Sen. Lindsey Graham’s presidential campaign got a tiny bit of good news this week: He’s qualified for the Sept. 16 debate.

The South Carolina Republican hasn’t earned a spot in the primetime debate, but he did cross the threshold to get an invite to the undercard event, which will be held among lesser-polling candidates before the big event with the bigger names at the Reagan Library.

Last week, it looked like Graham might not make it. But campaign aides said Monday that Graham has met the benchmark: an average of 1% support in three national polls between July 16 and Sept. 10. CNN confirmed to them that Graham would get a podium.

Graham has struggled to find support for his bid despite four terms in the U.S. House and is in the first year of his third in the Senate. He’s among the most experienced—if hawkish—members of his party’s national security wing. Yet he, like almost everyone other Republican White House hopeful, has struggled to break through a summer that has seen itself dominated by billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump.

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Write to Philip Elliott at philip.elliott@time.com.