The first 2016 GOP debate could exclude the only female candidate

Carly Fiorina
(Image credit: Laura Segall/Getty Images)

With so many Republicans vying for the party's 2016 presidential nomination, debate organizers were put in a bind trying to figure out how to pack so many candidates onto one stage. So on Wednesday, Fox News — which will host the first debate on Aug. 6 — announced it would solve the problem by inviting only the top 10 candidates based on the five most recent national polls "recognized by Fox News" heading into the event.

It's unclear which polls Fox will or will not consider for the ranking. But as NBC notes, going by the the polls it recognizes would result in a crowd starting with Jeb Bush and ending with Donald Trump. Left out of the mix: former Hewlett-Packard CEO and political neophyte — and the GOP field's only female candidate — Carly Fiorina. Aggregated poll results from Real Clear Politics also show Fiorina missing the cut.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.