Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has qualified for the first Republican presidential debate, becoming the ninth candidate to meet the criteria for taking the stage.
(Bloomberg) — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has qualified for the first Republican presidential debate, becoming the ninth candidate to meet the criteria for taking the stage.
Suarez confirmed Friday that his campaign had reached the polling thresholds, which required candidates receive 1% support in a series of surveys. Earlier this month his campaign also hit the 40,000 donor requirement, after instituting a program that offered gift cards in exchange for donations.
Suarez’s announcement comes just days before much of the GOP field will convene in Milwaukee on Aug. 23 for the Fox News debate and at a critical time for his campaign, as the mayor struggles to gain traction and break away from the GOP pack.
The RealClearPolitics average of GOP polls puts Suarez at 0.3%, tied with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who will also be at the debate, for ninth place, well behind frontrunner Donald Trump.
Suarez at the Iowa State Fair last week said GOP candidates who don’t qualify for the debate stage should drop out of the race, even if that included him. But he also criticized the Republican National Committee’s polling criteria as unfair for lesser-known candidates like himself.
He has had an easier time collecting cash, raising nearly $1 million in the first two weeks of his campaign. Two political action committees backing his candidacy have raised $12 million. His biggest patron has been Ken Griffin, the Citadel Securities founder who moved his firm from Chicago to Miami.
The mayor, who once dubbed his city the “crypto capital of the world,” has aggressively courted financial and technology jobs to Miami.
Read more: Miami’s Suarez Raises $1 Million in White House Bid
In addition to Suarez and Burgum, the other candidates who have met the RNC criteria are former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Trump has also met the donor and polling criteria but has refused to sign an RNC pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee — a requirement to take the stage. Trump has threatened to boycott the event, saying that appearing would only allow his lower-polling rivals to attack him to their benefit.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the threshold for the second debate, scheduled for Sept. 27 in Simi Valley, California, will be higher: 50,000 unique donors and at least 3% support in two qualifying national polls — or in one national poll and two polls from separate early-primary states. The polls must be conducted after August.
–With assistance from Gregory Korte.
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