Time is running out for additional Republican presidential candidates to meet the qualifications to participate in the second GOP presidential debate next week.
Eight candidates participated in the first debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee last month, but the Republican National Committee (RNC) has since raised the fundraising and polling requirements, which could narrow the field that qualifies to make the stage this time.
The RNC is requiring candidates attain at least 50,000 unique donors, including at least 200 from 20 states or territories, up from 40,000 required last time.
The candidates also must receive at least 3 percent support in two national polls or in one national poll and in two polls of the four early voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The polls recognized by the RNC must survey at least 800 likely Republican voters and not be from a pollster affiliated with a campaign or candidate committee.
The polling requirement is up from the 1 percent in three national polls or in two national polls and two early voting states required for last month’s event.
Which polls the RNC accepted became a point of contention last time after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder and businessman Perry Johnson said they qualified for the debate, but the RNC did not recognize their polls, leaving them off the stage.
Elder said he was told he was not included in the debate because one of the polls that would have helped him qualify was tied to former President Trump’s campaign. Suarez said ahead of the debate that candidates who did not qualify should drop out, and he subsequently left the race a week later.
Candidates must meet the fundraising and polling requirements for the second debate at least 48 hours before the debate begins, so they have until Monday.
They also must have signed the RNC’s loyalty pledge, vowing to support the party’s eventual nominee. All the candidates who appeared in the first debate and have already qualified for the second have signed the pledge.
Those candidates are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Trump has qualified for the second debate but plans to skip it, as he did for the first one. He will instead speak to autoworkers in Detroit amid the United Auto Workers strike against three major automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson both qualified for the first debate and signed the pledge, but they have not yet qualified for next week’s debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
Fox Business Network will host the event alongside Univision and Rumble, the online video platform.