Breaking: New Lineup for GOP Debate, Christie & Huckabee Moved, Graham & Others Out
Thursday evening Fox Business Network announced the new candidate line-up for the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Nov. 10 Republican presidential debates, which will focus on jobs, taxes and the economy.
Candidates on the main stage, prime-time (9 p.m. Eastern) debate will be:
Donald Trump; Dr. Ben Carson; Sen. Marco Rubio; Sen. Ted Cruz; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush;Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Sen. Rand Paul.
The candidates who made the earlier 7 p.m. Eastern debate:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The remaining candidates, former New York Gov. George Pataki, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, and ex-Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore didn’t qualify for either debate.
To qualify for the prime-time debate, a candidate had to score 2.5 percent or higher in an average of the four most recent national polls. Candidates scoring under that had to receive at least 1 percent support in at least one of the four most recent national polls to qualify for the 7 p.m. debate.
The four polls used were conducted by: Fox News; Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP; Quinnipiac University; and The Wall Street Journal/NBC News.
The candidates head into the next debate at a time when Trump and Carson are battling for the lead in most polls.
While several recent state and national surveys have shown Carson climbing into the top spot, the latest Fox News poll released Wednesday showed Trump with the edge, 26-23 percent.
The next tier in that poll included just two candidates: Cruz and Rubio, with 11 percent each.
Bush, Huckabee, Kasich and Paul registered with 4 percent.
The two debates start at 7 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET.
