2024 longshot Doug Burgum makes GOP debate stage after giving fundraisers $20 gift cards for $1 donation

Longshot 2024 candidate Doug Burgum met the requirements this week to run in next month’s first Republican presidential primary debate.

Burgum, a former software executive, set up a fundraising campaign to get him on the debate stage. Donors who gave just $1 received a $20 gift card in return.

The governor of North Dakota calls the voucher the “Biden Economic Relief Card.”

With Burgum, there are now seven candidates who meet the fundraising and polling qualifications set by the Republican National Committee (RNC) to appear on the debate stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23.

There are still questions about whether all seven will participate — especially as former President Donald Trump continues to brush off questions about the debate over his 2024 rivals, all of whom are far behind him in national and statewide polls.

One strategy Burgum used to reach the voting threshold was to offer a $20 gift card to the first 50,000 backers to give $1 to the campaign, calling it the “Biden Economic Relief Card.” To debate, candidates need 40,000 unique donors with 200 from 20 different states or territories

Burgum, who sold his company to Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 2001, has himself poured millions into his campaign.

But the strategy that helped him get to the debate stage was to give the first 50,000 people who donated at least $1 to his campaign a $20 gift card. The RNC requires candidates to have 40,000 unique donors with at least 200 in 20 different states or U.S. territories.

The design of Burgum’s campaign worked.

His website calling for donors to receive the gift card states that the $20 is to help with “the burden on American families caused by the Democrats.”

“Joe Biden is not doing anything to fix it,” it continued. “We want to help, so we’re offering YOU a $20 gift card, and all YOU have to do is contribute $1 to claim it.”

He then crossed the polling threshold needed to debate Tuesday when he received 1 percent support from voters in a new national poll from Morning Consult. The RNC requires candidates to get more than 1 percent in three national polls — or in two national polls and two separate early state primary polls.

Earlier, Burgum hit the 1 percent threshold in a national survey by Louisiana-based JMC Analytics and Polling. He also got 6 percent in a University of New Hampshire Granite State poll and 3 percent in a Fox Business poll in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa.

The RNC has not yet said whether it has taken into account the Morning Consult poll and whether Burgum is now eligible for the debate phase.

So far, seven candidates have met polling and donor qualifications to reach the first stage of debate on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Burgum spokesman Lance Trover considers the latter a victory, saying in a statement: “Governor Burgum looks forward to sharing his focus on economics, energy and national security during the August debate.”

“In less than 7 weeks, Governor Burgum has surpassed all the demands for debate,” Trover added.

Candidates must also sign a pledge saying they will support whoever becomes the GOP nominee — and pledge not to participate in other debates not hosted by the RNC.

Some longshot candidates, such as former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, argue that the pledge to support the eventual nominee is aimed at Trump.

The RNC has made some pretty tough demands on the debates this year, including signing a pledge to support whoever becomes the 2024 nominee to participate in the debates

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly doubted whether he will participate in the debate. Some close associates say the former president feels he is incapable of debating candidates who are so far behind him in the polls.

Candidates who have qualified to debate so far include Florida governor Trump, Burgum, Christie, Ron DeSantis, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina senator Tim Scott.

About half of the overcrowded field of 15 GOP candidates have made it to the debate stage so far.

Notably, former Vice President Mike Pence has yet to qualify, but assured Sunday that he “will get there.”

Both Pence and Hutchinson have reached the voting threshold, but neither has reached the 40,000 backer requirement.

There are 15 candidates vying for the GOP nomination in 2024 — with Trump and DeSantis way ahead. So far, seven have met the requirements to debate