Republican Party presidential debates, 2016

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"Republican debates" redirects here. For Republican debates from previous elections, see Republican Party presidential primaries.

The 2016 Republican presidential debates are being held among candidates for the Republican Party's presidential nomination for the national election of 2016.

Overview[edit]

The Republican National Committee announced the 2015–2016 debate schedule on January 16, 2015. It revealed that 12 debates would be held, in contrast to the 20 debates and forums that were held from 2011 to 2012. The announcement included which news organizations would host each debate, with Fox News and CNN having three each; and one each for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, Fox Business Network, and a conservative media outlet to be announced.

The first live-broadcast debate occurred on Thursday, August 6, 2015 at a sports arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was seen on the Fox News Channel by 24 million viewers, making the debate the most watched live broadcast for a non-sporting event in cable history.[1] Due to the number of candidates running for nomination, Fox News aired two separate debates on August 6, with the less popular candidates going first, followed by the candidates with more support in the 'prime time' debate.

One debate per month will follow until February 2016, when the GOP candidates will debate three times. Additionally, two debates have been confirmed for March 2016.[2]

Logistics[edit]

Map of United States showing Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Orlando
   C-SPANGoffstown
   C-SPAN
Goffstown
Fox NewsCleveland
Fox News
Cleveland
CNNReagan Library
CNN
Reagan Library
CNBCBoulder
CNBC
Boulder
   CNNLas Vegas
   CNN
Las Vegas
   Fox BusinessMilwaukee
   Fox Business
Milwaukee
Sites of the first six 2016 Republican primary debates.

With up to 18 major candidates vying for the nomination, the prospect of including all the candidates in a debate presented logistical difficulties. For the August 6, 2015 Fox News debate, only the top 10 candidates based on the most recent five national polls were invited to the 9 p.m. debate. Other candidates had the chance to participate in another debate that was held at 5 p.m.[3] For the September 16, 2015 CNN debate, there will be one debate with only candidates who are in the top ten in recent polling, and another for those not in the top ten but polling at least one percent in "public polling".[4] (However, CNN has reserved the right to, at their discretion, limit primetime participation to the top eight candidates,[5][6] in a situation where fewer than 15 candidates qualify according to CNN's specific criteria.) In mid-July Fox News required that candidates offer a full personal financial disclosure prior to the first debate, which is in line with Federal Election Commission guidelines (but sets an earlier deadline for the disclosure).[7]

The use of polls to winnow the field was criticized, especially but not exclusively by candidates with relatively low polling numbers in August—including Rick Santorum and Lindsey Graham—who complained that exclusion from the debates could prevent them from being competitive in the primaries and caucuses.[8] Candidates ranked from 8th to 12th place in the polls prior to the August debate—including Chris Christie, Rick Perry, and John Kasich—downplayed the importance of being invited to any specific debate, emphasizing that delegate selection in early states is more important.[9] Some in the media questioned Donald Trump's seriousness as a candidate and pondered as to whether or not he should be included in the debates.[10][11][12] Trump filed FEC paperwork to make his run official;[13] however, despite doing well in the early polling which effectively guaranteed him an invitation to the Fox News and CNN debates, Trump expressed ambivalence about the value of the debates to his own campaign (saying he was not a debater and therefore did not know how well he would perform in one), and to the process in general (saying that politicians are always debating with little in the way of results).[9] Candidates such as Chris Christie and Rand Paul said that the debates would give candidates a chance to communicate policy ideas to voters, and would thus be helpful in giving voters the information needed to decide which candidate to support.[9] Outside the presidential campaigns themselves, the use of polling data was criticized by polling firms such as Marist, who temporarily suspended their national polling of preferences for the Republican nominee, on grounds that the use of polling data to select the debate field puts polling firms under pressure to produce high-precision results that are inherently impossible to provide, due to the margin of error in any statistical sampling process like a preference poll (see statistical tie for tenth place and more generally the independence of clones).[14] FiveThirtyEight pointed out the varying degrees of discretion that the television networks gave themselves with their distinct debate invitation criteria, noting that the polling data can only be seen as an objective method for selection of the debate participants, if the full and exact criteria are made clear in advance.[6] The rhetoric about the pros and cons of the debate criteria, and the use of polls to winnow the field, partially displaced more substantive discussions of concrete policies that candidates are proposing.[9]

