MINOT – Several national sources are confirming that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a Republican candidate for President of the United States, has met the qualifying criteria necessary to participate in the second Republican presidential debate scheduled for Wednesday of this week.
FOX News, which will be hosting the debate held at the Ronald Reagan Center in California, has announced that Burgum will be in the field along with Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice-President Mike Pence, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The participants must still receive official approval by the Republican National Committee, which is expected no later than Tuesday.
Burgum appears to have qualified on the strength of a Trafalgar Group which showed him polling at 3.2%. The minimum qualifying standard for the debate is 50,000 unique donors and a poll of at least 3% in at least one national poll and 3% in two polls from early voting states Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.
According to the Trafalgar Group poll, Burgum is ahead of notables Chris Christie and Tim Scott. The RNC has already announced that the threshold to participate in the third debate rises to 4% in one national poll and 4% in two statewide polls on the early primary schedule – Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada