Second Republican Presidential Primary Debate will Feature in California; These 7 Candidates will be on the Stage

The second Republican presidential primary debate will take place on Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The battle, which will be broadcast on the FOX Business Network (FBN) and UNIVISION from 9 to 11 p.m. ET, was announced by the Republican National Committee on Monday night.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, biotech tycoon and political analyst Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott are the candidates for the White House, listed in alphabetical order.

“Wednesday’s debate is another opportunity for the RNC to share our diverse candidate field with the American people. The Republican Party is united around one common goal – Beating Biden – and there is no better place to showcase our conservative vision for the future than the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

Candidates are required to surpass RNC-set polling and donation thresholds to take part in the second debate.

They must have 200 donors in 20 or more states, as well as a minimum of 50,000 unique donations to their campaign or exploratory committee. In addition, the contenders must receive 3% of the vote in two national polls or 3% in one national poll and 3% in two polls taken in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina, the first four states on the Republican presidential nomination calendar.

Candidates were also required to sign a commitment promising to back the eventual Republican nominee for president. They must consent to data exchange with the national party committee and to forgoing participation in any debates not authorized by the RNC for the remainder of the 2024 election cycle.

Former President Donald Trump declined to sign the RNC’s commitment despite having met the required donor and polling levels. The former president did not attend the first debate and would not participate in the second one, citing his significant advantage over his opponents for the nomination.

The sole contender who qualified for last month’s first debate, which had significantly lower donation and polling standards, but did not advance to the second debate was former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

Perry Johnson, a 2022 candidate for governor of Michigan and a businessman with expertise in quality control, Will Hurd, a former CIA agent and a former representative from Texas, and Larry Elder, a former nationally syndicated radio host who ran for governor of California in the 2021 recall election, are among those who did not advance to the second debate and did not appear on stage for the first debate.

Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, Florida, suspended his campaign after being disqualified from the first debate.