC’s eventual nominee and not participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debates for the remainder of the election cycle.
The first debate is set to occur at the end of August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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As of now, Mr Trump is leading in most national polls but the ex-president said he is unsure if he will attend the first RNC debate.
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In an interview with Fox News, Mr Trump said: “Ronald Reagan didn’t do it, and a lot of other people didn’t do it. When you have a big lead, you don’t do it.”
Trailing behind Mr Trump is Mr DeSantis, who said he plans to show up to the debate regardless of Mr Trump’s decision.
Mr DeSantis was thought to be the leading rival against Mr Trump, however, recent polling shows other candidates catching up to the Florida governor like Mr Ramaswamy and Ms Haley.
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Mr Ramaswamy is experiencing a polling boom as voters in New Hampshire indicated there’s an 18 per cent chance they’d consider him as a second choice. Nationally, he’s polling at 10 per cent, according to RealClearPolitics.
On Saturday, Mr Ramaswamy’s campaign said he had met the criteria, which he called “stringent but fair.”
“I am a first-time candidate who started with very low name ID, no political donors and no pre-existing fundraising lists,” Mr Ramaswamy said in a statement. “If an outsider can clear the bar, politically experienced candidates should be able to as well.”
Ms Haley is slightly behind Mr Ramaswamy, polling at 14 per cent in South Carolina, according to a Fox Business poll, and four per cent nationally, according to RealClearPolitics.
Mr Scott and Mr Christie both announced last week they had met the 40,000 unique donors threshold. Polling shows both candidates maintaining approximately two per cent favorability in national polls and six to eight per cent in New Hampshire.
Recommended GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lists Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee as possible Supreme Court picks
While the six have qualified as of 24 July, other candidates may join the debate stage as they have until 21 August to meet the criteria.
Former vice president Mike Pence is expected to join the group. He told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that while he has met the polling criteria, he had not yet garnered 40,000 unique donors. He said his campaign was working “around the clock” to get there.
“I’m confident we’ll be there,” Mr Pence said.
North Dakota governor Doug Burgum told Twitter followers he met the 40,000 unique donor threshold last week but it is unclear if has secured his spot on the debate stage due to his polling numbers.
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson told Good Morning America last week that he had not met the 40,000 donor threshold yet. National polling shows Mr Hutchinson hovering around the one per cent mark.
More about US election 2024 RNC GOP debate Donald Trump Ron Desantis Vivek Ramaswamy Chris Christie Nikki Haley Tim Scott Asa Hutchinson
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1/ 1The 2024 candidates who have met criteria to join first RNC debate
The 2024 candidates who have met criteria to join first RNC debate
This combination of 2023 photos shows, from left, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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