http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fox-news-to-limit-the-field-for-first-gop-presidential-debate/2015/05/20/7d4e0386-ff2e-11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html?tid=sm_fb By Matea Gold May 20 at 4:31 PM
Fox News, which is hosting the first Republican debate of the 2016 campaign, will require participants to place in the top 10 in an average of the five most recent national polls in the run-up to the event, according to details obtained by The Washington Post on Wednesday.
The standard will winnow what is expected to be a field of 16 or more GOP presidential candidates by the Aug. 6 event in Cleveland.
Determining which contenders will get to participate in the official forums sanctioned by the Republican National Committee has been a thorny challenge for the cable news network and party officials. No GOP primary debate has ever featured more than 10 candidates.
“We support and respect the decision Fox has made, which will match the greatest number of candidates we have ever had on a debate stage,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
It remains to be seen how many candidates be included under the criteria set by Fox News, which could allow more than 10 participants if some are tied in the polls.
Currently, the top 10 contenders in the five most recent national polls are former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, real estate tycoon Donald Trump and former Texas governor Rick Perry.
Former U.S. senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are a fraction of a point behind Perry.
Lagging behind those 12 are Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina and former New York governor George Pataki.
Without Fiorina and Jindal, the opening event of the GOP primary contest will feature an array of all men, most of them white — not the image that the party wants to present as it seeks the support of an increasingly diverse electorate.
The cable news channel plans to provide additional coverage and air time on Aug. 6 to the candidates who do not place in the top 10, according to a release obtained first by The Post.
The criteria set by Fox News is similar to the standards it has set for past debates. To qualify for the event, candidates must place in the top 10 of an average of the five most recent national polls by August 4th at 5 p.m. ET. Such polling must be conducted by major, nationally recognized organizations that use standard methodological techniques and recognized by Fox News.
Debate participants must also meet all U.S. constitutional requirements to run for president, must have announced their campaign and filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and must have paid all required federal and state filing fees.
The debate, which Fox News is presenting with Facebook, will be moderated by Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace.
