Republican debate live updates and analysis: 8 candidates are facing off

(NEW YORK) — The first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary will begin shortly in Milwaukee.

Eight candidates have qualified for a spot on the stage: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

Missing from the event will be the primary’s early front-runner: former President Donald Trump, who declined to participate and is instead releasing an interview with Tucker Carlson.

ABC News and FiveThirtyEight will be live-blogging every major moment and highlight from the debate, which begins at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox News, with FiveThirtyEight providing analysis and a closer look at the polling and data behind the politicians. PolitiFact will be making real-time fact checks of key statements.

Latest headlines:

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.