Schedule[edit]

The following table lists a pre-debate forum and a total of 12 RNC debates along with the dates, times, places, hosts, and participants.[15][16][17]

Debates among candidates for the 2016 Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination
No. Date Time Place Host Participants*
 P  Participant, main debate.  S  Participant, secondary debate.
 IP  Invitee (to a future primetime debate).  IS  Invitee (to a future secondary debate).
 N  Non-invitee.  A  Absent invitee.  O  Out of race (exploring or withdrawn).
Bush Carson Christie Cruz Fiorina Gilmore Graham Huckabee Jindal Kasich Pataki Paul Perry Rubio Santorum Trump Walker
F1 Aug. 3, 2015 5 p.m. EDT Saint Anselm College
Goffstown, NH
C-SPAN P P P P P O P A P P P P P P P A P
1 Aug. 6, 2015  5 p.m. EDT 
 9 p.m. EDT 
Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland, OH
Fox News P P P P S S S P S P S P S P S P P
2 Sept. 16, 2015  3 p.m. PDT 
 5 p.m. PDT 
Reagan Library
Simi Valley, CA
CNN/
Salem Radio
P P P P P N S P S P S P O P S P P
3 Oct. 28, 2015  4 p.m. MDT 
 6 p.m. MDT 
Coors Events Center
Boulder, CO
CNBC IP IP IP IP IP N IS IP IS IP IS IP O IP IS IP O
4 Nov. 10, 2015  
 
Milwaukee Theatre
Milwaukee, WI
Fox Business O O
5 Dec. 15, 2015 Las Vegas, NV CNN/
Salem Radio
O O
6 Jan. 2016  
 
Des Moines, IA Fox News O O
7 Feb. 6, 2016  
 
New Hampshire ABC News O O
8 Feb. 13, 2016  
 
South Carolina CBS News O O
9 Feb. 26, 2016  
 
University of Houston
Houston, TX
NBC News/
Telemundo
O O
10 Mar. 2016  
 
TBD Fox News O O
11 Mar. 2016 Florida CNN/
Salem Radio
O O
12 TBD  
 
TBD TBD O O
^ Not sanctioned by the RNC; an RNC rule makes a candidate who participates in a 'nonsanctioned debate' ineligible to participate in a sanctioned one, but the format of the forum in which candidates speak one at a time with no direct challenges did not affect the eligibility of the candidate.[18][19]
       = event completed
*^ Participating in at least one debate listed above:   Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida  • Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson of Maryland  • Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey  • Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas  • Former CEO Carly Fiorina of California  • Former Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia  • Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina  • Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas  • Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana  • Gov. John Kasich of Ohio  • Former Gov. George Pataki of New York  • Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky  • Former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas  • Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida  • Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania  • Businessman Donald Trump of New York  • Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin

Summaries[edit]

August 3, 2015 – Goffstown, New Hampshire[edit]

The 2016 Voters First Presidential Forum moderator was Jack Heath of WGIR radio, who asked questions of each of the participating candidates based on a random draw.[20] Candidates each had three opportunities to speak: two rounds of questions, and a closing statement.[21] Topics of discussion during the forum were partially selected based on the results of an online voter survey.[22] The facilities were provided by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library of St. Anselm College. The forum was organized in response[23] to the top-ten invitation limitations placed by Fox News and CNN on their first televised debates (see descriptions below).

