GOP Debate Field Shrinks to Five for Third Contest in Miami

Five Republican presidential candidates qualify for Wednesday night’s debate in Miami, Florida.

Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Monday night former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) will share the stage.

The field has dwindled from the first two contests, which saw eight participants in the first debate in Milwaukee in August and seven in the September 27 debate in Simi Valley, California.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) are the two candidates who made the second debate but did not qualify for Wednesday night’s event.

“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,” McDaniel said in a press release, adding: 

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 [RJC], and our candidates will reaffirm the Republican Party’s unwavering support of Israel and the Jewish community on the stage Wednesday night.

To participate in the event, candidates had to have shown by 8:00 p.m. ET Monday they reached four percent of support in two national polls, or four percent “in one national poll” and four percent “in one early state poll from two separate ‘carve out’ states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina) recognized by the RNC,” the criteria noted. 

Moreover, the poll must have sampled 800 registered Republicans and have been conducted after September 1, and the candidate must have 70,000 unique donors. NBC News is set to host the program along with Salem Radio Network and the RJC, as McDaniel pointed out. 

Former President Donald Trump, who has garnered a majority in national Republican presidential primary polls for months, will not participate in the event. He will counter-program the debate, as he has done with the previous ones, at a rally in Hialeah, Florida, where Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) will give him her endorsement, Politico reports. 

He appeared with Tucker Carlson in counter-programming for the first debate and addressed striking members of the United Autoworkers while his opponents battled in September.