LIVE UPDATES: GOP Presidential Primary Debate In Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Officials at the University of Alabama are digging in for a busy day Wednesday as NewsNation prepares to host the fourth and final Republican Presidential Primary Debate in Tuscaloosa.

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Tuscaloosa Patch will post live updates here and on social media throughout the day, but here's a quick primer before the evening gets started.

Who is participating? The Republican National Committee confirmed this week that four candidates have met the criteria to take the debate stage Wednesday night: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

What's at stake? Despite the Republican field narrowing down ahead of the party primary season, it's worth noting that the presumed GOP frontrunner — former President Donald Trump — will not take the debate stage on Wednesday. According to the latest poll from Quinnipiac University published on Nov. 1, Trump was polling around 64% support among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, which underscores the seemingly insurmountable task ahead for the four candidates participating in tonight's debate.

In this poll, the former president was followed by DeSantis with 15% support and Haley with 8% support; while Christie and Ramaswamy were polling around 3% — numbers that have since grown slightly. Indeed, candidates participating in tonight's debate were required to have 80,000 donors and 6% support in at least two American polls.

When is the debate and who is moderating? The debate, held in the 1,000-seat Moody Music Building's concert hall, is set to begin at 7 p.m. local time and conclude at 9 p.m. The event will be broadcast on NewsNation, along with a free live stream on the network's website.

Nexstar Media Group — the parent company of NewsNation — will also present an encore presentation of the debate on its local CW television affiliates following the event.

The debate will be moderated by conservative pundit Megyn Kelly, NewsNation's Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, the editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon.

LIVE UPDATES

6 p.m. — We're an hour away from the debate kicking off here in Tuscaloosa. The GOP Presidential Debate is set to begin at 7 p.m. local time and conclude at 9 p.m. The event will be broadcast on NewsNation, along with a free live stream on the network's website.

4:30 p.m. — The media filing room in the Moody Music Building is already filled with dozens of reporters from across the country as the debate is less than three hours away.

Officials could be seen outside of the Moody Music Building speaking with the media, including Republican Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen speaking with WBRC Fox 6 News about elections and former Democratic U.S. Senator Doug Jones speaking with WVTM 13 News in the media room.

11: 30 a.m. — Despite the Super 7 high school football state championships kicking off today at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the mood around the UA campus was surprisingly quiet this morning, with Tuscaloosa Police and UAPD officers directing foot traffic away from the Moody Music Building, with 2nd Avenue currently closed to traffic.

It's also worth noting, as a reminder, that there will be no general admission or on-site ticket sales for the event. The Alabama Republican Party said this week that the debate will be invitation-only for attendees.

Follow us here and on social media throughout the day for more updates from the Republican Presidential Primary Debate.