Eleven of the candidates were present in person; Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio participated in the forum via satellite to avoid missing a vote.[19][24] Three major Republican candidates who did not participate were Donald Trump (who chose not to attend),[20] Jim Gilmore (who missed the cutoff deadline)[20] and Mike Huckabee (who was invited, but did not respond).[20] Mark Everson did not receive an invitation, albeit after a "serious look."[25][26]

The Voters First forum was broadcast nationally[27] by C-SPAN[28] as the originating source media entity, beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT and lasting[citation needed] from 7 to 9 p.m. The event was also simulcast and/or co-sponsored by television stations KCRG-TV in Iowa, New England Cable News in the northeast, WBIN-TV in New Hampshire,[29] WLTX-TV in South Carolina, radio stations New Hampshire Public Radio, WGIR in New Hampshire, iHeartRadio on the internet (C-SPAN is also offering an online version of the broadcast), and newspapers the Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa, the Union Leader in New Hampshire, and the Post and Courier in Charleston South Carolina.[20] There was a live audience, with tickets to the event awarded via a lottery.[23]

August 6, 2015 – Cleveland, Ohio[edit]

Candidate Airtime[30] Polls[31]
Trump 10:32 23.4%
Bush 8:31 12.0%
Walker 5:51 10.2%
Huckabee 6:40 6.6%
Carson 6:23 5.8%
Cruz 6:39 5.4%
Rubio 6:22 5.4%
Paul 5:10 4.8%
Christie 6:10 3.4%
Kasich 6:31 3.2%
Candidate Airtime[32] Polls[31]
Perry 7:06 1.8%
Santorum 7:48 1.4%
Jindal 6:05 1.4%
Fiorina 7:46 1.3%
Graham 6:33 0.7%
Pataki 6:42 0.6%
Gilmore 5:24 0.2%

The first debate was hosted by Fox News, Facebook, and the Ohio Republican Party at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio – the same location as the future 2016 Republican National Convention. The two-hour debate invited the 10 highest-polling candidates, as measured by the average of the top five national polls selected by Fox. In addition, all other candidates who were "consistently being offered" as choices in national polls were invited to a one-hour debate earlier that same day.[3] (Originally, the non-primetime debate had a minimum requirement that invitees were averaging at least 1% in Fox-recognized national polls,[33] and was to be aired at noon for a total of two hours in duration.) The two-tiered debate hosted by Fox News on the 6th was qualitatively different from the C-SPAN forum held on the 3rd, for at least three reasons: it was a debate rather than a forum, where candidates were allowed to challenge each other, not just speak one at a time sequentially; it was divided into two tiers based on national polling numbers, only a subset of the candidates were on-stage (during each of the two distinct Fox News airtimes); and finally, Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee were participants in the primetime tier, but did not appear at the C-SPAN forum.[21][34]

The candidates in the main debate were Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich; the moderators were Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace. Seven candidates who did not qualify were invited to participate in the 5 p.m. forum; these were Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, and George Pataki; the moderators for this debate were Bill Hemmer and Martha McCallum.[35] Because of a rule-change announced[3] by FOX one week before the debate-invitations went out, Graham, Pataki, and Gilmore were allowed to participate at 5 p.m. despite averaging below 1% in the five selected polls.[31] (Former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson was excluded from the 5 p.m. tier,[31] along with other relatively-unknown candidates who did not meet the updated invitation-criteria of "consistently being offered to respondents in major national polls as recognized by Fox News.")[3] The five selected polls[31] were conducted by Fox News,[36] Bloomberg,[37] CBS News,[38] Monmouth University,[39] and Quinnipiac University.[40][41]

In the main event, Trump was afforded the most time to speak at the debate by the Fox moderators (at 10 minutes, 32 seconds) followed by Bush (8:31), Huckabee (6:40), Cruz (6:39), Kasich (6:31), Carson (6:23), Rubio (6:22), Christie (6:10), Walker (5:51), and Paul (5:10).[30] The debate itself was viewed by 24 million people at its peak, setting records for the most-watched presidential primary debate ever and the highest-rated non-sports telecast in cable television history.[42][43]

