From a Washington Post analysis by Aaron Blake headlined “The winners and losers of the second Republican debate”:

Seven Republican candidates for president faced off at the second presidential debate of the 2024 election Wednesday night in Simi Valley, Calif. Again absent was the GOP’s runaway frontrunner, former president Donald Trump.

The first debate seemed to put businessman Vivek Ramaswamy on the map for many voters, but former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley appeared to gather the most momentum from it. None of them, however, are close to within striking distance of depriving Trump of a third straight GOP presidential nomination.