United States Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was considered the winner of the third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night by CNBC, the event’s host.

Eleven GOP presidential hopefuls gathered on stage at the University of Colorado-Boulder to discuss taxes, the economy, the nation’s budget and climate change. Moderating the debate were three CNBC anchors: John Harwood, Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla.

The 11 candidates who participated in the debate were Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rubio, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Cruz’s attack on the media also helped make him one of the debate’s frontrunners, according to Vox.

Many of the usually quiet candidates like Fiorina, Rubio and Kasich gave much more feedback while frontrunners like Trump and Carson were more observant than vocal.

The candidates, while often arguing with one another on the specificity of their policies, seemed to remain on a united front against the Democrats.

Every candidate on stage mentioned the name “Hillary Clinton” at least once, and some made their opinions of the former secretary of state very clear.

“The men and woman on this stage have more experience than any participant in the Democratic debate, including Hillary Clinton,” Cruz said.

Toward the end of the debate, the candidates were asked more controversial questions about their background in politics and business.

Fiorina was asked about her termination as CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

“Yes, I was fired over a disagreement in the boardroom,” Fiorina said. “There are politics in the boardroom as well.”

The next Republican debate is scheduled for Nov. 10.

Published on October 28, 2015 at 11:44 pm

Contact Kylon: ktharris@syr.edu