The 2016 Republican debate season continues Tuesday in Milwaukee, with eight candidates appearing in the main debate. Here are a few graphs to put the 2016 debate schedule in context. (Click here for the full debate schedule.)
Debate Participation
Some pundits have heavily criticized the hosting TV networks for not allowing all of the major GOP candidates to participate in their primetime debates. Tuesday’s CNN debate will have nine candidates on the main stage. That’s down from 10 at their September debate, but up from eight at the Nov. 10 debate hosted by Fox Business. Either way, it’s well above the average of six candidates per debate from 1980 to 2016.
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The 2016 primary cycle limits the number of debates. The 2012 cycle had the most debates, with 20, while 2008 had 19. The 12 debates planned for the 2016 cycle are roughly in line with 2000’s 13 debates, while the three cycles preceding that all had fewer than eight debates.
Host States
Tuesday will be the second time Las Vegas has hosted a GOP primary debate. The first time was in October 2011. Las Vegas has hosted Democratic primary debates three times.
Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin all hosted their first-ever GOP debates this cycle.
By the end of the 2016 cycle, New Hampshire will have hosted the most GOP primary debates with 20, followed by South Carolina with 13 and Iowa with 12. Combined, those three states account for more than half of all the debates. Sixteen states plus Washington, D.C. have hosted a GOP debate in the past or plan to host one this primary cycle.
Calendar
Each primary cycle seems to start earlier than the last, although August was a late start relative to the past two GOP cycles. More debates have taken place in October than in November or December, even though those months are closer to the primaries.
Historically, Republicans have held more primary debates in January than in any other month. January 2012 was the most crowded month ever, with six debates. Only two debates will take place in January 2016. February will be the most crowded month of the 2016 cycle, with three GOP debates planned.
The latest a Republican primary debate has ever occurred is on April 23, when Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush debated in 1980. It was the only time the debate cycle dragged into April. There have been only three debates in March, and none since 2000. But there are two debates planned for March 2016.
Speaking Time
At the last GOP debate, Ted Cruz got the most speaking time for the first time this cycle, speaking for almost 13 minutes. In the first three debates, Donald Trump had the most speaking time twice, while Carly Fiorina got the most speaking time once.
Cruz got 15 percent of the total speaking time. Despite complaining early and often about not getting enough speaking time, John Kasich ended up with the second-most airtime. Kasich spoke for 12 minutes, accounting for almost 14 percent of the total speaking time. Despite being second in the polls, Ben Carson got only 10.5 percent of the speaking time. He spoke for only nine minutes, even less than all the candidates in the undercard debate.
The average speaking time among the candidates was 10.9 minutes. Cruz, Kasich, Trump and Fiorina all spoke for more than their fair share of time, if you believe each candidate should have had equal time.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
