Politics
Thomson Reuters
Republican presidential candidates debate at a Fox-sponsored forum for lower polling candidates held before the first official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in Cleveland
We'll be live-blogging the first debate, at set to begin at 6 p.m. ET, right here.
In the first round of debates a little more than a month ago, the top-10 Republican candidates argued on the main stage, while six candidates with lower poll numbers were relegated to an earlier debate.
Tonight, CNN is allowing 11 candidates on their main stage, adding former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina to join the same 10 candidates from the previous debate.
Former Texas governor Rick Perry dropped out of the race last week, and CNN didn't invite Jim Gilmore to the debate because he couldn't get an average of more than 1% in three or more national polls in the past month (he says he'll be live-tweeting it himself).
That leaves just four candidates left for the lower-tier debate. Here's where they stand in the polls according to Real Clear
- Rick Santorum, former US senator from Pennsylvania: 1.0% (down from 1.3% before the August 6 debate)
- Bobby Jindal, Louisiana governor: 0.3% (down from 1.5%)
- Lindsey Graham, US senator from South Carolina: 0.2% (down from 0.5%)
- George Pataki, former New York governor: N/A
The debate will be moderated by CNN correspondents Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, as well as conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Check below for updates throughout.