The Republican National Committee on Friday laid out its criteria for candidates to qualify for the first debate of the Republican presidential primary, setting a key fundraising threshold and requiring candidates to pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee.

The criteria for the debate, scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, comes as the field for the Republican presidential primary becomes more crowded, with several contenders expected to join the race in the coming days and weeks. A second debate could be held on August 24 if enough candidates qualify, the RNC said in a statement.

To qualify for the stage, candidates must garner support of at least 1 percent in multiple national polls recognized by the committee, and some polls from early voting states will also count. Candidates must also have a minimum of 40,000 unique donors to their campaign, with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory, in 20 states and territories, according to the committee.

The debate threshold of 40,000 donors is likely to prove a significant and costly barrier for some underfunded candidates. Republican campaigns had already been informally briefed on the criteria, and some were rushing to make sure they had enough donors. Some super PACs are spending money on online ads to generate small donations to campaigns.

In 2020, even some well-known Democratic candidates struggled to meet the 65,000 donor threshold the Democratic Party had set for early debates and diverted money to post ads online to find contributors. The 40,000 minimum could prove a challenge for lesser-known Republicans and those who have not yet started their campaigns.

Former Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who has struggled to gain traction in the polls, insisted he intended to make the debate scene in a statement on Friday, even as he expressed a variety of concerns about the criteria.

“The 40,000 donor threshold will prevent some candidates from being on the debate stage and will benefit candidates who generate donations online through extreme rhetoric and scare tactics,” it said in the statement. “It also deprives voters in Iowa and other early states of the opportunity to assess the entire field of candidates.”

And Larry Elder, a conservative commentator who also faces an uphill battle in the presidential race, said in an interview that while he expected to hit the polling threshold, the 40,000 donor rule was “onerous.”

“It’s hard to get 40,000 individual donors,” Elder said, declining to specify how many donors he had so far. “We are working hard. I have a professional team to do it, but I think it is difficult and I know that other campaigns have also complained.

Still, some campaigns – and would-be campaigns – were quick to issue confidence notes on Friday afternoon.

“I can’t wait to be there!” said Nachama Soloveichik, a spokeswoman for Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and former governor of South Carolina.

Former Vice President Mike Pence expected soon to jump into the race as well, and his team touched on a similar theme.

“There is no better communicator in the Republican Party than Mike Pence, so we can’t wait to be on stage,” said Devin O’Malley, a Pence adviser.

And Tricia McLaughlin, a senior adviser to Vivek Ramaswamy, the “anti-wake” businessman, author and activist, said the campaign already had “about 43,000” individual donors. The next campaign finance filing deadline is later this summer.

This is not the first time there have been efforts to cull Republican participants on the debate stage. In 2016, the candidates with the fewest votes were relegated to the billboard debates.

Criteria for additional Republican debates for this campaign cycle have not been announced. A person briefed on the discussions said there could be an escalation of the donor threshold for further discussions, or for required poll averages.

Two Republicans familiar with the discussions said Gov. Ron DeSantis’s team wanted a threshold higher than 1 percent, which likely would have narrowed the scenario, giving him more direct interaction with former President Donald J. Trump, the current Republican front. . -runner.

Trump, for his part, has already suggested that he might skip the primary debates, saying it wasn’t worth spending time debating his rivals because of his lead in the polls.

Candidates hoping to debate in the August showdown are also expected to pledge not to participate in any debates not approved by the party committee for the remainder of the election cycle and to pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee.

“I have always supported the party’s nominee, but I have never supported a party loyalty oath,” said Hutchinson, who has criticized Trump. “The promise should simply be that he will not run as a third party candidate.”

Those who make it to the stage will be grouped based on the polls, with the candidate with the most votes in the center, the committee said.

foxnews It is scheduled to host the first debate in Milwaukee.

Shane Goldmacher, maggie haberman and Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.