Voters First Republican Presidential Forum: August 3, 2015

August 4, 2015

Voters First Republican Candidate Forum

Date: August 3, 2015

Location: Manchester, New Hampshire

Venue: St. Anselm College

Sponsors: C-SPAN, St. Anselm College, New Hampshire Union Leader, Cedar Rapids Gazette, South Carolina Post & Courier, WGIR-AM, I-Heart Networks, KCGR-TV and WLXT-TV

Moderator: Jack Heath

Participants: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker

Fourteen Republican candidates for U.S. president participated in the "Voters First Republican Candidate Forum" at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, last night, only three days ahead of the first major Republican debate, scheduled for August 6, 2015.

The event was produced by C-SPAN and the New Hampshire Union Leader. It was sponsored by local media organizations in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, including the Union Leader, the Cedar Rapids Gazette and the Charleston Post & Courier. A full list of sponsors can be found in the box on the right. C-SPAN broadcasted the forum live on C-SPAN TV, C-SPAN Radio and via Livestream. Hearst Television Inc. televised the forum in 27 local markets across the country.^[1]

Eleven candidates attended in person: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker. Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio remained in Washington, D.C., for a Senate vote and attended via satellite.

Three candidates did not participate in the forum. Donald Trump—the current Republican frontrunner in most national polls—stated that he decided not to attend because the Union Leader, one of the main sponsors of the event, was unlikely to endorse him ahead of the New Hampshire primary. He also said that too many candidates would be on stage to hold a "proper forum." Mike Huckabee’s communications director, Alice Stewart, released a statement citing a scheduling conflict as the reason for Huckabee’s absence. Jim Gilmore, on the other hand, entered the race too late to be included.^[2]

Jack Heath, the host of "New Hampshire Today" on iHeart Radio, moderated the forum.

The event began with a brief introduction of the candidates and an overview of the night’s format and rules by Steven DiSalvo, the President of St. Anselm College. Candidates walked onto the stage and stood behind him in alphabetical order. Introductions were limited to names and official titles. Cruz, Paul and Rubio were introduced last. With the exception of the introduction, audience members were asked to remain quiet throughout the duration of the forum.

The night consisted of two rounds. In the first round, Heath asked each candidate a different series of questions on topics ranging from immigration and tax reform to terrorism and the defunding of Planned Parenthood. At times, questions were targeted at individual candidates. Scott Walker, for example, responded to a question about his stance on unions, and Rick Perry answered a question about which federal agencies he would remove if elected president—a reference to one of his responses from a 2012 presidential debate.^[3] Candidates did not deliver opening remarks. Topics and questions were suggested by voters from New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina and narrowed down and curated by the editors of the Union Leader. Each candidate had approximately four-and-a-half minutes on stage in the first round. The number of questions to which they responded depended upon the length of their answers.

In the second round, candidates responded to approximately two more minutes of questions, and then each had an opportunity to deliver a closing message for 30 seconds. Topics again covered a whole range of issues, and some questions were targeted at specific candidates.

The order in which candidates took the stage was chosen at random and differed in each round. The only exceptions were the three candidates who attended via satellite. In the first round, they went last, and their order was Paul, Cruz and Rubio. In the second round, they went first, and their order was again Paul, Cruz and Rubio. The order of candidates in rounds one and two can be seen below.

Video and a searchable transcript for the debate can be accessed on C-SPAN’s website. Ballotpedia will be providing in-depth presidential debate coverage throughout 2015 and 2016. Visit our debate hub for information on schedules, venues, participants, moderators, sponsors and rules, and be sure to check back for our post-debate analysis.