Five candidates have qualified for the third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday evening, the Republican National Committee announced on Monday.
Former President Donald J. Trump, the dominant front-runner in the Republican primary, is skipping the debate, which will be held in Miami — less than 70 miles from Mr. Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Trump also did not participate in the previous two debates.
The candidates who made the cut:
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Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
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Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador.
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The entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
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Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Each qualifying candidate had two polling paths to a debate podium: The candidates had to either poll at 4 percent or more in two national polls or at 4 percent in one national poll and at 4 percent in two state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina — which hold contests early in the cycle. Each poll needed to survey at least 800 likely Republican voters and meet certain standards meant to reduce bias to qualify, according to the R.N.C.
The candidates also had to have a minimum of 70,000 campaign donors, including at least 200 donors from 20 states or territories.
Candidates had until Monday evening to meet these requirements. The candidates also had to pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee. Candidates signed this pledge for the previous two debates. Mr. Trump has refused to sign.
The debate stage has narrowed considerably from the first event held in August. Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, a vocal Trump critic, qualified for the first debate but not the second or third.
Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota also failed to qualify for the third debate after struggling to reach the required polling threshold. Mr. Burgum has weathered calls to drop out of the race as he hovers at about 1 percent in national polls. “Skipping the next debate isn’t going to stop us,” Mr. Burgum said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I’ve been told ‘it’s impossible’ my entire life and always beat the odds.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared at the first two debates but dropped out of the race last week amid signs he would not qualify for this debate.
