According to a POLITICO analysis, Trump (25.2 percent) still leads the field and will be center-stage at the 8 p.m. debate next Wednesday, followed by Ben Carson (19.8 percent). | AP Photo Poll confirms likely GOP debate participants

The stage at next week's third Republican presidential debate is likely set, and the cast of characters who will participate in the prime-time panel this time around appears to be the same as the previous debate.

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday morning shows Donald Trump leading the GOP field with 32 percent of the vote, followed by Ben Carson with 22 percent. Only Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, at 10 percent, is also in double digits. It's likely the final poll to qualify for next week's debate.


CNBC, which will air the debate on Oct. 28, had hoped that by setting a floor of 2.5 percent in an average of polls conducted since the last debate, they could cull the field somewhat. But that floor is low enough that, again, the debate will feature 10 candidates.

And it's the same 10 candidates who participated last time around (11 candidates were on stage last month, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker left the race shortly after the debate).

According to a POLITICO analysis, Trump (25.2 percent) still leads the field and will be center-stage at the 8 p.m. debate next Wednesday, followed by Ben Carson (19.8 percent).

The next tier of candidates, according to the polling average, are Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (9.7), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (8.1), Carly Fiorina (8.1) and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (6.9).

The four candidates rounding out the top 10 — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (3.6), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (3.0), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (3.0) and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (3.0) — ended up closest to the bubble, but they appear to clear the 2.5-percent CNBC threshold to qualify for the main stage.

Even the undercard debate, set for 6 p.m., will be the same as last month. Set to participate are former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (0.7), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (0.3), former New York Gov. George Pataki (0.3) and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (0.2). (Jindal has threatened to boycott the debate, with his campaign arguing that using national polls to cull the field is inappropriate.)

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore — who was left out of the last debate after participating in the first gathering in August — has apparently failed to qualify for the undercard debate after he came up short of 1 percent in any of the nine qualifying national polls.

CNBC is expected to make a final announcement Wednesday or Thursday about the official debate field. An email seeking clarification wasn't immediately returned Wednesday morning.

The debate will be moderated by CNBC personalities Carl Quintanilla, Becky Quick and John Harwood.