--- title: Republican Debate: Carly Fiorina Not Invited description: Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina didn't make the cut for Saturday's Republican debate, ABC News announced Thursday. canonical: https://time.com/4208621/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-excluded/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-05T00:21:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:47:13.124Z article:section: Politics og:title: Fiorina Won't Make Next Republican Debate og:description: She didn't make the cut for Saturday's Republican debate. og:url: https://time.com/4208621/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-excluded/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2491ad60b32b4b6/69887c3ca988ca19346b6716/debates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidates (R-L) Ohio Governor John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Carson, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wait for the beginning of the Fox News - Google GOP Deba og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Fiorina Won't Make Next Republican Debate twitter:description: She didn't make the cut for Saturday's Republican debate. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2491ad60b32b4b6/69887c3ca988ca19346b6716/debates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Fiorina Won't Make Next Republican Debate by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 5, 2016 12:21 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidates (R-L) Ohio Governor John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Carson, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wait for the beginning of the Fox News - Google GOP Debate January 28, 2016 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Republican presidential candidates (R-L) Ohio Governor John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Carson, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wait for the beginning of the Fox News - Google GOP Debate January 28, 2016 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 5, 2016 12:21 AM UTC Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina didn’t make the cut for Saturday’s Republican debate, ABC News announced Thursday. In recent days, Fiorina [mounted a public lobbying effort](http://time.com/4206670/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-invite/) to get invited to the debate, which will be held just hours before polls close in New Hampshire. Under ABC’s criteria, invites would only go to candidates who finished in the top three in Iowa or placed in the top six in averages of national polls or New Hampshire polls. Fiorina placed seventh in the Iowa caucuses and held the same position in the most recent RealClearPolitics averages of [national](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/nh/new%5Fhampshire%5Frepublican%5Fpresidential%5Fprimary-3350.html) and [Granite State polls](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/nh/new%5Fhampshire%5Frepublican%5Fpresidential%5Fprimary-3350.html). A similar effort had previously worked for Fiorina, when she successfully lobbied CNN and the Republican National Committee to [change the rules for a September debate](http://time.com/4019451/cnn-republican-debate-carly-fiorina/) to allow her onstage. The lineup will include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, real estate mogul Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who is not even included on many polls, will also not make the debate stage. Unlike previous debates, there will be no undercard debate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4208621/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-excluded/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4208621/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-excluded/"},"headline":"Fiorina Won't Make Next Republican Debate","datePublished":"2016-02-05T00:21:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:47:13.124Z","description":"Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina didn't make the cut for Saturday's Republican debate, ABC News announced Thursday.","url":"https://time.com/4208621/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-excluded/","keywords":["Debates","2016 Election topic","Carly Fiorina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2491ad60b32b4b6/69887c3ca988ca19346b6716/debates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2491ad60b32b4b6/69887c3ca988ca19346b6716/debates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidates (R-L) Ohio Governor John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Sen. 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