The most recent South Carolina polling on the Republican side shows Donald Trump with an 18 point lead on average over his closest rivals. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are battling for second place, though Jeb Bush and John Kasich are also within striking distance depending on the poll. CNN has announced it will host a two-night event called the South Carolina Republican Town Hall which will be a forum with candidates appearing separately on stage answering questions from the audience and a moderator. The event will take place over Wednesday and Thursday of this week, details below.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
CNN South Carolina Republican Town Hall
8pm ET (7pm CT, 6pm MT, 5pm PT)
Candidates: Carson, Cruz, Rubio
Thursday, February 18, 2016
CNN South Carolina Republican Town Hall
8pm ET (7pm CT, 6pm MT, 5pm PT)
Candidates: Trump, Bush, Kasich
Anderson Cooper will moderate both nights and a live stream will be available at CNN.com
Report from CNN:
CNN announced Saturday that it will host back-to-back Republican town hall events in South Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET.
Over the course of two nights, all six of the remaining GOP presidential candidates will have the opportunity to answer questions from Palmetto State voters, who go to the polls on Saturday, February 20, for the Republican Party primary.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate both events.
Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio will gather in Greenville for Wednesday night’s prime-time broadcast. On Thursday, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and John Kasich will appear in Columbia.
The events will air live on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Espanol and be streamed live online on CNNGo.
Many have argued that Trump had a poor showing in the debate on Saturday night as he took incoming attacks from several candidates. If that’s the case, however, the polling taken after the debate is showing little to no change in his lead since the most recent South Carolina polling back in late January. However, it’s worth noting that Mitt Romney was leading South Carolina just days before when Newt Gingrich pulled an upset in 2012. The circumstances right now may not be the same, but anything can happen in the days leading up to the vote on Saturday.
Republicans and Democrats will be voting on different days in South Carolina and Nevada this year. Here is the remaining schedule for Republicans in February:
Saturday, February 20
South Carolina Republican Primary
Tuesday, February 23
Nevada Republican Caucus
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