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Five Republican presidential candidates say they have met fundraising benchmarks to participate in the party’s first primary debate next month, as other campaigns hustle both to secure the necessary financial support and hit the required polling thresholds.
Campaign reps for former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy each told The Post Monday that they had already been backed by 40,000 unique donors — including 200 unique donors in at least 20 states or territories — more than seven weeks before the first Republican National Committee-sponsored debate Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wis.
The next step for GOP presidential hopefuls looking for a debate slot is to garner at least 1% support in three independent national polls or two national polls and one independent poll from two of four early voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
To count toward the criteria, the polls have to have been in the field after July 1 and surveyed at least 800 registered Republicans likely to vote in the GOP primary. The polling period closes on Aug. 21.
As of Monday, seven Republican candidates are polling above 1% in RealClearPolitics’ national average. Of those seven, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov.
