Crowded GOP Field to Take the Stage at Republican Primary Debate

image
Caitlin HurkesCaitlin Hurkes
Published: 05 Aug, 2015
2 min read
The first round of the Republican primary debates will be held Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The field of Republican presidential candidates stands at 17, but only 10 will be included in the primetime debate at 9pm ET, while the other seven will compete in an undercard debate at 5pm ET.

The 10 candidates who will appear at the prime-time debate are:

Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The top 10 candidates will appear on Fox at 9pm ET. The moderators for the 9pm ET debate are Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace.

Trump, who has been swimming in headlines since his announcement in June, tweeted:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/626841343269191685

Those who did not make the prime-time cut include:

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorana, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.

Fox News' prime-time debate selection has come under fire from the excluded candidates. Surveys from Bloomberg, CBS News, Fox News, Quinnipiac University, and Monmouth University determined the top 10 candidates. Some excluded candidates complained the margin of error is too wide.

Therefore, the excluded candidates will be granted the opportunity to debate at 5pm ET. The moderators for this hour-long debate include Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum.

The candidates are expected to respond to the moderators' questions in 60 seconds and are given 30 second rebuttals. If a candidate's name is directly addressed by another White House hopeful, that candidate will get a chance to respond for a length of time determined by the moderator.

IVP Donate

Whether or not the debates will feature substantive discussions on the issues that the American public cares about or be more reminiscent of 2012 remains to be seen.

#GOPdebate Tweets

 

Photo Credit : Fox4News

You Might Also Like

broken california map
EXCLUSIVE: California Commissioner Says Lawmakers Gutted Their Funding BEFORE Prop 50
The fate of California’s independently drawn congressional districts will be decided on November 4, when voters weigh in on a legislative gerrymander and the suspension of congressional maps from the state's independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) under Proposition 50....
08 Oct, 2025
-
8 min read
fl-let-us-vote
Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Opening Florida’s Primaries to 3.4M Independent Voters
A new statewide poll finds near-unanimous agreement among both Democratic and independent voters that Florida’s primaries should be opened to the state’s 3.4 million “No Party Affiliation” (NPA) voters who are currently shut out of taxpayer-funded elections....
10 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read