Four Republican candidates have officially qualified for the fourth GOP presidential primary debate, scheduled to take place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday night. The announcement was made jointly by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the debate broadcaster, NewsNation, on Monday.
The four candidates who have met the criteria and will participate in the debate are:
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
- Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
- Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
- Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Notably, this debate will feature the smallest lineup of candidates so far this year. Former President Donald Trump, who remains the front-runner for the GOP nomination, has chosen to skip the event, as he has done with all previous debates. Instead, he plans to attend a fundraiser in Florida organized by a super PAC supporting his candidacy.
This announcement comes at a critical juncture, with only six weeks remaining until the Iowa caucuses kick off the 2024 GOP nomination calendar. In the lead-up to the debate, Governor Ron DeSantis and former Governor Nikki Haley have been engaged in intense competition to establish themselves as the top primary rivals to Donald Trump.
To qualify for the Tuscaloosa debate stage, candidates had to meet more stringent donor and polling criteria set by the Republican National Committee. These criteria included:
- Accumulating at least 80,000 unique donors, with a minimum of 200 donors from at least 20 states or territories.
- Achieving a polling threshold of at least 6% support in two qualifying national polls or in one national poll and two polls from different early-voting states, namely Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Nevada.
- Agreeing to sign a pledge committing to support the eventual GOP nominee, a requirement similar to those of previous debates.
Earlier on the same day, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum withdrew from the GOP race, citing concerns about the RNC’s stricter debate qualification thresholds. Burgum, who qualified for the first two debates but not the third one in Miami last month, expressed his dissatisfaction with the criteria, asserting that they nationalize the primary process and disadvantage candidates from areas outside major media markets on the coasts.
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, while remaining in the GOP race, has not met the qualifications for any primary debates since his appearance in the first debate held in Milwaukee in August.
Additionally, ahead of the debate, officials from President Joe Biden’s campaign, along with prominent Democrats such as former Alabama Senator Doug Jones, plan to hold a news conference in Tuscaloosa. The event aims to highlight the policy agenda of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, emphasizing the stakes of the 2024 election, according to a news release from the Biden campaign.