Mindful of the palpable debate fatigue felt last round by candidates and viewers alike, on Friday the Republican National Committee released a slimmed-down primary debate schedule for 2016.
Instead of the twenty debates held in the run-up to 2012’s presidential election, Republican presidential hopefuls will sit down for nine presidential debates before primary voters choose a candidate.
“The committee chose to limit the number of debates, spread the debates across the country by sanctioning no more than one debate per state, allocate the debates over the course of seven months, include a larger conservative media presence and allow campaigns to know and plan for the debate schedule early,” an RNC press release explained.
Like last round, the debates will largely be held in swing states like Ohio, New Hampshire and Florida — though California will also play host. The first debate will be held in Ohio on August 2015, with Fox News as moderator. Debates will follow once a month until February 2016, when they will increase in frequency. News organizations CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and Telemundo will also play moderating roles.