Republican presidential primary debate (January 18, 2024)
Date: November 5, 2024  |
2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
ABC News, WMUR-TV, and the New Hampshire Republican State Committee will hold a presidential primary debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 18, 2024. The debate will take place five days before the New Hampshire Republican primary. It will be the sixth Republican primary debate scheduled for the 2024 presidential election.
This will be the second debate of the Republican presidential primary held after the Republican National Committee lifted its ban on debates not sanctioned by the RNC.
This page provides an overview of the hosts, venue, moderators, qualifications, and participants.
Click here for a summary of the fifth Republican presidential primary debate on January 10, 2024.
Click here for a summary of the seventh Republican presidential primary debate on January 21, 2024.
Venue
ABC News announced on December 7, 2023, that the debate would take place in Manchester, New Hampshire on January 18, 2024, five days before the New Hampshire Republican primary. The announcement said the debate would be held at St. Anselm College.
ABC News President Kim Godwin said, "ABC News is excited to host this Republican debate with our partners in the nation's first primary state of New Hampshire. Our powerhouse political team has been working hard on this debate to provide our audience with the opportunity to hear from the candidates at this decisive moment in the primary race."[1]
Qualifications
On December 20, 2023, ABC News announced that candidates could qualify for the debate by either meeting an electoral performance criteria or a polling criteria.[2]
Electoral performance
The top-three finishers in the January 15, 2024, Iowa Republican caucus would qualify for the debate.[2]
Polling
No later than January 16, 2024, a candidate must receive 10 percent support or more in two separate national and/or New Hampshire polls. Recognized polls had to begin their surveys no earlier than November 27, 2023. The network said it would consider polls from the following pollsters: ABC News/Washington Post, ABC News/Ipsos, CBS News/YouGov, CNN, Emerson College/WHDH, Fox News, Fox Business News, Marist College, Marquette University Law School, Monmouth University, Monmouth University/The Washington Post, NBC News, The New York Times/Siena College, Quinnipiac University, University of New Hampshire/CNN, Saint Anselm College, Suffolk University/Boston Globe/USA TODAY, and The Wall Street Journal.[2]
Republican presidential primary debates, 2023-2024
The following table provides an overview of the date, location, host, and number of participants in each scheduled 2024 Republican presidential primary debate.
| 2024 Republican presidential primary debates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debate | Date | Location | Host | Number of participants |
| First Republican primary debate | August 23, 2023 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin[3] | Fox News[4] | 8 |
| Second Republican primary debate | September 27, 2023 | Simi Valley, California[5] | Fox Business, Univision | 7 |
| Third Republican primary debate | November 8, 2023 | Miami, Florida[6] | NBC News, Salem Radio Network | 5 |
| Fourth Republican primary debate | December 6, 2023 | Tuscaloosa, Alabama[7] | NewsNation, The Megyn Kelly Show, the Washington Free Beacon | 4 |
| On December 7, 2023, CNN reported the RNC would lift its ban on non-RNC sanctioned debates.[8] | ||||
| Fifth Republican primary debate | January 10, 2024 | Des Moines, Iowa[8] | CNN | TBD |
| Sixth Republican primary debate | January 18, 2024 | Manchester, New Hampshire[9] | ABC News, WMUR-TV, New Hampshire Republican State Committee | TBD |
| Seventh Republican primary debate | January 21, 2024 | Goffstown, New Hampshire[8] | CNN | TBD |
Republican primary debate participation, 2023
Historical analysis, 2016-2024
The section below provides analysis of presidential primary debate participation in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
Number of debates and participants
Participation by presidential nominees
The table below indicates whether the Democratic or Republican Party presidential nominees participated in each presidential primary debate in 2016 and 2020.
The 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden (D), and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton (D), both participated in all of the primary debates during their respective election cycles.
