5 Republicans qualify for 3rd presidential debate

Washington, Nov 7 (IANS) The US Republican National Committee (RNC) has announced that five candidates, including Indian-origin Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, have qualified for the third presidential debate scheduled to take place in Miami on Wednesday.

The remaining three candidates are Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, CNN reported.

The third debate will not see participation from North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who had qualified for the previous two debates; and former Arkansas Govrnor Asa Hutchinson, who appeared in the first debate but did not make the stage for the second one.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence, who had qualified for the first two debates, dropped out of the Republican primary last month.

“We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people,” CNN quoted RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as saying in a statement.

To qualify for the third debate, the candidates had to register 4 per cent in either two national polls or one national poll and two polls from separate early-voting states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

They also had to reach 70,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors in 20 states or territories.

The Miami debate will air at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night on NBC News.

Meanwhile, the fourth Republican debate will take place on December 6 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.