Francis Suarez says he’s met the 40K donor threshold for first GOP presidential debate
Francis Suarez says he’s met the fundraising threshold to qualify for the first Republican primary debate, which would put Miami’s mayor one step closer to making a national appearance he has said is crucial for his long-shot White House bid.
Suarez, who launched his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination in mid-June, said Monday on social media that he had met the Republican National Committee’s requirement that candidates have at least 40,000 unique donors in order to be included in the first debate on Aug. 23.
“In less than six weeks my team and I have quite literally gone from zero to a hundred and we are confident that I will be on the debate stage in two weeks,” the mayor stated.
Suarez had previously tweeted that he had met a separate debate requirement that candidates have donors from more than 20 different states.
In order to make the debate, the mayor still needs to boost his polling numbers. Suarez needs to reach 1% in three national polls or in two national polls plus two separate polls from states with early primaries or caucuses. National averages from polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight show Suarez below the 1% threshold required to qualify for the debate. He’s reached 1% in one poll, a Fox News Business survey of Iowa voters.
Read more: Suarez can get big campaign checks from the wealthy. Can he get $1 from regular folks?
Suarez’s campaign has used fundraising tactics to draw small-dollar donors in the effort to meet the RNC benchmarks. He’s raffled tickets to see Lionel Messi play for Inter Miami, pledged to give donors $20 gift cards if they donate $1 and said his campaign is accepting donations in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Suarez’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald’s questions about his fundraising.
This story was originally published August 7, 2023 at 8:20 PM.
