The Wall Street Journal: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to announce 2016 GOP presidential bid
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a champion of the tea party movement who hopes to woo the GOPs most conservative voters, is due to announce Monday that he is a candidate for his partys presidential nomination in 2016, Cruz campaign aides say.
Cruz would be the first major Republican candidate to officially announce a start to his campaign in what is sure to be a crowded field. He is scheduled to speak Monday at Liberty University, a Christian school in Lynchburg, Va. The news was first reported by the Houston Chronicle, and confirmed by Jason Johnson, a senior Cruz political adviser. Another Republican strategist, who has discussed the announcement with the senator, said the timing was designed to capitalize on the eye-catching advantage of getting out early.
With a formal declaration of candidacy, Cruz would be free to raise money for his presidential campaign directly, rather than relying on donations to a political-action committee supporting him. Some donors are reluctant to give to candidates before they formally announce.
Cruzs announcement would be the first in a cascade of expected entries into the presidential race over the next few weeks. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) is expected to launch his bid for the White House on April 7, with other contenders to follow, among them former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
First elected to the Senate in 2012, Cruz has been trying to define a place for himself in the right wing of the emerging presidential field. He has cast himself as more aggressive than party leaders and other candidates in the fight for conservative causes, as when he made an all-night, 21-hour speech on the Senate floor in 2013 to dramatize his opposition to funding for the 2010 health care law.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com
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The Wall Street Journal: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to announce 2016 GOP presidential bid