And then there were five.
Much has changed since Republicans looking to be president last gathered, particularly the number of candidates on the debate stage.
Former Vice President Mike Pence dropped out after failing to get out of the single-digit territory of the primary while other White House hopefuls, such as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, failed to make the cut.
One big issue since the last time the GOP contenders assembled has been a string of losses the party suffered this week at the ballot box.
“We’ve become a party of losers,” Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said at one point in Wednesday’s debate, the season’s third.
But a fundamental part of the 2024 primary has remained the same: Donald Trump’s dominance. The former president, who again skipped a primary joust with opponents, held a separate rally at the same time as the debate.
Here are the important moments from Miami.
Rivals rip into Trump, bemoan GOP losses
Republican candidates came out swinging against Trump, taking stronger jabs at the former president than in the previous two debates in a push to cut into his massive polling lead.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, debating on his home turf in Florida, brought up the poor showing in Tuesday’s elections. The GOP failed to win the governor’s race in Kentucky, lost control of the Virginia Legislature and got walloped on abortion rights in Ohio.
“He said Republicans were going to get tired of winning,” DeSantis said. “Well, as we saw last night, I’m sick of Republicans…
