Trump, Five Challengers Have Qualified for the First Republican Debate
By 270toWin Staff
July 23, 2023, 2:22 PM ET
According to Politico, six candidates have met the polling and fundraising requirements to participate in the first Republican debate.
The list includes the following, ordered by the current 270toWin national polling average.
- Donald Trump (53.0%), former President
- Ron DeSantis (20.4%), Florida Governor
- Vivek Ramaswamy (4.8%), businessman
- Nikki Haley (3.4%), former UN Ambassador
- Tim Scott (3.0%), U.S. Senator, South Carolina
- Chris Christie (2.0%), former New Jersey Governor
Donald Trump, running well ahead of the field in polling, has indicated he may not participate.
Related: Just added to the site - a running list of the most recent polls.
The qualifying period continues until August 21.
Former Vice-President Mike Pence, averaging 5.2% nationally, has not yet met the fundraising target mandated by the Republican National Committee (RNC). That requirement is 40,000 unique donors, including at least 200 from 20 different states or territories.
Conversely, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has met the fundraising criteria, but not the polling requirement. Burgum, wealthy from the sale of Great Plains Software to Microsoft in 2001, offered prospective donors a $20 gift card in exchange for giving $1 to his campaign.
The polling requirement is 1% in three national polls or two national polls plus two early state polls (from different states). All must be qualifying polls as defined by the RNC.
The first Republican debate - moderated by Fox News - is scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee. That is also the site of next year's party convention. Wisconsin was the third closest state in the 2020 presidential election, with President Joe Biden prevailing by about 0.6%.
