A series of political debates were held prior to and during the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012. The first debate occurred on May 5, 2011, in Greenville, South Carolina, and was hosted by Fox News, while the last debate was held February 22, 2012, in Mesa, Arizona, and was hosted by CNN.
Debates The following table includes more prominent venues involving several Republican presidential candidates. (Note: Clicking link at enumeration redirects to summary of debate below.) + Debates among candidates for the 2012 Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination No. Date Place Sponsor Participants Participant Invitee (to a future debate) Non-invitee Absent invitee Out of race (exploring or suspended)BachmannCainGingrichHuntsmanJohnsonPaulPawlentyPerryRomneySantorum 1May 5, 2011Greenville,SCFox News /South Carolina Republican Party 2 June 13, 2011 Goffstown,NH CNN / WMUR-TV /Union Leader / Saint Anselm College 3 August 11, 2011Ames,IAFox News / Washington Examiner /Iowa Republican Party 4September 7, 2011 Simi Valley,CA MSNBC / Politico /Reagan Library 5September 12, 2011 Tampa,FL CNN / Tea Party Express 6September 22, 2011 Orlando,FL Fox News / Google / Florida Republican Party 7 October 11, 2011Hanover,NHBloomberg / WBIN-TV / The Washington Post 8 October 18, 2011Las Vegas,NVCNN / Western Republican Leadership Conf. 9 November 9, 2011Auburn Hills,MICNBC /Michigan Republican Party 10 November 12, 2011Spartanburg,SCCBS / National Journal / South Carolina Republican Party 11 November 22, 2011Washington, D.C.CNN / The Heritage Foundation /American Enterprise Institute 12 December 10, 2011Des Moines,IAABC News / WOI-DT / Des Moines Register /Iowa Republican Party 13 December 15, 2011Iowa Caucus: Jan. 3Sioux City,IAFOX News /Iowa Republican Party 14January 7, 2012Goffstown,NHABC News /WMUR-TV Saint Anselm College 15 January 8, 2012NH Primary: Jan. 10Concord,NHNBC News /Facebook 16 January 16, 2012Myrtle Beach,SCFox News /South Carolina Republican Party 17 January 19, 2012SC Primary: Jan. 21 Charleston,SCCNN / Southern Republican Leadership Conf. 18 January 23, 2012Tampa,FLMSNBC / NBC News / National Journal /Tampa Bay Times / Florida Council of 100 19 January 26, 2012FL Primary: Jan. 31Jacksonville,FLCNN /Republican Party of Florida 20 February 22, 2012AZ MI primaries: Feb. 28Mesa,AZCNN /Arizona Republican Party*Participating in at least one debate listed above: Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota Businessman Herman Cain of Georgia Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico Rep. Ron Paul of Texas Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
Summaries
May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina The first Republican debate was at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. It was broadcast live for 90 minutes on Fox News, FoxNews.com, and Fox News Radio. Most of the candidates who had announced their runs at that time participated in the debate, being Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum, making this debate the one with the fewest candidates present, with only five.
Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Mitt Romney met the debate criteria, but rejected the invitation to appear in the debate. Newt Gingrich originally had planned to attend the debate, but did not meet additional criteria of forming an exploratory committee.
The debate was moderated by Fox News anchor Bret Baier of Special Report with Bret Baier and several other Fox News contributors, including Juan Williams, Shannon Bream, and Chris Wallace.
At the end of the debate, Fox News's online votes showed Ron Paul standing out from the other candidates, but businessman Herman Cain was the overwhelming choice of the Fox News focus group moderated by Frank Luntz. Transcript from ProCon.org and RonPaul.com Complete Video from DakotaVoice
June 13, 2011 – Goffstown, New Hampshire Candidate Polls Romney 21.6% Cain 8.1% Paul 7.1% Gingrich 7.0% Bachmann 5.1% Santorum 3.2% Huntsman 1.7% The second Republican debate was held at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. It was broadcast live for 120 minutes on CNN, WMUR-TV, and CNN.com. Candidates making their first debate -- Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney—joined Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum.
Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Several other then-potential candidates, including Jon Huntsman, Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin declined to participate in the debate.
The debate was moderated by CNN anchor John King of John King, USA and featured several other CNN contributors.
Following the debate, attention was drawn to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who announced she had filed with the FEC to run for President during the debate. Transcript from Chicago Sun-Times and CNN Complete video from CNN and DakotaVoice Washington Post Fact Check
August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa Candidate Polls Romney 20.4% Perry 15.4% Bachmann 10.4% Paul 8.9% Cain 5.6% Gingrich 4.6% Huntsman 2.3% Santorum 1.8% The third Republican debate was held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa, Fox News Channel, and The Washington Examiner. It was moderated by Bret Baier with questions from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and the Washington Examiner'''s Byron York and Susan Ferrechio. Baier and Wallace were praised for their moderation of the debate.
