Nine candidates will take the main stage for Tuesday's GOP presidential debate, including Rand Paul. (Getty) Rand Paul remains on main debate stage CNN adjusts its rules to keep him in Tuesday's main event.

Rand Paul will be on the main stage at Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate in Las Vegas after CNN tweaked its rules at the last minute to add a ninth podium for the Kentucky senator, the network announced Sunday.

The candidates on the main stage will be Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and Paul.


The top five candidates qualified as a result of their standing in national polls. Kasich, Fiorina and Christie — who was in the undercard debate last month — made the cut because of their poll numbers in New Hampshire. Candidates qualified if they achieved an average of 3.5 percent in national polls conducted since late October — or 4 percent in either Iowa or New Hampshire.

The undercard debate, which will air Tuesday at 6 p.m., will consist of lower-polling candidates Mike Huckabee, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Rick Santorum. Huckabee is the only one of the four who had previously been on the main stage.

According to POLITICO’s calculations, Paul was at 2.8 percent nationally, 3.7 percent in Iowa and 3 percent in New Hampshire. CNN didn’t immediately explain on the air how Paul qualified for the main debate, but in an online story, a CNN Politics reporter wrote that Paul “was saved at the 11th hour by showing viability in Iowa” according to a new Fox News poll showing Paul at 5 percent. But, according to POLITICO’s calculations, that bumped Paul up to only a 3.7 percent average in the state, still short of the 4 percent threshold that had been announced.

The Paul campaign had been lobbying the network publicly over the weekend to let the senator into the debate. The campaign released a statement Saturday night, saying “rounding up should be applied” when CNN chooses the field. And on Sunday morning, a number of Paul campaign officials and consultants were posting on Twitter, “#LetRandDebate.” Operatives for the campaign highlighted a note from chief strategist Doug Stafford that read, “Not going anywhere folks. And demanding fairness from CNN. Rand is 5th in multiple polls. Polling is all [over] the map. No reason to leave a 50 state national campaign off main stage. Do it right.”

Paul campaign officials said the Fox News poll cemented the senator’s position in the mainstage debate. That poll, according to one Paul aide, put him at 4 percent in Iowa in polls conducted since the previous GOP debate on Nov. 10.

But CNN was supposed to average together all the polls going back to Oct. 29, not just those conducted since the Nov. 10 debate. It's the second time the network has changed the criteria to help a candidate: A rule change in September got Fiorina on the main stage after her post-first debate bounce initially failed to get her in the top 10 in CNN’s average for their previous GOP debate.

CNN pointed to the Fox News poll and “the spirit of being as inclusive as possible” in its explanation for keeping Paul on the main stage despite the previously stated criteria.

“In the light of new polling released this morning and in the spirit of being as inclusive as possible, CNN has decided to include Sen. Rand Paul in the prime time debate,” a CNN spokesperson said.

A top Paul campaign staffer on Sunday said the campaign “got a heads up” that they would be included in the main stage shortly before it was announced on CNN.

CNN had initially planned to announce the lineup during the live airing of “State of the Union,” the network’s signature Sunday show, which airs at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. But, when the show aired without an announcement, it raised questions about whether CNN was changing the rules to accommodate Paul or another candidate.

NBC News and the Wall Street Journal also released a new national survey on Sunday morning that showed Trump leading the field. But that poll tested only the top 10 of 14 candidates, so it wasn't expected to be part of CNN’s calculations.