Five Candidates Likely to Qualify for Third Republican Presidential Debate, Stage Set for Smaller Contestant Pool

Increased thresholds for polling and donor support see Republican candidate pool shrink, with Trump once again planning to skip the event despite leading the polls.

Based on analysis of polling and donor information, four candidates including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are likely to qualify for the third GOP debate while the qualification of the fifth candidate, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, remains ambiguous.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are not expected to meet the qualification requirements before the debate scheduled on Nov. 8.
Former Vice President Mike Pence dropped out of the race and will not feature in the upcoming debate.
Former President Donald Trump continues to lead in polls and donor support, but will skip the third debate despite qualifying for it.
The Republican National Committee raised the requirements to qualify for the debate, requiring a candidate to have at least 4% support in two national polls, 70,000 unique donors, and a pledge to support the Republican nominee.