Former Vice-President Mike Pence is scrambling to try and qualify for the first GOP Presidential Debate of the 2024 cycle which will be on Fox News August 23. Pence will likely meet the polling requirements of the Republican National Committee, but he is struggling to meet donor requirements – 40,000 donors. What an embarrassment it would be for Pence to not even make the stage.
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s 2024 campaign is ramping up its digital outreach to Republican donors to avoid the embarrassment of missing the party’s first primary debate next month.
Pence has one month to meet the Republican National Committee’s fundraising thresholds in order to appear on the stage on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. Failing to garner enough donors could be a death knell for Pence’s campaign, which has so far struggled to motivate donors and gain traction in the polls.
Worrying signs arose for Pence’s presidential bid last week when his campaign reported raising a mere $1.2 million in the second quarter, signaling a potentially embarrassing outcome for the former second-in-command who might not have the support to make it to the first Republican National Committee Debate, which stipulates each participant have 40,000 donors in order to participate.
Pence, as a former vice president with high name identification, occupies a unique position in this campaign. Pence is perhaps best known for his break with former President Donald Trump. Pence refused Trump’s demands to overturn Joe Biden’s White House win on Jan. 6, 2021. That led to mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol chanting “hang Mike Pence”.
On Wednesday, the former vice president paid for an email advertisement asking 40,000 people to donate just $1 to help him qualify. Pence’s campaign has declined to say how many donors they have.
In addition to the donor threshold, the RNC is also requiring candidates to register at least 1% in a series of polls. Pence is polling at 5.7%, which puts him in third place behind Trump and DeSantis, according to Real Clear Politics average of national polls. Pence is likely to meet the polling qualifications, but could struggle with the donor levels.
Candidates likely to qualify for the debate based on current polling and second quarter Federal Election Commission donor disclosures include Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. . . . .
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