University of Miami to host Republican primary debate

Whoever the Republican presidential candidates are come early March, they will be coming to Miami. To Coral Gables, to be exact.

The University of Miami will house a debate five days before Florida’s big March 15 primary, the Republican National Committee announced Wednesday. The March 10 debate, which had been scheduled months ago for Florida, will be hosted by CNN, The Washington Times and Salem Radio Network.

It’s possible two hometown candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush, could still be on stage come debate night, though there’s a whole month and a half of primaries and caucuses before then that could winnow the large Republican field.

The GOP face-off will take place a day after a Democratic primary debate hosted by Univision and the Washington Post at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus.

The Democratic debate will be the last of six sanctioned by the party. The Republican debate will be the last of 12 planned so far.

Like MDC, UM is a veteran at welcoming presidential contenders. UM hosted a general-election debate in 2004 between President George W. Bush and John Kerry. In 2007, it was the venue for two primary debates — one for Democrats and one for Republicans — both hosted by Univision.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "University of Miami to host Republican primary debate."