CNN Announces GOP Candidates Who Will Participate in Second Debate — Here’s Who Made the Cut

CNN announced Thursday evening the 11 candidates who will appear in next Wednesday's top-tier debate.

Trump, who polled the highest, will appear center stage at the 8 p.m. ET debate. To his right will be retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and to his left will be former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The other candidates set to appear on the main stage include former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

The remaining candidates will participate in a "happy hour" 6:00 p.m. ET debate. Those candidates include former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

CNN said the eligibility requirements for the main debate were determined by the averages taken from 14 polls. In addition, the news outlet amended the rules to allow any candidate who averaged in the polls conducted after the Fox News debate to be included. Fiorina was the only candidate to be affected by that change.

Featured image via Facebook.

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