Republican National Committee

Tweet from Carly Fiorina

Former Sen. Rick Santorum

See: Tim Alberta.  "Rick Santorum Rips Fox News Over 'Arbitrary' Debate Rules."  National Journal.  May 21, 2015.

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Text of Letter from Dr. Ben Carson

May 22, 2015

Dear Members of the Republican National Committee:

I am writing you today about an issue that concerns me greatly.  I am very worried that out of broadcasting convenience our party is about to exclude voices from our debate programs that are critical to making our party bigger, better, and bolder.

The rules may be good for me personally, but they are not good for the process.

We are blessed to have many qualified candidates running for President.  More than a typical debate format can handle.  Surely we can find a format that allows every voice to be heard.

In the past this type of rule has been used to keep "fringe" candidates off the stage.  None of these men and women deserves this exclusion.

I ask you to join me in seeking a solution that is inclusive of every voice.

Sincerely,

Ben Carson

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Text of Letter from New Hampshire Republican Leaders
June 10, 2015

Mr. Roger Ailes, President
Fox News Channel
1211 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10036

Mr. Reince Priebus, Chairman
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

Dear Mr. Ailes and Chairman Priebus,

We are writing to express concern over the recent announcement by Fox News to limit the number of Republican candidates to ten individuals in the first televised presidential debate on August 6, 2015. We urge you to reconsider the criteria and to design a debate that will allow voters to hear from a more diverse and inclusive group of candidates who have filed to run for president.

As you know, the First in the Nation New Hampshire Primary plays a pivotal role in selecting our nominees for president. Historically, it has been the responsibility of early primary and caucus states to closely examine and winnow the field of candidates, and it is not in the electorate’s interest to have TV debate criteria supplant this solemn duty. To do so would undermine the very nature of our process and the valuable service that states like New Hampshire provide to voters across the country.

It is understandable that a large field presents logistical and broadcast challenges, and that Fox News is seeking to provide a forum in which candidates can be provided enough time to substantively communicate on the issues. However, the proposed limitations are unnecessarily narrow and risk eliminating potentially viable candidates based on unreliable national polling that is rarely predictive of primary election outcomes. Any metric used to select the top ten candidates based on public polling this early in the nominating process would make it impossible to ensure fairness. Indeed, the margin between the tenth candidate and those that don’t qualify will almost certainly be statistically insignificant.

What is more, denying candidates an opportunity to showcase their talents and experience in the first televised debate would artificially distort the political process, stifle democracy and competition, and induce voters to consider only those candidates pre-selected by virtue of their name ID rather than their potential as candidates. The first televised debate of the 2016 election cycle should place all candidates on even footing and allow each to make their case directly to the voters and your viewers. Anything less would prematurely suppress the candidate field, and arbitrarily elevate candidates who benefit from preliminary notoriety and fundraising.

Sincerely,

Hon. Craig Benson Former Governor Hon. Chris Sununu Executive Councilor Hon. Jeb Bradley Senate Majority Leader Hon. Sharon Carson State Senator Hon. Russell Prescott State Senator Hon. Andy Sanborn State Senator Hon. Gene Chandler Former Speaker of the House Hon. Will Infantine State Representative Hon. Laurie Sanborn State Representative Hon. Franklin W. Sterling, Jr. State Representative Peter Angerhofer Former State Senate Candidate Rich Ashooh Former Congressional Candidate Beverly Bruce Former RNC Delegate Paul Chevalier Former Alternate RNC Delegate Hon. Chuck Douglas Former Member of Congress Hon. Tom Eaton Former Senate President Alan Glassman Belknap County Republican Chair Sheriff Scott Hilliard Former RNC Delegate Dan Innis NH Republican Party Finance Chair Jane Lane NH Republican Party Secretary Jim MacEachern Derry Republican Committee Chair Shannon McGinley Conservative Activist Hon. Bob Odell Former State Senator Hon. Doug Scamman Former Speaker of the House Gene Schneider Republican Party Organizer James Sununu Republican Activist Robb Thomson Former RNC Delegate Hon. Ray Wieczorek Former Executive Councilor and Mayor of Manchester

Hon. Stephen Merrill Former Governor Hon. Chuck Morse Senate President Hon. Regina Birdsell State Senator Hon. Jerry Little State Senator Hon. John Reagan State Senator Hon. Nancy Stiles State Senator Hon. David Hess State Representative Hon. Harold B. Parker State Representative Hon. Adam Schroadter State Representative Hon. Ken Merrifield Mayor of Franklin Charlie Arlinghaus Former RNC Regional Political Director Hon. Bill Bartlett Jr. Former State Senate President Jamie Burnett Republican Activist Fergus Cullen Former NH Republican Party Chair Hon. Ed Dupont Former Senate President Hon. Marilinda Garcia Former Congressional Candidate Hon. Ruth Griffin Former Executive Councilor Michele Holton Republican Party Organizer Ovide Lamontagne Former Republican Gubernatorial Nominee John Lyons Former Alternate RNC Delegate Wayne McDonald Former NH Republican Party Chair Jayne Millerick Former NH Republican Party Chair Renee Plummer Former RNC Delegate Hon. Stella Scamman Former State Representative John Stabile Former NH Republican Party Chair Hon. Donna Sytek Former Speaker of the House Tom Thomson Conservative Activist Christopher Wolfe Former RNC Delegate

