The GOP presidential hopefuls duked it out on stage Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Library.

Donald Trump managed to get in some zingers and insults, but was relatively reserved -- at least by Donald Trump standards.

By the end of the night, some pundits were declaring former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina the evening's breakout star.

"I would say that I was incredibly proud of Fiorina for the performance that she had last night because she continues to prove, time and time again, in every one of her interviews, that she has the capacities to stand as the president of the United States," said Haley Nieves, outreach director for the Bruin Republicans at UCLA. "Being an individual with a business record -- though there are different incentives for the government -- but, she knows the conditions under which entrepreneurs and the start up culture of the United States, particularly the Silicon Valley here in California, needs in order to thrive."

Trump, however, was not as well-received by some viewers -- and fellow hopefuls. Jeb Bush asked Trump to apologize to his wife, who was born in Mexico, for comments he made about Bush having a "soft spot" for immigration. Trump declined, saying he felt he did nothing wrong.  

"I think Trump came out a little more dinged than he was in the first debate. Some of that is to be expected because people were going to pile on the frontrunner," said Ange-Marie Hancock, associate professor of political science and gender studies at USC. "But I think some of the shots that Carly Fiorina landed, and particularly in a state like California, the idea that he refused to apologize for some of his comments, and Jeb Bush talking about his wife, who is of Mexican descent, as the love of his life, I think that really start to speak to that Latino electorate that Republicans would like to catch for the next election."

To listen to the full discussion, click on the blue audio player above