The Republican National Committee (RNC) on Friday detailed the criteria candidates will need to satisfy to qualify for the first presidential primary debate in August, including polling requirements and a pledge to support the eventual nominee.
The first primary debate will take place Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, the party said, and a second debate will be Aug. 24 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, if enough candidates qualify to make it necessary. The first debate is scheduled to be broadcast by Fox News, while the broadcaster for the second hasn’t been announced.
“The RNC is committed to putting on a fair, neutral, and transparent primary process and the qualifying criteria set forth will put our party and eventual nominee in the best position to take back the White House come November 2024,” Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
To qualify for the first debate, candidates will have to be polling at a minimum of 1 percent in at least three national polls, or at 1 percent in two national polls and one early state poll from two of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
The RNC will recognize polls only if they survey at least 800 registered likely Republican voters on or after July 1. The poll cannot be conducted by a polling firm affiliated with a candidate.
Candidates also must satisfy a fundraising requirement, having a minimum of 40,000 unique donors and at least 200 unique donors from 20 or more states and territories.
Perhaps the thorniest issue for the RNC and some candidates is that the party will require those participating in the debate to sign a loyalty pledge agreeing to support the eventual party nominee. Some critics have questioned the enforceability of the pledge to support the eventual nominee.
The party will also require candidates to commit to a data-sharing agreement and pledge not to participate in any debate the RNC has not sanctioned.
Former President Donald Trump, who is leading the majority of national polls of the primary field, has already threatened to skip the first two debates. At the first primary debate in 2016, he refused to commit to backing the eventual party nominee if it was not him.
Trump has taken issue with Fox News hosting the first debate and has complained that Fred Ryan, publisher of The Washington Post, is chairman of the board of trustees at the Reagan Library.
The GOP primary field is steadily taking shape roughly three months before the first debate. Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are among the candidates already in the race.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are expected to announce their candidacy next week, and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has said he will decide on a 2024 bid in the coming weeks.