The Republican National Committee announced that five GOP presidential candidates qualified for the third primary debate in Miami being held on Wednesday.
The five presidential hopefuls who will be on the debate stage are former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the RNC is “looking forward” to the five candidates appearing on the stage in South Florida.
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“We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people. We are especially honored to be the first political party to partner with a Jewish organization for a debate in our partnership with the Republican Jewish Coalition, and our candidates will reaffirm the Republican Party’s unwavering support of Israel and the Jewish community on the stage Wednesday night,” McDaniel said in a statement.
Two GOP candidates who had previously qualified for the debate stage, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), failed to qualify for the debate in Miami. Of the major Republican candidates, former President Donald Trump is the only one who did not qualify for Wednesday because he did not sign the mandated loyalty pledge.
The pledge, which says a candidate will support whomever the GOP nominee for president is in the general election, has prevented Trump from qualifying for each of the debates. Trump has called for the debates to be canceled, also arguing that the other Republican candidates should drop out.
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The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump with a significant lead over the rest of the Republican field. Trump has 57.9% in the national average, compared to DeSantis at 13.4%, Haley at 8.9%, and Ramaswamy at 4.3%.
The fourth debate in December will see requirements for qualification raised even higher for candidates, with those looking to make the stage needing at least 6% in two national polls, or 6% in one national poll and one early state poll (such as Iowa or New Hampshire), along with at least 80,000 individual donors.
