(NewsNation) — As White House hopefuls race to make the GOP debate stage, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez says he has met a key threshold to be part of the debate.

Suarez, who announced his White House run in June, has at least 40,000 unique donors but has not met the debate polling requirement so far. The mayor told NewsNation host Leland Vittert that it’s “critical” he makes his way onto the debate stage.

“For someone like me, it’s critical. I’m relatively unknown, as you just said. I’m introducing myself to the country. They’re getting to know who I am. They’re getting to know my story. They’re getting to know my policies and my vision for the country,” Suarez told Vittert.

Suarez said the chance to connect with voters while on the debate stage would be “priceless” for his campaign.

“Getting on that debate stage where you’re going to have a significant opportunity to communicate directly with the American people is frankly priceless. It’ll be the first real opportunity that I have to do that, so I’m banking on that,” Suarez said.

To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, GOP candidates must satisfy polling and donor standards set by the Republican National Committee: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 of them in 20 or more states.

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum and Mike Pence have qualified for the debate at this time. Suarez, Asa Hutchinson, Larry Elder, Perry Johnson and Will Hurd have not yet qualified.