Vivek Ramaswamy, political outsider generated some buzz initially but soon came under fire.
Five presidential hopefuls will participate in what's expected to be an intense third Republican debate on Wednesday in Miami. The number of participants for the Republican nominee has come down from eight in Milwaukee during the August debate to five, but the frontrunner Donald Trump will once again give it a miss.
According to a report in The New York Times, the former president will host a rally outside Miami while his rivals engage in verbal bouts on stage. Let's take a look at five candidates for the third Republican debate.
1) Nikki Haley
The 51-year-old, who served as the US ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump presidency, is the only woman candidate in the race. Haley has impressed voters in the first two outings, and she is currently third in most polls behind Florida Governor Ronald Dion DeSantis. On Tuesday, Hailey's campaign released a video, targetting DeSantison energy policy, an indication of what's to come on Wednesday night.
2) Ronald Dion DeSantis
Forty-five-year-old DeSantis, who launched his Presidential campaign in May, avoided targetting former president Donald Trump until the last debate. However, after perhaps noticing the diminishing support for his candidacy, DeSantis said that Trump was missing in action, adding that he should have been on stage. According to a report in Reuters, he is still 40% points adrift of the former US president. In another setback on Tuesday, DeSantis' biggest donor, Robert Bigelow, a Nevada real estate investor, who has so far funded the Florida Governor's campaign with over $20mn, said that he was considering switching his support to Donald Trump.
3) Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy is a former biotechnology investor and executive. The thirty-eight-year-old political outsider generated some buzz initially but soon came under fire from fellow competitors who have repeatedly underlined his lack of political experience. According to The New York Times, Ramaswamy's approval ratings remain in single digits and "he does not loom as a major force in the race going into tonight". Interestingly, Ramaswamy is a big Trump supporter and said he would pardon the former president, should he win the White House.
4) Chris Christie
Chris Christie, who once advised Donald Trump's White House campaign, has now pitched himself as an alternative to the former president. The former New Jersey governor is now a vocal critic of Trump and even called him "Donald Duck" for sitting out the debates. Christie upped the ante against Trump after a growing number of criminal charges against the Republican frontrunner. But does he pose a threat to Trump?
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from September 8 to September 14, Christie received about 2% support among Republicans.
5) Tim Scott
The only African-American in the race for the Presidential candidate of the Grand Old Party, Mr Scott was lauded for his remarks about race in the last debate. "There is not a redeeming quality in slavery," he said, criticising Mr DeSantis' education policies in Florida, where new guidelines suggested there were personal benefits for slaves who developed skills.
The US senator doesn't enjoy much recognition or popularity outside his home state of South Carolina and even Scott's supporters acknowledge he had little chance to win.
According to the polling average compiled by the RealClearPolitics website, Mr Trump's support among Republicans stands at a staggering 58%, over 44 points ahead of Mr DeSantis, his nearest challenger.