Here’s who is on track to qualify for first GOP debate

GOP presidential hopefuls just shy of qualifying for the party’s first primary debate in August have kicked into overdrive to make sure they meet the thresholds needed to land a spot on the coveted debate stage.

“We make the polling requirement very easily,” former Vice President Mike Pence told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, referring to the poll-standing and donor requirements for debate candidates.

“But yeah, having 40,000 individual donors, we’re literally working around the clock … I’m confident that we’ll be there,” he said.

Pence is the most prominent Republican who has yet to make the cut. He is in fourth place among the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.

So far, there are at least six candidates who appear on track to meet the Republican Party’s qualification metrics, with eight still hard at work to get there.

Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum are set to moderate the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee, Wisc.

The six candidates poised to qualify for the debate claim to have already met the Republican National Committee’s 40,000 donor threshold.

They also have either reached or appear set to get to the RNC’s polling threshold, which is to garner at least 1% support in three independent national polls or two national polls and one independent poll from two of four early voting states.

Now all that’s left to seal the deal appears for them to take the GOP’s pledges, including a controversial commitment to back the eventual nominee.

Here are the expected qualifying debate candidates so far:

Donald Trump

There seemed to be little question even early on whether former President Donald Trump would meet the debate criteria.

Instead, the issue has been, will he participate?

“Ronald Reagan didn’t do it, and a lot of other people didn’t do it. When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” Trump said in a recent Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” interview.

“I have a lead of 50 and 60 points in some cases,” he said. “You’re leading people by 50 and 60 points, you say why would you be doing a debate? It’s actually not fair.”

Longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller has hinted that Trump is likely to skip the first two debates.

Ron DeSantis

Trump’s main rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has already met both the donor and polling requirements.

DeSantis has declared that he will participate in the debate — and zinged Trump for waffling.

“Nobody is entitled to this nomination. You have got to earn the nomination and doing things like The Family Leader event in Iowa, doing things like these debates — they’re important parts of the process,” DeSantis said on “The Howie Carr Show” earlier this month.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Having recently catapulted to third place in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has revealed he is set to debate.

“The RNC’s debate stage criteria are stringent but fair,” Ramaswamy said in a recent statement. “If an outsider can clear the bar, politically experienced candidates should be able to as well.”

Nikki Haley

Former US ambassador to the UN and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s campaign revealed that she has hit the donor threshold.

Given her 3.4 percentage point average in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate among GOP voters, she appears to have comfortably met the polling criteria as well.

Tim Scott

Recent campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission reveal that Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is armed with one of the largest war chests of any candidate — well over $20 million.

Much of that massive pot stems from a monster transfer of cash from his Senate re-election campaign committee, but he has proven to be fairly prolific on the fundraising circuit, as well.

His campaign confirmed he has already met the donor criteria, and his standing in the polls suggests he’s cleared that barrier as well.

Chris Christie

It’s no secret that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is champing at the bit to square off in a verbal bout with Trump.

That may not happen because of Trump’s musing about skipping the first debate.

But the blunt-talking New Jerseyan claims to have cleared the donor threshold and appears poised to do so with polling as well.

Now he and his allies are seeking to goad Trump onto the debate stage.

The one potential issue with Christie is the debate pledge.

Christie previously stated he won’t support Trump again, although he appears to have given himself just enough wiggle room to play both sides over the required GOP debate promise.

“I’ll take the pledge in 2024 just as seriously as Donald Trump took the pledge in 2016,” Christie told CNN last month.

In other words, probably not very seriously. It remains unclear if the RNC will accept that.

Candidates who aren’t there yet:

At least eight candidates appear to still have their work cut out for them.

• Mike Pence
• Asa Hutchinson
• Doug Burgum
• Will Hurd
• Ryan Binkley
• Francis Suarez
• Larry Elder
• Perry Johnson

Pence, the most prominent still-uncertain debate candidate, has had apparent struggles on the fundraising front.

His campaign netted less than $1.2 million in the second fund-raising quarter, far below what many lower polling contenders hauled in.

This appears largely attributed to a late campaign start. He debuted his 2024 presidential bid last month, giving him little time to court donors.

Still, he said he is hopeful.

“We’re making incredible progress toward that [donor debate] goal. We’re not there yet,” Pence told CNN on Sunday. “We’ll make it. I’ll see you at that debate stage.”

Also of particular note is former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) who has affirmed repeatedly that he won’t take the debate pledge.

As a result, he appears exceedingly unlikely to make the cut.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has carefully sought to contain party infighting with the pledge requirement. She has also encouraged Trump to partake in the on-stage showdown.

“I think he should be on the stage. I want everybody on the stage that qualifies, obviously,” she told Fox News last week. “It’s a mistake not to do the debates.”