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(NewsNation) — Four Republican presidential hopefuls will take the debate stage Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a last-chance effort to win over voters before the Iowa Caucuses in just six weeks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are set to appear on the debate stage at the University of Alabama.
The final GOP primary debate of the year will air on NewsNation at 8 p.m. ET.
The four presidential candidates are looking to position themselves as a viable alternative to former President Donald Trump — the dominant GOP front-runner.
The former president has maintained a sizable lead over the rest of the party.
“They need to go after Donald Trump in a big way,” Republican strategist Terry Holt said. “If you’re going to take on Donald Trump and win in the primary, you need to demonstrate that you’ve got the chops to do that now.”
The former president, however, will not be taking the debate stage as he has boycotted every primary debate so far this year. Instead, he will hold a closed-door fundraiser in Florida.
Trump’s absence, yet again, has sparked some new criticism from his rivals.
“Get out of your dungeon, get off the keyboard, stand on the debate stage and let’s go. Let’s go do it,” DeSantis challenged Trump on Tuesday.
However, Trump has maintained continued support from RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who told NewsNation’s Connell McShane that she would support any of the GOP’s candidates over President Joe Biden.
“If the voters choose him [Trump], [he] is going to be our nominee and the party will be behind our nominee,” McDaniel said.
DeSantis, who has faced several departures in his political operations in recent weeks, will likely continue to take jabs at Trump as he aims to chip away at the former president’s lead.
“I’m not going to tweet at three in the morning. I’m going to be a leader with his eye on the ball,” DeSantis said.
Haley has become a recent target for her competitors, climbing in the polls over the past few months and tying DeSantis in Iowa. The former South Carolina governor will likely be on the defensive at the debate to protect her growing popularity.
More than half of Republican caucus voters in Iowa said if the Republican caucuses were held today, Trump would be their first choice, according to the latest Iowa State University survey. Eighteen percent chose DeSantis, and 12% said Haley.
Some Iowa polling had DeSantis and Haley tied, as Haley won over voters in recent debates.
Though DeSantis and Haley appear to be the clear front-runners behind Trump, Ramaswamy remains an important wild card in the Republican primaries.
In the previous debate, Ramaswamy targeted Haley, which led to her calling him “scum.” This week on NewsNation, Ramaswamy defended his comments against Haley and took a shot at her intelligence, saying if she was going to come at him, she needed to “expand her vocabulary” to words longer than just four letters.
But while the candidates will likely target each other on the debate stage, Citizen United President David Bossie urged candidates to concentrate on addressing the failures of President Joe Biden’s administration and the challenges facing the country.
Inflation and the economy are at the top of likely discussions, which Tuscaloosa County’s GOP chair believes will drive those undecided voters.
“People want a good economy. People want safe streets given the situation the world is in. People want to know America is still the leader on the world stage and that we can take care of things before they come here,” Tuscaloosa County GOP Chair Quinn Roe said.
Other major voter issues that will likely be topics focused on Wednesday night are the border, immigration, crime and education.