Donald Trump (R), the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, did not participate in the seventh Republican primary debate that cycle. At the time, Trump's campaign said, "Unlike the very stupid, highly incompetent people running our country into the ground, Mr. Trump knows when to walk away. Roger Ailes and FOX News think they can toy with him, but Mr. Trump doesn’t play games."[10]
Trump also declined to attend a primary debate originally scheduled for March 21, 2016. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich (R), who was also running for the nomination, said he wouldn't attend if Trump didn't, leaving Ted Cruz (R) as the only active candidate who said he would participate. The debate was subsequently canceled.[11]
| Presidential nominee primary debate participation, 2016-2020 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Nominee | First debate | Second debate | Third debate | Fourth debate | Fifth debate | Sixth debate | Seventh debate | Eighth debate | Ninth debate | Tenth debate | Eleventh debate | Twelfth debate |
| 2020 | Joe Biden (D) |  |
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N/A |
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton (D) | |
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N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2016 | Donald Trump (R) | |
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Primary debate criteria, 2016-2024
The table below provides an overview of the polling and fundraising criteria for the first five primary debates in 2016, 2020, and 2024
| Primary debate criteria, 2016-2024 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | First debate | Second debate | Third debate | Fourth debate | Fifth debate | ||||||||
| 2024 Republican primary | Polling: 1% support in three national polls, or 1% support in two national polls and one early state poll; and Fundraising: 40,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. |
Polling: 3% support in two national polls, or 3% support in one national poll and two early state polls; and Fundraising: 50,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. | Polling: 4% support in two national polls, or 4% support in one national poll and two early state polls; and Fundraising: 70,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. | Polling: 6% support in two national polls, or 6% support in two early state polls; and Fundraising: 80,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. | Polling: 10% support in three national or Iowa polls | ||||||||
| 2020 Democratic primary | Polling: 1% support in three national or early state polls; or Fundraising: 65,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.[12] | Polling: 2% support in four national or early state polls; or Fundraising: 130,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.[13] | Polling: 3% support in four national or early state polls, or 5% support in at least two early state polls; or Fundraising: 165,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 600 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. | ||||||||||
| 2016 Democratic primary | Polling: 1% support in three national polls[14] | ||||||||||||
| 2016 Republican primary | Polling: 10 highest-polling candidates in 5 most recent recognized national polls | Polling: 1% support in three national polls | Polling: Average of 3% in six recognized national polls[15] | Polling: Average of 2.5% in four recognized national polls.[16] | Polling: In recognized polls, receive an average of 3.5%, or 4% in either Iowa or New Hampshire.[17] | ||||||||
See also
- Republican presidential primary debate (January 10, 2024)
- Republican presidential primary debate (January 21, 2024)
- Presidential candidates, 2024
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2024
- Republican presidential nomination, 2024
- Presidential debates, 2020
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "ABC News to host GOP presidential debate before New Hampshire primary," December 7, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ABC News, "Qualifications announced for ABC News' New Hampshire Republican debate," December 20, 2023
- ↑ The Hill, "RNC votes to hold first presidential debate in Milwaukee," February 23, 2023
- ↑ Fox News, "Fox News will host first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee," April 12, 2023
- ↑ The Hill, "McDaniel announces California will host second GOP debate for 2024," April 20, 2023
- ↑ Reuters, "Third Republican primary debate to be in Miami in early November," September 14, 2023
- ↑ Associated Press, "Qualification markers grow even tougher for next month’s 4th GOP presidential debate, in Alabama," November 3, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 CNN, "CNN to host two GOP presidential primary debates in 2024," December 7, 2023
- ↑ ABC News, "ABC News to host GOP presidential debate before New Hampshire primary," December 7, 2023
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Trump says he won’t participate in GOP debate on Fox News," January 26, 2016
- ↑ NBC News, "2016 GOP Debate Cancelled After Trump Says He Won't Attend," March 16, 2016
- ↑ The first and second primary debates had the same qualification criteria.
- ↑ The third and fourth primary debates had the same qualification criteria.
- ↑ The first through fifth primary debates had the same qualification criteria.
- ↑ This is the criteria for the 8:00 p.m. debate. The 6:00 p.m. debate required candidates to have 1% in any one of the recognized polls.
- ↑ This is the criteria for the 9:00 p.m. debate. The 7:00 p.m. debate required candidates to have 1% in any one of the recognized polls.
- ↑ This is the criteria for the 8:30 p.m. debate. The 6:00 p.m. debate required candidates to have 1% in four separate national, Iowa, or New Hampshire recognized polls.
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