A majority of Republican voters want the 2024 presidential candidates — not the Republican National Convention (RNC) — to decide the logistics of the debates, a poll exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller shows.
The poll, conducted by The Trafalgar Group in conjunction with the Convention of States Action, shows that 53.4% of Republicans want the candidates themselves to have the “most influence in determining topics, times, locations, and moderators for Republican Presidential Primary Debates.” Only 28.2% of respondents said they wanted the RNC to take the lead and 24.5% said they were unsure.
A majority of Independents, 52.1%, also said they would rather see the candidates take charge. Twenty-two percent wanted the RNC and 25.9% responded with “not sure.”
Among Democrats, 36.5% said they wanted the decision to be a mutual agreement among the candidates, compared to 27.9% wanting the RNC and 35.6% being unsure.
The poll was conducted from June 5-9 and had 1,088 likely general election voters respond with a margin of error of 2.9%. The Trafalgar Group uses six methods to get responses, including live callers, integrated voice response, text messages, emails and two other proprietary digital methods.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 09: RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel speaks during a press conference alongside White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany at the Republican National Committee headquarters on November 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration continues to claim that there may have been widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The RNC announced its first debate will be held Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with another debate the following day if there are too many candidates. To qualify, candidates need to meet the RNC’s criteria for “candidate status; polling; fundraising; and candidate pledging.”
The criteria includes polling “at least 1% in three national polls OR 1% in two national polls and 1% in one early state poll from two separate ‘carve out’ states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina) recognized by the RNC.”
Several of the top GOP candidates, including former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have already participated in solo town halls on CNN, where they took questions from the host and people in the audience. (RELATED: Trump Takes The Stage, Faces Voters At CNN Town Hall)
The RNC did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Daily Caller.