Republican presidential hopeful Tim Scott expressed confidence that he will meet his party’s eligibility requirements to participate in the cycle’s first debate in August.
“I will be on the stage. That’s good news,” Scott said in a Friday telephone interview. “You have to have over a certain percentage in the polls, and you have to have a minimum of 40,000 donors. The good news is, we are in great shape. We’ll be on the stage.”
The Republican National Committee requires aspirants to have a minimum of 40,000 unique donors with at least 200 unique donors in each of 20 or more states and territories. They must also poll at least 1% support in three RNC-recognized national surveys or 1% in two national polls and 1% in a poll covering two of the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina after July 1 and no later than 48 hours prior to the first debate.
The requirements for the first debate, scheduled to be held Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, have drawn speculation as to how many of the more than dozen presidential contenders will be eligible. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner by a wide margin in most national polls, has publicly flirted with skipping it.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is Trump’s main rival for the nomination but well behind him in the polls. DeSantis in recent days said he plans to participate in the first presidential debate whether or not Trump does. The debate offers the strongest chance yet for the field to cut into Trump’s polling lead and impress voters and donors, alike.
A Fox News poll conducted between June 23 and June 26 showed Trump’s support for the nomination at 56%, followed by DeSantis at 22%. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was third at 5%, followed by both former Vice President Mike Pence and Scott at 4%.
An NBC News poll conducted from June 16 to June 20 showed some momentum for Scott, a US senator from South Carolina. While he had just 3% support as GOP voters’ first choice, that figure jumps to 12% as voters’ second choice. That’s a 9-point increase from April.
His campaign has spent $5.2 million on TV ads so far this year, while the super PAC backing him — Trust in the Mission PAC — has already spent $5.5 million so far this year.
--With assistance from Bill Allison and Gregory Korte.