2024 Republican Debates # The Second GOP Debate Could Be Smaller, With Or Without Trump ## Six of the eight candidates from the first debate appear set to qualify for the Sept. 27 event. By Geoffrey Skelley ## Sep. 14 , 2023, at 6:00 AM Eight Republican candidates participated in the party’s first primary debate in August. But the stage could feature fewer contenders when the GOP holds its next debate later this month. Joshua Lott / The Washington Post via Getty Images The second Republican presidential primary debate is less than two weeks away, so time is running out for GOP contenders to meet the Republican National Committee’s qualification criteria. To make the Sept. 27 debate, each candidate must have at least 3 percent support in two qualifying national polls, or at least 3 percent in one national survey and that same figure in polls from two different early voting states,2 conducted since ## Aug. 1 .…