


The Republican Party plans to hold its second presidential primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced the decision Thursday during a speech at the library. She did not provide a date but the event will follow the first debate in Milwaukee in August.
“I firmly believe that our next president will be on that stage,” Ms. McDaniel told the library crowd.
The library has hosted debates before, including one in 2015 in the run-up to Donald Trump’s victory the following year. The site has symbolic significance for the GOP, given its reverence for the Reagan era.
Ms. McDaniel said the coming race is “so important” and there are contrasts between the party on things like law and order and securing the border.
“We’re not dealing with small, minor differences between two parties. These are not simple policy discussions that we’re discussing. We’re electing and determining the future of our country,” she said. “There are two very different paths being laid out.”
Ms. McDaniel did not outline how the candidates would qualify but the field is taking shape.
The former president, Mr. Trump, is seeking his old job while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to launch a bid in the coming months.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are in the race while Sen. Tim Scott, South Carolina Republican, formed an exploratory committee and may run.
President Biden hasn’t formally declared his reelection bid but he’s signaled that an announcement is imminent.
A small circle of advisers is planning to launch the campaign with a video announcement on Tuesday, the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2019 announcement, according to CNN.
The timing may change, but the outlet cited a senior Democratic official as saying it is “no longer helpful or necessary to not just say the obvious: He’s running.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.