GOP Primary debate candidates dwindle to 4 ahead of Alabama showcase

Reporter: Chris Cifatte, Claire Galt Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:
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GOP Primary Debate candidates. CREDIT: WINK News

Voters will get the chance to hear from the four qualifying GOP Presidential candidates during the primary debate live on the CW on Wednesday night.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were the only candidates who qualified to be on the debate stage.

At 8 p.m., they’ll take the stage at the University of Alabama, and since Tuscaloosa is a college town, they’ll do their best to sway the younger voters.

A notable candidate not taking the GOP primary debate stage is former President Donald Trump.

Trump remains the clear front-runner in the GOP primaries with 60% support from Republican voters.

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GOP candidates who will take the debate stage in Alabama. CREDIT: WINK News

“No one will outsmart me in this race,” said Haley.

Despite a surge in recent endorsements for Haley, also the former U.N. Ambassador under Trump, a poll from debate host News Nation shows DeSantis still has a slight lead for second place.

“Let’s go get this done,” said DeSantis.

Decision Desk HQ Scott Tranter says this shows this race is far from over.

“Highly fluid, but right now it looks good for Ron DeSantis on a second-choice ballot,” said Tranter.

WINK News is also learning from an exclusive new poll that despite big support for former president Trump within the GOP field, 29% of Republican voters say that if convicted of the charges he’s facing, he should be disqualified from running. That number increases to 57% when taking all voters into account.

“It is a very telling number that, you know, 29% of the Republican electorate is saying they’re not going to support him in the event of a conviction. That is a significant number and could have an impact as we get down into the primary season,” said Tranter.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden saw his approval ratings tick down again: 42% say they approve of the job he’s doing, and inflation, immigration and crime remain top issues for voters.

Abortion policy is also revealing a divide among Republican voters with 30% saying the party is doing too much to restrict access.

“This probably supports a Nikki Haley kind of position on abortion, and we’ll see if the other candidates kind of adapt to that,” said Tranter.

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