Ten candidates have made the cut for the first Republican presidential debate Thursday, with polling front-runner Donald Trump hoping for a civil evening but ready to pounce if attacked.
The seven others lagging in the polls and relegated to an afternoon forum? Call them the not-ready-for-prime-time players, at least in the eyes of debate organizers.
The two-hour debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, with a televised forum for the seven candidates not selected to take part beginning at 5 p.m.
The candidates are:
9 p.m. debate
- Businessman Donald Trump
- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
- Retired surgeon Ben Carson
- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
- Ohio Gov. John Kasich
5 p.m. forum
- Former technology executive Carly Fiorina
- Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry
- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
- South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
- Former New York Gov. George Pataki
- Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore
Fox sorted the candidates based on the average of the five most recent national opinion polls performed prior to a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday by nationally recognized organizations that are not affiliated with a party or a candidate.
The network used polls from CBS News, Fox News, Bloomberg, Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University.
Five more party-sanctioned debates are scheduled before primary voting begins in February.