Second G.O.P Debate: Who Has Qualified So Far?

At least six candidates appear to have made the cut so far for the second Republican presidential debate on Sept. 27. Former President Donald J. Trump, the clear front-runner in polling, did not attend the first debate. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump will take part in the second, in part because he has not signed a pledge to support the eventual nominee.

Who appears to have qualified for the second debate so far

Qualified according to the campaign

Candidate	Qualified for second debate	Attended first debate
Donald J. Trump Trump Former president and businessman	no	no
Ron DeSantis DeSantis Governor of Florida
Vivek Ramaswamy Ramaswamy Entrepreneur and author
Nikki Haley Haley Former governor and U.N. ambassador
Mike Pence Pence Former vice president
Chris Christie Christie Former governor of New Jersey
Tim Scott Scott Senator from South Carolina
Doug Burgum Burgum Governor of North Dakota	no
Asa Hutchinson Hutchinson Former governor of Arkansas	no
Will Hurd Hurd Former congressman from Texas	no	no
Ryan Binkley Binkley Businessman and pastor	no	no
Larry Elder Elder Conservative talk radio host	no	no
Perry Johnson Johnson Businessman	no	no
Francis Suarez Suarez Mayor of Miami	dropped out	no

To participate, each candidate must first satisfy fund-raising and polling criteria set by the Republican National Committee. Financially, they each need at least 50,000 campaign donors, including at least 200 donors from 20 states or territories. And they need support from at least 3 percent of Republican voters in two national polls, or in one national poll and two polls from a short list of competitive early primary states.

These polls must meet R.N.C. standards, but the committee has generally refused to confirm which surveys count. This created some ambiguity in the weeks leading up to the first debate.

Candidates have until Sept. 25 to meet the requirements. If they do, they will also need to sign a pledge to follow several R.N.C. guidelines, including a promise to support the eventual Republican nominee. Many candidates signed this pledge before participating in the first debate.

Where candidates stand on each requirement for the second debate

	Met goal according to a New York Times analysis
	Met financial goal according to the campaign
	Appears to have qualified

Candidate	Money goal met	Polling goal met	Signed pledge
Donald J. Trump Trump Former president and businessman			no
Ron DeSantis DeSantis Governor of Florida
Vivek Ramaswamy Ramaswamy Entrepreneur and author
Nikki Haley Haley Former governor and U.N. ambassador
Mike Pence Pence Former vice president
Chris Christie Christie Former governor of New Jersey
Tim Scott Scott Senator from South Carolina
Doug Burgum Burgum Governor of North Dakota		no
Asa Hutchinson Hutchinson Former governor of Arkansas	no	no
Will Hurd Hurd Former congressman from Texas	no	no	no
Ryan Binkley Binkley Businessman and pastor		no	no
Larry Elder Elder Conservative talk radio host		no	no
Perry Johnson Johnson Businessman		no	no
Francis Suarez Suarez Mayor of Miami	dropped out

To determine whether candidates had met the donor requirements for debate qualification, The New York Times reached out to campaigns directly, because the latest financial disclosures, filed in July, include data going up to only June 30. More recent financial reports will not be available for independent verification until after the debate.

Perry Johnson, a businessman who was disqualified from appearing on the primary ballot for the 2022 Michigan governor’s race, did not respond to requests for comment. He did, however, announce in August that more than 50,000 people had donated to his campaign. Mr. Trump is the only candidate whose filings from July show he has already surpassed the donor requirements to attend the second debate.

To determine whether candidates have met the polling thresholds, The Times analyzed Republican primary polls collected by FiveThirtyEight. The R.N.C. has not shared a full list of qualifying polls, so The Times included in its analysis surveys that appear to have met the R.N.C. criteria. Polling will ultimately be verified by the R.N.C., which is expected to announce the lineup within days of the second debate.