CNN’s debate on September 16 will be set up fairly similarly to Fox News’s. However, there are two changes in candidates. Carly Fiorina has been bumped up the main primetime debate while former Governor Jim Gilmore failed to make either stage.
Candidates had to hit at least one percent in three or more polls within a period of time to qualify. Gilmore only did so in one.
Fiorina’s promotion was largely due to a change that CNN announced in how they would determine the candidates. They announced a new set-up where there would be an average of polls from July to September and an average of polls since the Fox News debate. The latter option allowed Fiorina to make the stage.
As a result, there will be eleven candidates on the primetime stage while five are in the JV debate.
The average of post-debate polls was used to determine where each candidate would stand. Donald Trump, as the frontrunner, will be in the middle, flanked by Ben Carson to his left and Jeb Bush to his right.