It was broadcast live for two hours on Fox News and FoxNews.com. Candidates participating in the debate included Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman Jr. It was the first debate appearance by Huntsman, and the final appearance by Pawlenty. Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls.
The debate was noted for the sparring between Bachmann and Pawlenty; Pawlenty criticized Bachmann for what he said was a lack of leadership, while Bachmann fired back that Pawlenty's support for cap and trade legislation and the individual mandate while governor of Minnesota made his record look like President Obama's. Gingrich criticized Wallace by saying he was asking "gotcha questions" instead of legitimate questions.
Romney responded to criticisms that "Romneycare" (Massachusetts health care reform) was like "Obamacare" (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) by using a states' rights argument. Santorum said same-sex marriage is not a state issue because the 10th Amendment "does not give states the right to trample over moral law." Romney agreed that it is a federal issue, reasoning that people move to different states and that marriage is a status, not an activity that takes place within the walls of a state. Huntsman and Paul reiterated their support for civil unions. Fox News Transcript, reprinted in the Los Angeles Times Complete video on RonPaul.com Washington Post Fact Check
September 7, 2011 – Simi Valley, California Candidate Polls Perry 29.0% Romney 18.0% Paul 8.3% Bachmann 8.0% Gingrich 4.5% Cain 4.3% Santorum 2.6% Huntsman 1.3% The fourth Republican debate was held at Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, sponsored by NBC News and Politico (but broadcast by MSNBC). It was moderated by Brian Williams, and was notable for being the first to include Texas Governor Rick Perry, who attracted attention for stating his belief that "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme"; he was applauded by the audience for his record of having executed 234 death row inmates. Roll Call Transcript in The New York Times, apparently missing about 500 wordsEric Zorn, GOP debate transcripts , Chicago Tribune Change of Subject, September 8, 2011 Complete video from MSNBC via 2012PresidentialElectionNews.com, Vote4Paul2012, and PostingsPlus Washington Post Fact Check
September 12, 2011 – Tampa, Florida The fifth Republican debate was held at Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa, Florida, sponsored by CNN and Tea Party Express. It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer, and was notable for being the first Tea Party debate in history. Rick Perry was booed by the audience for defending his use of an executive order to mandate young girls have the HPV vaccine, which he defended by saying, "I will always err on the side of life". The debate also engendered controversy when Blitzer asked Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a young man who could afford health insurance but refused to purchase any and went into a coma. When Blitzer asked Paul "Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?", a few audience members shouted "Yeah!" CNN Transcript Complete video from CNN Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and DakotaVoice Washington Post Fact Check
September 22, 2011 – Orlando, Florida Candidate Polls Perry 28.4% Romney 20.6% Paul 8.9% Bachmann 7.7% Gingrich 6.6% Cain 5.6% Santorum 2.0% Huntsman 1.4% The sixth Republican debate was held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, and was sponsored by Fox News Channel and Google. It was moderated by Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly. The debate was only the second of the 2012 cycle to feature former governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico; he was also in the May 5, 2011 debate. This debate in particular was prominent as featuring the highest number of candidates in attendance; out of the ten major Republican candidates for the Presidential nomination, only former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty was absent, as he had already dropped out of the race at this point in time.
The debate engendered controversy when a pre-recorded question fielded by Army Captain Stephen Hill from Iraq via YouTube, concerning whether any one of the candidates would reinstate the recently retired "Don't ask, don't tell" policy excluding openly gay soldiers like himself from the US military, elicited vocal booing from a few audience members; Santorum, whose turn it was to answer a question, stated that "I would say any type of sexual activity has no place in the military" after the booing had subsided, and was applauded by the audience for his response. Rick Perry drew criticism from the other candidates over the Texas DREAM Act, which provides discounts for tuition prices for the children of illegal immigrants. Perry's response, that the other candidates didn't "have a heart" was poorly received by conservatives.
Perry's overall performance was criticised. His speech was so garbled that Mark Hemingway of the Weekly Standard asked if he had suffered a stroke, and Brit Hume of Fox News stated that Perry, "at a time when he needed to raise his game, I mean, he did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates."
Gary Johnson, who lagged in polls and media attention, made headlines and became the most searched-for candidate on Google for several hours for a joke he made towards the end of the debate, saying, "My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration." Fox News transcript (as archived on February 7, 2018) and Politisite transcript Complete video from Fox News Channel New York Times Fact Check Washington Post Fact Check