GOP Candidates Racing to Meet Debate Rules

The race is on among the candidates to meet the criteria set by the Republican National Committee to participate in the first presidential primary debate in August, even while former President Donald Trump, the polling and fundraising front-runner, has not committed to taking the stage.

The RNC's rules state that candidates must have contributions from 40,000 donors, which includes 200 unique doors from 20 or more states and territories, as well as having reached 1% support in three national polls or at least 1% in two national polls and one early state poll. There are still some candidates that haven't gotten there yet, reports CNN.

The rules are in place to test the candidates' ability to appeal to grassroots donors nationwide. Several candidates have, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

But other candidates are trying ways to boost their donation totals, with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum giving out $20 gift cards for $1 campaign contributions and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez's super PAC offering entries for a drawing for a free college tuition sweepstakes to people who donate to his campaign.

However, some of the more well-known candidates have not yet raised the donations that will allow them on the stage, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, although Pence has promised he'll be on the stage in Milwaukee on Aug. 23.

"You bet we'll be on that debate stage," Pence told CNN earlier this week. "We're working every day to get to that threshold. I'm sure we're going to be there."

However, Pence's campaign announced a second-quarter fundraising total of $1.2 million, compared to the $35 million Trump's campaign has received.

Still, Pence said he is looking forward to "squaring off" against Trump, his former ticket mate.

Hutchinson, meanwhile, told CNN Friday that he hasn't yet reached the 40,000 donor threshold, saying, "It's just a question of how quickly we can get there, but we want to be on that debate stage."

Hutchinson, who has been pushing back against the RNC's donor rule, said Friday the activities being undertaken by some of the candidates to meet the 40,000-donor threshold "illustrate how silly this whole concept is."

Hurd also hasn't yet met the donor threshold, but a campaign aide said this week he "fully intends on meeting the donor and polling thresholds" in time for the debate.

Burgum, a former software executive who sold his company to Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 2001, announced Friday that his campaign had a $11.7 million fundraising total in the second quarter, but $10.2 million came from the governor's own money.

Suarez, though, has backed the RNC’s rules, saying there should be "minimum criteria because time is valuable."

"I think the Republican Party has tried to set a relatively low bar, and they've tried to create a diverse candidate pool so that people have options," he told NBC this week.

Ramaswamy's campaign recently launched a program that will pay grassroots fundraisers 10% of what they bring in.

Meanwhile, Christie told CNN this week that his campaign went past 40,000 unique donors in 35 days, and Scott's campaign on Wednesday said it had surpassed the 40,000 donor threshold and had a $6.1 million second-quarter fundraising haul.

Meanwhile, Trump, DeSantis, Scott, Haley, Ramaswamy, Pence, Christie, and Hutchinson have the polling standards, but some have not gotten any qualifying poll numbers.

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder in an opinion piece for The Hill complained that the RNC has "rigged the rules of the game" and called the rules "elitism."

The RNC is also requiring candidates to pledge to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee, a promise that is causing grumbling among the candidates.