We now have an official date for the first confirmed 2016 Republican primary debate, which will happen in GOP convention host city of Cleveland, taking place on Thursday, August 6, 2015. The debate is being sponsored by the Fox News Channel and will air exclusively on their network. The GOP debate schedule has been updated with the new date.
Report from Politico:
The first Republican primary debate will take place on Aug. 6 in Cleveland, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reports.
The debate, sponsored by Fox News, will take place at the Quicken Loans Arena (or, “The Q”), home to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. The Q is also the site of next year’s Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for July 2016.
Fox News is expected to formally announce the date and venue within the next few days. Spokespeople for both Fox News and the Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday night.
The RNC has sanctioned nine primary debates for the 2016 campaign, with the possibility of adding three more. It had previously announced that the first debate would take place in August in Ohio, though the exact day and location were unknown.
We don’t yet know what the participation bar will be set at. There could be a dozen or more GOP hopefuls who want a podium spot by the time we reach August. There will have to be a cut off since with every added candidate, the length of time each candidate is given to answer a question is considerably diminished. I’m thinking there can’t be more than twelve on the stage, maybe only ten.
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