Since the start of the year, 17 Republicans have announced their intention to run for president. They’ve logged more than a million miles across the early states and held more than 100 town halls between them. Combined, they’ve raised $302 million for their campaigns and accompanying super PACs.

But all of that is prologue to this week, when a handful of forums and debates will begin the next stage of the 2016 GOP primary: the winnowing.

On Monday night, 14 of the 17 GOP contenders will gather in Manchester, New Hampshire, and take the stage, one at a time, for a candidate forum that will be broadcast live on CSPAN and in three early states.

Then on Thursday, attention shifts to Cleveland, where Fox News Channel will host the big show — the first prime-time, nationally televised debate featuring the top 10 candidates, determined by an average of recent national polls. Those who miss the cut will take part in the undercard, a battle for the bottom tier that is also being broadcast live earlier in the evening.

Read the article “GOP Gets Ready to Rumble” on politico.com.