Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that he has secured more than 40,000 individual donations to his campaign, clearing a key threshold to qualify for next month’s first Republican primary debate.
“I’m glad to be able to tell people that last night we went past 40,000 unique donors in just 35 days,” Christie said on CNN. “There is a donor in every state in America, and we have over 200 donors in 36 states.”
Christie added that when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination eight years ago, he had only 5,000 donors 35 days into his campaign.
“There’s really broad support for the candidacy,” the former governor added. “We’re really thrilled about it, and the good news for the Republican Party is that means I’m going to be on the debate stage.”
The first Republican primary debate is set for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, and candidates are required to meet such donor requirements and get at least 1% support in three qualifying polls. Former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have all indicated they have met those thresholds.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also said this week that he had secured more than 53,000 donors.
Christie launched his bid for the Republican nomination last month and has quickly moved to paint himself as the alternative to Trump, who at this point is the Republican front-runner in the race. At his announcement, Christie called Trump a “bitter, angry man who wants power back,” adding that a “self-serving mirror hog is not a leader.”
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