North Dakotans tuning into Wednesday’s Republican presidential primary debate will be greeted by a familiar face as Gov. Doug Burgum takes the stage. But the long-shot candidate is hoping that after the debate, residents of other states will recognize his face as well.

Burgum is among the eight candidates who are confirmed to be attending the Milwaukee debate, which will air on Fox News starting at 8 p.m. Central time and running for about two hours. Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier will moderate.

Looming over the debate is the specter of former President Donald Trump, who qualified but has decided not to participate in the event. Instead, he is reportedly planning counterprogramming in the form of an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who was ousted earlier this year.

Trump is the clear frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination and a former commander in chief, and his presence at the debate could have legitimized other primary candidates, whereas counterprogramming could siphon attention from the event, experts say.

Trump's late decision left candidates and moderators unsure of what to expect until just days before the debate.

“We've adjusted as we've tried to figure out exactly who's going to be on the stage. I've done this a number of times and it's a process,” Baier said in a statement to the Tribune ahead of Trump's announcement. “We kind of go through different topics and then whittle it down to good questions, make them specific for candidates. And then obviously not knowing whether the former president is going to be a part of it or not. We have two stacks of questions, one with and one without, but we’ll be ready.”

Also of note leading up to the debate is the latest series of indictments to include Trump: On Aug. 14, the former president was indicted alongside 18 others for alleged election interference issues. It’s the fourth time he’s been indicted, and previous indictments have received significant airtime in the national media's primary coverage and conversations with some candidates.

That airtime clashes with Burgum’s messaging, as he’s repeatedly declined to comment on the matter and redirected reporters to other topics, decrying the media’s focus on Trump’s legal issues throughout his campaign.

Though Trump won't be in attendance, Burgum will still be vying for attention in a crowded field that includes five other current or former governors, all of whom represented states much larger than North Dakota. In the lead-up to the debate, Republican strategists told the Tribune name recognition will be a major obstacle for Burgum, but they also said the event presents a chance to pitch himself to voters, no matter Trump’s decision.

Burgum's campaign declined the Tribune's request for comment on his debate preparation. But in a Friday episode of Politico Playbook’s Deep Dive podcast, the governor was asked what victory would look like for his campaign as he leaves the debate stage. Burgum said his main goal is an increase in his national profile.

“We’re in a very different spot than everyone else on the stage, because virtually everyone else has got 100% name recognition, and we’re a long way from that. We’re at the other end of that spectrum,” Burgum said on the show.

“So there’s a little bit of just solving the “Doug who?” problem, and then they also need to know the three things we’re running on, because we're not running against these other Republican candidates. We're running against Joe Biden,” he said, referring to his three priorities of fixing the economy, boosting domestic energy production and strengthening the military.