Wednesday Sept 16 was the second Republican presidential debate for the 2016 election. Many of the candidates had some good points to make, but for the viewers there were some individuals that stood out including Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush and Donald Trump.

On stage at the Reagan Library were the 11 leading candidates in Republican polls. Trump, who is still polling at number one, got the center stage podium. The candidates were then placed in descending order, with the number two candidate Dr. Ben Carson to Trump’s left, and the number three candidate Jeb Bush to Trump’s right. Continuing in this alternating pattern were Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul and Chris Christie. The moderators mainly focused their attention on the center stage candidates, leaving the outer candidates with little input on the topics of discussion.

One of the most interesting parts of the debate included input from candidates on their views about individual states legalizing marijuana. Fiorina and Christie both strongly opposed the legalization of marijuana and stated that if they were elected President, they would enforce federal law on states that had already legalized it, such as Colorado and Washington, which could potentially put dispensary owners and employees in jail, along with their customers. For the most part republicans are known for opposing marijuana’s legalization, but some of the candidates like Paul, Bush and Trump agreed that marijuana should be illegal on a federal level but States should be able to choose for themselves. Colorado would be largely affected by this as Colorado is the largest distributor and has more dispensaries than any other state.

The candidates also discussed the widely talked about Kim Davis case where County Clerk Kim Davis refused to give marriage license to same sex couples due to her religious views. Candidates Huckabee and Cruz both strongly supported Davis in her efforts to ignore the federal laws through religious influence. Other candidates like Kasich, Trump and Fiorina felt that Davis should have accepted federal law and, religious views aside, should do her duty as county clerk.

The heated exchange between Trump and Fiorina was also a captivating moment for the audience when a moderator confronted Trump on his comment to Rolling Stone when he said, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?” He responded by claiming that he wasn’t referring to her appearance and said, “I think she’s got a beautiful face and I think she’s a beautiful woman,” Fiorina cleverly shot back, “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.”

After the debate Trump continues to lead in the polls but Fiorina rocketed to second place in poll votes due to increased support and positive ratings after her performance in the debate.