The two different debates received rather different analyses in terms of the performances of the candidates. In the lower tier debate with only 7 candidates, Carly Fiorina was overwhelmingly considered the best debater, while Perry and Jindal were also praised, and Gilmore, Graham, Pataki, and Santorum were criticized.[44] In the primetime debate, frontrunner Donald Trump’s overall performance was criticized as rude and erratic by many pundits, while others said his comments were popular and his criticisms were overdue. Cruz, Rubio, Christie, and Huckabee received praise. Notable conflicts between candidates included Rand Paul vs. Christie over the NSA surveillance program, Paul vs. Trump on the latter's possible third-party run, Paul vs. Trump on healthcare, and Christie vs. Huckabee on the issue of welfare reform. Trump also clashed with two of the moderators – Kelly and Wallace – on the issue of sexism with Kelly, and the issue of illegal immigration with Wallace (specifically, Trump's claims that the Mexican government was deliberately sending criminals into America illegally).[45][46][47]

The lower tier debate was the final debate appearance of former Texas governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the race less than a month later, after he failed to qualify for the second primetime debate and claimed that this was damaging to his fundraising abilities.[48][49]

September 16, 2015 – Simi Valley, California[edit]

Candidate Jul-Sep Polls[50] Aug-Sep Polls[50] Airtime [51]
Trump 23.929% 27.8% 18:47
Bush 11.500% 9.2% 15:48
Fiorina 2.229% 4.4% 13:30
Carson 8.929% 14.0% 12:56
Christie 3.143% 2.8% 12:36
Rubio 5.643% 5.4% 11:21
Cruz 6.286% 7.4% 10:45
Paul 4.714% 3.2% 10:28
Kasich 3.214% 3.6% 9:44
Huckabee 5.571% 4.4% 9:20
Walker 9.429% 5.6% 8:29
Candidate Jul-Sep Polls[50] Aug-Sep Polls[50] Airtime [51]
Graham 0.471% 0.28% 19:47
Santorum 1.214% 0.8% 15:38
Jindal 1.057% 0.56% 13:06
Pataki 0.529% 0.44% 10:58

The second debate took place at (and was co-sponsored by) the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which previously hosted two of the Republican debates in 2008 – the first and penultimate ones. This 2015 debate was aired on CNN, and simulcast on the Salem Radio Network. Similar to the Fox News-sponsored debate in Cleveland, but with slightly different ranking-criteria, the debate was split into primetime and pre-primetime groups based on averaged polling numbers.[52] The primetime debate was originally planned to include the candidates ranking in the top ten, as measured by nationwide polling performed by specific firms, averaged across polls that are released between July 16 and September 10;[53] the rules were later changed to allow candidates placing in the top ten in polls from August 7 through September 10 to qualify as well. This change was made due to an unexpected scarcity of polls taken after the August 6 debate, which would otherwise have been particularly disadvantageous to Carly Fiorina, who had significantly increased her support in polls taken after that debate but who would otherwise have been kept out of the primetime debate due to her minimal support in the large number of polls taken before the August 6 debate.[54]

Eleven candidates participated in the prime time debate: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, and Scott Walker.[55][56] The candidates in the undercard debate were Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum, and George Pataki.[55] Rick Perry had been invited to the undercard debate but suspended his campaign on September 11, effectively ending his candidacy.[57] Former governor Jim Gilmore did not qualify for either debate.[55][58]

The undercard broadcast took place at 3 PM PDT, while the main card broadcast took place at 5 PM PDT.[59] The two-tiered CNN broadcasts were consecutive, with the primetime debate immediately following the second-tier broadcast.[60] The moderator was Jake Tapper of CNN, with participation by Hugh Hewitt and Dana Bash.[61] The primetime debate, like the first on Fox News, was a massive ratings success with nearly 23 million viewers, roughly 1 million less than the previous debate, and setting the record for the highest-rated broadcast in CNN's history.[62]

