Thursday marked the end of the two-month period that CNN used to determine Republican candidates’ eligibility for appearing in the network’s Sept. 16 debate.
The final lineup for the primetime debate will include Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, John Kasich, Chris Christie, and Carly Fiorina.
Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO and Coins2Day’s first-ever Most Powerful Woman in 1998, qualified following a rule change by the network. Last week, CNN said due to a deficit of national polls since the first debate, the featured debate would include any candidate who polls in the top 10 between Aug. 6 and Sept. 10—an adjustment that worked in Fiorina’s favor. On the night of the first GOP debate in August, Fiorina’s polling numbers forced her into the second-tier debate. She was considered the winner of that event.
Candidates who didn’t poll high enough this time around—Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, and Lindsey Graham—will again be relegated to an earlier debate at 5 p.m. The premiere debate will air at 8 p.m.
