Gary Johnson was allowed to qualify for the debate after Fox News tweaked its criteria. Fla. GOP: Don't let Johnson debate

Fox News has invited Gary Johnson to Thursday’s presidential debate over the objections of the Florida Republican Party, which is co-hosting the Orlando event.

But the former New Mexico governor and fledgling presidential candidate still won’t be on the ballot at Saturday’s Presidency 5 straw poll, since the Florida GOP controls that order exclusively.


Fox and the state party disagreed on an interpretation of the rules, which require a candidate to receive at least 1 percent support in five recent national polls, said Florida GOP spokesman Brian Hughes. But Fox tweaked the criteria to require candidates only poll 1 percent in the last five polls in which they were presented as an option, allowing Johnson to qualify.

“We had a sense of what their criteria meant and they felt their criteria was clear,” Hughes said. “I think it’s fair to say there is a misunderstanding in how non-inclusive polls would be considered.”

Fox News included Johnson at the first debate of the season, in South Carolina in May, but not in the debate it hosted just before the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa.

The reasons behind the network’s decision to alter the rules in a way that seems to have specifically benefited Johnson’s campaign were not clear, and a Fox spokeswoman did not comment on that or the disagreement with the state party over Johnson’s invitation to Thursday’s debate.

Johnson, in an interview with POLITICO, said he has not received word of the invitation, but said he’d take it if offered. He said he doesn’t plan to use the debate stage to make a spectacle of his campaign, but will reiterate his campaign themes.

“I would be saying things different than everyone else up there,” he said. “I’m promising to submit a balanced budget in 2013. I am promising to veto spending legislation that exceeds revenue. I am promising to overhaul the tax code, that means throwing out the entire federal tax system and replacing it with the fair tax.”

Johnson is no stranger to Fox: since June 1, Johnson has appeared on Fox outlets 18 times, according to the liberal Fox monitor Media Matters. That figure is more than fellow GOP candidates Mitt Romney (eight times), Jon Huntsman (11) and Rick Perry (five) — though Huntsman and Perry entered the race in July and August, respectively.

Hughes said the state party used its interpretation of the rules to disqualify Johnson from the Saturday straw poll, for which ballots have already been sent to the printer.

“The Republican Party of Florida was using a version of the criteria to determine placement on our straw poll ballot,” Hughes said. “For logistical reasons, we had a different deadline. Based on using the criteria with a different deadline cut-off, Gary Johnson does not qualify for placement on the actual ballot that will be distributed Saturday.”

Johnson spokesman Joe Hunter said it is “not surprising” that Johnson is being excluded from the straw poll ballot.

“Straw polls,” he said, “are not what our campaign is about.”