Week 4 results for USA TODAY’s GOP Power Rankings (Photos via AP)

Debates matter.

On the strength of two strong debate performances, Carly Fiorina has vaulted to first place in USA Today’s GOP Power Rankings, unseating Donald Trump for the first time since we launched this project. This from a candidate who did not even qualify for the main-stage debate in early August.

Carly Fiorina speaks at the Heritage Action forum on Sept. 18, 2015, in Greenville, S.C.
(Sean Rayford, Getty Images)

Our panel of about 30 smart political minds agreed that Fiorina is rising and Trump appearing to fade. The survey also showed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sliding again, this time to 11th place, with the voting conducted before he announced Monday night that he was dropping out of the race.

“Scott Walker is perilously close to being voted off the island,” Kathy Sullivan, former New Hampshire Democratic party chairwoman, said Sunday afternoon. She did not know just how close. Late Monday he said he was exiting the race to reduce the competition among those running against Trump.

Adam Sharp of Twitter measured Fiorina’s rise in tweets. “Carly Fiorina came out of the second debate in the top three as measured by Twitter conversation, duking it out with Trump for the top spot in the first half,” Sharp said. “Voter interest was piqued, and she closed the night with the sharpest increase in Twitter followers of any candidate in the race.”

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also jumped from 6th place to 3rd in our rankings this week on the strength of a strong debate. “Rubio has had the best week in many ways,” said Phil Musser of the Republican digital marketing firm IMGE. “Elevator continues steadily up, but not too fast.”

Despite falling to the second-place spot in our power rankings and being widely panned for his debate performance, Trump still got 14 first-place votes from our panelists, one more than Fiorina’s 13. But the rest of his votes were all over the map, as low as 10th place on some ballots, while Fiorina was No. 2 in nearly every ballot that did not have her in first place.

Week 4 rankings 

1. Carly Fiorina (Last week: 3)

2. Donald Trump (1)

3. Marco Rubio (6)

4. Ben Carson (2)

5. Jeb Bush (4)

6. Ted Cruz (5)

7. John Kasich (7)

8. Chris Christie (11)

9. Mike Huckabee (8)

10. Rand Paul (10)

11. Scott Walker* (9)

12. Lindsey Graham (14)

13. Rick Santorum (13)

14. Bobby Jindal (12)

15. George Pataki (15)

16. Jim Gilmore (16)

*The survey was conducted before Walker dropped out of the race on Monday.

(See previous rankings: Week 1 |Week 2 | Week 3)

Participants in USA TODAY’s GOP Power Rankings:

Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican pollster and author of The Selfie Vote
Henry Barbour, Republican strategist, Mississippi
Paul Brathwaite, principal, Podesta Group
Dianne Bystrom, director, Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University
Herman Cain, talk show host and former GOP presidential candidate
Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and CNN Commentator, The Dewey Square Group
Frank Donatelli, former RNC deputy chairman and Reagan advisor
Sara Fagen, partner, DDC Advocacy
Peter Fenn, Democratic political strategist, Fenn Communications
Denise Feriozzi, deputy executive director, EMILY’s List
Karen Floyd, CEO, The Palladian Group and former South Carolina GOP chair
Aaron Ghitelman, communications manager, HeadCount
Andra Gillespie, polling analyst and political science professor, Emory University
Nathan L. Gonzales, editor, The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report
Lilly J. Goren, political science and global studies professor, Carroll University
Doug Gross, Iowa attorney and previous Republican gubernatorial nominee
O. Kay Henderson, news director, Radio Iowa
Ken Khachigian, senior partner, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Carl Leubsdorf, Washington columnist, The Dallas Morning News
Deb Lucia, Topeka 912 – the Capital City Tea Party
Matt Mackowiak, Republican consultant and president, Potomac Strategy Group, LLC
Dan Maffei, former Democratic congressman, New York
Phil Musser, chairman, IMGE digital media agency
Margie Omero, Democratic pollster, Purple Insights
Jon Ralston, host, “Ralston Live” on PBS affiliates in Nevada
Craig Robinson, founder and editor, TheIowaRepublican.com
Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D., Sr. VP of digital strategy, turner4D
Dante Scala, political science professor, University of New Hampshire
Adam Sharp, head of news, government and elections, Twitter
Alex Smith, national chairman, College Republicans
Todd Spangler, Washington correspondent, Detroit Free Press
Kathy Sullivan, DNC committeewoman and former Democratic Party chair, New Hampshire

Special thanks to the Palladian Group for building our survey platform.