Who's In, Who's Out for 4th GOP Debate

The field of candidates onstage for the fourth Republican presidential debate will be the smallest yet, the AP reports. Four hopefuls will participate in Wednesday night's debate at the Moody Music Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, according to the Republican National Committee. To qualify for the fourth debate, candidates needed at least 6% support in two national polls or 6% in one national poll as well as two polls from four of the early-voting states—Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. All the polls used for qualification must have been approved by the RNC. The White House hopefuls also needed at least 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 of those coming from 20 states or territories, and they had to sign an RNC pledge promising to support the party's eventual nominee.

Who's in:

• Ron DeSantis: Initially seen as the top rival for former President Trump, DeSantis has been locked in a battle for a distant second place to the frontrunner, as well as wading through challenges within his operation. Over the weekend, several staffers parted ways with the super PAC that has been sustaining much of DeSantis' early-state efforts.
• Nikki Haley: Benefiting from increased attention—as well as the campaign's shift toward foreign policy after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel—Haley is angling to keep that trend going with the fourth debate.
• Vivek Ramaswamy: The political newcomer and youngest GOP hopeful has been a debate-stage target over his lack of experience. While the jabs have helped boost Ramaswamy's campaign coffers and his name recognition in the broad Republican field, he's struggled to get much traction even as he's filled his campaign calendar with scores of events, particularly across Iowa.
• Chris Christie: The 2024 race's most vocal critic of Trump, Christie has cast himself as the only Republican willing to take him on directly. Without Trump at the debates, Christie has been left without his intended target but has brought him up nonetheless.

Who's out:

• Trump: The current GOP frontrunner is skipping his fourth straight debate. Instead of going to Alabama—or holding his own counterprogramming event, as he has done for past debates—Trump is holding a closed-door campaign fundraiser in Florida.
• Asa Hutchinson: The former two-term Arkansas governor participated in the first debate but has failed to qualify for subsequent ones.

Former candidates who've dropped out of the race since the last debate are Tim Scott and Doug Burgum. (More Election 2024 stories.)