As the primary Republican presidential debate nears on Wednesday night time, we requested our readers a couple of easy issues: What questions would you want to listen to? What points must be mentioned? How will you choose the candidates?

We heard from greater than 850 readers, together with devoted supporters of former President Donald J. Trump, Republicans who voted for him up to now however at the moment are skeptical, die-hard Democrats and independents who mentioned they had been unhappy with all of their choices within the 2024 race.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Trump loomed giant — even in his anticipated absence onstage. But many Republicans had been additionally keen to listen to how the candidates would deal with coverage points together with the struggle in Ukraine and migration on the nation’s southern border.

Others had been keen to listen to what the candidates would do to bridge the nation’s deep partisan divide. The responses have been flippantly edited for readability.

Everyone needs to find out about Trump.

The former president has said he will not participate on Wednesday, however many readers needed him — and his 4 felony indictments — to be a serious matter of dialog.

For Democrats, the highest concern was some model of the blunt query from Kerry Reardon in Fleming Island, Fla: “Yes or no, do you believe that the Democrats stole the 2020 election?”

But Republican supporters had one other query for Mr. Trump’s rivals: “What makes them able to defeat Trump, then Biden later on?” requested Austin Moon in Greenville, N.C.

“What makes you think you are as tough as Trump?” requested Loretta Houdeshell, a Republican from Greenbrier, Tenn.

Others needed a easy yes-or-no reply to the next query: “Will you support the 2024 Republican nominee for president?”

But skepticism about Mr. Trump additionally crept into Republicans’ questions. Kathryn Byrd, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump in Missouri in 2020, needed to know if the candidates thought that “those involved in the Jan. 6 riots should be held accountable, including but not limited to, former President Donald Trump?”

Shannon Swindle, a Republican from Georgia, fearful concerning the toll of nominating a candidate with authorized baggage and needed to listen to candidates’ views.

“How will they address the Trump indictments and what do they have to say if Trump is the Republican nominee, which I personally hope he is not. How do we move forward as a legitimate democracy when the Democratic Party is trying to imprison their main political opponent? What should we do to move forward?”

Moving ahead was a typical theme for a lot of voters, together with Peter J. Cotch of Naples, Fla., who hoped the moderators would ask concerning the “impact of Trumpism on the public image of the Republican Party” and added that he was “a third-generation registered Republican” who had all the time supported the get together’s nominee, however “couldn’t do it this time if it’s Trump.”

Immigration and the struggle in Ukraine

Republican readers had priorities past Mr. Trump. They usually raised questions concerning the candidates’ positions on persevering with to construct a border wall and ending birthright citizenship (a change that may require a constitutional modification).

“How would you handle the border crisis moving forward and what would you do with the huge number of immigrants residing in the U.S. currently that arrived outside of our immigration laws?” requested Jane Roberts, a Republican in Florida.

Asked what points he would most like to listen to about, Mark Greenstone of Winter Springs, Fla., wrote, “How will they specifically resolve preventing illegal immigrants from entering our country?”

“Not just closing the border,” wrote Larry O’Neal of Tuscaloosa, Ala. “But actual changes to the immigration system.”

Like many different voters, Mr. O’Neal was additionally keen to listen to concerning the candidates’ views on the struggle in Ukraine, a battle that has divided the G.O.P. between traditionalists and a brand new guard deeply skeptical of U.S. intervention abroad. Mr. O’Neal needed to listen to about “the risks and rewards by your position.”

Josh Sacks, an impartial voter in Falls Church, Va., mentioned that he hoped to listen to Republicans speak concerning the “limits of America’s commitment to Ukraine.”

Can all of us come collectively?

A couple of Republican respondents requested what the candidates may do to convey their get together collectively, however much more raised questions on nationwide unity.

“How are you going to help rebuild trust in our democratic system?” requested Nancy Parlette, a Republican in Maryland who mentioned she wrote within the title of Larry Hogan, the state’s reasonable G.O.P. governor on the time, for president in 2020 as a result of she “couldn’t find anyone worth voting for.”

“People are sick of all the hate, slander and backbiting,” Ms. Parlette added. “We want to be able to trust our president and our Congress to actually care about America more than about making themselves look great.”

Susan Pichoff, a Republican from Alabama, mentioned, “I don’t want to ask about the past.” Instead, she mentioned: “I want to ask about, what are we doing to encourage people and unite this country? Because we are so divided and it’s sad.”

George Adkins, an impartial voter in Houston who voted for Mr. Trump, had the same thought: “How do you plan to lessen the divide among Americans in both politics and race?”

Ditch the speaking factors

And, in what could be a perennial request, many citizens mentioned they needed to be leveled with. Mr. Greenstone mentioned he would choose candidates “by how direct and specific they answer questions as opposed to just providing answers that are scripted and vague.”

“I will be turned off by a bombastic approach,” wrote Douglas Greenlee, of Huntersville, N.C. “I will respect a thoughtful approach even if the candidate says they do not have the plan developed as yet, but lay out parameters for what they would think about.”

But few voters of any political stripe expressed excessive hopes for the night time. Catherine O’Keefe of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., mentioned she anticipated that “not a single candidate will say anything useful that is not a campaigned-approved talking point, nor will they provide an actual answer to any direct question.”

Ms. O’Keefe, a Republican who voted for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020, added, “Candidates will just try to score one-liners against each other.”