SC’s Scott says he’s qualified for next GOP debate. What it means for candidates if they miss cut
Tim Scott’s presidential campaign started off with lots of promise because of the large financial war chest he brought into the race. But South Carolina’s junior senator didn’t have enough individual donors to qualify for the Nov. 8 Republican candidate debate until Saturday.
And missing out on the debate would keep any White House hopeful from a large television audience to hear his message and to show how he or she measures up to other candidates side-by-side. Still, candidates have other avenues to reach voters.
In order to make the third debate, the Republican National Committee is requiring candidates to:
- Have 4% support in three national polls or 4% support in one national poll and two early state polls that were conducted after Sept. 1 and surveyed at least 800 people, and
- Have at least 70,000 unique donors with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in at least 20 states or territories.
Scott’s campaign says it has met the polling threshold, pointing to a national poll conducted by YouGov and The Liberal Patriot, where he received 4% of support. Scott polling numbers in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have been better.
However, throughout this week, Scott was still trying to reach the 70,000-donor mark.
“(I’m) so excited that America responded and they responded quickly. We’ve exceeded the 70,000 individual donors that we have needed,” Scott told Fox News Digital on Saturday.
Only other four candidates have qualified for the third debate: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Former President Donald Trump has met the polling and donor thresholds but refuses to sign an RNC pledge agreeing to support the eventual nominee. He did not participate in the first two debate and plans to hold a rally in Florida the night of the third debate.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has not met the polling threshold, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has not met the polling or donor requirements.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who dropped out of the race Saturday, had met the polling requirement but not the donor requirement.
The RNC’s requirements to make debate stages have progressively increased as the early nominating contests draw closer. The first debate had eight candidates. The second debate had seven candidates.
Not making the debate stage doesn’t necessarily end a candidacy. Trump has maintained his front-runner status despite not participating in any debates.
But the debate requirements help determine whether a campaign is viable, as anti-Trump Republicans argue the field needs to coalesce behind one alternative who can then focus on defeating the 45th president.
DeSantis has questioned whether those who don’t make the debate stage should remain in the race.
“I’ve been very wary of saying what anyone else will do. But I think clearly, if you’re not even able to meet that criteria, to even get into a debate, that’s a problem,” DeSantis said while speaking at Winthrop University in October at an event hosted by the South Carolina and North Carolina Federations of Republican Women. “What’s your path to victory?”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who himself said those who don’t qualify for debates should drop out, is an example of someone who did just that. After the RNC said he didn’t qualify for the first debate, Suarez dropped out of race for the presidency.
Candidates Larry Elder, Will Hurd and Perry Johnson also did not make debate stages and have since dropped out of the race.
“Making the debate stage is a priority for any candidate except for Donald Trump, and so missing out the opportunity to communicate with that wide of an audience is undeniably a disappointment, but it is not anything that should discourage supporters, donors or the candidate himself,” said Rob Godfrey, a longtime political operative in South Carolina, who previously worked for Haley when she was the state’s governor.
Godfrey said candidates have other avenues to communicate with caucus-goers and early primary voters without the debate.
“Those include earned media opportunities, engaging with television reporters, it includes face-to-face meetings with the caucus-goers and voters who will participate in these contests. And dialing for dollars and fundraisers is the old traditional way that sometimes isn’t all that much fun, but can yield results, when you’re as powerful and as persuadable communicator as Tim Scott is,” Godfrey said.
Earlier this month, when Scott filed to run in the South Carolina presidential primary, he was asked about his efforts to qualify for the third debate.
“We’ll see you in Miami,” Scott said confidently.
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 12:49 PM.
