2016 Republican Debates: CNBC Unveils Lineup for Next GOP Debate
CNBC on Thursday unveiled the 10 White House hopefuls that will be invited to its Oct. 28 GOP presidential debate, set to take place at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.
Beyond current front-runner Donald Trump and his closest challenger, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the field will include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the channel said.
The 10 invitations were handed out based on a five-week average of national polls, for which CNBC took into account "sound and recognized" surveys conducted by NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN and Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, the Republicans' four remaining major candidates -- South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- did not make the cut, but will be asked to participate in a second debate two hours before the main event.
The poll numbers for Jim Gilmore, meanwhile, were so low that the former Virginia governor did not qualify for any debate sponsored by the Republican National Committee and will not partake in either of the Oct. 28 encounters, The Hill noted.
CNBC also revealed the order that the candidates will appear for the main debate, set to be moderated by its anchors Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick, as well as the channel's Washington correspondent John Harwood. Trump and Carson will be at the center of the stage, while Rubio, Bush, Huckabee and Kasich will take their lectern to Trump's right; Fiorina, Cruz, Christie and Paul, on the other hand, will be positioned to Carson's left.
CNBC stated the third encounter of Republican White House hopefuls this year will focus largely on economic issues, listing "job growth, taxes, technology, retirement and the health of our national economy" as some of the topics it plans to cover.
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