The Republican National Committee revealed Monday which candidates will take the stage Wednesday evening in the fourth primary debate in Alabama.
Just four candidates made the cut, representing a significant narrowing of the field since the first debate in August, which featured eight Republican competitors.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were the only candidates to qualify for the fourth matchup, according to a press release from the RNC.
“The fourth debate is another fantastic opportunity for our Republican candidates to share our winning agenda with the American people. President Reagan was the first sitting president to visit the University of Alabama nearly 40 years ago, just before cruising to a landslide victory in 1984, and I’m thrilled to return our conservative message to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday night,” Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
Candidates were required by the RNC to have 80,000 unique donors and poll at 6% in either two approved national polls or one national survey and two approved early state polls in order to participate in the event.
Before the RNC’s announcement, Christie didn’t meet all the requirements, according to Politico‘s tracker. The former governor had just one qualifying national poll and only one early state poll.
The qualifying candidates will meet Wednesday in Tuscaloosa for a debate moderated by SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly, NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas, and the Washington Free Beacon’s Eliana Johnson. The event is hosted by NewsNation and will be broadcast from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Wednesday’s debate will be particularly significant as the remaining candidates duke it out to be the last man standing, aside from former President Donald Trump. The school of thought among many pollsters, Republican voters, and donors alike has been that once the field winnows down, the non-Trump vote will begin to consolidate behind one alternative candidate.
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As it stands, non-Trump supporting Republicans seem to be split between Haley and DeSantis, effectively preventing either of them from presenting a true challenge to Trump, who maintains a double-digit lead over the field, which he has only expanded.
With six weeks left until the Iowa Republican caucuses, the candidate that non-Trump supporting Republicans choose to coalesce behind could be determined by Wednesday’s debate performances.
