WASHINGTON: Once among the most powerful women in American business, Carly Fiorina emerged as a leading contender in the 2016 Republican presidential campaign alongside Donald Trump, another outsider from corporate world.

Fiorina’s performance in the party’s debate elicited praise on social media and from political strategists as she commanded the stage equally with the likes of billionaire Trump, 69, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 62. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Fiorina, 61, was one of Trump’s strongest challengers from 10 candidates anxious to pile on the real-estate mogul and former reality-TV star leading in opinion polls.

At one point, she got into a fracas with Trump over her record at HP, the California-based global information technology company, and lectured him about the US Constitution.

“Carly won it,” said John Feehery, a Republican strategist in Washington. “She was passionate and tough.”

Fiorina spoke nearly the longest, after Trump and Bush, and some of her comments generated the most chatter on Twitter and Facebook, the social media companies said.

Her campaign for the November 2016 White House race had been slow to get off the ground and she was a late addition to the second prime-time Republican debate. She took a victory lap on the TV shows on Thursday morning. “This is an important election and we are going to have a fight about really important principles and really important policies and really important differences. And so if you can’t fight on a debate stage, then you are not going to be able to stand up and fight for the American people,” Fiorina told CNN. A breast cancer survivor, Fiorina was forced to resign from HP in 2005 amid weak earnings as the company struggled to digest a $19 billion merger with then-rival computer maker Compaq.

In 2010, she lost the election for a US Senate seat in California to Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, failing to benefit from a wave of pro-Republican sentiment nationally. During the debate, Fiorina rebuked Trump for his comment in an interview that voters might not back her because of her face. “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said,” Fiorina said, drawing applause at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The outspoken Trump said early polls had shown he won the debate but he acknowledged that Fiorina had a good showing. “I think Carly did well ... but I didn’t see it as standout,” he told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show. Reuters/Ipsos opinion polling before the debate showed Trump leading the 2016 race among Republicans with 32 percent.