The primary focus of the debate was on Carly Fiorina, the one and only candidate who rose from the "undercard" tier of the previous debate into the primetime debate this time around. After the debate, most analysts believed that she successfully solidified her newfound status as a top-tier candidate, and successfully defended herself against attacks by Donald Trump. Marco Rubio was also largely viewed as the other strong performer of the night, and both Fiorina's and Rubio's poll numbers began to increase significantly in the wake of this debate.[63][64] Additional candidates who received praise included Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie, while frontrunner Donald Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and Ohio governor John Kasich were largely criticized.[65][66] This was the second and final debate appearance by Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, who dropped out of the race five days later, claiming that the subsequent decrease of his own poll numbers and fundraising were largely due to his two debate performances being largely panned by commentators.[67]

October 28, 2015 – Boulder, Colorado[edit]

The third debate will be held on October 28 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, which is also one of the sponsors. CNBC has stated that the debate will focus on the economy.[68]

On September 30, CNBC announced that all candidates who have an average of 2.5 percent or better[69] in polls conducted by NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN and Bloomberg released in the five weeks before the debate will be invited to participate in the primetime debate at 8 p.m. EDT. All other candidates receiving at least 1 percent in any one of the six recognized polls will be invited to the undercard debate at 6 p.m. EDT.[70]

In response to the previous debate on CNN running over three hours in length, the top two highest-polling candidates - Donald Trump and Ben Carson - teamed up in a threatened boycott of CNBC. They demanded that the debate be limited to no longer than two hours, and also that opening and closing statements be included in the debate; otherwise, if these conditions were not met, both Trump and Carson would withdraw from the debate.[71][72] On October 16, CNBC announced that it had accepted the demands of Trump and Carson, setting the two-hour maximum and allowing for opening and closing statements.[73][74]

On October 21, CNBC announced that 10 candidates would take the stage shortly after 8 p.m. EDT, with four candidates (Graham, Jindal, Santorum, and Pataki) on stage about two hours earlier. [75] Whether Jindal will participate is unclear; he said on October 20 that he might skip the debate if the criteria for the main group was not changed.[76]

November 10, 2015 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin[edit]

The fourth debate will be held on November 10, 2015 at the Milwaukee Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, airing on the Fox Business Network and sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. This debate will focus on jobs, taxes, and the general health of the U.S. economy, as well as on domestic and international policy issues.

December 15, 2015 – Las Vegas, Nevada[edit]

The fifth debate, and the final debate of 2015, will be held on December 15, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.[77] It will be the second debate to air on CNN, and will also be broadcast by Salem Radio.

January 2016 – Des Moines, Iowa[edit]

The sixth debate, and the first debate of the year 2016, will be held in Iowa, which holds the first caucuses, and will be the second debate to air on Fox News. As in the first debate to be hosted by FOX, the moderators will be Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace. According to the broadcaster, as of August 2015, invitation criteria for the January 2016 debate have not yet been set.[78]

February 6, 2016 – New Hampshire[edit]

The seventh debate will be held in the first state to hold primaries, New Hampshire, and will air on ABC News and be sponsored by Independent Journal Review.

February 13, 2016 – South Carolina[edit]

The eighth debate, and second consecutive debate in the month of February, will be held in another early primary state of South Carolina, airing on CBS News.

February 26, 2016 – Houston, Texas[edit]

The ninth debate, and third and final debate of February, will be held at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, and will air on NBC News in conjunction with Telemundo and National Review.

March 2016 – TBA[edit]

The first of two known debates to be held in March 2016, and the tenth debate overall, will be the third and final debate to air on Fox News.

March 10, 2016 – TBA[edit]

The second of two known debates in March, the eleventh overall, will be the third and final debate to air on CNN, and the second debate to be broadcast by both CNN and Salem Radio.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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