The Republican National Committee plans to raise the donor and polling thresholds for primary candidates to make the stage for the third presidential debate.
Each candidate must have a minimum of 70,000 individual donors to their campaign or exploratory committee, including 200 donors in 20 or more states, according to Fox News. Candidates must also reach 4% in two national polls or reach 4% in one national poll and 4% in two statewide polls.
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The statewide polls must be conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina — the four states that lead off the Republican presidential primary schedule.
The RNC’s debate committee decided to raise the thresholds during a conference call on Thursday, sources told Fox News.
As per the other two debates, candidates must sign the pledge in which they agree to support whoever becomes the Republican nominee for president. They also cannot participate in any non-RNC-sanctioned debates for the 2024 election cycle.
The thresholds for each debate have risen steadily. The first debate, hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, required candidates to have 1% in polling and have 40,000 unique donors. Eight candidates appeared on the debate stage on Aug. 23.
For the second debate, presidential candidates are expected to hit 3% in the polls and have 50,000 donors. The debate will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.
An analysis from Fox News showed that six candidates meet the criteria for the third RNC debate: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). All six are expected to return to the debate stage for the second time on Sept. 27.
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who qualified for the first debate, have yet to reach the second showdown’s thresholds.
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Former President Donald Trump has not signed the RNC pledge, but he has reached the donor and polling thresholds. He did not attend the first debate and will not be at the second debate in California.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the RNC for confirmation on the third debate thresholds.
