Eight candidates qualify for the first Republican presidential debate

WASHINGTON — Eight presidential hopefuls officially qualified for Wednesday's GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee, the Republican National Committee confirmed Monday night.

While former President Donald Trump appeared to have met the party's polling and fundraising thresholds, he won't be on the stage, as he has refused to sign the RNC's pledge to support the eventual nominee and announced he would skip the debate.

The candidates who qualified and opted to participate are:

• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum

• Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

• Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley

• Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson

• Former Vice President Mike Pence

• Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy

• Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, businessmen Perry Johnson and radio host Larry Elder were left out.

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The Hurd campaign appeared to take issue with the RNC’s requirement that qualifying polls survey “likely” Republican voters. Hurd hadn't been expected to qualify for the debate even if he hit the polling threshold because of his public refusal to sign the party's pledge.

“If the GOP is looking to grow our electorate and beat Joe Biden, then we better have a clear understanding of what qualifies as a likely Republican voter. Anyone, regardless of party, who is willing to check the box for a Republican should be considered a 'likely Republican voter.' Expanding our party should be applauded, not penalized," Hurd communications director Natalie Johnson said.

Hurd also said Tuesday morning he wouldn't drop out in a statement criticizing the RNC's criteria and arguing he's the only candidate who has "never bent the knee to Trump."

Johnson tweeted his frustration at being left out, calling the process "corrupted."

A source familiar with the RNC's criteria said the party took issue with two polls in which Johnson and Suarez hit 1%.

A poll from Victory Insights, in which Johnson finished at 1%, included 38 states as part of its "national" sample, which meant the sample didn't include participants from some states where significant proportions of GOP primary and caucus voters live.

The source added that the RNC also took issue with the likely voter screen in a poll from McShane LLC and American Wire News, in which Suarez finished over 1%.

While Elder claimed Monday night he had qualified, one of the polls he pointed to on social media had too small a sample size to meet the RNC’s long-stated criteria.

Trump will undoubtedly loom large — he's the clear front-runner, and he leads in every recent national and state poll of Republican voters.

But his absence gives his rivals a high-profile opportunity to take their messages to a broad national audience — the debate will be broadcast on Fox News and Rumble, the online video and livestreaming website that's a favorite of many conservatives — and to show how they fare in the crowded field.

Candidates had to meet the party's polling and unique donor thresholds, as well as sign a pledge saying they'd support the eventual Republican nominee and not participate in any unsanctioned debates this cycle.

Those who struggled to make the first debate may have a steeper hill to climb to make the next one in September. While the unique donor threshold goes up only from 40,000 to 50,000, candidates will need to register 3% in a handful of qualifying polls, up from 1% for the first debate.

The majority of the field — including Trump, DeSantis, Scott, Haley, Christie and Ramaswamy — met the polling and donor criteria for the first debate with relative ease. But for others, hitting the thresholds proved more challenging.

Burgum spent furiously on advertising to accumulate the needed donors and support in the polls.

Pence easily hit the party's polling criteria but needed until this month to amass the required donors. Hutchinson, too, needed more time to meet the unique donor threshold, and his campaign said he hit the 40,000 requirement only days before.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com