Former Vice President Mike Pence has officially qualified for the first Republican presidential nomination debate, according to his campaign.
Pence's team announced on Monday that they had surpassed the 40,000-donor threshold, one of the two requirements set by the Republican National Committee (RNC) for GOP candidates to participate in the debate. Pence had already met the polling threshold mandated by the RNC.
In a statement, Pence's political team informed the RNC that they had qualified for the debate and highlighted that they were the first campaign to submit their numbers for verification by the national party committee. The debate, hosted by Fox News, is scheduled to take place on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Pence joins seven other Republican presidential candidates who have already met the criteria to qualify for the debate. These contenders include former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, former ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, South Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and entrepreneur and best-selling author Vivek Ramaswamy. However, Trump has not yet confirmed whether he will attend the first debate.
Pence's campaign highlighted that they have garnered support from 200 or more donors in 40 states, surpassing the 20-state threshold required by the RNC. They also emphasized that Pence reached the donor threshold in just nine weeks, faster than three of his rivals: Scott, Haley, and Ramaswamy.
Pence's team underscored that they achieved the donor threshold without resorting to giveaways or gimmicks, unlike Burgum, who offered $20 gift cards in exchange for one-dollar donations. The campaign also noted that less than half of their donors were acquired through digital outreach, with events featuring the candidate and direct mail remaining strengths for their campaign.
Since launching his presidential bid in early June, Pence has been actively campaigning in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. However, recent Republican primary polls show Pence's support in the single digits, significantly trailing behind Trump, his former running mate, who remains the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination as he embarks on his third consecutive White House run.
Pence garnered significant attention last week when Trump was indicted and arraigned in federal court on charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump intensified his attacks on Pence over the weekend after the former Vice President criticized him for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, which temporarily disrupted the certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory, overseen by Pence.
In a statement, Pence campaign spokesman Devin O'Malley expressed confidence in Pence's ability to engage in a substantive debate on issues important to the American people. O'Malley also expressed hope that former President Trump would have the courage to participate in the debate.
Pence had been asserting for the past few weeks that he would qualify for the debate in due time. During a conference call with donors last week, Pence's campaign manager, Steve DaMaura, revealed that the campaign had surpassed 30,000 unique donors and was averaging over 1,000 new, unique donors per day in recent days.
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