
IPFS News Link • Politics: Republican Campaigns
CNN debate to feature 11 candidates, including Fiorina
• USA TodayNext week's prime-time Republican presidential debate will feature 11 candidates, including surging businesswoman Carly Fiorina, CNN announced Thursday.
Fiorina, front-runner Donald Trump, and other Republican candidates will gather Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., for the second debate of 2016 election cycle, this one sponsored by CNN.
In addition to Trump and Fiorina, the 8 p.m. ET session will include Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul.
An earlier debate, at 6 p.m. ET, will feature Republicans who have finished outside the top 10 in an aggregate of polls: Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal and George Pataki.
"Thursday marked the close of the two-month window for determining eligibility based on averages of national polls," CNN said in a report.
Trump led the Republican field in the aggregate of polls used by CNN, scoring nearly 24% support. Bush finished second at 11.5%, followed by Walker (9.4%), Carson (8.9%), Cruz (6.3%), Rubio (5.6%), Huckabee (5.6%), Paul (4.7%), Kasich (3.2%), Christie (3.1%), and Fiorina (2.2%).
The candidates in the early debate: Perry (1.8%), Santorum (1.2%), Jindal (1.1%), Pataki (0.5%), and Graham (0.5%).
The prime-time debate could be a contest between insurgent "outsider" candidates and so-called "establishment" Republicans.