What to know about the 3rd Republican presidential primary debate
Some of the top Republican presidential candidates will face off at their third primary debate on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Miami.
There will be fewer people on stage after one candidate -- former Vice President Mike Pence -- dropped out of the race and others haven't yet said if they've reached the higher threshold to qualify.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner, according to polls, is once again not expected to participate.
Here's what to know about the third Republican presidential primary debate:
How to watch the debate
The two-hour debate, hosted by NBC News, will air on the network's TV, streaming and digital platforms. The moderators will include "Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt, "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker and conservative-leaning Hugh Hewitt, the host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" on Salem Radio Network.
The Republican National Committee selected debate partners as well: Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as Rumble, to stream the debate, which will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.
ABC News and 538 will have live updates online of the latest action on the debate stage as well as analysis on the biggest takeaways from the night.
Who will be participating in the presidential debate?
It appears that there are five Republican candidates who have qualified for the third debate, according to their campaigns. Those are: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
The RNC has not yet confirmed the qualified candidates.
The previous debate included Pence, who suspended his campaign last weekend. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum made the second debate stage, but hasn't said if he's reached the higher threshold for this debate.
How do candidates qualify for the third debate stage?
The qualifications for the third debate were more stringent than the first two.
This time, the RNC said participants must have secured 4% of the vote in multiple polls and 70,000 unique donors.
All candidates are also required to sign a pledge to support the party's eventual 2024 nominee if they want to participate.
The candidates must meet the requirements no later than 48 hours before the debate.
The third debate qualifications are a step up from the second one when candidates needed to reach at least 3% in two national polls or 3% in one national poll and 3% in two polls conducted from separate early nominating states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada), in order to qualify. The candidates also needed at least 50,000 unique donors.
Will Donald Trump participate in the debate?
Former President Trump did not attend the first two debates, indicating he saw no point given his large polling lead -- and it appears he won't participate in the third one either.
"President Trump's statement was that he would not attend the debates," adviser Chris LaCivita said in the days following the second debate. "Plural ... And that's his position until it's not."
His campaign urged the RNC to cancel the third debate, saying the party should focus on defeating Democrats in 2024 instead.
His campaign announced Thursday it will counter-program the debate with a rally in Hialeah, Florida, as well as a "Team Trump Spin Room."
Last week, DeSantis mockingly invited Trump to join the Republican debate stage even if he needed a teleprompter.
"I'm willing to allow him to bring his teleprompter to the debate if that's what he wants to do, and we will just do it like that. But he should be on that stage in Miami and subsequent debates," DeSantis said.
What will the debate format be?
Candidates will be questioned about their views on the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine as well as a series of domestic political developments. The topics will be broken up into four planned segments, a NBC News spokesperson told ABC News.
Candidates will have 90 seconds to answer moderators' questions, and all candidates will answer the same question at the beginning of the debate. Candidates will have 60 seconds to respond to follow-up questions.
The candidates will have 60 seconds for a closing statement at the end of the debate.
