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WASHINGTON (KTVU) -- As GOP presidential candidates are vying for a spot in the next televised debate, the host network CNN announced a major change in the criteria for who gets a spot on the prime time stage, which could see Carly Fiorina joining the pack.
Fiorina's poll numbers have been on the rise ever since her strong performance in the August 6th debate among second-tier candidates.
Her supporters launched a campaign, sending letters to CNN urging a change in the criteria for choosing the top ten candidates. CNN had planned to determine the prime-time debate spots based on an average of polls as far back as July 16th, when Fiorina's numbers were low.
On Monday, Fiorina and her supporters celebrated a victory, as CNN announced that they would determine the debate participants based on average poll numbers from August 7th through September 10th. CNN said the reason for the change is that there were fewer polls in August and September this year than in previous years.
"We now believe we should adjust the criteria to ensure the next debate best reflects the most current state of the national race," a CNN statement read.
Fiorina, the former Silicon Valley CEO of Hewlett-Packard has been campaigning in Iowa, waging a new kind of class warfare against what she calls the political class.
"The American people now think that we have a professional political class that is more concerned of the protection of its own power, position, and privilege, than on getting anything done, me too," Fiorina said at one campaign stop, "It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican, young, old, man, woman. Most of you think that the federal government is corrupt. Me too."
UC Berkeley politics professor Henry Brady, who serves as Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy says it makes sense to include Fiorina in the main debate.
"Carly Fiorina has shown in fact that she has got a lot of interesting ideas, that she's pretty popular, that people find her to be pretty good," Brady said.
Fiorina is one of three political outsiders who dominated the Monmouth University poll in Iowa Monday.
Businessman Donald Trump and neurosurgeon Ben Carson tied at 23 percent, while Fiorina took third place with 10 percent support among Iowa Republicans.
"There almost seems to be a backlash that's occurring in this country against anyone that's kind of a career politician," said Christine Hughes, the San Francisco Republican Party chairwoman.
Hughes says Carson, Trump and Fiorina are finding supporters in the Bay Area, who are tired of politicians and willing to consider a political outsider.
Dr. Carson is scheduled to appear in the Bay Area at the Commonwealth Club this month.
"I think that people are going to look at authenticity," Hughes said, "I think they're going to really put them through the test of understanding what are you really going to do for this country and for me as an American citizen, and not just give the usual platitudes."
Professor Brady says the last non-politician other than Dwight Eisenhower to be a GOP presidential nominee was Wendell Willkie who lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940.
Brady says current polls might reflect people's dissatisfaction with the status quo, but don't necessarily mean political outsiders will become the GOP's presidential candidate.
"They're saying no to politicians and right now is a period where you can do that without much ultimate cost, cause it's really just polls," Brady said.
If Fiorina makes it into the top ten, there is a chance that another candidate such as Chris Christie or Rand Paul might be bumped out. Another possibility is that CNN could expand the field to eleven candidates, if the poll numbers are too close to call.