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June 10, 2015

FOX NEWS CHANNEL TO HOST CANDIDATE FORUM AHEAD OF FIRST GOP PRIMARY DEBATE AUGUST 6TH

Co-anchors Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum to Moderate

FOX News Channel (FNC) announced today that it will host a candidate forum as part of its Republican presidential primary debate coverage on August 6, 2015.

FOX News’ Executive Vice President of News Editorial Michael Clemente said, “As we noted when we first announced the debate criteria, our intention has always been to provide coverage to the wide field of Republican candidates and we are glad to present these details today.”

Moderated by America’s Newsroom co-anchors, Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum, the forum will be presented live from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH from 1-3PM/ET on FNC, as well as on the network’s other platforms, including FOX News Radio, FOX News Mobile and FOXNews.com.

The candidates, who do not qualify for the primetime GOP primary debate, will be among those invited to participate in the 90-minute forum, which is part of the additional planned candidate coverage previously announced by the network.  Following the forum, the network and Facebook will present the primetime debate from 9-11PM/ET.

Clemente announced the forum participation criteria as follows:

• - Must meet all U.S. Constitutional requirements; and
• - Must announce and register a formal campaign for president; and
• - Must file all necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and
• - Must score 1% or higher in an average of the five most recent national polls, as recognized by FOX News leading up to August 4th at 5 PM/ET. Such polling must be conducted by major, nationally recognized organizations that use standard methodological techniques.

A top five cable network, FNC has been the most-watched news channel in the country for more than 13 years and according to Public Policy Polling, is the most trusted television news source in the country. Owned by 21st Century Fox, FNC is available in more than 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.

LETTER TO RNC CHAIRMAN REINCE PRIEBUS ON DEBATE CRITERIA

Alexandria, VA - Lindsey Graham 2016 Campaign Manager Christian Ferry released a letter sent to Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, regarding restrictive criteria for the first two RNC “sanctioned debates.”  Mr. Ferry expressed the concern, shared by dozens of activists in early primary and caucus states, that an exclusive reliance on national “horse race” polls will cause significant harm to the important role that Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other early state voters have historically had in selecting a Republican nominee for President.

Lindsey Graham 2016 applauds the RNC’s leadership in taking an active role in the primary debate process, and urges the Chairman, the Debate Committee, and the full membership to stand up for its stated goal of making sure all Republican candidates have an equitable opportunity to make their case directly to voters through these sanctioned debates.

Excerpts from the letter are below and the full letter can be found here.

"I am troubled by the nationalization of the presidential primary process brought on by the decision to use national polls to determine which candidate is on what debatestage. This decision has a negative impact on the traditional role of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. I understand the position in which the RNC finds itself, but strongly believe the RNC has a responsibility to ensure these debates are open to all candidates in an equal manner, thereby protecting the early state primary and caucus system.
...
"Our party has a tried and true system of early state caucuses and primaries, which allow voters the opportunity to personally interact with the candidates, see them in small group settings and make informed decisions without the filter of the media. The early state process prevents money and celebrity from being the determining factor in the presidential contest..." "A reliance on national polling steals the traditional role of the early primary states.
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"The fact is, the RNC continues to have influence over the media networks and could easily pull its backing from any network sponsored debate if the network does not give all the candidates for president an opportunity to participate on an equal footing. By refusing to publicly speak out against the media imposed restrictions, the RNC is placing exorbitant influence over our primary process into the hands of media executives instead of the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the other early primary states.
...
"The only fair solution to the current proposed rules is for each network to hold consecutive debates, dividing the field via some sort of random draw. This solution would provide each candidate for president the opportunity to present his case to the Republican primary electorate."

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ed. note: mid-July 2015

In mid-July publishers of three early state newspapers--the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Charleston Post & Courier and th Cedar Rapids Gazette announced the Voters First Forum to provide voters "an opportunity to see the candidates together on a level playing field at this early stage."  The event will be held in New Hampshire on August 3.

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ed. note: July 28, 2015

FOX News Eases Requirement for Partipation in its B Debate

FOX News announced via statement to Politico that it is eliminating the requirement that candidates must score 1% or higher in an average of five most recent national polls in order to participate in the earlier debate.  The event will now be open to "all declared candidates whose names are consistently being offered to respondents in major national polls, as recognized by Fox News."  Requirements for participating in the main debate remain unchanged.