ROCHESTER, N.H. — With a narrower Republican presidential field, there’s no longer a need for any “undercard” debates. And yet ABC News announced Thursday that one of the remaining hopefuls will still be left off the stage in the final debate Saturday before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary: Carly Fiorina.

The announcement was expected, given the previously announced criteria to qualify for what is the eighth debate of the nomination season: finish third or better in Iowa; place among the top six candidates in an average of New Hampshire polls; or place among the top six candidates in an average of national public polls.

But prominent Republicans — including the last presidential nominee and New Hampshire’s leading elected Republican — protested the exclusion, with some saying the field’s lone woman needed to have a spot.